Convoy of aid vans

Bob drove the Polish van, Bohumila, full of aid, and I drove the empty Coza Dereza van out of Lviv - the first time I've driven a van on my own, let alone in Lviv! However, we left early, as usual, so it was fine, and we dropped the empty van at the garage in Ternopil, before continuing our journey East.

Bob is periodically filling Bohumila with diesel brought from Poland, where it is free for vehicles taking humanitarian aid to Ukraine. This makes a significant difference to the cost of an aid run. He filled up in some picturesque places, such as the lake in Letychiv where we stopped for a picnic lunch.

Here, we believe we saw Alpine Swifts - dozens of them swooping over the water, catching flies and making shrill, chattering sounds.

We managed to do a good deed on the journey. As we drove away from a blokpost (checkpoint), we were waved down by a policeman. The Police have not really been our friends in Ukraine (2 speeding fines!) but this one actually wanted to help the driver of a van that had broken down. We have been helped when we broke down so it felt the least we could do to tow the vehicle a few kilometres to a garage, with the driver, who spoke no English, in our cab. 

In fact, Bob completed another good deed when we stopped by another lake. It may not be obvious from this photo, but he is actually clearing away rubbish with a stick so the stagnant water was able to run freely into the overflow channel!

We're spending the night in Uman, which we had not thought was a particularly grand place - until this evening, when we properly explored the centre and discovered a huge square, a tree-lined boulevard and some unique, Austrian-age buildings. 

Last night we had a video call from Jenny, the organiser of the Penparcau community volunteers in Aberystwyth, Wales, who have been sending aid to Ukraine, practically non-stop. We were also honoured to speak to Carol, who has knitted over 400 of the wonderful trauma teddies - and is still knitting!