Apparently those roads were well used. The gravel road was more or less a main road, probably to a village, and even the mud road to the right were pretty well trafficked. Welcome to Ukraine!

After a breakfast consisting of Snickers, I started my 600 kilometres long day ride. I didn’t know it then, but it would be really boring, as it would be mainly highway and citys.

At lunch, I met a Ukraine and a German who was waiting on some colleagues for a work meeting. I had a nice talk, and the Ukraine helped me order. He also told me I shouldn’t drink the tap water, which I thought were normal, as it was still Europe.

The traffic in Kiev was chaotic. There were no big problems for me, but I kept to the one file most of the time, and just tried to go by the rhythm.

I had found a hostel for 3 euros which I was aiming at. When parked on the street, a guy outside a bar started helping me, and with his help I found it! Too bad it was in a basement, and smelled like mold. Also, the electricity was out, and there were no lockers. No way in hell I would stay at this place for two nights.

The guy made a quick google and found another nearby hostel, so he took me there, to Kiev Art Hostel. It was on the second floor, and the cost was 10 euro, which instead gave me my own room with a bunk bed, and a small balcony. Much better! There were maintenance on the water boiler though, so I had a really cold shower.

This was the first city I really stayed in, so I took the chance to get out and take a walk at random. I also bought a SIM-card, as internet is always nice to have.

As it was getting late I looked for a place to eat at, and TripAdvisor told me about a vegetarian restaurant nearby. I went there, and it was awesome, and really cozy! You had to take off your shoes when you came in, and you sat on the floor at pillows. When the waiter was going to take your order, they sat down opposite you, which was really cute! As the menu was in Ukrainian, I asked for a recommendation, and got a bean burger and a glass of Italian red wine. It was really nice, but I had to finish the burger by fork and knife.

I went to bed later than planned, and soon I would go to Chernobyl!