Karl Marx Avenue (Wikipedia Sourced Photo) |
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“Always
think of what is useful and not what is beautiful. Beauty will come of its own accord.” – Nikolai Gogol.
They weren’t marked on rail timetables but
the train would stop there. There was no
indication on bus routes apart from the name of a tiny village nearby or a kilometre
marker. There was no demarcation on publicly
available maps and as for postal delivery letters and parcels had to be
addressed with the name of a nearby city as a code. I’m referring to the cities that didn’t
exist, the cities where residents underwent security checks before moving in
and were sworn to secrecy thereafter concerning their classified addresses.
What follows is advice for the traveller:
what to do when facing that particular predicament of having nowhere to stay in
a city that sort of didn’t exist. Secrets
can’t substitute, after all, for a watertight roof and a pillow.
During the summer I reached that “place”,
the one that, well, I’m not entirely convinced I should name, but as it’s
acknowledged and open these days I suppose it might be okay to write it just
once. Wait. It might be better to put it in square brackets:
[Dnipropetrovsk].
Home to over a million people, that place was
once a key centre for the nuclear, arms and space industries of the Soviet Union , the reason it was closed to foreigners
until the 1990s. It’s an attractive place,
or non-place, set on the meandering bank of the majestic Dneiper
River that roughly divides Ukraine into
east and west. It’s a location of slight
undulation surrounded by rich agricultural land of the sort that led Ukraine to be referred to as the bread basket of
the Soviet Union .
The “city” itself is a typical Soviet
showpiece if slightly more polished than average: it has its Lenin Square
watched over by a Lenin statue; the broad tree-lined, tram-lined Karl Marx
Avenue is there, at several kilometres in length; and the Karl Marx traffic
lanes are separated by a parkland strip where artisans set up easels to sell
paintings and stalls for handicrafts, and there are benches for loitering and
street food to enjoy. In summer the Karl
Marx strip has a fairground quality. In
another park is a collection of old Soviet tanks.
That “city” is the third in Ukraine to have
an underground metro and it might’ve been one of the privileges that closed
cities enjoyed. Residents of closed
cities were given salary bonuses and better housing in Soviet times. But by 2002 when I was there, it wasn’t the
city’s former secrecy that was the problem as much as a lack of reasonably
priced hotels. It was a difficulty
shared across Ukraine , where
the break-up of the Soviet Union seemed to
have been easier than the break-up of Intourist.
In the Soviet Union
foreigners were restricted to state-run “Intourist” package tours and in each
city would be at least one, generally enormous, state-run Intourist Hotel to
cater for them. Those hotels were still
running and remained grossly overpriced with the cheapest room for perhaps US
$50 per night and with that "city" having been a closed city there might not even have been an Intourist Hotel there. But even if there was, the room rate would have been approximately
half a month’s salary for my Ukrainian teacher colleagues. I stood on Karl Marx convinced that I
shouldn’t pay so much either. Rather, I
contemplated what Ukrainians would do: they would not be staying at any former
Intourist Hotel. They’re much too street savvy.
After a few moments the answer found me:
Ukrainians would stay with friends. Problem
number two: I had no friend in that “city.”
After a few moments the answer found me: I
did have a friend in Kyiv who I’d always thought was clever enough to devise a
successful peace plan for Israel-Palestine if she sat down for a few minutes
with a pencil and a notepad. She’d
certainly given an impressive speech once at the Toastmaster’s Club. Perhaps it would be worthwhile calling
her?
I collected kopiyok and hryvnia coins from
my wallet, knowing that public phones ate them rather rapidly and there’d need
to be a good number in hand to push in at speed for extra credit. I dialled the phone number and you know, when
I think about that “city” I also start to wonder if I should name said
“friend.” Who’s to say she isn’t
classified? Although, as she does tend
to use her own name, I suppose it might be okay to write it just once. Wait.
It might be better to put it in square brackets: [Stacia].
‘I’m in [insert city name here] and I have
nowhere to stay,’ I said.
‘Call me back in ten minutes,’ [insert
friend name here] replied.
It was as a Soviet storyline, standing on
the footpath waiting for ten minutes to pass.
I watched the comings and goings and without reason tried to look inconspicuous. Ten minutes later with a new bunch of coins
in hand I dialled again. The answer,
when it came, was all but Soviet-perfect!
‘There’s a Daihatsu on its way,’
aforementioned friend said, ‘It’ll pull up where you are within five
minutes.’ Needless to say I’d told her
where on Karl Marx I was; needless to say that in Soviet times it wouldn’t have
been a Daihatsu exactly.
In the allotted time said Daihatsu did pull
up at said curb in front of me. ‘Hi, I’m
Julia,’ said the driver, ‘You’ll be staying with us. Get in.’
The first stop was a stilt platform café on
the river for light refreshment, and I’m told that the bridge across the
Dneiper is 1.4 kilometres long. I’m told
that Julia’s mother is quite distressed that she won’t be able to talk to me:
she only speaks Russian.
Thereafter we reached the family apartment,
one of the Soviet many; and Julia’s parents, Sergei and Lidia have thought of
everything: keys to the flat, access to the fridge, phone number, huge dinner,
toothpaste available on the bathroom shelf and well, beer. It was wonderful! Lidia needn’t have worried about the
communication: she fired off rapid Russian and although I couldn’t distinguish
a single word, somehow the overall meaning seemed to get through; or at least,
the gist. It was just like my friend Jayanta’s
mother used to do in Bangla in Kolkata.
Before leaving, Lidia kind-heartedly gave
me a book, in Russian, duly inscribed on the inside cover in Russian Cyrillic
lettering, as a memento of the short time we shared. Although I can’t read it or the inscription,
to me that little book is priceless. Well,
I’m not entirely convinced I should name the author, but I suppose as he is
internationally renowned it might be okay to write his name just once. Wait.
It might be better to put it in square brackets: [Gogol].
[Important: Do not circulate or discuss this
article. Forget what you have read.]
A Russian stamp featuring that author. from Wikipedia |
Also classified are the National Secrets of Kyiv to the west, a meeting with Mrs Val to the east, or a bit further still.... go swimming with Osama. Because it's best to keep busy.
This article also published in Star Magazine, here: Article Title [Classified]
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