In this video, we leave the adorable coastal town of Odesa on the Black Sea on a third-class train car all the way to Kyiv! This trip took eleven hours, but it was well worth it thanks to the amazing price of our tickets! Third class train travel is the way to go in Ukraine!
About Us A Texan and Marylander join forces in travel and exploration to form: PEREGRINATION TRAVEL! We are Zach and Leah, a couple most recently residing in Texas who decided to quit everything and go on an adventure around the world. Our goal is to reach all 7 continents. That's right. ALL SEVEN CONTINENTS. Join us on this crazy adventure, and hopefully, you'll be inspired to start your own unique journey! Go peregrinate!
I will never walk on a train track ever again in my whole life.
What's up P Nation? We are in our sketchy Airbnb and we are about to leave to go to Kiev.
So we are taking a third class train from Odessa, Ukraine on the Black Sea all the way to Kiev, the capital of Ukraine.
And it's not air conditioning and it's going to be maybe hot. I don't really know.
So it's going to be very interesting. We're excited to show you guys all the things that third class trains have to offer here in Ukraine.
But first we've got to catch our Uber.
There are so many locks on this thing. Oh my gosh.
Every day before we go out. There we go.
Just like that we made it to the train station. We are a little early for our train.
However, we do not have any water, which is probably an issue because we normally drink a lot of water.
And this train day is 11 hours.
So we're going to try and get on the train and then I'm going to try and run to a convenience store.
And hopefully I can make it back in time to not miss the train.
Okay, so we realized that our train car is like almost at the very end.
So we decided that I would wait in the middle here and Zach would run and get four waters.
Hopefully that's enough to last us through the day.
And then he'll come back and then we'll get on the cart.
Third class train isn't set up like most trains.
It's like there's two bunks and then there's one on the side next to the window.
So we're here on the side. One's above the other.
And hopefully we can sit together. We don't really know what's going on.
There he is. Our champion. Our champion of water.
This train is ridiculously big. We have to walk like a quarter of a mile all the way to the last car.
Our car is number 15.
Taking an Uber.
We just had to walk like a mile.
We ran. We probably shouldn't have come this late.
But we're here now. We're going to sleep for the next 11 hours.
So we're trying to stay hydrated.
Okay, so I was wondering how you're going to fit all these people in such a small area.
The train car is the same size as our second class one which wasn't that roomy.
So what they did was made these beds a lot smaller.
I've heard stories that people fall off of these beds really easily and I can totally see why.
It's barely wide enough. I don't think it's wide enough for my shoulder.
And we're moving right on time.
I originally was like we shouldn't be in this area.
They wanted us to be on that side. Like right next to each other so we could see.
And then I saw that this area had like a seating place.
So like we could sit here comfortably the whole ride.
And we won't be able to lay up if we're tired.
Okay, just to give you some insight. It is really hot on here.
However, they do give you like sheets and bedding which last time we didn't put on.
Because our beds are pretty nice.
But now they're looking a little more used.
So it's basically just like a pack of two sheets.
One for putting down and one for putting on top of.
Some like padding.
And then like a cover to put over your pillow.
And a hand towel for when you sweat.
This actually isn't that uncomfortable.
It's like really small so I can't sit up in here.
But it's pretty relaxing and it's a lot cooler today than I thought it would be.
Okay, so we have stopped for the first time.
We are six hours in.
On our last train we went on we stopped like five times.
So this is a lot different than that one.
There's like no one outside selling anything either.
So I'm thinking this is like the express train straight to Kiev.
Came from Odessa all the way over here and we are finally turning towards Kiev.
So we've come to a stop and everything's gotten a little bit hotter in here.
But we wanted to tell you guys that this mode of transportation in a third class cabin is very inexpensive.
We spent eight US dollars each for our tickets to get all the way from the Black Sea all the way to Kiev.
That's such a far ride.
And the train we took to Odessa, which was a second class cabin, was $25 each.
Yeah, it's a little bit nicer but it's still the same temperature.
There's no air conditioning anywhere.
So this is really the way to go.
We have made it to our train station.
That's like a 10 minute walk from our Airbnb.
However, this train is moving on so we have to get off early.
It feels absolutely amazing out here.
After being on a kind of warm temperature train all day long, it feels nice to be outside finally.
And to stand up.
The weather is just so nice.
We've avoided yet another rainstorm.
We got to Odessa, we avoided a storm.
And it's just really nice here.
It is.
You know, this whole experience has really taught me something.
I will never walk on a train track ever again in my whole life.
Why?
Because poop falls directly on the tracks.
And you know, I'm just sorry if that's a little graphic.
It's just not something that I'm willing to put myself through.
I didn't know it happened until just now too.
But you know, lessons you learn from travel.
Now getting into an Uber that's $0.50 to go across the city.
We made it!
We made it to the center of town.
This is going to be amazing.
We haven't been in a city this big since we were in Southeast Asia.
You think so?
Yeah.
Made it in the first part of three parts.
Okay, so it wasn't in this building.
Apparently it's another building across the street.
Going up to the third floor.
Room tour!
So we're here in Kyiv and this is our apartment.
We have an actual kitchen with all the stuff and all the things.
And we're going to make so many good meals in here.
And what's crazy about this place is that it has really high ceilings.
I feel like we're in a museum.
And we have two bedrooms.
Not one, but two.
A whole bedroom, seating area, big TV, and a second bedroom.
Which we've never had before.
So for our friend that's coming to visit us tomorrow, he has his own bedroom.
That's crazy.
And we have a huge bathroom and a washing machine.
It's great.
It's going to be great.
Everything's great.
We're going to have so much fun here in Kyiv.
I'm so excited because the last place we stayed was super sketchy.
So now I get to relax.
And we have a balcony.
Thank you so much for watching this video.
I know the Airbnb parts are like, what are you doing?
But we just feel like we want to pass the mental test.
You go through a strenuous day of 11-hour train travel.
And then you get to the ultimate destination.
And you're like, okay, now we've got to do three different doors.
Get the key from this place.
Go to this place.
Go to the third floor.
Does this even lock this door?
What's going on?
So that's why we show you that part because it's really interesting to us.
So tell us if you don't like it or if you do like it in the comments section below.
It's not really interesting.
It's hard and difficult.
I think it's interesting.
Thank you so much for watching this video.
It was really nice to do the train today.
Yeah, it was.
It was our last Ukraine train and it was amazing.
That's crazy.
And we have fun.