07-Aug-2004 -- This was the first confluence we visited this summer. When we looked it up on the map, we figured this one should be easy, as it appeared to lie well within the city limits of Mikolaiv. Mikolaiv is one of the biggest cities in the Ukraine with a bit more than half a million inhabitants and traditionally is the home for most of the Ukraine shipbuilding industry. We started the hunt for the confluence point in Odessa. Because we went to Odessa by train, which takes 40 hours from Austria, we were a little tired at start.

The cheapest and fastest means of transportation between Odessa and Mikolaiv are the frequently going mini busses, which take about 1,5 - 2 hours. We got of the bus near the Zoo, about five kilometers from the confluence point, took a taxi to the docks and walked the last two kilometers. The confluence lies in the outskirts of Mikolaiv, in a district characterized by small houses with vegetable gardens, and unpaved alleys between them. On the way we could verify a rumor we had heard beforehand several times: In Mikolaiv most of the manhole covers are missing. It seems most of them have been stolen and sold as scrap metal. The gaping manholes themselves are used as trash cans, and cause a lot of accidents (especially at night).

We were worried that the confluence would be somewhere on private property. We couldn't have explained to a resident there with our virtually nonexistent Russian, why he should let a couple of suspicious looking foreigners run around in his house or kitchen garden.

But soon we found the confluence at the doorstep of one of the houses in one of the little alleys in the area. We started making the pics and verifying the exact spot, and soon half of the Neighborhood was watching us, obviously we were quite a change in their Sunday routine. With a lot of hand waving we tried to explain to the bystanders what we were doing, but I think we didn`t quite succeed. Before we went back we spent some time at the zoo.