From the Former USSR with Love

At Sigheta there is a new bridge across the Tiso to the Ukraine, former USSR. A little bit of paper work, a walk in the rain, and there you are...

Even before Sapanta, we noticed road signs in Russian as well as Romanian

We did not dare take pix of the border facilities, but you can

see the new bridge in this Ukraine billboard, at the crossing;

I think it says "Your capitalist wolves' taxes at work..."

From the bridge, Romania on the left, Ukraine on the right; River Tiso in the middle

So there we are, past the border station and its frowny-faced guards

Just like in Romania, unfinished buildings

Welcome to Slatina

The village church; note variety of construction materials

One or two very nice houses; most not so nice

There were exactly two stores open, both

very limited general merchandise, staples,

beer; nothing in the way of souvenirs or

trinkets, not even post-cards; not unlikely

we were the first Americanskis to venture

this way

OK, now we've been to the Ukraine; alas, not much to show

for it but stamps on our passports, but we did it

PS For those wondering why we did not venture further into this fascinating land, the Ruskies generally, in whatever their former-states, are not particularly welcoming of independent travelers, and especially of those in RVs; we have an acquaintance who did the Ukraine recently in an RV, but he was part of an organized caravan (convoy), that is, a tour. Next time. Or more likely, the time after that.