Ukraine 2015 - Thoughts

Ukranians seem quite tough. In particular men look always serious, or vaguely upset, as if they were bouncer of a disco, but in very informal and relaxed clothes. On the other side, women are very beautiful, stunning. Even though very few of them speak in English, and it's quite difficult to comunicate without Oleg.

Train to Lviv. 

It's a night train. It's a crowded train. I should be in the comfort coach, but I am actually in the normal one, to leave Oleg with his girlfriend. So nice of me, isn’t it? We are heading  to a conference in Krakow, so we have to reachLviv to catch a guy with a car who will drive us to Krakow. In the meanwhile,  I am on the train:  50 persons are in the very same coach I am supposed to sleep in. It could easily be a Mumbay-NewDelhi train. Nope, Solotvino- Lviv. The concert of snoaring is amazing for the variety of sounds, intensity and pitch. It vaguely reminds me of the italian night -train, but there only 6 persons per time sleeping together. And, in my memories, that was enough. At the time, I couldn’t obviosuly close my eyes, the concert is too intense and sometime it reaches epic moment of rare musicalit, but on the other side I really feel like the toughest traveller in the middle of the world. Survive in so called “Platzcart coach”: checked!

How to get to Oleg's place from Brussel? Nothing easier! Brussel-Budapest, by plane. Then trains, in Hungary, changing somewhere at 2am, when the night is the darkest and the station the most desert place: the next train will leave at 4am, but fortunately is already there and we can manage to enter: it's completely dark and empty, but we manage to lay down a bit. When the train start, though, from 4 am to 9 am we got the control of the tickets for 5 (five, really five) times by 5 different guys. We really could not sleep much. Once at destination, we meet a random guy, who drives us to the boundary with Ukraine. Usual passport routine, in which I got mocked by an incredibly beautiful and very sexy blonde officer who is wondering what an italian is doing there, and why he looks so pale and sleepy. Then we have to take another bus for other 1.5 hours and then we arrived in Uzgorod. We stay there few hours, eat something, and then we take again (this is the last) bus (3 hours) to Oleg's city. Yet, we still have to hitchhike for 15 minutes, to get to actually Oleg village. Almost 24 hours of trip. Oleg does that almost every other month, with the only difference of leaving Brussels in the morning instead of night Intense.

Uzgorod river 

Uzgorod, a glimpse

Making contacts with locals

Oleg goes to the bank for five minutes. In those five minutes I manage to attract a drunk guy who is telling me something first normally, then, after my very polite English reply "I have no idea what you are saying" starts to push me, and hits me. But he is too drunk to actually being able to do anything scary of dangerous. Just some pushes blabbering something. People around stop to take a  look: it's like 2pm and the  situation looks quite weird. I am not sure what I am supposed to do, I could easily stop the guy using some coercive action, but it could degenerate easily. Fortunately Oleg comes out of the bank few seconds after: "I can't leave you alone 5 minutes, can I??" and just drag me away. I will never know what the guy wanted from me (alcohol? money? bets are open)

 Typical soup, with a bread cup! Delicious!

Orthodox church in Uzgorod

Hoverla 2015 - Ukrainian initiation to manhood

It was a dark and stormy night, when I looked out of the window. I couldn't see anything, but when a lighting ripped the sky. We were in the kitchen, a nice and warm kitchen, seated around a table: Oleg's  grandmother to my left, the mother in front of me, Oleg going around the table, trying to phone people to organize our trip.

"it's very not safe to go out with such a weather during night" said the grandmother, looking very sorely at me. "Not very safe".

It was 8 PM, we were waiting for three other persons to start our expedition toward the highest montain in Ukraine: the Hoverla - 2061 meters. I had no idea what I was getting into: Oleg just told me it was a montain trip, a funny, relaxing, peaceful walk at the highest Carpathian montains of Ukraine, among trees, grass and colorful flowers. I did not get that we were supposed to reach the very peak. I did not know yet that the peak was 2061 meters above my head. A snowy, windy, scary high peak in the middle of the Karpats.

