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”

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 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 a possibility 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.

Other Things to Bring

Prescription drugs, tooth paste, shampoo, moist towelettes, sun-glasses, toiletries. If needed an extra pair of prescription glasses may be taken.

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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. 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.

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Can I use credit cards?

Credit cards may be used throughout Ukraine. Most shopping will take place in kiosks and bazaars in village squares where you will need cash (US dollars or Ukrainian hryvnie).

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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 Art Travel 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 Art Travel.

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What about the Hotels?

We will only be staying in hotels of a high standard and which we have personally experienced to be highly satisfactory.

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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.

 

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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, Art Travel 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.

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Will we visit a genuine Hutsul wedding?

As we have done in previous years, we will, once again, do our utmost to arrange attendance at a real Hutsul Ukraine wedding in one of the villages.

Our group members were respected guests. 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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