Welcome to Kyiv (aka Київ)

Well, we have all made it to Kiev... well almost. Team Manager Ian is due to arrive on Thursday evening... The rest of us are here. Team Member Nicholas, Team Member Richard, Team Member Jeremy, and don't forget Team Physiotherapist/Masseuse/Go'fer Jenny all arrived safely at various times on Monday.

Here is the glorious view from our Hotel Room....


The metro runs until well past 1am, and the flow of cars never stops. We've started to think of it as 'white noise'.

We have had a handful of training events so far... We're using public transport. All the training areas and WOC event venues are in and around the City of Kiev. Most of the areas involve taking firstly the Metro (80 S.A. cents) followed by a jaunt in a 20-seater mini-bus taxi (R1.50 per fare).

Tuesday 14th August, A.M.
'Bykovnia'... a middle distance training area. This was a reasonably nice area... but the proliferation of nettles under the trees was a bit worrying! Over the first 4 controls, the mapping was... interesting. Thankfully it was easier to read when we got into the more contoured terrain on the southern half of the map. The area was mixed deciduous and pine forest over sand dune topography.


Tuesday 14th August, P.M.
'Zaliznychnyi', a sprint distance training area. This was located amongst some of the inner suburbs of Kiev, in between towering communist-era housing blocks. Once again reasonably nice area (apart from the nettle places...), but lots of dumped rubbish out in the forest. The area brought up fond memories of Olievenhoutsbosch.


Thursday 15th August, A.M.
'Vyshgorod', our first classic distance training area... and definitely a big shock. The area was covered by extremely steep gullies, generally between 15 and 30 metres high. The slopes were treacherous, even with O' shoes, the gully floors were flooded with nettles and bush. The marshes were also a bit off-colour. None of us found the orienteering experience pleasant and we are now dreading the Long Distance Qualifications and the Relay.


In our next blog:

• The wild dogs of Kiev
• How to read Cyrillic 101