Half an hour later the crew is complete, fully sit around the table: Oleg, Sasha, Galina and Boris. And me. It's already 9pm, but of course we cannot leave the place without have eaten something (for this, Ukranian grandmothers look very Italian). When all the stomachs are duly full, and the car is properly filled with packages and more food, we left (I had only a modest bag half empty.. the first clue that something was wrong started to pervade me). 

When we arrived to the lovely wooden house in the middle of nowhere it's already midnight. It was quite difficult to actually find the road, and once there we were forced to go very slowly, since there was no light at all, and the road was full of holes and craters. The light of the car cut the darkness like a knife in the butter. First thing we did, after having turned on a fire in the yard, was going to the sauna. Yes, we had a sauna in the wooden house we rented for the night. A sauna, at 12pm in the night. It's my first sauna, and the heat is barely bearable. Barely. Huge waves of heat burn my skin like if I was in hell. I am sweating the hell out of me. When we went in the snow, it was an immense relief: it felt like a re-birth. We repeated the procedure other 3, 4 times, trying also to reach a river nearby, which was too dirty to bath in cause of the rain. When we finished the sauna I was very tempted to go to bed: it was 4am. But only Oleg spoke English there, and I cannot share my thoughts: 4 o'clock in the morning happened to be the best time to cook some meat on the fire: we prepared a lovely barbecue, “shashliki” they called it. It was 5.30am when we finished. We looked at each other: in 1.5 hours we will have to wake up to climb the highest montain in Ukraine. Nuts, you said?

At the beginning it was a child’s play: we walked on terrain and grass, and it was very pleasant all around. We had a very nice time enjoying the view. It really looked like a funny walk to enjoy the nature. But then the snow came. And the wind. And I was in my office-jacket. My clothes were completely inadequate for that. I had no idea we were going to do something like that. To cover my bad unpreparation, I put my pijama under my jacket and my jumper. All the others had very serious and professional montain-suit, only me and Oleg were in casual winter office working day clothes, as if it was any other day in Brussels. He was a bit luckier than me because had more layers and the hood, further than the wool hat. What a lucky duck! After hours of walking, we stopped for lunch in a quite large area completely covered in snow. Everything was covered in snow now, and after lunch things got worse. The slope became stiffer, and every three steps my leg sank in half meter of snow. Once I cut myself hitting the ice with my shinbone (the wound will stay there for weeks after). Fortunately I had proper shoes, the unique Oleg’s recommendation about the clothes, and my socks didn't get completely wet until almost the end of the day. But walking was a very, very difficult task. At some point I started to think I understood where is the good and dense enough snow, and where there were the bloody hidden holes: there, for example, where is darker, is clearly a compact bunch of... nope, sunk in the snow. Shit.

The last part was the worse: the slope was considerably big, we used feet and hands to climb, while we were hit by strong gusts of wind, cold bloody wind that cut my face and my hand until I didn't feel anything anymore. I couldn't handle my camera, I gave it to Oleg and I put my hands in the pocket when I did not use them to help me advancing: now walking is barely possible. I was completely bended, fighting against the wind, with my legs burning like crazy for the effort of climbing that hell of a montain. I was hating Oleg. I was at the edge of my limit. Probably, I pushed the bar a bit further. But at the end, as soon as we arrived at the very top, the view was amazing, and the satisfaction of having done it was the best reward. I suffered the cold the whole time we were there, and I couldn't wait to go back down, where there was no bloody wind. We took the usual pictures, the usual funny poses. Finally we went down. I was exhausted, but I felt I did something extraordinary.

Oleg told me something funny days after. Few days after our epic achievement a bunch of people climbed that mountain doing exactly our path: they were super equipped, super trained, and did that for some sort of hiking certification. It took me that to realize how crazy and tough it was.

To Alps

a nice warm up before the week planned in Ukraine!

thisIsTheNextCallFor: Mont Blanc

I have just finished packing my big bag. I think I put all I will need. I can't find my bloody torch, but that's fine, Oleg should have one.

Tomorrow wake up at 5, or 4.50, to be sure, but still I am here, picturing the trip, feeling the magic emotion of each beginning. This time is more than an adventure: this time is almost random. We have vague ideas of where to go, what to see, where to sleep. We don't care. We like freestyle.

