Since summer, 2001, I went to Simferopol, Ukraine, four times: once via Kiev and three times via Istanbul, Turkey. Unless you really want to see Kiev, I highly recommend the IST-SIP route because it’s very cheap and enjoyable. In my latest trip, in May this year, I went to priceline.com for the round trip from Chicago (ORD) to IST. After making bid after bid I got a round ticket from Lufthansa for $500. I used an Istanbul agent ( Gönül at
travelersshop@superonline.com), for whom I became a frequent customer, to get a round ticket for IST-SIP for $288. Although you can save money by not staying in Istanbul over night, I always stay in Istanbul for at least a few days on the way to and back from Simferopol. Istanbul is such a fascinating city and there are so many places to visit, including several places which showed up in 007 movies. I’ll talk about it some other times. I made reservation for hotel with Gönül. The hotel, called Hali (meaning “carpet” in Turkish), is located, in my opinion, at the best place in Sultan Ahmed district, where many of historical tourist attractions are concentrated. You have absolutely breath taking view from the restaurant at the top floor of the hotel. You look over the magnificent Blue Mosque, Aya Sophia and Topkapi Palace. You are seeing two continents, i.e. Europe on this side and Asia on the other side. The hotel costs variably according to the time of the year and currency exchange rate. Last year (April and November) I paid $23 a day for two, which includes excellent breakfast. This year a single room cost me $30 in May. Lufthansa makes two stops, at Frankfurt and Munich, on the way to IST, but only one stop at Munich on the way back. KLM stops at Amsterdam only, both ways, but costs more. If you want non-stop flight, ask Gönül. She will find a deal with Turkish Air for a little over $1000 for ORD-IST-SIP. It is a steal! You don’t need a visa in advance since it is available right at counter next to the immigration gate. The price of the visa is going up every time I go to Istanbul. Last time it cost $100 to a U.S. citizen. By the way a Ukrainian pays only $10. Taxi from the airport to Sultan Ahmed costs a little over $10. Never take a microbus, which costs twice as much. Taxi driver takes only Turkish Lira; so, exchange your greenbacks to TL at the airport. When you pay to the taxi driver, count 0’s on TL very carefully. You are paying millions in TL. Bills 50,000,000 TL (50 million) and 500,000 TL (half million) have the same pictures with different colors. Save several 1,000,000 TL bills. I glue each of them on a homemade certificate to give my friends to make them a millionaire! Now about Simferopol. When you go to Simferopol, don’t check in your luggage at Istanbul too early, if you are in hurry. If you do, your luggage will be the last, which shows up in SIP airport. Remember: first in – last out. The bus will take you from the airplane to the immigration gate. Stand at the door of the bus and run as soon as the door opens at the immigration building. The immigration officer has inherited their business from Soviet. They seem enjoying their authority and take sweet time. Then customs officers do the same, only with more slowly. Practically every Ukrainian coming back from Istanbul carries a huge duff bag, inflated like a pregnant whale (although I have never seen one) with all sort of goodies they can’t get in Simferopol. The well-beat up bag is bursting at the seams, only to be restrained by ducting tapes. The officer opens every one of them and scrutinizes to the last chewing gum to make sure no drugs or unclaimed diamonds are hiding at the bottom. After this extensive search, you are not done yet. The luggage is X-rayed upon exit! This is the only airport in the world to X-ray on the wrong end as far as I know. There are some very inexpensive, comfortable hotels in Simferopol. There is also a hotel right at the airport. The name of the hotel is “Paradise.” I don’t know paradise for whom. It looks more like one of the housing projects in Chicago. Ukrainians have tremendous imagination, I guess. A suite costs about $23 a night. It’s quite roomy. Simferopol has many excellent restaurants. Food is terrific and extremely cheap. Crimea has many tourist attractions. Historical places, beautiful mountains and Black Sea resorts. Wine is exceptionally good. Oh, I should not forget: beautiful ladies, konieshno.
