22-10-2006

I awake early enough to take a photo of the sun rising over my tent. A beautiful sight. I pack up and head for the Ukrainian-Polish border. Oh, how I long to be in Europe again. The downside of using a major highway are the long queues at the border. This crossing is no different. Procedures here are more streamlined however and beside a retarded Ukrainian customs officer that cannot believe that I am not smuggling anything out of the country, all goes well leaving Ukraine. The officer wants to check all my luggage, but does not really do a thorough search. He keeps asking if I have weapons of any kind, historical objects or drugs. I have to disappoint him. He cannot believe that I have been travelling in Russia without a weapon or that I did not buy one to bring one home. Well anyway, there is nothing he can 'confiscate'. I doubt that he will officially confiscate anything, he will probably used it for his own benefit. Yes, my apologies if I seem a bit harsh at jumping to conclusions, but I do not trust anybody in uniform in Russia or Ukraine. In any case the lovely lady at the Polish border is a sight for sore eyes. Just a check of my documents and the customs guy has a quick look at the luggage in my sidecar. "Welcome to Poland" they say and I am free to enter the country. I could have cried for joy, this is the first time they actually welcome me to a country. I also feel welcome and love the European look of the towns and villages. The E40 is a good road here and the bad spots are soon to be a thing of the past as road construction is ongoing all over the place. Speed limits are generally observed and pedestrians can cross a zebra without fearing for their lives. Sidewalks are perfect and everything just makes me love the European Union. What a great Union we live in. The sun is going down and I find a nice spot in the Polish fields.