Tents, sleeping bags, wonderful montains: Mont Blanc is right there, waiting for us. And there we go.

Which bag is whose? Any guesses?

Mexican Food!

Overall Mexican food is very good, and very spicy. I mean, if you are looking for spicy, you will get spicy. In general, being a very big country, there is quite a bit of everything, from fish (mariscos, if you are not allergic to it is great!) to meat (chicken, pork, cows, beef...). Our (European) bread is replaced by the tortillas, that they fill with a lot of stuff (and here you got your taco!). And another thing I find extremely delicious is the horchata, a refreshing beverage made with water and some concentrate of rice milk or coconuts. It is very delicious, nicely sweet and super thirst quenching. I loved it. Here few pics of what I got here and there! (and when I remember to shoot a pic before put everything in my mouth!).

 "should I try that? is not spicy right? yeah, I know, but here also water is spicy, Rodri!" 

 candies and colors in the Coyotepec night

they know how to party in Coyotepec 

Mezcal with insects... I have the proof that I ate those.. crunchy things, before drinking the Mezcal (which is a bit like the Tequila.. somehow). Check out the video..

              Did you say.. insects?

 Soup?

Many tasty different plates!

....and again...

.. and more...

and... dessert!

 Tacos with Gloria!!

Tequila.. drinking.. poor guy...

having breakfast with the future Manager of DuPont (choccolate and pepper is amazing!!)

Maya: a nice trip to Chichen Itza, Uxmal, Palenque.

The Maya were a very interesting and technologically advance population. In some way, they reminds me of the Greek, for their knowledge of math and astronomy, but also for their religion (kind of the same Gods everywhere in the world) and their general attitude to life. Politically organized in independent state-city, based on trading, religion and science. Architecturally they were as impressive as the Egyptians (and the Greeks, and the Romans..).

For example, one of the funniest thing of Chichen Itza (and the pyramid of Uxmal as well) is that when you clap your hands, the echo gives you back exactly the sound of the Quetzcoal bird. Exactly it. It is amazing and fascinating. An impressing place is the game field for the pelota game. As in the cartoon "The Road to El Dorado" the game field is exactly as it is in the movie: two rings and a huge field in between. The ball was touched only by elbows, arms, hips, thigh and leg: no feet or hands or head were allowed to touch the ball, which was supposed to enter in one of the two rings hung up in a quite high position. According to one historian it was the captain of the losing team to be sacrificed to the Gods; another historian believes it was the winner. In any case it was an honour to be sacrificed, and the violent death was the only way to reach straightly the heaven, otherwise there were 9 levels of "hell" (which was not really an hell.. at least no flames). Funny how similar is the idea of hell - underground - with levels, and heaven, in the sky. The style in Chichen Itza is not purely Mayan: there is a Toltec influence. Infact the pyramid is different than the one in Uxmal, and there are many references to human sacrifices and violent rituals, which are not present in Uxmal.

 El juego de la pelota in Chichen Itza, the biggest in the world!

 Chichen Itza Majestic Pyramid (and me in my standard position copy-pasted from the previous pic..!)

 Uxmal: the Pyramid of the Sourcerer

 Uxmal: the Observatory

 Uxmal: a fancy building, probably a temple.

Uxmal was a probably quite calm and devoted to religion, science and possibly trading. It is interesting, even in this part of the world, the close relationship between drugs and alcohol and ancient religious rituals (even if also modern religion has some echoes of this relationship): drug and alcohol were a mean to get in touch with the spirit, to learn and gain knowledge through hallucinatory experiences (Peyote, Mescaline), or simply to purify your body (through ingesting substances inducing vomit). Uxmal is the only city without a Cenote (the natural water supply that was used for religious but also practical uses), and therefore the main decoration -pretty much everywhere- is the face of the God Chaak, the God of the rain. The survival of the city depended on the rain, gathered in huge tanks hidden here and there. The presence of people trying to sell everything on the one side annoys me, since it kills a bit the magic effect of the ruins, on the other side it makes the city looked a bit alived again, gaining colors and other noise than the voice of the guides. With a bit of creativity you can picture them as ancient Mayan citizen living their trading life in the city, while the rich visitor goes from one temple to the next one...

