Crimea
Crimea
Crimea was inhabited by Proto-Indo Europeans, Cimmerians, Greeks, Scythians, Iranians, Goths, Huns, Bulgars, Khazars, Kievan Rus (Ukrainians), Byzantine Greeks, Kipchaks, Mongols, Tartars, Ottomans, Germans, Russians and now Ukrainians again.
The area of Crimea or Krym in Ukrainian is now mostly inhabited by Russian and Ukrainians with a Tartar minority. Although Ukrainian is the official language of Ukraine, de-Russification has not occurred in the semi-autonomous region of Crimea as successfully as in other areas of Ukraine.
In the summer, tourists are the modern Cimmerians. Crimea is not for the faint hearted tourists, for traveling to Crimea for vacation is not like Western Europe where people speak English and you have phoofy amenities. Paris Hilton would not feel ok here, however, who needs Paris Hilton in Crimea anyway.
Crimea is just an exotic landscape and ancient surroundings. Crimea is relatively safe and the people you will see on a Crimean beach are mostly friendly Ukrainians and Russians coming down to sun themselves. Crimea is a semi tropical, with olive groves, orange and palm trees. It’s a popular resort for everyone from the CIS and a few off the beaten path type travelers. I hope to vacation in Krym - Crimea sometimes this year.
The language in Crimea is Russian and Ukrainian, but I will try to speak Ukrainian there, as most people understand Ukrainian even if they are Russian. Russian on the other hand is not as welcomed in Western Ukraine, because of the oppression the west experienced under communist rule. My starting point coming from Krakow will be Lviv. I will arrange things from Lviv, brushing up on Ukrainian is a good idea. The 24-hour train ride from Lviv to Crimea will cost about 15 dollars.
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