Hello dorongs

usl's right: there's no direct crossing from Romania to Ukraine: the delta of the Danube is too bloomin' wet [and politically sensitive..]

Having been told that morning "by the head of the Romanian coastguard" that the following was impossible, this is the route I took in November:

[Bucharest to Galaţi -- straightforward; choice of northern or southern highway]

From Galaţi - head for the Giurgiulesti crossing in to Moldova. With an EU passport/ bike I was waved through Romanian customs.

Moldova took a little longer - an hour and a half to cover 1.5miles of pothole and cowpat from the Romanian frontier to the Ukrainian border post. There was a €10 bill for "road tax and insurance" -- have small bills to pay for that -- and an incredibly friendly, French-speaking Moldovan border guard at Giurgiulesti.

Entry to Ukraine was also slow but straightforward. There's at least one kiosk selling cheap insurance for Ukraine and green card cover for the rest of Europe if you need it.

Ride on to Izmail, find the only hotel in town and fall in love with the receptionist. I did.

Oh hang on, you wanted to go on to Odessa! It's another 250km or so -- that was a full day in November -- you can avoid passing through Moldova again [on the main E road.. no idea what those border posts are like] by riding the terrible road through Tatarbunary and then heading off right/ south towards Bilgorod-Dnistrovskiy. It's a smaller road but in much better condition. You swing past that town to the coast and then head north in to Odessa. Which is a verrrrrrry interesting place.

More words and pictures of potholes:
Beside the Seaside
and
Beside the Seaside

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