Beautiful Ukraine!
Developed by: Krzysztof Danielewicz, 20.08.2012
Part III – Jaremcze, Bukovel.
While in Ivano-Frankivsk, at the tourist information point in the Town Hall, I learned that it was imperative for me to visit the village of Jaremcze, which is an perfect destination in Carpathians, very popular among Ukrainians.
Jaremcze is simply a beautiful village, with about 8,000 inhabitants, located 66 kilometres south of Ivano-Frankivska, already in the Ukrainian Carpathians. Before the war, it was 1 of the best-developed winter resorts, inactive popular during this period Zakopane and Krynica. Called the Pearl of Carpathians at the time, it had 2 hotels, guesthouses and villas. A very interesting object in Jaremcze is the railway bridge over the Prut River, designed by Stanisław Kosiński. He was hailed as the proudest works of road architecture on Polish lands. It had the largest advanced arch span in Europe at the time – 65 metres – and was a model for the builders of alpine railway routes. In 1928 the town was declared a spa. According to available sources, it is presently the main Ukrainian recreational and sports centre of the east Carpathians. From my observations, however, I can tell that specified a centre is built practically from scratch hotel Bukovel – the largest ski hotel of east Europe, about which later.
The city is very nicely maintained, there are fresh roads, sidewalks, promenades and park. From Ivano-Frankivska it can be reached by taxi behind 750 UAH, bus or train for an amount of about 137 UAH. There are presently plenty of hotels, guesthouses or private accommodation in the city. Ukrainians invest a lot in tourism, which is the main origin of livelihood for them here. Both visually and qualitatively Jaremcze does not quit on specified cities as Karpacz, Szklarka Poręba or smaller Polish mountain tourist destinations. For walkers close the city centre there are charming waterfalls of Zonka and Girls Tears. Both are located in front of the bridge on the Prut River, about 20 minutes of march on Hruszewski Street.
Like any attractive tourist destination, we have many souvenir stands and local crafts. We can effort delicious cheeses, sausages or drink local homemade liqueurs – price of 100 UAH for half a litre. The choice of alcohols is impressive: white, red, local moonshine or tincture on its basis, which in combination with local food products warrant a large remainder and pleasant atmosphere. You can besides buy custom-made shirts, dresses, etc., as well as very good quality leather and wool products. The impression is besides made by bags of dried trues at 150 UAH per 100 g and marinated mushrooms.
Jaremcze is besides practically the first village where we are already in Carpathians. Leaving the city southward, along the way we pass well-maintained towns with beautiful houses, frequently wooden, in the Huculski style. We have unlimited possibilities to stay in many local restaurants, watch interesting first churches or have a delicious, fresh beer in the Huculski Brewery, which is located in Mikuliczin village at 68b Gruszewskiego street (www.hutsulbrew.com). We pass bike rental, quads, where the journey is guided on a motorcycle. The biggest attraction, however, is the expedition to the mountains with field cars, of which a large part are old russian uases of various versions. I personally scored 2 Uaz trips, whose effectiveness in overcoming the hills was almost unbelievable. My driver was Jura, who worked for many years as a cruiser driver in Carpathian forests. The price of course varies from the number of people in the car – with six people it may be a fewer 100 UAHs, which in a fewer hours driving after the roadless, entering mountains above 1000 meters above sea level does not seem excessive. During specified trips, we visit mountain waterfalls, meadows with serovars, meet interesting people, we can usage a fewer hundred-metre-long slide on the line, and everything is covered by routes which at first glance no car can beat. The final price naturally depends on the dimension of the way or the number of attractions we want to visit.
However, the ski hotel impressed me most Bukovel, located close the village of Polanica, which at first glance looks like the best alpine hotel from Switzerland. Being here, man cannot believe that he is in the Ukrainian Carpathians, in a country where there are so many negative myths and stereotypes. No Polish ski hotel can compare to Bukovel in any way. If we add problems to this in the east of Ukraine and deficiency of support from the European Union, then reality seems abstract.
There are many ski trails with a full dimension of more than 60 kilometres and various difficulty levels, many chairlifts, 7 large hotels (including Radisson), hundreds of apartments, many restaurants and cafes, multi-level parking lots, the ethnopark “Huculland”, the largest artificial lake in Ukraine, a line park, rollercoaster – Zipline, a three-kilometre toboggan track and many another attractions.
It's all very impressive. I especially urge the ethnopark "Hucul land", where you can taste all Ukrainian dishes. "Hucul land" is simply a communicative about the life of the mountaineers of Ukrainian Carpathians: Huculów, Bojków and Lemków. Everything at the highest level in the world. In the park, we frequently travel along line bridges, watch farmsteads with animals, farm buildings to scope the village at the end with a beautiful square, restaurants, fireplaces and church under construction. A wonderful adventure for both adults and children. The admission ticket costs 195 UAH, and you can besides buy vegetables to legally feed animals.
Another interesting event is the entrance by chairlift to the highest close mountain for 150 UAH. From above you can enjoy beautiful views of the full Bukovel resort, we can have dinner there or slide from the top on a 1130 m long roller and the 190 m difference – it is called Trolley "Bukovel". It has 3 ropes and is among the 10 longest in Europe and the longest in Ukraine attractions.
Another amusement is the mentioned largest artificial lake of Ukraine, over which you can relax on the beach and swim utilizing various kinds of equipment. The full hotel is an perfect place for active spending time, both in summertime and winter. During my stay, there were large sports competitions, during which players ran around the hills, defeated artificial rivers or swam in the lake.
Not far from Bukovel, there is another well-made ethnopark – Polonina Perci. Many buildings of conventional Huculsk architecture are located on the premises, where there are handicrafts workshops or Huculsk cuisine. It is worth planning a longer stay there, especially if we are going to have dinner. You can taste many delicacies of cuisine, drink good tinctures with countless tastes or perceive to Huculsk music.
