Kiev, Ukraine

If driving to Lviv was a real hassle, it was nothing compared to the drive from there on to Kiev. The city was well sign-posted and the roads were much smoother but my problems came from the long arm of the law, the police - who are not only everywhere but are mostly shifty characters too. I must have passed at least a dozen police checkpoints on the way and five of those pulled me over:

1 - Barely out of Kiev I passed my first checkpoint and, half expecting to be flagged down, I watched them closely as I passed. A minute or so later and a police car came speeding past with it's siren blaring and I pulled over to the side of the road. I had my documents seized and was asked why I didn't stop at the checkpoint when I was signalled to do so. Now, I take issue with this point as I am fairly certain that I was in no way signalled to do anything but I had to follow the police back to where the others were - which turns out to also be the police station.

After discovering I spoke neither Ukrainian nor Russian, one policeman pointed to a fine of 1530hry (£120 roughly) on a piece of paper. Now, I knew the deal with the police that a charge can be reduced to whatever you have in your pocket - which is then transferred to their pocket in a subtle motion. I had a pathetic 41hry on me (£3 - and not enough for a police bribe) so I was suddenly in trouble as he sighed and put my driving licence in his shirt pocket. Then I had a brainwave, "euro?" I said, "euro" he replied nodding. I had some knocking around in the back of the van so €20 lighter, and with a warning not to mention this to anyone, I was back on my way. You will keep this to yourselves, right?

2 and 3 - The next couple of times I was pulled over it was for a routine, if none-too-friendly, check of my documents and look around the van. After kicking the tyres and checking there was nothing they could do me for, I was left to go on my merry business once more.

4 - After seeing the police ahead, I checked my speed but was flagged over all the same. It turns out that both myself and the sat-nav were wrong in thinking this was a stetch of 90km/h road, it was infact (although not signed) reduced to 60km/h in this particular spot. They showed my the speed camera with a picture of me doing 88km/h and they had me. They knew they had me. I knew they had me. And they knew that I knew they had me.

The fine was supposedly 1700hry and they were clearly going to hold out for a pretty substantial bribe this time as they conferred to each other in the car. Having already given my cash away though, I had nothing on me so with the police holding my documents I was made to follow them back the other way for miles to an ATM. My clever story, thankfully which was believed, was that my bankcard would only let me take out 500hry (about £40) in another country. They begrudging agreed and after a discreet passing of money I was back on the road again.

5 - Nearly at Kiev I was pulled over yet again and by this time I was fed up and just wanted to get out of this damn country. The policeman made me open the rear doors and noticed I was carrying a football with me. We talked for a minute and our mutual rivalry with Liverpool (he was a Man Utd fan) and then with a joke and a smile I was on my way again. Maybe they aren't all bad eggs.

I reached Kiev, the most eastern point of my proposed trip, and stayed at Prolisok Camping. The site was full of various bible camp groups and people here for Independance Day with no room for little old me. Without another campsite anywhere near the city, I was luckily allowed to stay in the carpark with use of the shower and toilets for 25hry/night (a bargain £2) - result!

The first day, I biked the long trek into the city to visit the Pechersk Lavra (or Caves Monastery) - one of Ukraine's most famous sights. It is divided into the Upper Lavra, housing the majority of the better church buildings and courtyards, and the Lower Lavra where the actual "caves" are situated underground. Entering through the upper Trinity Gate, plastered with biblical figures brings you out onto the square with the spectacular gold-topped church, the tall belfry (currently being patched up) and the green domed cathedral.

The best part though is went you head down the hill to the Lower Lavra area and wander through the weird passageways which run under some of the other church buildings (really, too many religious building to keep track of). Lit only by your own candle, you move slowly through the passages which were once living quarters and underground chapels. Now they are lined with the green cloth covered bodies of former monks in glass coffins and people stop at every coffin (or indeed picture frame, piece of tapestry, section of wall, or anything else) in order to kiss it and say a quick prayer.

