I have just returned from a trip to the Crimea. I had planned a larger trip in the late summer but things just did not set right with me. It was my plan to meet the several women I had been in contact with over the last year in several cities throughout the country. I cancelled my plans on 3 occations because of the disappointments i met with on other trips. This time I took complete control of all arrangements, including the rental of an automobile. I found that most women or agencies had no interest in me when I came under those circumstances. The woman I did meet with has gotten my attention beyond all expectations. I have never been taken care of so well and I only hope that I reciprocated in like manner by her estimation. We traveled the Crimea from Simferopol to Feodosia and Yalta. Though our language skills were limited, we had translation devices and the use of a laptop and internet translation when we were online. We did have facial expression and hand gestures to assist. We laughed and spent three days and nights in Yalta Each day deciding to stay as we were preparing to move on. A five star hotel that may not easily forget us either Our communication without interpretors was good. I will be returning again at my earliest opportunity. I came home with art from a local artist in Yalta and money in my pocket and most importantly the feeling of love with a serious and lovely woman that is interested in me. But I digress. most importantly I came as an independent man looking to meet a woman,, that is what I found and the agency girls and agencies did nothing to assist or even attempt to make contact though I gave them my number. I had no problem with them making a living from assisting me and yet when I took control they seemed to have little interest in me being in the same city.
Man I don't believe this, what another sad story, you should have done your homework b4 departing? Why they were less interested in meeting when you were in the same city ? That is ridicoulous(if I spelt it correctly)? There has got to be another way even w/ agency girls?
Dont look like a sad story to me.
Looks more like someone getting off his keyboard and doing it proper.
Roden - what art did you get - have you got the artist name ??
I got 2 beautiful oils of Crimea back in 2003 - cost me 100US each. Bought them in Kharkov off the artist who painted them - ugly women with good looking young man - real mismatch - she must have been loaded :-)
I had a great time and the woman I went to meet was a wondersful woman. I did do my homework and my posting is a form of advice. This lady did everything she could do to watch out for me. She had a spread of food out and dinner for me when i arrived that must have taken her as long to cook as it did for me to get there from the Pacific Coast of America. It was like a fast draw in the streets of the old west to get my wallet out to pay for things before swhe could. I had to finally tell her that our stay in the hotel was only equal to an hours pay before she would relax in the hotel. When I tried to tip the waitresses she would tell me "No", but it was no use. I only had bad service and poor quality once, at the internet cafe in Borispol airport. The coffe was like water more like tea that was from a used tea bag and it cost me 50 hyrivna. If I had payed 100 hyrivna and gotten a descent cup of coffee I would have not even written about it. So if you need internet just buy the access code. My point was that the agency girls are there for fluff only, yet if you receive have good and honest interest please compensate the agency for there time and effort. I was going to share the cab to Sumy with Muzzy a few weeks ago when I saw some red flags in our efforts to travel together. He went and I cancelled. I met with a similar fate 2 years ago.
One more little thing, I was pulled over for speeding through a little village. The policeman would have surely fined me if I had been a local or even if my lady and I could have been able to communicate better. I gave them my California driver license and we all tried to communicate the only thing that was plain to understand was the camera and the digital display that said 86 kph. He flicked my licsence across his fingers and just pointed his flashlight for me to go away and pulled down his surgical mask said something and my lady dragged me away quickly. Later she told me the fine would have been 300 hyrivnas. Everytme I saw a structure after that I would point and say "Village" and she would say "GO! GO!" Up till that time that little Korean car with the Ukrainian engine was like a BMW on the Autobahn with her saying "VILLAGE POLICE! VILLAGE POLICE!" Things change in an instant. It was a great trip and I will always rent a car now, though driving in the city is like driving a taxi in Tijuana Mexico. I can't wait to get back
Maxirat:
I bought one oil painting and one watercolor. I had him write a paragraph to me on the back so if he becomes famous there will be provenance of the painting and regardless of that it will give our children something to fight over for generations to come. I was in Kharkov myself in 2008 and was going to buy some art in the park on the way back to the subway, but it started to rain and the artists packed up and left. I liked Kharkov very much, I go back just to buy a painting. The artist I bought from in Yalta was in front of the Orenanda Hotel where we stayed. His name I think is Igor Posdeev. Though we didn't understand each other well we were quite comfortable talking to each other. He was a friendly man and quite used to dealing with people from the west.
See what happens when you stick your head up on this forum..... Someone comes along in a clown suit and lops off your head,,,,,, I understand that John Wayne Gacy's art has a following in the marketplace,,,,,, I would rather have a painting of dogs playing cards.
When I return to Yalta,,, I have already told my lady friiend we are taking the coastal route from Feodosia. I think thAT WILL be a trip to see.
rodan -- I applaud you. seriously! my comment was aimed at cycleramma who reminisced about a girl he had a fling with. 'it was fun during the trip'. where is she now? so, "was" is the operative word.
I thought nothing but admiration for your post. Kudos to you. but when someone chimes in about some woman/girl he met for a fling just because it was geographically relative, then I will become homey the clown to that person. that's it.
