Plan B phase ii

OK – so it’s probably about time we ‘fessed up. Ever since Teresa and Sam left us in Gatwick, we’ve had it in our sights to head to the Ukrainian border. We agreed we’d try and get into Russia first and foremost, but we realised we’d need a Plan B and so heading to Ukraine was just that.

When we didn’t get into Russia at Vaalimaa (no rubles), we headed to Narva via Estonia. We didn’t head into Russia here as things were escalating and it was becoming clear we’d have more than a nightmare trying to get out (at the other side, in Vladivostok). That and there was a high risk we’d run out of money during the time we’d spend crossing the mahousive country.

So we then decided to head to Kaliningrad, where we could get in and out in a much safer way. Access to funds would be less of a problem and we’d tell you when we were heading in and then when we were out (Lithuania doesn’t actually border the big ol’ chunk of Russia as we know it). We were super disappointed when we didn’t get into Kaliningrad as we realised our Russian trip was never actually going to feature time spent in Russia in any form.

So Plan B has been in swing for a while, but only in full swing since we got refused entry to Russia (and we were more powered with determination than before).

Yesterday we crossed down from Marijampole into Poland, through Augustow and Bialystok to Lublin. We slept near Chelm, about 30min from the Ukrainian border on the westside. I didn’t mention this in the post yesterday as I figured a few of you would end up unnecessarily worrying. We are safe and we will always assess the risks to make sure we are. Trust us!

(As I type, we're heading away from Ukraine and the next posts will explain how we are fulfilling our mission to help refugees.)