Yeremche & the definition of marshrukta

It was an entertaining and increasingly mountainous (hurrah) marshrukta ride from Kolomyia to Yaremche. Before I go on, I think here I should take some time to clarify and describe the function of the marshrukta. To do this I'm going to break out some cheesy, geography teacher style analogies.

If you imagine Ukraine as a huge ant nest, the marshruktas are the worker ants, incessantly working the network of crumbly roads. They are basically mini-buses that, having finished their service in France or Germany, have avoided the scrap-yard by simply moving to Ukraine.

They don't just provide a cheap way to travel the country, though, they also enable to appreciate the fragility of life. Something that often flashes before your eyes as you do 70mph swerving down a pot-holed road that is running with torrential rain water. Thank god the driver is paying attention huh? As long as you ignore the phone crammed between his ear and shoulder, the 10th fag of the journey hanging out his gob and a vague smell of a lunch-time vodka wafting up the bus.

I think Ukraine is the only country where I have been actively encouraged NOT to wear my seat-belt.