Joan
 Ubide
 Photography
 &
 a
 few
 sounds

From Budapest to Rumania, getting into Ucrania and, finally, PolandAfter staying in Budapest, we caught the train to inner Rumania (specifically to Transylvania) with our friend Chris. After an interesting trip in the train, we arrived at Sibiu, a small inland city which has been designated European Capital of Culture. Sibiu is an interesting small place, where we spent 3 days before heading to a more rural area, a town called Sangeorz Bai, where we stayed 3 days in a hostel where we felt at home.

The next stage was towards the border with Ukraine. We stayed 2 days in Baia Mare and then arrived at Sighetu Marmatiei, a small town.

We enjoyed Rumania, but we had to be wary, as there you have to face a problem which, unfortunately, you also find in Spain: pilfering by kids and also by some grown-ups. This is a problem which affects the image of these places. In my own country, this situation has been taking place for a long time, and for the moment those who are responsible for solving it can’t find a solution.

After spending the night in Sighetu, we crossed the border with Ukraine by foot where we found a real change. We can summarize our experience in Ukraine as “a bad beginning with a good end”.

It was a bad beginning because at the border, the officers have a quite arrogant attitude towards tourists. Although we looked like travelers, they inspected our bags, and they don’t mind if you don’t speak their language. They look you in the eye, with their chevrons, and keep talking to you in their language, and you just don’t know how to react to this attitude.

When we crossed the border, we arrived at a small village, where fortunately we could catch a train to our destination, the city of L’Viv.

After waiting for 6 hours, we could get on the train. It looked great, as we were the only passengers aboard! We were very happy about how lucky we were, but when the train set off, we noticed the maximum speed was 30 km/h, so we realized the trip would last 16 hours.

In a couple of hours, the train became literally a sauna. In every station more and more people were getting on the train, until it became clear that we would not be able to sleep very comfortably that night… The train was inhabited by a lot of cockroaches, which would appear from walls, ground and ceiling every time the train stopped. At the beginning I was a bit worried about them running around us, but then I kind of got used to them and even found them cute little animals.

Suddenly everything changed: a lady shouting orders to all her family sat down next to us. She was Ukrainian but worked in Madrid, and they were all going to a wedding. Her name was Maria, and she told us we were in the worst train of the country, and, moreover, in third class. Then we realized how our trip would be during the following 8 hours…

Maria and her family took out some bread and luncheon meat and put it in the table, while the men did the same with some vodka. From that moment on (although being in a sauna), it was great fun… We could not sleep at all but we had a good time. Thanks, Maria!

At 6 in the morning we arrived in L’Viv. Although nearly nobody spoke English at all, we managed to get a taxi to the city center and find a cyber to look for a place to sleep. We were very lucky when we booked a hostel called The Kosmonaut! It was small hostel which had been recently opened by Eddy, an Australian who has decided to settle in these whereabouts.

The city of L’Viv is spectacular. I really liked it, that’s why I have a positive impression about Ukraine. As I told you, a bad beginning with a good end!

Something noteworthy about L’Viv is what you see walking along the street… I think the stiffness in my neck is not because of my heavy backpack. I think it’s because of all the 90 degrees rotations I had to do to scrutinize the unceasing procession of top models on the streets… It is something very difficult to explain, specially for a man after a long period of celibacy… I even thought there was a hidden camera recording the foolish expression on my face…

And yet another train…

We set off from L’Viv towards Poland, concretely towards Krakow.

Krakow and also Poland as a whole are fascinating. I had a very wrong opinion of this country. Maybe it was because in Spain, some people call “Polish”, in a dismissive manner, those who speak Catalan or feel Catalan (like I do). Therefore, I though it was because Polish are nasty people or can’t speak properly (in Catalonia we speak Catalan besides Spanish)… Never mind, Krakow is highly recommendable. If you find a low cost flight and have a chance to visit it during a weekend, do it! It will leave you a good lasting impression and you will probably change your opinion on this country and its people. The city, and specially the old quarter, are in a pristine condition, very well preserved and extremely safe. There are officers at all times to ensure tourists enjoy without worries the outdoor cafés and restaurants. In the city center it is mandatory to visit the Jewish quarter, which was a ghetto during the World War II. In the city you can also find several very good musicians playing in the streets.

The extermination camps

This was the first place where I wanted to take pictures from a long time ago. There was something which moved me to visit a place where the irrationality of the human being expressed itself without limits, while nobody could do anything to put an end to it for a long time.

I think that Auschwitz and Birkenau must be visited to feel slightly what happened there. The parents of the “new” teenagers, those who say “that sucks” when they are served a plate of veggies, instead of treating their kids to a PlayStation, the coolest jeans or the wretched cell phone, should take them to this museum to watch the video being shown there.

With the pictures of the album you can get an idea of it. There was one thing in particular which impressed me considerably. It was an experiment cell in which 4 people were locked up, standing up during several days, in the dark, in a space of less than one square meter. I can’t imagine the fight for survival, the self-control, the madness and the anxiety that where experimented in that room.

After Krakow, we headed to Warsaw, where we stayed two days. Afterwards, we followed our route to the North, from where I am now writing this text. We are in Elk, a city in the North of the country surrounded by lakes. It has been raining for two days. Next Friday we’ll leave for Lithuania.

We have already been en route for one month. Jordi says it’s a warm-up month. From now own the real travel starts… Soon we will try to buy the tickets for the trans-Siberian.

A big hug to Chris, who must already be in Chicago, to Harvin “the
dancer” from UK, to Angela and to all the friends from Sibiu. Thanks to all the people from the Sangeorz Bai hostel - Ixiana, Jomela, Luci, Gabriela, Garofita, Aurel, Tic and Julia. Thanks to Anita & Andrea for showing us Sighetu and the prison. To the staff from The Kosmonaut, Eddy and those who helped us to get the train tickets; Peter, Matthew, Rachael (who traveled with us to Krakow), and also to Marc. Regards to Pavel and his wife and son, the blond kid who spent the whole trip running up and down the train.