Another aid run...
With the aid van loaded I drove back to Lviv yesterday. All quite uneventful. Much quicker border crossing as well, going back into Ukraine.
Today, on the road to Uman, some 7-8 hours away, Staszek is also somewhere on the road with the second van, having set off at some ungodly hour from Krakow. He's either in front of us, or behind us at this point in time...hard to say which...sure we'll connect at some point.
Spring really does seem to have arrived, with some trees already in flower, and it's always good seeing the vibrant yellow of the forsythia. We had our usual break, including lunch beside a lake, once more effectively spreading the contents of it around the cab.
Bob
Fiona
We stopped in Ternopil on the way to Uman as there was room in our van for a little more aid - children's clothes and teddies, thanks to the knitters in Wales, duvets and sanitary products - stored in the Mitsubishi garage - thank you Yaroslav and Liudmila for letting us take this aid. The van was as full as it possibly could be.
Our destination was a small warehouse in Uman, from which aid is distributed for internally displaced people in the local area, and also in Kherson, Mykolaiv and Kharkiv. So the boxes containing soap, shampoo, washing liquid, etc, will be really useful, as well as the items for children, blankets and diesel, used for generators, chainsaws, etc.
Staszek had arrived before us and already unloaded his van, and he helped us. The warehouse was quite dark so the pictures aren't great.
By the time we finished it was time to find our hotel and eat, which was even more of a unique Ukrainian experience than usual. We have grown accustomed to meals not arriving at the same time because everything is cooked fresh - so potatoes will arrive before the meat or fish, and, sometimes, one of us will have finished our meal before the other's has arrived. This evening we were warned that there was only one cook; consequently, only one dish arrived at a time, over a period of 2 hours - first Staszek's potatoes, then Bob's potatoes, then Bob's fish, then my fish and chips, and finally, Staszek's chicken. All delicious, it must be said.
Staszek, who left Poland at 3am this morning, has to return home first thing tomorrow as he has various commitments. We have the luxury of time so can make a more leisurely return.
It's good to be back together in the van, delivering aid.
Comments
Post a Comment