Mount Rivna & More Problems

After I was woken up at 4 am by the guys driving across the river I fell back asleep and woke again at about 10:00, which is very late for me. I hurried up and gathered my stuff up and headed to Syniver lake. I was almost the only one there. This lake is incredibly famous in Ukraine. I dont really understand why. Its cool and all but I would hardly call it a lake. more like a pond. I walked around it in 15 minutes, at a leisurely pace. The road to get there was through nice scenery though!




Here you can see the tiny island in the middle of the lake






Since I got a late start to the day I didnt hang around long. I headed out to go to Shypit Waterfall. It wasn't incredible far. It was pretty cool a 14 meter, 46 ft, tall waterfall.






From there my goal was to get back to Kiev. I didnt plan to do it in one day but to make things simple I just said GPS take me home! it made a route and I started following it. It was fine then told me to turn down a dirt road..... I thought it strange but sometimes it happens here that a road is dirt or bad pavement for a while then gets better so I went for it. Then the road got worse then worse then worse. Finally about 20km later I hadn't seen much in the way of houses or anything and I started to think ok this isn't so cool. This is pretty rough in this big bike maybe I should turn around. Then I thought well do you want to drive back through that so I pressed forward up the side of a mountain, not switchbacks just straight up the side...



It was crazy! the center of the road was washed away and was about a foot lower than the rest of the road. It was all I could do to keep it on the ruts from previous logging trucks. Then I came to a plateau.



Its at this point I really debated going back but man it was so steep getting up the mountain and so rutted up that I was afraid to go back down it. So I pressed on. I remember thinking this is probably stupid but there is no going back now. Worse comes to worse I could see they had been cutting trees recently so if I crash someone should be along in the next day or 2....






The pictures really dont do it justice. This was one of the worse paths/roads I had ever been on.






The views were nice though!



I am not 100% sure where this was the GPS said Mount Rivna, I believe, from what I can find it is located here 48.740698, 23.387804




Finally I came down into a village! this church was there!






I was so happy to be out of that mess! I really was fairly worried. My phone had no reception and if I went down I though well this will be interesting. When I got to the village people kind of looked at me funny as I went through. Then I got to the other side of it the road turned into a brand new paved road!!!! I was sooooo happy!

So I kept going and going and going. I decided not to take the super highway from Lviv to Kyiv but the road that runs parallel to is but to the south, through Ternopil again. This road wasnt horrible but not great. I went through Ternopil and ran into Sergey again. We stopped chatted a bit then I went on.




Finally I found a place to camp in a field near a river and just passed out. It was only 400km that day but it was a long day...




Next morning I woke up and headed to Kiev. I was about 100km from Kiev when I heard something funny. I stopped and found this



Some tie wire and I thought I had it fixed!






But when I started the bike it was loud..... the exhaust had cracked...



I drove a little further until I found a gas station. I stopped and bought a can of coke. Now normally I would use a steel can to repair and exhaust leak but they only had aluminum. I figured well at this point I only have 80km to go and its all on the super highway so its a smooth road this wont be an issue.






I got on the bike started it up and it wasnt perfect but good enough. As I was wrapping the exhause with the can I tried to feel if the exhaust was completely broken or cracked. I could feel anything so I wasn't to worried. This will work until Kiev.

As I cruised along at about 70mph I was thinking. Thats it! Thats all the gods of motorcycling are going to throw at me! The trip gave me everything I wanted and then some. The only payment is a loose fork bolt, loosing a headlight bolt and now the cracked exhaust.... HA! Thats childs play :)


About 50km from Kiev the bike got REALLY facking loud :) Looks like the gods heard me. The exhaust broke completely in two. I jammed it back together wrapped it with tie wire and continued on. The bike was near deafening loud but so be it. I pulled into Kiev 50km later parked the bike went home and had a celebratory beer! Trip well done!

Across Hungary to Ukraine

I staggered out of bed Sunday morning. I knew I had a long way to go. In the 2.5 days I had been in Hungary I had spent as much as 8 days in Ukraine. It was time for me to get back! I had about 700km to cover. I said my good byes to everyone and headed out. Passing just through Budapest I took the northern highway across Hungary headed east. I drove and drove stopping as little as possible. Then I noticed I had no more turn signals.... Well I stopped to get gas and briefly looked at it but could figure nothing out so I kept going.

About 550km later I got to the Ukraine border. Coming back into Ukraine was simple and easy. Nobody cared if you were smuggling something in there was no need to check every piece of baggage. So I had 150km to go in Ukraine the road conditions were bound to get worse..

