Odessa What to Pack

Luggage and bags: Tapwater is not drinkable quality, so if you are staying for any length of time in an apartment, water will need to be fetched from standpipe stations - the folding type of water carrier taken in luggage might come in handy...

Clothing/Shoes/Weather Gear: 0dessa is prone to deep flooding at kerb edges when it rains heavily - waterproof boots would be a benefit...

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Contact lenses are available, but as with everything imported, more expensive than the west, so take spares...

Miscellaneous: Do not go to 0dessa thinking you'll be able to buy a map at TOURIST INFORMATION - no such place exists & I know of nowhere where a legible street plan is available, unless you're renting an apartment & your agent provides 1 - even then, it will be central to Deribasovskaya/Preobrazhanskaya, so not illustrate where the main bus station, or anywhere off the beaten track is - so before you go, look at an online site devoted to the city (there are a couple of American-funded 1's...) & either draw or print off a map from there...

Miscellaneous: If you have cell phone, you may have to get a SIM card from Kievstar or some other Ukrainian Cellular supplier, or it will not work in Ukraine. Even then it may not, I had trouble with mine even after getting a SIM card from Kievstar. You may have to use a certain access code to be able to call from your phone, check on this when you get the SIM card from the provider! Also, I know there are new services that promise your phone will work in Europe, make sure this includes Ukraine if you go there!

Toiletries and Medical Supplies: Ukraine is not as it was in Soviet days. All manner of items are readily available. Many supermarkets and convenience stores are open 24 hours. Some Pharmacies (Apothicaries, Chemist Shops) are also open 24 hrs, so if one needs mouth wash or band aids at odd hours, one usually doesn't have to search far to find a store that stocks such items. People here complain that now that capitalism has come that consumer items are available, but are expensive. To them, that is true, the average Ukrainian earns only about $100 US a month, so they have to watch every kopek. Prices are not more, usually less, than one finds in the US and I'm certain Western Europe. Ukrainians think a four-dollar cab fare from the airport to the city centre is expensive! Probably a 7mile (10 kilometer) trip. They should go to New York! Four bucks doesn't even start the meter!