Zaftra .....

...which is the Ukrainian equivalent of the Spanish 'manyana', and is the word which most seems to rule my life at the moment.
Got the Ukrainian permissions for exit on Monday, and eventually met up with the vet - but he then announced he was not qualified to complete the EU forms, and I was passed on to the customs veterinary department. Had a mad drive in Zhenya's Lada through the melting snow to Mukachevo twenty miles away, but too late to do anything on the day. So the following day Zhenya drove me out again, and we spent most of the day in a bleak office with peeling yellow paint in a run down building filling in interminable forms for both Ukrainian and Hungarian customs. A little tricky to complete the English and Hungarian EU certificates when the vet did not speak English and my Russian is severely limited to say the least, but with the help of Natalya on the mobile we managed somehow, and the forms were copiously signed and stamped.
Then it was off to a nearby office to scan and email twenty-three pages of bumf to Dr Halasz at Zahony.
Got back to the hotel to find he had emailed to say that one of the pages had not been filled in correctly, though happily everything else was OK.
Back again to customs this morning to correct, sign and stamp the relevant pages, on to the office to email them to Dr Halasz, and now I am back at the hotel waiting with bated breath for his response. Cross fingers all is positive.

Life here in the meantime has been reasonably comfortable, though the hotel has not had water for four days which has made the sanitary arrangements rather challenging. I have been scooping up snow in a saucepan and melting it on the radiator so I can have a cat-lick wash every morning.

The Ukrainian Department of Circumlocution Reigns Supreme

I am now back in the Carpathians at Y Tarasa, the small holiday complex where little Zorbee is stabled. The countryside is under two to three feet of snow, and it was topped up by another few inches last night.
I arrived on Wednesday, but was told that Nikolay Mihailovich the vet would not be able to see me until Thursday afternoon. But on Thursday I was then told that until the unfortunate Big Bolashak's body had been burnt and buried and Nikolay Mihailovich had signed the death certificate, he would not be able to complete the paperwork for little Zorbee's entry to the EU.
Some progress was made yesterday in that not only was the death certificate issued, but also the Hungarian isolation permission for little Zorbee to stay at the stables at Fonix Park near Mateszalka in Hungary.

So today I was hoping that once the EU documents had been completed, emailed to the Hungarian border vet service at Zahony, checked and OKed, I would be able to set off for Hungary with the horse.
But this is Ukraine, where nothing is ever straightforward as I discovered once again after waiting around for a couple of hours this morning. Firstly I was told that vets in Ukraine (or certainly not this part of Ukraine) do not work at the weekend for religious reasons. And secondly, although I was originally given 10 days to get the horses out of Ukraine and had to apply for an extension on medical grounds, apparently I now cannot leave here for Hungary without some sort of official permission. This cannot be sorted out until Monday. And of course I only have ten days from the issue of the medical results which I think was last Tuesday (but not sure!) to get the horse from Ukraine to Hungary.

So I must continue to kick my heels here. At least I have a very comfortable suite which even includes a jacuzzi, not that I intend making use of it! The room temperature was so tropical when I arrived that my butter melted and I had a restless first night's sleep, but I have now turned off the radiators and it is just beautifully cosy. I expect I will spend the weekend in my pad reading and drinking wine to drown my sorrows. I will probably give telly a miss as it is mainly limited to pop channels sporting scantily clad Ukrainian beauties writhing in hay barns and the like.

I would like to include a few photos, but in typical style I have forgotten the lead to download them from my camera.

Another Tragedy

If I have gone very quiet for the last few weeks, it is because I have been madly concentrating on negotiations to get the horses into the EU. Last weekend they fulfilled the 90 day requirement for importation rather than temporary entry, so it was decided to go for that.  Dr Halasz of the Hungarian border vet service at Zahony has been indispensable in identifying all the necessary documentation, and I have been frantically emailing the wonderful Natalia in Kiev to keep abreast of progress in the Ukraine. The horses had a series of veterinary tests over Christmas (all clear) and another set last week, giving me a week's grace to transport them into Hungary. So everything seemed positive.

