Ghost Train?

Train to Ivano-Frankivsk

Lviv, Ukraine May 26, 2016

I’m on the train to the city of Ivano-Frankivsk. A 2 hour ride from Lviv where I will catch a 2 hour bus to Yaremche in the Carpathians, Ukraine’s wonderful countryside, “the last wilderness in Europe”






I woke up at 3AM thinking of all the things that could go wrong, missing the train etc. , but I’ve learned these 3AM to 4AM wakeups are simply biologically induced anxiety episodes that should be ignored, but still its hard to do and get back to sleep.


As it turned out I got my breakfast at the hotel and was out at 7:15 AM and caught the #9 trolley which was quite empty and the modern one so very comfortable for the 20 minute ride to the station so all went smoothly as it does when you worry unnecessarily.

And although my ticket says train #116 which I bought with my credit card at the ticket office when the on-line portal wouldn’t take my credit card where the train # is listed as 115, when I check with the guy in the tourist office he says not to worry as the train # on the ticket is the official correct train number.

When I get to the station I quickly find my train listed on the schedule board (one of my unnecessary anxieties in the middle of the night these can be hard to decipher in Ukrainian).

I go to the waiting room with Internet access and the first thing I read in the New York Times is about how the Inspector General has just figured that Hillary did a bad and shouldn’t have used a private server for her email.

Funny it took him this long to figure that out.  Long enough to keep Bernie from getting the nomination?  Maybe not if the Democrats figure Trump  has a good chance to beat her which I suspect he may. But don’t count on it. (The Dems dumping her that is – but maybe?)

So then I notice that the schedule board also has a train number different from my ticket .. the same 115 that appeared online.  Uh oh.

So I go to the ticket office and of course they don’t speak English and keep showing me 2 fingers which I finally figure is platform 2 and that’s where the schedule board shows the train is supposed to leave from and so I go there and I have no problem getting on the train which is leaving when I want to leave and going where I want to go so who cares about the train number?  Not me.

Now here’s another thing. Whoops, I just looked out the window really pretty countryside.  And the guy sitting next to me leans back as he sees I want to take a picture without me saying a word.

I’m in second class on this trip which cost less than $5.  That’s what the lady in the ticket office sold me .. not my intention .. but she didn’t speak English .. and I figured that’s OK I’ve just got my back pack with me not my wheelie carryon so this is a good chance to check it out.

Second class is fine .. at least based on this trip.  the train is kind of old and a little bit worn but plenty of room overhead for my luggage even if I had brought both which I didn’t and plenty of leg room. So much better than an airplane!

And half of this car there is a nice cafe.

What I started to say before the “Whoops”.  is that I am writing these posts partly for those that want to see how to do the train travel thing.  I’ve had to figure a lot of this out real time as I couldn’t find some of this stuff on the Internet so maybe this will help others searching the net as I did.

In that regard, one interesting thing is they take your ticket when you got on the train so you don’t have it with you when you get to your seat which makes me a little uneasy as sometimes at a concert or other event one gets in the wrong seat or if the conductor came and asked for my ticket I wouldn’t have it.  In future I’ll take a picture of it to ease my (unnecessary?) concerns.

There is no Internet access, but I’ve got an off-line blogger program so I decided this was a good time to blog as I’m too excited to nap.

Bus from Ivano-Frankivsk to Yaremche

When I got off the train I only had about 10 minutes to get the bus, but I guessed right and went to the left walked a few blocks where I found the bus station, got to the ticket lady who wouldn’t sell me a ticket and, as I couldn’t understand her Ukrainian, I asked the teenager in back of me if he spoke English .. he kind of waved me aside got his ticket and then said “come with me” and he took me to the bus.

I got on still with no ticket and then the driver got on and we drove away. As it turned out this is a pay when you get off bus although some people had tickets. It cost all of $1.40 for the Hour and 40 minute ride, but what a ride.

This is an old minibus and I was going to show you a picture from inside but a guy who was in the picture I took objected strongly though I didn’t understand the words he used it was clear to me that he was not happy and a pretty tough looking guy too so I showed him my phone screen as I deleted the picture and he was satisfied.   Whew!


All was going well on the ride except I noticed the road wasn’t very good with a lot of pot holes some of which were filled. 
The bus driver exhibited the same skills I’d observed in the taxi driver who drove me the last time from Ivano-Frankivsk last year to the airport  – namely the ability to weave back and forth from one side of the road to the other to avoid the deepest crevices. 
This got a little dicey with oncoming traffic doing the same thing.

About an hour or so into the ride the road got really bad and the bus was rattling and shaking so badly I feared it might destroy the hard drive in my computer which was in my back pack which was placed on the floor in the aisle. However I’m writing as we speak so I guess its OK.

They must make these buses very well or remake them well so that they hold together with this punishment.  Also the drivers must be pretty tough to endure the bone rattling experience day after day to say nothing of the hazardous driving not helped by his talking on his cell phone at the same time as playing matador.

Anyway we arrived safely at the Yaremche bus station. 

Then I spent maybe an hour getting to my “guest house” hotel. I must have talked to 20 people all over town one of whom talked to half of those for me in figuring out where it was and walked me there up and down and around the dirt roads.  I worked up a sweat and had a hard time keeping up with him especially as I wanted to take pictures of us doing this.


I felt bad about taking up so much of this guy's time, but that's the way these people are.  They really "go out of their way to help."   And he was the perfect example.

Finally, the last person he talked to was a lady who gave me a big smile and I knew we’d arrived. The room is really great. All the inconvenience has been worth it to arrive in this beautiful place where the air is so deliciously clear.



And best of all my favorite sound of the country – Quiet.  The constant background noise we tune out in the city suddenly becomes apparent with its delightful absence in the country.

I showered, took a quick nap. Then I headed back into town.  It was only a 10 minute walk not the 1 hour it took me to get here when I didn't know where I was going. 

I found out from the woman in the tourist information office that (unlike I thought) there is a train going back to Lviv Sunday in the afternoon at 3PM which is perfect so i can avoid taking the bone rattling bus,  however, when I went to the train station it turned out I was right (in spite of her assertions to the contrary)it’s a 3AM train.

But while I was out walking a train unexpectedly pulled into the station. Based on the schedule boards I’d just read in the train station and my previous review online this could not be. 

So I went up to the train and asked the conductor standing in the door where she was headed and she said Ivano-Frankivsk and at what time do they arrive (all this is combination Ukrainian and English) and she says Seven Seven (English) and I say Seem Seem (Ukrainian) and she says Tak (yes). 

To make sure I didn’t imagine this I took pictures and a video.

I think this train is really cool. Very old, only 2 cars plus engine.  The station master is also very cool in her red hat holding a red sign.

And finally the conductor lady who I had talked to smiling and waving to me as they leave the station.

So what I am wondering is this.  Was this a ghost train since I didn't see it listed on line or in the train station listings?