On the edge of civilization: 5 beautiful places in Transcarpathia (PHOTOS, VIDEOS)

The Village Ukraine and the Ukrainer expedition tell about the little-known and colorful places of Ukraine

TEXT: Bogdan Logvinenko

Suria tea-house

Suria is a cozy tea-house in the Carpathians, on the Mount Hemba, which you can get to by cable car. The cabin smells of wood, and mushrooms and berries for pancakes are gathered in the forest nearby. The coffee here is brewed on two sands specially brought from Georgia and from the banks of the Ganges River. The founder of the tea-house Yulia Omelchenko considers the view from a window the highlight of the establishment.

"My highest idea is to see this world as a beautiful place," – Yulia Omelchenko, the founder of the Suria tea-house says.

Rescuer of the Yavirnyk

Yanko Derevlyany has been coming to the Yavirnyk mountain for 43 years. He is an artist, sculptor and architect, but he chose the mountain as a place for creativity and unity with nature. Yanko is inspired by Gaudi and Calatrava, and he receives guests in a fairy-tale cabin on the edge of civilization.

Cynadiyeve. Saint-Miklos Castle

Yosyp Bartosh was the first person in Ukraine to rent a castle. The ancient castle Saint-Miklos was used as a garage and dump.

"A 58-year-old woman came from England, and a 70-year-old man from Poland. They took shovels and joined other volunteers because they love Ukraine", – Yosyp Bartosh.

the village of Dubrynychi. Bike guest house

"Dobra Nuch" is an ecological bike guest house in the village of Dubrynychi in Transcarpathia. Alisa and her husband bought an old granary and turned it into a tourist facility. Every year, cyclists and backpackers come from all over Europe. Here, you can rent a bike and ride through the picturesque Transcarpathia.

In the guest house, there is a hostel, a bicycle shop, a banquet hall. The nature loving owners made a separate hotel for insects – "Insectenhotel".

Vynogradiv. Borzhava narrow-gauge railway

This is one of the few existing narrow-gauge railways in Ukraine. The width of the track is 750 mm.

The total length of the Borzhava narrow-gauge railway is 123 km. The first stage was put into operation in December 1908.

At that time, it was the railroad of the future. Such railways were springing up all over Europe like new models of smartphones nowadays.

"While before that it took one and a half days to get from Verkhovyna to the fair in Beregovo, the train reduced the travel time to three hours," – Denys Dobra, the chairman of the NGO "Borzhava narrow-gauge railway".

At present, the passenger service exists only on the stretch Vynogradiv – Khmilnyk. A diesel locomotive TU-2 made in 1972 runs on this segment. The cars are slightly more recent – made somewhere in the early 1980’s. The speed is 15 kilometers per hour.

Denys Dobra is fluent in several languages and guides tourist groups. Sometimes, festivals of lovers of narrow-gauge railways take place there. In winter, on St. Nicholas Day, the train becomes festive, children come from all around. On this day, Denys dresses up as Santa and gives presents to the children.

PHOTOS: Suria tea-house – Valentin Kuzan, Serhiy Polezhaka; Rescuer of Yavirnyk – Taras Kovalchuk, Serhiy Husakov, Vitaliy Mariash; Saint-Miklos Castle – Bogdan Logvinenko; Bike guest house – Taras Kovalchuk; Borzhava narrow-gauge railway – Valentin Kuzan.