On Sunday I set out to drive to Zahony, arriving late Tuesday evening - as the snow was whirling outside the windscreen for much of the way and the heating in the lorry is not working, my feet were like blocks of ice and I had to stop regularly at service stations to defrost.
I was expecting to spend today in the border vet offices double-checking requirements for both horses.
But this morning I received the tragic news that Bolashak (whose passport name is Sunkar) had unexpectedly died due to a freak accident. Apparently a couple of days ago he slipped and fell on ice, knocking himself out on the edge of a well. He received immediate veterinary treatment, and the vet thought he was recovering satisfactorily, but last night he was found dead in his stable. Another heartbreaking tragedy as he was a lovely easygoing horse who was proving increasingly perfect for the job in hand - a comfortable ride who was good to shoe, load, handle, tether, and in traffic. He will be difficult to replace but replace him I must.
I am plodding on with arrangements for little Zorbee, and intend to travel into Ukraine tomorrow with copies of EU approved Health certificates for the Ukrainian vet to fill in and sign. If little Zorbee crosses successfully into Hungary, then he heads straight for a 30 day isolation period that I have organised at a nearby stables.

Party, party

On arrival home I scarcely had time to draw breath before being plunged into Christmas festivities. There was a slight setback when Gethin announced at 9.30pm on Christmas Eve that the cooking gas had run out, but nothing daunted we all pulled together and produced an almighty spread, as my brother-in-law Russell had under-catered as usual ....the goose, duck, ham and beef could be roasted in the Rayburn and electric oven ..

... while copious dishes of vegetables borne by assorted members of the family appeared at intervals from the garden, as we had suddenly remembered about the electric rings in our outside cabin! I rustled up the bread sauce on my little camping stove.

The amazing Russell (aided by sous chef Gethin) produced another gargantuan meal for 22 people at our annual family dinner and quiz night a few days later, and for the same amount of guests the following evening!

On New Year's Eve the children organised a tremendous 'Second World War' party with Glenn Miller on the record player and the Dambusters showing in the sitting room ....

Here are Jane and Rhiannon the landgirl with their ration books - which entitled the bearer to nine shots of varying alcoholic beverages throughout the evening ... At surprise intervals an air raid siren (hired for the evening) went off and the assembled company trooped down the cellar - (last one down is dead) but at 11.00pm the 'end of the war' was celebrated with a Victory tea party - sandwiches, sausage rolls, pork pies, cakes, and tea pots filled with something that was perhaps a little bit stronger than tea!

Caradog DJing for Ffrwdfal Radio which was 'broadcast' through the house ...

Na Zdrovya!

All this was followed by a poetry reading in the library (William McGonagle!), fireworks in the front of the house at midnight and swing dancing in the drawing room - a certain couple whose names we shall not mention swung so enthusiastically that it incredibly resulted in a broken ceiling light! Those that were still standing finished up with singing round the grand piano until dawn broke - I gave up and went to bed long before the younger generation.

Thank you siblings for a wonderful start to a year I hope will be less difficult than the last.

Home Sweet Home

I am home at last, and just in time for Christmas!

The horses are now legally in Ukraine, at least for the time being. As little Zorbee was having veterinary treatment for an oedema, we submitted an ancillary medical report to Chop customs which I delivered Friday a week ago on the way home. Natalya Radonov emailed me shortly after to say that some military gentlemen had been round to inspect them and all was OK. This should give them about a month's extension, but I still have to be told the the exact date. In the meantime they are having a series of blood tests in the hope that I may still be able to get them into the EU.

While I am away they are in the capable hands of Zhenya, shown below with Hua.

