That didn’t take long. Finally. I got my chance to see a little bit of the Carpathian region. Even if only by guided bus tour. Seems folks from the packaging facility enjoyed the first excursion enough that another day tour was suggested. They knew how much I wanted to go see anywhere in the Carpathian region. I am not a big fan of tours, but I wanted to go and see some of this part of the country. It was also nice that people wanted to go and do something out there as well. Turned out to be a bigger group than I expected. And a day after I did my forage in the woods. So it was a big nature weekend for me.
Our first stop was a waterfall. The Kamianka or the Kamianetskyi waterfall is located on the Kamianka river in the National Park Dubyna, Skole Raion, Lviv Oblast of western Ukraine.
I just couldn’t resist it. There are rocks all over the place. I needed to go play on them. I didn’t care that they were all wet and slippery. Most covered in a slick film. The kid in me just comes out. Maybe I can get some different photos from other vantage points.
It was a nice place for our first stop. Still early in the morning. We still had the rest of the tour and day ahead of us. When playing around on slippery rocks you assume the risk. Yup, Marko would be spending the rest of the day with wet socks and shoes. After the first slip in the water I just said ‘fukit’ and didn’t even try to avoid the other two dips in the water. Not complete soakers, but I did get wet enough to have that squishy feeling for a while. Oddly enough no one noticed. They were occupied with either taking their own photos or eating.
Our next stop would be the resort of Zakhar Berkut, south of the town of Slavs’ke. To take a chair lift to the top of Vysokyi Verkh mountain. I was itching to hike up to the top (despite the wet footwear), but everyone found an excuse not to let me go. Ugh, I need to get some more mountain time in. It was still nice to be able to see valley views and the shapes of mountain ranges again. Not many people in shorts at the top, let alone wet socks and shoes. Several people would make comments of oh ya, he’s from Canada. They still didn’t realize the wet aspect of my attire.
While the views were nice, it was not my typical mountain experience. At the top were several attractions. Some fun things like a guided bungey-trampoline for kids, and a little zip line for adventure seekers. But there were also moto-cross bikes and quads as well. So it was noisy and the air not so fresh. I still enjoyed taking in the views. The mountains do my soul some good. Being out there made me want to spend more time in the mountains again.
It did get a little windier and chillier as the afternoon progressed. We did go inside for our prearranged lunch. A modest meal. Nice to eat something warm nonetheless. After lunch people began to bundle up. That is when some discovered my wet socks and shoes. I did think it would feel a little cold on the way down sitting on the chairlift with all the wind. Still not as bad as that chairlift at Sunshine Resort when its below -30 celcius.
As we descended back to where our bus was waiting, you could begin to see some of the trees turning colours. Just the first signs. I have not seen a proper autumn in ages. What you get out in Alberta and the Rockies is a few weeks of yellow. And the first signs sometimes starts in August. So seeing autumn happening when it should will be nice to see again. It is a time of year I don’t mind so much. People here talk of the winter weather being cold. HA! Try a winter in . . . oh it pains me to mention I actually lived there . . . Regina. My first winter there featured a stretch of over five weeks where it did not get warmer than -50 celcius. Not the welcoming I wanted that is for sure.
Back on the bus and on to our next destination. We would be visiting a historical site and museum near Urych. The Tustan Fortress. The fortress-in-the-rocks. It was a defence complex, as well as a customs point that existed from the 13th to 16th centuries. It was a really fascinating structure when it existed. A fortress made of wood built into the rock formations. I suggest doing a search for images of the renderings of the complex. They are quite impressive.
If you are wondering, they are still wet. We do a guided tour of which I don’t understand a word. But the historian in me still enjoys taking in the sights. At the museum they did hand me a pamphlet in english, so I got a little bit of the information. We tour around the former fortress, and imagine its history.
It is now time once again to make it back to the bus. The tour portions are now done. It will be nice to get my feet warm and dry.
The only odd occurrence of the day, besides my shoe soaking, was when the bus had to stop along the highway to let a few passengers off at a bus stop. Suddenly a transport truck blocks our path and the other driver gets out. He comes over to confront our driver. I had my eyes closed for a good portion of the drive home. So I really had no idea what the reason was for the stoppage. And frankly I didn’t care. I was kind of cranky at this point and wanted this bus to get moving. I was a few seconds from walking up to the front of the bus to give this clown an earful (and maybe a wet shoe up his ass) if he didn’t move his truck so we could get going. I discovered later when we were back in Lviv and walking to the tram stop that the bus was weaving a little bit on the highway (accompanied by the universal ‘drinky-drinky’ hand motion). Good thing I stayed in my seat. The truck driver was likely giving him a safety lecture.
Eventually I get home and the wet shoes and socks off of my feet. I jump under the covers and decide to deal with things in the morning. No gym, no volunteering. Just a rest day. Dry feet [sigh]. I had some leftover banana bread to look forward to. So glad I saved some. Oh man was it good.