FAQ's, Traveller Ethics & Important Travel Info

We welcome your questions and here you will find some of the most frequently asked.

 How much money should I bring?

Can I use credit cards?

How safe is travel?

What about the Hotels?

What is the “village experience”?

Where should I pack camera film?

Are there any flight issues?

Is there more to the Carpathians besides Mountains?

When will I receive the Itinerary?

What’s the “Gala Dinner & Celebrations”

What recommendations could I make based on my 39 years as a tour guide to Ukraine and as a professor at the Shevchenko State University in Kiev?

Will we visit a genuine Hutsul wedding?

Etiquette for travellers to Ukraine.

1. Travel in the spirit of humility and with a genuine desire to learn more about the people of your host Country. Be sensitive of the feelings of other people, thus preventing any offence to local people. This applies when you are involved in taking photographs.
2. Cultivate the habit of listening and observing rather than merely hearing and seeing.
3. Realize that often the people in the country you visit have time concepts and thoughts that are different from your own. This does not make them inferior, only different.
4. Instead of looking for “the beach paradise” discover the enrichment of seeing a different way of life through their eyes.
5. Acquaint yourself with local customs; what is courteous in one country may be quite the reverse in another. People will be happy to help you.
6. Instead of the western practise of “knowing all the answers” cultivate the habit of asking questions.
7. Remember that you are only one of thousands of tourists visiting this country, do not expect special privileges.
8. When you are shopping, remember that the bargain you obtained is possible only because of the low wages paid to the maker.
9. Do not make promises to people in your host country unless you can carry them through.
10. Spend time reflecting on your daily experiences in an attempt to deepen your understanding. It has been said that what enriches you may rob and violate others.
11. Take a journal and record this wonderful journey to share with your loved ones.

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Electricity

The standard electrical current in Ukraine is 220 volts. Clients having North American electrical devices need an adaptor/transformer.

International Time

When you come to Ukraine you should remember that Ukraine time is 2 hours different to Greenwich Mean Time. Time clocks are advanced one hour from the last Sunday in March to the last Sunday in September.

Ukraine is seven hours ahead of Ontario.

Clothing

Ukraine’s fall weather is similar to central Canada. Take casual clothing...easily washable and dryable. Good walking shoes. You may wish to take more formal attire as you may attend concerts, wedding and farewell party. Take a compact rain coat as rain is possible at any time in Ukraine.

You don’t have to, but you may choose to “blend in” and dress as they do in Ukraine. Instead of shorts, we suggest skirts, dresses or slacks for women, long pants for men. (Jeans for younger people are everywhere). We recommend avoiding baggy jeans and flashy coloured clothing if you want to blend in.

In Holy Places head covering and long dress/skirt for women, and long pants for men are recommended.

Other Things to Bring

Prescription drugs, tooth paste, laundry soap, shampoo, moist towelettes, sun-glasses, flashlight, alarm clock, photo supplies, toiletries. If needed an extra pair of prescription glasses may be taken, tums, immodium, pepto-bismol, ex-lax, aspirin, insect repellent etc.

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How much money should I bring?

It depends on how you plan to spend your money.

Remember, all meals, hotels, and transportation and most admissions to events are included in the ALL-INCLUSIVE package. On a past tour, one person brought $100.00 US, spent $50.00 on tips and the balance on bottled water, ice cream, and some small souvenirs. On the same trip, another person brought $2000.00 US, gave most of it to relatives, and spent the rest on embroidered tablecloths, shirts, blouses, and other souvenirs. You are allowed to bring up to $10,000.00 US to Ukraine, and you are allowed to bring back duty free goods valued at $750.00 Canadian, which is approximately $630.00US

You may want to buy a money belt or bag to wear on your waist, or a cloth money bag that hangs around your neck underneath a shirt or blouse.

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Can I use credit cards?

Credit cards may be used in larger department stores in the bigger cities. Most of shopping will take place in kiosks and bazaars in village squares where you will need cash (US dollars or Ukrainian hryvnie). Last year, some people used Visa credit cards to obtain cash advances in either American or Ukrainian currency. This year I will try to use my ATM bank card, my American Express card, or my Visa card. However in case it proves difficult to use credit cards, be sure to bring enough cash. All in all the people of Ukraine are accustomed to dealing in cash.