Along the way I found this cool church!

My goal was Syniver Lake in the Carpathians. 

The road to get there had great scenery!

I found the entrance to the lake. I had to pay a fee to get in and I was told I couldnt camp there.... Well It was about 8:00 pm or so. I decided I would find a camping spot nearby and see the lake in the morning. I asked the guards if they knew of a place and they said any place along the river that runs by the road is fine. I asked if it was safe. Ahhhh Normalna we have a lot of tourist here its no problem nobody will bother you.

I had seen this green spot on my way there so I went back to it

The only way to get there though was across this walking bridge that was about 1 meter wide....

After checking it out it seemed doable. I hesitantly crossed the bridge and drove up to the picnic tables in the back ground. Set up my tent and started to work on the bike. I had heard a strange noise. Found the belt guard loose so tightened it up. Then started to work on the turn signal issue. Found a resistor I had installed had burned up. So I jumped around the resistor and the turn signals worked again, they blinked incredibly fast but worked.

As I was dong this these 2 boys came up to talk to me. Their Russian was as limited as mine but we had a grand conversation. I let them sit on the bike take photos start it up and rev the motor. They were as happy as could be.

I went to sleep but about 4 in the morning I was woken up by a car. I was looking out my tent and these guys in a big Soviet 4x4 came across the river and went into the mountains behind me. It took me a while to figure out what was going on but once I saw there were not interested in me I went back to sleep.

Hungarian Warriors Meeting!

I hung out at Mcdonalds for a while. they had free refills so I must of drank like 15 Coke's. Finally I headed out with the destination being Balaton Lake, Tihany to be exact. the road was good and I was in no hurry. I was to met some friends there but not until late afternoon. I saw this statue so stopped to check it out.

Of course its Soviet.... A cemetery with soldiers from WWII

It was in rough shape but I have seen worse.

From there I continues onwards towards Tihany. It was another hot day. I arrived earlier than I really wanted but it was nice to be there. A few hours later a few more guys rolled in.

By evening everyone had showed up! This is the annual European meeting of Yamaha Warriors. This year it was hosted by the Hungarians! That night we stayed up way to late drinking beer and Planeka, local version of homemade alcohol.

The next morning everyone stumbled out of bed, there were a little over 40 bikes there. We had a planned ride out today.

We rode all over the country side I think about 100 miles total.

We did have one guy go down on the ride but it was fairly minor. All in all it was a great ride, hot but good!

here is the last stop.

That evening there was more beer, palenka and food!

They had a rockabilly band to play! They put on a good show!

This was the third of these type of gatherings I have made it to in the last 5 years. This was by far the most fun! Good music good food and good people! Cant ask for much more!

Through the Heart of Hungary

I woke up in the hotel packed up and was off about 8:00 in the morning. My goal was to get into Hungary and head towards Balaton Lake. I didnt want to go the whole way but a good 400 km day is the goal. 

First the border crossing was pretty easy. They did search everyone thoroughly exiting Ukraine. I understand there is big business smuggling cigarettes and alcohol out of Ukraine, since its so cheap. All told they held me up for about an hour. 

I decided to take medium size roads through Hungary right straight across the center from east to west. I wanted to avoid Budapest this time. 

So I drove and drove and drove and drove and it was hotttttttttt! Finally I was approaching a campground that was my destination. I pulled in and it was locked and nobody around to open it. After standing around 10 minutes I took off looking for a place to camp. I found this little out of the way place. There was a dike I rode on top of most of the way then about 4 meters down to camp near the river. 

It was out of the way but I was worried I wouldnt make it back up that hill if it started raining. 

the river was just behind the trees! 

I awoke the next morning, about 5:30, to rain! I looked around and the sky was black. I decided I should at least get my bike to the top of the dike. I got a good run at it and almost made it to the top when the rear tire started slipping on the wet grass..... Back to the bottom. This time I got a little faster start. Made it a hair further but then lost traction. One more time I gave her all I could got a little further before the rear end broke free and over I went.... now the bike was laying sideways on the hill. I was able to stand it up and get back to the bottom of the hill. So I road along the bottom of the dike for a while before seeing a better spot. I gave it everything again this time made it!!! 

I was wide awake so I packed up my stuff and headed into a town near by. I got there just as McDonalds was opening so I stopped in for some food and to use the internet.

