Made it there, made it back. Probably the least enjoyable trip I’ve had, overall, in quite some time. There wasn’t anything that was truly awful, but lots of little things just made for a less than enjoyable time.

We did see and pass through some checkpoints coming and going from Mariupol. Despite V’s warnings and expectations, there were no challenges on the trains and no one ever asked to see my passport. Struggled a bit with the language, of course, but got through without too much trouble.

How disappointing a trip was it? Well, V’s not planning a return trip (at this point) until at least 2018. We were Skyping all the time she was in Ukraine, and after just a couple weeks, she was ready to come back the US.

People are still nice and friendly (as long as you don’t get into politics, I imagine), but everyone just seemed a bit depressed. The struggles of a country at war, while in the midst of trying to remake itself, makes life difficult for people, and I think it just wears a person down.

UPDATE (Feb 2017): I see that the link below isn’t working anymore. However, the port video can be found here: https://vimeo.com/85023942. Don’t know about the others; I’ll need to keep my eyes open.

Still in the process of getting things wrapped for my trip to Ukraine — V is already there — and came across this mini-site on the main news site of Mariupol. The company does drone (and other) photography and there’s a photo gallery and a couple sample videos on the page. (The video about the port is mostly advertising, but still kind of interesting.)

I’ve seen most of the places in the gallery and the first drone video. Mariupol really is a pretty city, especially by air, and I encourage people to check it out. The link is http://aerocam.0629.com.ua/.

I will be seeing a bit of Mariupol in this trip, which is kind of a change of plans from before. Initially, the plan was to visit a part of Ukraine I hadn’t seen before, staying at a spa/resort southwest of Kiev. Then things changed, and instead we’ll be going to Berdyansk, which is about 90 bus-minutes west of Mariupol. I think that V wanted us to be somewhere a little closer to family, making the possibilities of little get-togethers a bit easier.

In case you were wondering — especially since I haven’t been ranting about it recently — there is still fighting going on around and near Mariupol. One of the hotspots is only about 13 miles away from the city, and I occasionally read stories about Russian plans to seize Berdyansk and then put the squeeze on Mariupol. The overall plan for Russia is to create a land passage to the Crimean peninsula, which they militarily annexed in 2014; Mariupol is right in the middle of that land passage plan.

Whenever V is in Mariupol — where she’s now been for a month — I have been very nervous for her safety. While the city remains relatively safe, it is still right on the front lines of this war. I confess that I’m a bit nervous for my own travel there as well, but I’m hopeful that I can make it without incident, and I am definitely looking forward to seeing V again. I think it will make us both feel a little better, despite the situation in the region.

Wow, it’s nearing the end of May, and I haven’t posted anything for this year. While there are still things going on in Ukraine, I’m sorry to say that it’s a lot of repeats. Unfortunately, that means the world is paying less and less attention to the situation, because there just isn’t any “new news” there. So it would seem that Russia is winning the war of attrition when it comes to attention spans.

After a lot of discussion and planning, V and I will be going back for a visit. It still probably isn’t safe for an American to be going to Mariupol: the city itself is probably safe enough — as safe as a city can be, when there are enemy tanks 20km away — but being a “rich American” going through the numerous checkpoints is likely an invitation for some people to enrich themselves. We’ll plan to meet up with certain family members outside of Mariupol; it won’t be quite the same as my previous visits, but it will probably still be nice.

V will be going to Mariupol to get the rest of her things, which hopefully won’t result in bags and bags of luggage to fly home with. She says no, but she also talks about all the stuff that she still has and wants to bring back. I guess we’ll just see. She’s not expecting any trouble traveling to Mariupol, and I am praying that she’s right.

By way of contrast, here’s a first-person account of leaving Donetsk (the “capital city” of the region that includes Mariupol). I recall using some of the same descriptions of the bozos in power.
‘I Will Never Return To Donetsk’ — Conflict Reduces One Woman’s Life To Rubble