871 day of war

Hi, friends!

The country is currently experiencing an extreme heatwave, with daytime temperatures exceeding 40 degrees Celsius in the sun. In addition to the heat, we are facing increasing power outages, with electricity available for only a few hours a day. It was unimaginable before that the whole country would spend most of the day without power, but now it has become a reality, severely affecting online work. At the end of the month, they say that a power unit at a nuclear power plant will return from repair, and there will be more electricity; I really hope for that.

In the mountains, everything was different, and I even managed to forget about all these problems. Our trip was relatively short, but I tried to remember as much as possible and overall I am satisfied with the trip, even though many things did not go according to plan.

Our train departed from the station at 4 a.m., so we had to either spend the night at the station or go during the curfew. We chose the second option. Traveling was quite extreme, we walked through a completely empty city, streetlights were off, we whispered and didn’t turn on flashlights to avoid being noticed by patrols. We encountered the police when we were approaching the station, but they didn’t even come near us. We got on the train, but after such adventures, I couldn’t fall asleep, yet I was very glad that we managed to reach the train on time.

This year we went to a neighboring town from where we were last year – Yaremche. Unlike Vorokhta, it turned out to be more urbanized, with even a few high-rise buildings that, to be honest, slightly spoil the mountain view. Mountain towns in Ukraine are quite popular now because the sea is mined, and it’s impossible to go abroad, so there were a lot of people there. We had a very small budget for the trip, and the only affordable accommodation we found was 20 minutes from the station according to maps. However, some roads on the maps were already built over, and we wandered the streets for about an hour under the scorching sun. The accommodation was, in my opinion, very good; I like local wooden houses, it’s pleasant to be in natural materials instead of concrete walls.

After settling in, we walked around the city, visited the Probiy waterfall, strolled through the city center, and at the end of the day, visited the aviary farm to see the animals. Although there is a strong mobilization in the country now, I didn’t see anyone being forcibly taken to the military commissariat or anything like that in Yaremche, so it was calm in that regard.

The aviary farm evoked sad emotions; I increasingly dislike such zoos. It’s hard to look at animals in cages, especially when you stand next to them and look them in the eyes. It feels like they are alive, that they could live in the wild, but now they suffer to be entertainment for people. The elk looked especially unhappy, with deep eyes and huge antlers. He was completely alone, standing by the cage waiting for visitors to feed him. Maybe I equate the psyche of animals with people too much, but overall, after visiting this zoo, I felt sad for the lives of these animals.

The nature there is truly beautiful, and the view of the mountains is mesmerizing, but it seems to me that the views in Vorokhta were more beautiful.

After walking around the city, we were very hungry and went to a café in search of food. We had previously selected a few places worth visiting since most cafés only have meat dishes on the menu. It’s quite difficult to eat out when you don’t eat meat and don’t drink alcohol because often that’s the only thing on the menu. In the Carpathians, I always try potato pancakes (we call them "derune") and mushroom soup. So, the first place we went to was the cafe “Fine Derun.” I couldn’t imagine that in the Carpathians, such a café could be tasteless; the soup resembled a potato soup with almost no mushrooms, and the only meatless potato pancake option was a huge, tasteless pancake with a whole baked onion on top. Overall, we were left dissatisfied and hungry, and the budget for that day was already spent. That day, the food we brought on the train saved us; it was the most delicious and nutritious thing we ate all day. The next day, we planned a hike to Mount Makovytsya.

On the second day, I woke up early and sat down to meditate, when I suddenly noticed I had caught a tick, apparently the previous day. It was Saturday morning; we were supposed to go to the mountain, and I was trying to remove it. Even though the tick was small, after reading that it could be removed incorrectly and cause more problems, I went to the local hospital. Although they weren’t officially working, there were emergency doctors, and within 10 minutes, they helped me remove it.

The morning didn’t start well, but it seems I made the only right decision, though it was morally tough to ask for help. After this adventure, we headed towards the trailhead to the mountain. The first part of the route passed through Dovbush Rocks, where Hutsul opryshky hid, and during the war, partisans of the Ukrainian Insurgent Army, who fought against the Soviets, lived. Quite an interesting place, and the many trees around made the climb pleasant because you could hide from the sun.

After Dovbush Rocks, we continued the climb to Mount Makovytsya. Just below the mountain’s summit was a cheese dairy where Carpathian sheep are raised, and sheep cheese is made according to old Hutsul recipes. An extraordinarily beautiful place where a few grandpas make very tasty cheeses among the mountains. We tried a tasting platter, and I liked everything they made; we were probably very hungry by then :)

We visited a few more cafés, and everywhere the same problem persisted - entirely meat-based menus and high prices. So, we found a supermarket and just bought bread, vegetables, and ate them with the cheese we got at the dairy.

The remaining time was spent walking through fairs, looking for Carpathian teas for our parents, and fridge magnets. We were so tired that even being in crowds didn't bother us much. It was a wonderful time.

Overall, I enjoyed the trip; we walked a lot, and although there were problems with food, it didn’t spoil the experience much. It seems this was our last trip for a long time, as even two days of rest a year is quite expensive for us, and now we are working to cover all expenses and manage to pay the rent.

Right now, I feel much better mentally. I am no longer haunted by obsessive thoughts about the future, and I can feel calm without needing sedatives. I will try to maintain this state and just focus on working, regardless of everything else.

Thank you all for your support and for helping on buymeacoffee; it very helps.

I also added photos from the trip, you can see them here)
https://photos.app.goo.gl/h1w4hyDqb35G2RTj8