Climbing Hoverla

The next morning I woke up with no real place to be. I didnt have a good plan oh where to go or what to do. I started driving and saw a sign for the highest mountain in Ukraine. So I headed that way. You have to pay a 25 Greiven, $1.00, entrance fee then drive about 10km on a fairly horrible road to get to the starting point. From there its a 3km hike.

You start by scampering up a trail covered in tree roots again.

Just when you think that is coming to an end, there is more....

So I ascended into the dizzying heights, a little over 2,000 meters, as I went it got colder and the wind picked up. There were probably 100 people or so all doing their best Edmond Hillary as we huffed and puffed while still crawling forward. Finally the trees stopped and then you just tromped uphill through some rocks. Then just uphill and up hill and up hill. Then 2 hours later the top!

It was odd to be there. The clouds came and went. It was rather cold and the wind was pretty strong also. The strangest thing for me though was as people would get to the top they would scream "слава Україна!!!!", Glory to Ukraine!!!!. I have mentioned this to many people but I find it incredibly odd. As a foreigner it just doesnt process in my head. If a guy climbs Mt. McKinley in Alaska when he gets to the top does he scream "God Bless America!!" I have discussed this with my Ukrainian friends and most find it to be acceptable and even smile with a far off glare in their eyes to think about it. I still find it strange but so be it to each their own.

Here I am thankful that all that exercise I get, like waking up in the morning and breathing, has paid off!

Then it was time for me to go

There were 2 routes to the top. One was 3.5 km but recommended because it was not so difficult. The other was 3km but supposed to be steeper and more difficult. I went up on the 3km difficult route and down on the easy route. Who ever decided which was easy and hard should be shot.... The easy route was CRAZY!!!! Boulder jumping and sliding down mud slopes was the name of the game.

About half way down there was a group resting. They asked me if it got easier.... I laughed and said nope only worse from here! I am not sure if me being honest was the best thing for them but no point in getting their hopes up for an easy way.

I made it down no problem it took 2 hours up and 2 hours down. I was tired so I drank some tea then headed out. A ways down the road was the geographical center of Europe, or at least at some point someone said that.

I believe it was the Germans who said it first

From there I trucked on forward! I was looking for a good camping spot next to some water so I could swim. I wasnt having any luck though so finally I stopped at a roadside hotel. I asked the young lady, in Russian, for a room. She said ohh just wait. She came back in a bit with an old man..... She didnt know Russian or English. We were close to the Romanian border her native language is Romanian. She can do Ukrainian or Hungarian also.... The old man helped me out no problems we chatted a bit then I called it a night!

Into The Carpathians

So i woke up the next day when the cows came back to eat in the morning. I packed up my stuff and struggled back up the hill. Finally when I made it to the top I stopped to rest a bit. It wasnt extremely difficult but rather stressful.

I headed down the road but noticed something wrong with the headlight. So I stopped and saw one bolt had fallen out.

So I pulled out my box of goodies found a spare bolt that would work installed it and headed off towards Ivano-Frankivsk.

I arrived and walked around the city center and found a place to eat

I talked to a guy then headed out towards Manyava Waterfall. The road to get there was supposed to be interesting :)

At first it was just loose rock. Slow going but nothing to terrible. All the people who lived near there stared at me as I putted by.

The further I got the more interesting it became. crossing small streams until finally I came to a parking lot.

The road continued but I wasnt sure if I should go or not. There were a lot of cars in the field here so I thought well maybe its not allowed so I will walk. It was about 1.5 km to get there and you had to cross about 8 streams. All of it would of been capable on the bike. I was hoping to find a nice camping spot so I was on the look out for anything flat and kind of hidden.

Finally I got to the waterfall. There were about a dozen people at the bottom so I decided to go to the top.

The path to get there was crazy! Very steep and had been more or less washed away leaving the roots of trees exposed and you had to clamor up that.

Finally I got to the top and it was pretty cool! You could walk right up to the edge of the waterfall and look over!

I walked around the area some still looking for a camping spot. I couldnt find anything worth while but I did find this crazy tree!

I finally decided to leave and try my luck with a camping spot elsewhere. So I headed back down the 10km track I used to get there and continued on into the Carpathians.

This is the first time I have been in mountains in a while. I had forgotten how difficult it can be to find camping spots here. Everything that is flat usually already has something build on it.... So I drove and drove and drove before finally finding something suitable for a camp site.

The road to get to the campsite was a muddy mess though

I finally made it though. As soon as I arrived I put the beer in the fridge and started setting up my tent.

That evening a herd of cows came by to say good night and lick my tent as the sun was going down.