After leaving the monastery, I visited the park just to the south which is dominated by the massive Statue-Of-Liberty-like Rodina Mat. Known affectionately to the locals as "Tin-Tits", for obvious reasons, the huge soviet statue is to commemorate "Defence of the Motherland". The rest of the park holds various old tanks and war memorials too.

Going north brings you to another soviet style monument, Russian and Ukrainian men shaking hands under a massive steel rainbow. It is a nice place to stop for a beer and look out over the Dnipro river and the less reputable east side of the city which I am ashamed to say I never reached. While I was there, work was vigourously underway to set up stages and fairground rides ready for tomorrow's big day - Ukraine's 20 years of independance beckons.

The next afternoon, I went into town to join the celebrations. To my surprise, I was met by a wall of uniformed police, followed by a wall of riot control police, followed by a wall of military soldiers - each with more substantial weapons. Apparently there were some sort of religious protests to be going on in the city that day and there was no way the government was going to let it get out of hand and ruin the big party.

In town, huge areas of the main streets were pedestrianised for the day with lots of stages, kids activities, and shows ongoing in the afternoon. There was a breakdancing dance-off, a kids football cup competition, the obvious karaoke stage, a rollerblading high jump contest and skateboard park free-for-all to name but a few.

As the evening approached though, all eyes turned to the main stage on Independance Square (appropriately) where cheesy Ukrainian pop-stars took it in turn to perform with a break in between each one to showcase Ukraine's big moments in history on the big screens. It turns out no act is as popular here as any reference to boxing and the Klitshcko brothers or to football, Euro 2012 and Andrei Shevchencko.

When the final act finished there was a quick message from the president displayed before a monumental firework display over the city which lasted for nearly 30 minutes. The streets were lit up by this point with Christmas style lights stretching down the road and by the time the fireworks were finished, there was a strong smell of gunpowder as people finally made for the exits - a special night!

In the morning I set about exploring the remainder of the city, beginning at the two church complexes which look almost identical from the outside - big bell towers and surrounding walls - and face each other across a big road junction. These are St Sophia Cathedral and St Michael's Church. I should explain at this point that Kiev is very much a spiritual centre where western and eastern philosophies meet and as a result is peppered with numerous churches and cathedrals - people now flock from across the country to Kiev just to visit these famous church complexes.

St Sophia is definitely worth the visit and you enter under the big tower to the big green multi-dome cathedral in the centre (as well as a few other negligable buildings). Inside, the walls and ceilings are plastered with 11th century paintings, which the reading material dismisses as "graffiti", as well as alcoves of mosaic patterns.

Kiev's most successful ruler Prince Yaroslav has a tomb here while the upstairs area houses a gallery of modern religious artwork such as the picture below made from thousands of traditional Ukrainian hand painted easter eggs.

Currently under restoration work

Prince Yaroslav's Tomb

St Michael's Church is the smaller quainter of the two with a pastel blue exterior and golden towers. Inside it is a mix of gold and biblical chaps looking down from above.

Elsewhere there are a few other buildings of note. Starting with the old, there is the Golden Gate which used to be the gateway to the old town but appears to be right in the middle of the city. Then inside the parliament area is the Chimera Building, absolutely covered in the heads of elephants, frogs, antelope, crocodiles, etc, like some mental taxidermist's house.

Going up at the moment is also a brand spanking new stadium for the European Football Championships next year. It looks great, although far from finished, and I can see why UEFA are keen for them to get a move on with it.

It is a huge event in these parts with loads of Adidas stores popping up in all the host cities and plenty of people sporting t-shirts in anticipation of the tournament. I wait with anticipation of how the police will deal with thousands of decending football hooligans next summer.

Finally, there is St Andrew's church, a big colouful blue and white building topped off with dark green and gold domes. It looks fantastic on top of the hill but a big security fence stops people getting up close to it.

On the whole Kiev has been a great and vibrant place to visit and I couldn't have picked a better time with the sun out and celebrations in the air. It almost makes the whole driving experience in Ukraine bearable. Almost.