Four means of transport in one day

Two days ago Charise left Kyiv to return home for work. It was very sad. On that day we used  four different types of transport so I thought I would tell you of them.

The first was the marshrutka.  We use this transport to go to school.  In tourist information here they are often referred to as fixed route taxis.  There are taxis as we are used to in Brisbane here in Kyiv, but a marshrutka is not like that at all.  A marshrutka is (in our case) a small yellow bus. There are also white ones and blue ones but not on our route.  When we wait for a bus we wait for the little yellow ones.  The bus stops are also interesting.  They may be distinguished by a bus seat or shelter but often you recognise one because for about fifty metres along the edge of the footpath you see people standing and looking to the right or left as appropriate. There are no timetables (or at least none that we have been able to discern so far).  You simply turn up and wait.  Generally you do not have to wait very long - maybe ten minutes at most.  Some routes however have more services and others have less.  From our  flat we can take a 465 which stops within a few metres of the school.  However this is ones of the less regular services.  There is a 455 we can catch which comes maybe every 5-10 minutes but the closest stop is either one stop away on the Metro or one stop on the trolley bus or about a twenty-five minute walk. The walk is not a bad option right now but in the winter it may not be so good. Mostly so far we have caught the 465 right outside our unit block but it comes so irregularly we may change to the 455 more permanently.  Coming home when timing is not important we will often wait for 465.

Early in the morning, hoping the 465 will arrive soon

Well about the marshrutkas themselves.  They can vary in size a little but usually carry about twenty seated passengers and as many as can fit standing.  One we travelled on not long after we arrived had a sign that said licenced to carry fourteen seated and eighteen altogether but at one point there twenty

On a marshrutka

on the bus. These little buses can be of any age and most would be described as ancient at best.  They rattle and bounce along and few would pass a road-worthy at home but we always arrive at our destination. The state of the roads here does not help either for a smooth ride. There is lots more to tell about riding marshrutkas but I will save it for another time.

Waiting for the metro

Our second use of transport on that Friday was of course the metro.  You come to love the metro.  It is so very convenient with a service every three to five minutes, and when you live across the road from a station it makes it even more convenient. The metro has a sign at the end of each platform telling you how long since the last service left. Since we have been here I have not seen it go over 3.22 minutes before the next train arrived. We had to be at the airport outside Kyiv at 9.20 for Charise to leave.  We wanted to be at the airport two hours before her flight left, so we decide to leave the flat at about six o'clock. Being that time on a Friday the trains were packed. We squeezed on. We have often been told that Kyiv is empty right now because the state schools and the universities do not start till after the first of September.  It is hard to imagine at times that the trains and marshrutkas can be busier. We caught the metro for just one station and then had to walk for about five to ten minutes for a bus to the airport. The bus to the airport is very close to the main train station in Kyiv so the were people everywhere with bags of various sizes. Getting off and on the escalators was fun.

Close to saying goodbye

This brings us to our next form of transport.  As we were approaching the bus and  carrying a large bag a man recognised that here were people off to the airport. So, he spoke to Bill and asked if we would  like to hire him to drive us to the airport.  I don't know what work he does now but for thirty years he was a helicopter engineer in the military. Anyway he lives out near the airport, so why drive home on your own when you can do the same trip with paying passengers . We have read that this is a fairly common practice here but just be careful that you don' t get 'taken for a ride' as the saying goes.  This man was driving a quite new Audi and looked and sounded all right and was asking the same as the bus fare and said he would be much faster. Well I am glad I was in the back seat.  I think he changed lanes every  minute and often drove in two lanes at once.  He couldn't drive fast because the traffic was just creeping a lot of the time. When we finally left the city limits the sign said  there was sixteen kilometres to go  he was able to do about 100 km/h or a little over then. We arrived at the airport at about 7.30, which was good.  When we were about three quarters of the way there we passed an airport bus that he pointed out to us and he said we had caught up to the one that had left before the one we had been going to catch. So we had time to organise everything for Charise and then watch as she disappeared off into the boarding area.

Time for us to return to Kyiv and our last form of transport for the day.  Once again we were approached by a man.  As we left the airport terminal (but the tears had not been left behind) a man asked us if we were looking for transport back to the city.  Upon being being told yes he said we could go on a mini-bus. He called over another young man who told us to follow him and off we went.  After about 150 metres or so we came to a very nice, very new van that seated nine.  There were already five people in it. In we climbed and the man disappeared back to the terminal and reappeared a few minutes later with another passenger and off we went. This time the trip was much faster because the traffic had reduced quite a deal. He was fairly typical Kyiv driver.  You see almost nil signs about speed limits here and I think most drivers drive above what it is anyway. Lane changing is a real art form here. Well we arrived back safely and then it was a metro ride and we were home.

So now we are here on our own really feeling the break from home. It is already becoming colder here and the leaves are starting to drop and change colour. So in the not too distant future I will be experiencing my first real autumn. We should be able to include some lovely photos next time.