I had no intention of saying anything on this thread until I read that. it is not my nature inject something I don't know a thing about. But if someone says something that is 'out there' in my mind, I may add something. and trust me, I hold back an awful lot. So Rodan... the comment had nothing to do with you.
I agree completely with Rodan Tsunami and the way he did things, by avoiding the agencies and agency girls was simple superb. this is the only way to achieve results, in my opinion.
I too did the same way as he did, only thing, I did it in a personal tour, all alone, through russian cities, some in siberia. it is a great place, and the cities are very neat and small. the capital of siberia is Novosibirsk, and the Opera here is famous, next to the opera in Moscow which is under renovation in May 2008, when i toured.. I visited the opera with my lady and she was the good hostess, on my arrival a big spread (meal) awaited me, after she received me along with her mum from the airport in a siberian city.
I visited a few other siberian cities too by rail, and it is economical. finally by flight back to moscow. seen some nice tourist spots, rivers and monuments. the rivers that flow in most of russian cities and the bridges of stone across them (older bridges) , nearby parks, fountains, and small stores add to their charm. people are helpful. I used a translator on my PDA, from russian to english, and the reverse, by typing, and I could reasonably communicate at the hotel, railway stn, airport booking , with my girl, etc, and the rest with hand gestures.
I met about 10 girls on this trip, and i had prepared by communicating with agencies that give their direct emails and phone nos. up to a year before I actually went. it was a satisfactory trip. nothing like seeing personally the girls whose photos only you had seen. in one girls case, it was an anticlimax because she looked nothing like her studio photos, and she fooled me completely, until i saw her in person, because i had really pinned my hopes on her and corresponded with her for a year, and really thought she was top girl on my list. it was lucky i had other girls on my list, otherwise my trip could have been disastrous. do not go out there without at least 6 to 10 girls on your list. some girls are too busy in some jobs, schedule, auditing etc, leave their cellphones at home, and could not meet me at moscow, it is a very busy city. so expect that 40% of the ladies may not meet you, give dates later on phone (I used SMS from a phone, with SIM card purchased in russia as soon as i landed in the airport, it can be recharged easily in kiosks in any city, by feeding in rouble notes as you wish) as SMS is easily understood by russian women, because they cant speak english fluently all of them, and SMS in english can be puzzled out by them, add a translator in your PDA to translate SMS on the fly (cut and paste using windows mobile) and you can figure out their reples too ! an unbeatable combination to reschedule appointments with the next ladies on your list as you spend a day or two with your first on the list ladies.
This is the way to go.
I agree with him that the agencies and girls who did not meet him are only there for appearnce, and may already be married, good-lookers, and only there so that the agencies can collect your pay by letter schemes. sometimes, the girls may go out of town, and i missed 2 girls in moscow to meet them, in this manner, and i could not stay behind for 2 days to meet them.
Julian: I took no real offense in your jab. It was not towards me or even anything other than what would be a "Comeback" in a friendly exchange of banter. I in fact was laughing as I wrote my last reply. I instantly saw a connection with everything that has been written as well your clown suit. I even tried to add an avatar to my posting because of your picture.
Still even though a meeting may only become a pleasant memory,,, it might be so for both parties and only fate has come to pass without any bitterness.....
Gentlemen:
In my original posting I wrote of making my own arrangements and renting an automobile. I had the assistance of a man named Alex. I asked him if I could post his contact information here and to give him my endorsemnet. He has contacts in several cities and is very helpful. He negotiated a better price for the car and accomadations than I could for myself and represented me well. I am using his assistance again on my next trip that is already been made,
His name is Alex and his e-mail is info@thecrimea.org.ua
I recommend him highly. He assisted me in communication for the rental by telephone as a translator and in arranging the return of the car.
It's amazing to me, that some guys just don't get it. Agencys aren't needed. Same story, most guys who went without agency influence usually ended up with the girl that they wanted to be with.
You can find girls to communicate through agencies, but if they will not operate outside the influence of the agency the chances for success is minimal. These are not new revelations being told here. If you go back and read as far back as 5 years ago you will see the same success rates from guys who didn't use agencys to find their ladies.
However my posting, advise and recommendation is current and introduces others to another avenue and a reliable entity to deal with. It became clear to me that the lady appreciated that I am a capable man and able to find my way to her. She also knew that I came to see her and not the catalog of girls from an agency. I am not a man that finds a tour or cruise to be a vacation or a good time. I think that all of us are independent in our thinking or we would not be on this odessey. I do however appreciate the agency system for making our meeting possible. When I bring my lady home, I intend to compensate the agency for their efforts. By then, I think the lady of my affection will disapprove of that action. She will quite probably think of me sending our money to them, but then I will know which side of the "Pond" her heart is. Already when I tip the restuarant help she tells me it is too much. Right is right and the agencies work hard from what I have seen, but they hold tight to their assets and it has casued me to end correspondence because I cannot get past the "Lion at the Gate"
Whether it's current or 5 years ago methods for success rarely change, just like reading the failures here they all have the same theme. This isn't rocket science, but fitting for using common sense.