From Baltic to the Black Sea #6

Simferopol, Crimea, Ukraine
3 September 1999

Dobree Dehn! Privyet!

(Hello in Ukrainian, Russian)

I am now in Simferopol, capital of the Crimean Autonomous Republic within the Republic of Ukraine. I arrived here this morning on a Belavia Belarusian Airlines flight full of Belarusian holiday makers (Crimea is the favourite seaside resort for the people of the former USSR) from Minsk. Now writing this email at the home of Eugene, a computer teacher whom I got to know on the internet, while awaiting for his wife preparing lunch. For the next 4 days, Eugene will drive me around Crimea for US$30/day plus petrol costs.

Crimea – a peninsula on the southern part of Ukraine facing the Black Sea, has always been a land of history. The Greeks built their city states here, one of which became the powerful Bosphoran Empire. The nomadic tribes came later, destroyed and rebuilt the cities… Eventually, Mongol-Tatars arrived and set up the Crimean Tatar Khanate, whose forces attacked Moscow from time to time.

Catherine the Great of Russia conquered the region and brought in the Russians who now constituted the majority here. The Tsars made Crimea their favourite holiday resort and Lenin declared Crimea the place for relaxation of the Working People. After the WWII, the Tatars were deported by Stalin to Central Asia and Siberia, only allowed to return in recent decades.

The Yalta Agreement, signed by Stalin, Roosevelt and Churchill at the resort of Yalta, Crimea, determined the post-war map of Europe. Khrushchev granted Crimea to Ukraine in the 1950s – easy for him as it wasn’t his – and since the breakup of the USSR, the region has remained part of Ukraine, although it threatens to join Russia from time to time.

The next few days will be an interesting experience exploring the past and present of Crimea. Will tell you guys more…

Short Note On Crimea

Hi chaps,

I had a great afternoon – visited the Crimean Tatar Khan’s palace at Bakhisaray and then trekked to two cave cities. They are located on plateaus above the Crimean Mountains – all of which resemble mini versions of South Africa’s Table Mountains or Venezuela’s tepuis – flat land on mountain top that drops suddenly at right angles. The ancient Gothic and Karaim (Jewish Turks I met in Lithuania) tribes built hilltop cities here to protect themselves against other invading nomads. Amazing place with great natural scenery. I have never seen anything quite like these.

Tomorrow I will visit Yalta and other places on Crimea’s south coast, as well as spending the night at Sebastopol – the great Black Sea Naval port. No access to email until a few days’ time…

See you,

Wee Cheng

http://travel.to/weecheng

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