 

Way less the presence of sellers and locals in Palenque: there is the Indiana Jones land, letting you climbing and losing yourself among the ruins! Palenque is quite amazing: you can freely climb around and explore almost everywhere (unfortunately the famous tomb of the Maya astronaut is not open to the public anymore: this tomb represents a man painted in a position as if he was driving a spaceship.. how easy is to imagine fascinating theories about aliens, pyramids and reptilians?). On the other side, the tomb of the red queen was open, and it was possible to slink inside: it's a famous queen whose name is due to the fact that the tomb is completely red inside, due to the presence of the cinnabar. But.. why do they put cinnabar? 

the tomb of the red Queen

Palenque: climbing in the ruins!

 Palenque: where everyone can feel like Indiana Jones!

6 things you did not know about Mexico city (special guest: Gonzalo, the best guide in town!)

Crossing the road in Mexico city: when instinct is a matter of survival! Things you should know to improve your chance to survive in a Mexican crosswalk:

A) the colors of the traffic lights are merely decorative. Green, yellow, red... doesn't really matter. Actually, the light could have also been blue or purple for what it matters: only, it wouldn't fit with the colors of the leaves in autumn;

B) when more than 5 people are crossing the same way you are supposed to, go with them: you will be enough to protect each other and have higher chance to reach the other side alive;

C) eye contact with car drivers is useless: they don't see you, and don't want to. You are a mere pedestrian piece of human with basically no rights to be on their way.

Gonzalo and me, at the top of the castle!

Birds here and there in the trees. Many of them. You don't see them, but you clearly hear them, way more than in Europe. Sometime also a squirrel just runs from one tree to the next. They are not scared at all: once one climbed on me looking for food. Literally on me. Overall the wood of Chapultepec  can be summarized in few words: singing birds, brave squirrels and cars.

Fun fact from the Anthropologic Museum : Indigenous people of Gran Nayak still veneherate Christ mainly as the creator of cattle, metal tools and money (new Gods for new ideas/words).

 

                                                                                                         Antropologic museum: scaaary stuff!






Calendar.. quite sure is Aztec!

stone snake heads, at the museum 

The main Cathedral of the city is a piece of art. Fun fact (thanks Gonzalo..!): the cathedral was supposed to be built in Perù, and the one now in Perù was supposed to be built in Mexico. Unfortunately, few centuries ago, they swapped the plans. Stuff that happens at the no-internet (and phone, and telegraph, and...) time. The other interesting thing is that.. the Cathedral is actually sinking, since it has been built over a swamp. Centimeter after centimeter, they are fighting to hold it at the right level. Maybe, it's just the previous Aztec temple which is trying to win its place back...

The cathedral and 4 particularly beautiful persons.

The castle looks more like a Palace, and thanks to the amazing Gonzalo (who guided me to the castle, telling me all the anecdotes in a super interesting way!). In it the carriage of the Austrian queen (Carlotta) who lived there, while Mexico was still under European influence, even though she was kind of obliged to live there.. she would have preferred European courts and lounges... When Mexico asked Austria to give back the majestic crown of Montezuma (the one at the Anthropologic museum is a replica), Austria asked back for the carriage. Of course, no one did anything else, yet. From the castle the view is amazing, and the inside of the room is kept as it was 2 centuries ago. Very European!

That should be the castle part of the castle. It's more a palace, but let's call it castle!

When I asked Gonzalo what he would change of Mexico, his replied hit me: he would change the feeling of the Mexicans about their past. It means, he would erase the idea that they were conquered by the Spanish, and that they were defeated: they were not. The Mexican are a melange of people, new people who should have a new language and a new identity more free from a difficult past. "We (the Mexican) blame and criticize the Spanish, but we do that in Spanish! We should do that in Mexican, however it could sound!" 

  

At a very famous hotel in the center of the city: Gonzalo knows any corner (and if you look like you know what you are doing, you can go everywhere. For free).

At the museum: you can throw stones to the head of that guy. For real. I have a video. Was fun.