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How safe is travel?

Because of airport security, air travel is safe. While in Ukraine, we will have exclusive use of a Mlyn Tours bus driven by a qualified and cautious driver. We will not be using trains. Tourists who wish to visit with relatives in the villages of their forefathers will be able to make arrangements with Mlyn tours.

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What about the Hotels?

Some Hotels have yet to be renovated and improved. We will not be staying in them. We will only be staying in hotels that we have personally experienced to be highly satisfactory. In Lviv, for example, we will stay on a floor which was completely renovated one year ago. We are informed that the hotel in Ternopil has also recently been renovated.

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What is the “village experience”?

This year I am planning to entertain the group with a gala concert and dinner in a village, as well as a visit to a selo so that tourists can experience for themselves what life in a village is all about. Tourists will have an opportunity to interact with the villagers regarding their employment, salaries, government, etc. For those who do not understand the language, there will be a question and answer session with an interpreter present.

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Where should I pack camera film?

Pack film in your carry-on bag, not in your checked luggage.

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Are there any flight issues?

This year Jarvis Group Travel has booked Air Austria from Toronto to Europe, so we will be changing planes in Vienna.

Where possible we will pre-assign seating so that everyone is sitting in the same section of the plane. Any time after boarding, feel free to exchange seats with others in our group as often as you like.

Tourists west of Toronto will meet in Toronto Airport. Tourists boarding in Toronto will receive instructions regarding boarding information. When checking in at the airport, identify yourself as a member of the group.

I recommend that you apply for a no charge Aeroplan membership as the trip will earn you almost enough Aeroplan miles to fly from Winnipeg to Toronto or Calgary return.

In past years tourists were able to receive this number at the check-in counter.

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Is there more to the Carpathians besides Mountains?

In addition to being one of the most beautiful areas in Ukraine, it is like going backwards in time. If you have read about life on a western Ukrainian homestead in the 1920’s and 1930’s, you will be able to see what it was actually like when we entered the foothills of the Carpathians. This is the land of the Hutsuls...picturesque mountain Shepards, famous for their crafts...a people who once believed (and perhaps some still do) that the forests hid rusalkas, green-eyed nymphs who asked riddles and tickled people to death.

While staying in Kolomoyia and Chernivtsi, we will visit places like Yaremche, Tatariv, and Kosiv. We will see people in their daily lives, tending their gardens, pasturing their cows, hauling hay in horse-drawn wagons, and other people plying their trades-weavers, potters, wood carvers and we will shop in bazaars and kiosks.

Change is coming to the area... you could be one of the last visitors to this way of life before the tractor replaces the horse.

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When will I receive the Itinerary?

You will receive a final itinerary on the date of departure or upon arrival in Kiev. It will basically be the same as the one attached however, even a final itinerary is subject to change due to unforeseen circumstances and or desire of the group.

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What’s the “Gala Dinner & Celebrations”

The evening before we depart for home, Mlyn Tours sponsor a celebration. Some people get dressed up, some don’t. Prior to the dinner, we will pool our tip money into envelopes for presentation during the evening. It’s a banquet and celebration of our good times in Ukraine...where everyone gets a chance to say whatever they want about their experiences. Later, the band arrives and its kolomeyka-time.

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What recommendations could I make based on my 39 years as a tour guide to Ukraine and as a professor at the Shevchenko State University in Kiev?

For all those who have never been to Ukraine, and decide not to join my tour, I strongly recommend that you visit Ukraine at least once in your lifetime. It will be an experience for you that you will never regret, nor forget, and one you will cherish.

Another recommendation is that you avoid going with a large group (many groups accept up to 60 tourists) if you are looking for personal attention, harmony, friendship, and an exciting and rewarding holiday.

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Will we visit a genuine Hutsul wedding?

As I have done in previous years, I will, once again, do my upmost to arrange attendance at a real Hutsul Ukraine wedding in one of the villages. In 2008 our group was invited to such a wedding where over 500 guests were in attendance.

Our group was sitting at the head table with the bride and groom. It was, indeed, one of the many highlights of the tour, as our tourists were the main attraction at the wedding.

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