Can’t have your cake and your kiev
22 JulAwoke from a very deep sleep at 8am. We were getting a fair amount of looks from passing farmers, some even waved. Packed up the tents and headed firstly for Lviv. The plan says we are supposed to make Kiev today, but from the road we saw last night, the chances were slim.
The ideal campsite
Tim secures the spare leaf springs to the bull bar, using brackets made in Wimbledon. Note the increase in vehicle horsepower with Dobson now riding up front.
Passing farm traffic
We were presently surprised to find the road improved to Lviv, and on reading the lonely planet we decided to push on for Kiev, hoping to arrive in time for some sightseeing and a night in a hotel. There was no way we could find time for both Lviv and Kiev.
The journey was going well until we noticed we were losing engine oil pressure and stopped to investigate. It seems we need to keep the oil level above ½ or it doesn’t get sucked up properly. This is no problem, but it sure was 15 pounds well spent on an oil pressure gauge, as that could have been the end of the adventure. Also fitted in a couple of bowls of England’s finest muesli while we were stopped.
With the oil problem solved, Stephen eats muesli while Tim bleeds air from the tyres in an effort to make it ride better.
Driving a right hand drive car is quite painful on these roads. They carry a lot of trucks, and as the driver you can’t see the oncoming traffic to know when to pass. The passenger and driver have to work as a team.
We stopped in Rovno for lunch, about halfway from Lviv to Kiev. Although we couldn’t read the menu we ended up with a nice Czech meal. A chicken salad with egg for entrée, and then fish smeared with curry paste, and battered, covered in mushroom, cheese, and onion.
The car is still running well, but the suspension is taking a battering. We’ve moved our spare leaf springs to the bull bar, which was the plan once we left western Europe, and experimented with loading our things differently, but it still crashes into the bump stops on the big bumps. We are just too heavy, which is a worry for Kazakhstan.
Ukrainian roads
We eventually arrived in Kiev around 11pm. We keep losing hours as we travel east, which doesn’t work in our favour. It was great to see Kiev, a real mix of cosmopolitan and old Ukrainian living, with beautiful buildings and monuments. Unfortunately we arrived too late to eat a proper meal. Chicken kiev was what we were after, but in the end we had to settle for a McChicken. After that we got extremely lost in the outskirts of Kiev. With no aaccommodation, and no one on the road (it was about 1am), we took an overpriced room in a hotel….and did we sleep well!
Kiev by night
Instant coffee machines on street corners?
Miles today 402. Since hyde park 1722
