We woke up really early to find that we crossed a time zone and woke up late. Then we spent 2 hours in a bank to exchange money from euros into euros. Kind of hard to explain so I won’t even try this time all I know is that I paid 15 euros to do the transaction.

So we left really late towards Rivne and crossed the town of Lutsk in the process. The only thing I can say about this crossing is that I tried to buy a drink at a store and the lady wouldn’t unlock the fridge for me and the only thing she could say in English was "no drink... no drink". Utterly amused by this situation I couldn’t help but grinning just a little.

So we made it to Rivne which ironically means flat or smooth in Ukrainian. Ironically because it is built on a stretch of hills like San Francisco. Deadly for my tired muscles but a little refreshing to not be able to see for 100 km in every direction. We were invited to stay at Dan's friend's house which was on the 7th floor in a little high-rise on the north side of town. These hills almost killed me.

Tanya had sent over a friend named Andrew to meet us and show us around the apartment. He was really nice and it seemed that he was worldly too. Friends all over the world etc. had a good feeling about him like I cold trust him.

We got up at 5 this morning to find out 2 hours later that it was 6 in fact! After a warm cup of coffee and all kinds of blessings from the farmer, we hit the road to Lutsk. We decided to change some American travelers’ checks and 2 hours later we got 500 euros and a tax of 30 Euro exchange! Chris was angry, not only had we wasted 2 hours of our time but also money for one night in a hotel! It was 10.30 in the morning when we finally hit the road again.

And it was 5 pm we finally arrived in Rivne! It was quite the rollercoaster to get there! Up, down, up, down, and again up, down! Was this ever going to end!!?? I was so tired by the time we saw the actual sign of the town that I could not remember my name!

Chris managed to call our contact who was generously offering us to stay at her place. You will see a church on the right and another on the left, a guy with a red t-shirt and black sleeves will be waiting to give u the keys, Tania said.

And there he was with the keys for a good night sleep or 2 nights because, we had decided we needed an extra day of rest!