When living or travelling around Ukraine (and Kiev in particular), eventually you’ll find yourself forced to get a “spectacular” marshrutka ride. Due to poorly developed public transport system pretty often - that's your only chance to get from point A to point B.
What the hell is that?
Marshrutka stands for "rout bus" (marshrut a.k.a route) and pretty like any other sort of public transport each number goes according to a specified root with stops on demand (and without any specific timetables unless it’s suburban or intercity routes). I was really surprised to discover such a lengthy and detailedarticle on Wikipediaabout these beasts with a lengthy history of its evolution through the last decade and a list of breeds to be found in different post-Soviet cities. I know just one other city in the world where these things exist – Manado, Indonesia. Yet, they have really fun peculiarities there. The most common marshrutka type for Kiev today is a big yellow Bohdan which is I’d say quite okayish. At least, it’s billion times better than his ancestors like Gazhel (rarely spotted in Kiev, still popular in smaller cities).
Good old Gazel
Sometimes I think that
marshrutka drivers are super-humans (and the most reckless drivers of all).
These guys are so multy-purposed that they manage to:
- collect the fair while driving
- count the amount of people who entered and demand the fair
- drink coffee
- smoke
- bitch with some passengers
- on the contrary, be friendly and talk all to the passengers all the time.
- murmur loud some song on the radio
- announce stops
- actually drive (and watche the road?)
The marshrutka is ugly for numerous reasons: - nervous underpaid drivers - always crowded - absolutely uncomfortable - you can't get in, you can't get out: it's freezing in winter and so hot in summer, the list can go and go on… - prices are set randomly by private owners.
When you get out (thanks, God, I'm alive), you feel angry and exhausted already and it's been just half way to your destination (sigh). Guess, that's one of the reasons why people in Kiev don't smile much as it’s often said. The ultimate guide to surviving your marshrutka ride:
- Prepare the exact fare. When getting in through the front door you'll have to hand it to the driver directly. Otherwise, you'll have to pass is through the chain of people with "Peredajte, pojaluysta" (a.k.a. "Pass the money, please" tapping on the shoulder). You'll be asked to do the same all the time, especially if you got a place at the front seat.
- Best location is single seats row on the right. You won't get a neighbor huddling you to the window and you can easily maneuver your way out.
- Try not to wear headphones with music loud as people will get irritated when you ignore their money-passing requests.
- Try to avoid getting your fair in change. When passing the coins, someone may drop them and you'll have to pay extra (or look it all up somehow).
- Usually, you have to shout for the driver to stop. The most common phrase is "Na ostanovke, voditel" meaning "On the stop, driver". Don’t be shy to shout out loud if you're ridding at the back door as the driver has music and may not hear you at all. - Try to plan your way out in advance. Front doors of backdoors? (via a huge woman with two huge bags or a pretty guy on the last step? hmmm) In rush hours you'll have to squeeze yourself between really tightly packed people.
- Keep
calm and be compassionate. Remember, people around you aren’t happy
with the ride too.
Have you
ever ridden a marshrutka? How was your experience?
