9th of October, 2021.
Soon enough someone stops for me. A van stops. Picking through the window I can see there is a kid with the guy. I put my backpack in the back of the van and the guy tells me they are going to Kamianets-Podilskyi. When I get inside, surprise: there is about 10 kids in the van. What? They are going to mountain-bike school competition. I speak with this young lady behind me, she speaks a good English and she seems like “the leader” of the group. They are all about 12 /13 years old. I am very surprised that the driver decided to pick me up. One of the young girls is his daughter.
We arrive in no time in Kamianets. Their Hotel is very close to the Castle. With a view! The driver tells me I can walk down this little street to get in there. I know where I am for I have looked in the maps before. But for what I can remember, you cannot go to the Castle from here because this is a lower part, so you would have to climb up in somehow, and there is the bridge. So I go down to a photograph and come back, trying to imagine how long it will take me to go around this area, by the road, to get to the Castle.
Within a few blocks there is a mini-market and I ask information there. The ladies don’t speak English but they are very nice and try to help me. They say I can walk from here, yes! Outside, they try to tell and show me how to get in there. While we are talking, a elderly man approach and also is trying to help. When I tell him I am from Brazil, he try to say something about tele-novelas, our so famous soap-operas. And he makes some signs, which I understand as someone whipping somebody else. I obviously think of Isaura: Slave Girl, so I start to humming their soundtrack, which has been everybody’s life soundtrack, because at any time you think you are being abused, “enslaved” by someone (only as a joke, of course) you sing this song. And for one of the biggest surprises in my life this man recognizes the song! Who would ever imagined that, in a small town, in the middle of Ukraine, an elderly man would recognized my humming of Escrava Isaura? I certainty wouldn’t.
Walking down again, I am very happy that I can easily and faster have access to the Castle. They told me there are some steps which I will see and they will lead me to the Castle. Perfect! And there is even a beautiful and cute wooden bridge leading to some very steep stairs up to the Castle Bridge. Wow! It is incredibly beautiful! The Castle, I mean. After a photograph I walk towards the Castle. There are some people going in. I notice that the man at the door cannot speak English so I don’t even ask to go inside for a photograph. Standing from the door you cannot see a thing. But honestly, the view from outside it is so stunning, that I don’t even bother about not going inside.
Walking back to cross town, there are much more people. And they are always taking one thousand photographs. Can you imagine have to go through all those after? I am more than happy with mine two or three ones, so after all I can even only choose one.
Because I still have some time, I decide to leave my backpack in the Tourist Centre and go for a one hour walk around the Old Town. The lady at the Centre it is super kind and polite. We talk a little bit and she gives me a map. She even asks me if I need to use the toilet or if I need some water. How nice of her!
The Old Town is small and easily done in one hour walking. Unless you decide to go inside all the churches (which are quite a few and some are paid) plus going down to the Polish Gate and Zaharzhevskogo. But I think that it will be more like a hiking thing. Which I totally believe it worth it, so if you have the time you should go. In my opinion they are cute medieval constructions. I go only to visit Vitryana Brama and Turkish Bastion. Which are also great! Nearby them there is a super cool old factory, which is still operating, by the way. Don’t forget to stop for a panoramic photograph of the stunning Church of St. George. At this spot, you can also take a panoramic photograph of the Castle, but I prefer mine from the Caste Bridge.
I rest for a while in a bench before going back to take my backpacks. After that, in the same bench, while I am arranging my stuff, a elderly lady comes and asks me for money. I try to explain to her that I don’t have it, showing her my bag of food. So she asks for my Cheetos. I give to her. Then I also open my box of cookies and give her one of the individual packages. Is not much but it is what I can give to her right now.
When I am leaving town, two big stray dogs start to follow me. At the beginning I think they are hungry, so I try to give them some of the pastries I have. Nope! Either they are not hungry or they don’t like it. I sit in a bench to have my lunch, and they are sitting there with me, waiting. They walk with me until I leave the limits of the town. Which is very surprising and smart.
I still have a few hours until down. It is not a bad spot: out of town, many gas stations around, and plenty of place for parking. Even so, for almost three hours nobody stops. I am trying to go to Kyiv, which is far, I understand, but I am sure many people are going there from here, plus, at least they would be going somewhere in between.
I get very upset with this and around 5 p.m. I walk into this gas station coffee shop and ask to use their wi-fi. One of the ladies is very nice and come to ask me if I need anything else. She says she saw me there, waiting for many hours, which she also thinks it is an absurd, so she wants to help in somehow. So cute!
I look for where I can camp around. I walk there while is still daylight. I pass by a place not far from where I intent to camp, and there is this very noisy dog, barking at me for ages. I am a bit worried that his owners will see me and come looking for me later. I get to what would be a very nice place for camping, with soft green grass and a beautiful view of the sunset. But since is still too close to the dogs place and in open space, I decide to walk into the woods. I pass by a lot of rubbish, couches and other things abandoned here. What a shame. At some point I get out of the trail, to a more “clean” area, not only of human beings remains but also branches. It seems to me that people were leaving here before, maybe during summer? Because there are dirty dippers and other stuff around. But at least they all look old, as nobody has been here for a while. And also in this cold weather, I don’t see why people would come in here.
I start to put my tent on. After having dinner I just go to sleep. In the middle of the night, I wake up with a huge migraine crises. It feels like my stomach is the issue and I need to throw up, but I cannot figure what could have been the trigger. I prepare some salty water, cold unfortunately and not warm as people recommend, and get outside the tent. It is freaking cold but I figure that fresh air it might help. I stay out for a few minutes before going back inside. Luckily soon after that I manage to sleep.
In the morning, walking my way back to the road, I notice that the “nice place for camping” it suffered with a frost. Luckily for me, where I was, deep in the forest, the frost didn’t get to. I walk to another hitchhiking spot. Here, it does not take too long until this elderly man stop for me. He has a dark blue Fiat Fiorino (which reminds me of Brazil), impeccably clean out and inside. And he is going to Kyiv! Wow, unbelievable! He seem surprise when he figures I am a foreigner but he takes me anyway. We make a quickly stop in a small town so he can visit a cemetery. He has some flowers on the back seat and take them to one of the graves. After that, we go straight to Kyiv and in about 5 hours we get in there.
