Its WAY too late of course, if you only have two days left to plan a trip - but to those of you who are in the long-term planning phase - a little helpful hint....
Learn Russian... learn as much of the language as your time and budget will allow.
Take this advice from one who has visited the FSU three times - and regrettably knows but a few phrases. The more Russian you know the better off you will be.
Having made that point - I'd like to make another as well. In each of the FSU countries I have visited (Ukraine, Moldova, and Latvia) Russian was, of course, understood. But in each there is also a fast growing sentiment against the Russian language by ethnic natives. In Moldova, there were marches in the street protesting the inclusion of Russian as an official state language. In Latvia - my Russian lady actually pulled me aside and corrected me when I said "Spaceeba" (Thank you in Russian) telling me thatit was a Latvian managed store and she needed to teach me how to tell the difference. She further told me that the state will give translations of official writitng in Latvian, English, French or Spanish, but never in Russian.
While Russian is the best language to learn in genreal and especially if you not have a specific place to visit already - be advised that there is some growing resentment.
Question for Idiotdetector, do they restrict you bringing gifts to Ukraine? I noticed you said claim all as your personal stuff. How can you do that with a bottle of perfume or some blouses? Don't they have a free duty up to a certain value? Please share some more insight please.
thanks
Michael
thanks jetmba for the info. I will stick to learning Ukrainian as my girls family and friends speak it. She does speak Russian, but not much with me. I do have a few basics in Russian, but my ukrainian is coming along good. Dyakuyu (thank you). Michael
malkounis
all i know about customs is this for i travel very very light. only a small flight attendant size suitcase because i dont like to carry much. they will ask you about how much cash you have on you. i am not sure of the amount but i think if it is over i want to say around 250 to 300 dollars, they want you to pay something on that. so just carry a small amount . there are cash machines everywhere or just use your credit or check card. about the festival, lemon chicken lemon potatoes , spanakipita,grapeleaves rice with sauce all those pastries uuummmmm good!!!
i had about 800 dollars on me and when i told customs they wanted me to pay something on that amount. then when i told customs it was going towards apartment food and everything else they then said please continue through and dropped the issue.
jmoluv
When I passed through customs in Kyiv I had 1900USD. I had to use the red line and not the green because of the amount, but I had no problems and was not asked to pay anything. This was as of Nov. of this year.
Bill
When I went to Ukraine (odessa) it seemed as if rules and judgements were made up on the spot. I THINK the limit was $1,500. I said I had "thirteen hundred" (never do that by the way - nobody is the FSU ever knows what a number like that means - say you have "one thousand three hundred" dollars) and they had no problem with it.
I was advised by the literature of the Romance Tour that I took, to bring along some costume jewelry. There were rings, bracelets and a necklace that showed on x-ray of my luggage. And immediately a practically salivating customs officer who drew over several others and just kept saying "how much, how much". Fortunately the stuff was still in a Wallmart bag and contained the receipt which showed a total purchase price of $70.00. So I wasn't charged anything.
A friend of mine brought an engagement ring in anticipation of finding the right girl (never do that either). He was charged an arbitrary duty of $100. He also paid some amount for bringing in more than the allowed number (I think two) of cameras.