Hey, I booked all by my self, and then I met some Brits and US Navy and a Greek Naval Officer in my Hotel, I blew a lot on the bar bill that night. So do not meet with fellow country men and Greeks who do not bear gifts. LOL
Globus, I found the way to make my trips to Ukraine cheap was indeed to have a Ukrainian woman managing me. She even scorned suggestions to use taxis, even at 'local' prices. Of course, I tipped her generously. LOL
If I travel around Ukrain I go to ICQ chat and search for men 25-35 who live in the city where I plan to go and who can give me advise about everything. Asking a girl for help costs too much very often :)))
We have one member advising us that to save money in Ukraine simply don't meet any women. Another advises us that he contacts GUYS 25-35 on chat sites.
This is supposed to be an advice forum on meeting Russian women.
WHERE DID WE GO WRONG!?!?!?! (Sobbing sound effects...)
get cheap ryanair flight to Rzeszow for £19.99 plus tax each way. Get train to Przemysl then take train to Lvov.
Or go thomsonfly to Salzburg for £3.99 plus tax = £20. Get train to Vienna (but dont buy ticket unless conductor asks for it then ask to buy a ticket from Linz if you have passed Linz already). Same idea from vienna to Bratislava.
Then train to Kosice and finally bus to Uzghorod.
Once there, check out the cheapest hotels (bout £25-30 a night) including lovely breakfast ( I had a choice of 4 different breakfasts and it was a top brekkie!)
Don't drink tap water, else you will have to call out a doctor to sort you out!
Be careful of taxi drivers from Taxi ranks for long distances...you can get ripped of or threatened...better to tak train for $30 all the way to Odessa (bout day and a half travel on slow-coach ukrainian trains)
Does this help? Or do you need it even cheaper? :) LOL
And don't forget the Ryanair 'pay by plastic' booking fee surcharge, the only way available to pay! And then there is the wheelchair surcharge regardless if you'll ever use a wheelchair or not ..... and all this for seat backs that do not recline :)
55North: I'm obviously meeting the wrong women from Ukraine then, because every one I've met was the exact opposite of who you met. They we're all human vacuum cleaners who sucked the money out of you so fast your head would spin. :-)
Jetmba: Sorry man, I was just making a joke but at the same time was being serious. I think I really need to meet a different kind of woman over there or stop this completly because I am just getting too bitter for this anymore. :-)
Maybe a change in what your looking for in a women...change some parameters. I know I will if I run into same problems with girls...shopping..shopping and more shopping.
Advice about taxi's - ask the price to where you are going BEFORE you get in. If it sounds too high get another. If the say "by kilometers - its probably a rip-off because you are not natives. I took several taxi's in XEPCOH (Kherson) always about 8 - 10 griv. One time I took "by kilometers" he wanted 55 griv for the same dist. #2 Use a map so you know where you are going. One taxi in Kiev wanted 50 griv to take us to "Funikulator" (inclined tramway) we declined, the next taxi my Ukrainian friend asked and was told "why do you need taxi its just 100 meters around the corner!" I guess the first guy was planning the scenic route...