Hua and I set off for home as soon as we had submitted the report, but even our journey home was not without stress. It took us 15 hours to cross the border into Slovakia, where I was fined 700 euros as I had not realised that one needed to buy a prepaid box to drive on the toll roads, we were stopped by German police for driving too slow on the autobahn, and then Hua was detained in Calais and refused entry to the UK even though he has a Canadian passport. We had to find a hotel for the night (and a restaurant with a large carafe of wine) while we decided our next course of action. Hua has taken the train to Paris, where I hope he will be able to sort things out and come over to Wales after Christmas Day.

We also had to drive through snowstorms on the way home, but Natalya says that this is good luck so perhaps 2012 will be a better year!

Update.

On Monday we put in a formal appeal to Chop customs for an extension of stay for the horses. We are now being helped by Igor Parkhomenko, the Managing director in Ukraine for the French freight company http://www.geodiscalbersonge.com/ and he has submitted the same in Kiev.
Today Natalia (and Igor) spent most of the day trying to find out what progress has been made. Eventually Natalia got through to Chop, only to be told that they had no knowledge of the appeal and no record of the case reference number! It was only after talking to them for about an hour that they finally discovered the appeal and have now logged it into their computer system. They also told her it would take about 15 days to process, until she pointed out that in two days time the horses will be illegally in the country. She has now got the name of an official (they declined to provide me with one when I submitted the appeal) and will contact them tomorrow for progress.
All very depressing, and I was only cheered up when Igor burst out laughing when I told him the saga!  I think I need to develop a Ukrainian attitude to Soviet style bureaucratic circumlocution.

Snow Wish

We are back in Ukraine! But not without setbacks, and it is not the end of our problems by a long shot, as I have only been given 10 days (effectively now 8 days) to get the horses out of the country.

Dr Halasz came to me on Monday to say that Hungarian customs had managed to communicate with one of the chiefs on the Ukrainian side, and I would be allowed into Ukraine so long as I paid a refundable transit deposit for the horses. We packed up rapidly and set off hopefully for the fifth time, but on reaching the other side, were once again refused entry. This time the veterinary certificate was apparently no longer valid again. And they had no knowledge of any communication between the Hungarian customs at Zahony and the Ukrainian customs at Chop.

I had reception on my laptop, and quickly went to email Dr Halasz for the name of the chief who had given permission. In doing so I found an email from someone who has been pulling strings behind the scenes and who had contact details for the chief at Chop. He had apparently been instructed to help. This had a magical effect, and although we had to wait a further 18 hours until the next day, by late Tuesday evening we were driving out of the border post, but not counting our chickens until we were some way down the road.
Waiting at the border.

However, the downside has been that I was only given 10 days to get the horses out of Ukraine. As this included the day waiting at the border post, and yesterday driving them out to the stables where they are temporarily staying, this effectively leaves a week. We are trying to get an extension, as this is not enough time to sort out arrangements. I cannot drive them to Russia myself as I do not currently have a visa, and sorting out the logistics of using a transport company, checking the documents are valid, and finding somewhere in Russia to take them will no doubt take longer than a week. The FEI are also looking at another possible option, but I do not yet know the outcome. I think they are annoyed that I jumped the gun in crossing the border, but I had to make a quick decision in a stressful situation.

In the meantime we are holed up at a holiday resort in the Carpathians, courtesy of our Uzhgorod contacts. The horses are in loose boxes and I have room with hot shower, TV (no English!) and this lovely view below over the restaurant to the hills.....
This was the same view this morning!....


Natalia tells me it is an Ukrainian tradition to make a wish when the first snow of winter arrives. I doubt if there is any need to guess what my wish will be!

If you want to stay at a little resort in the Carpathians, Raina-Polyana has large comfortable rooms with en suite facilities, restaurant, billiard room, outdoor swimming pool (summer) sauna, banya, and the attached stables where horses are for hire, and where Bolashak and little Zorbee are staying at present. See http://www.svalyava.ru/fainapolyana.html for photos and rates, even if you cannot understand the Russian text!