Day 48 – I left the hotel Belgorod and tried to find my way out of the city. In the absence of signs I made an educated guess and pulled up at traffic lights next to a 30-something taxi driver. I asked him if I was going the right way and he said follow me which I did. He drove to the outskirts and stopped and I went to thank him and offer payment which he refused. There are some nice people everywhere.

On the way to the border I saw a sign for insurance, stopped and bought some, 400 roubles (£8) for 15 days.

The border crossing was slow but eventually I got through and on my way into Ukraine. I headed south to Dnepropetrovsk (don’t ask me to pronounce it). I chose this city as it is the nearest location of a BMW dealer and I wanted to have an oil and filter change as I am already 1500 miles over the service interval. I booked into a hotel for 2 nights expecting I would have to wait until tomorrow for the oil change. I arrived at the dealer at 4pm and asked if they could possibly oblige me by arranging for the oil change tomorrow explaining my journey. The service manager said ‘no need for that’ I have the filter in stock, we will do it now which they did. That’s what I call excellent service.

I then had to tell a white lie at the hotel and say I made a mistake when booking yesterday and booked for 2 nights instead of one. That proved acceptable and so now I shall be on my way tomorrow.

What a revelation is Ukraine. European style motorways with countryside reminiscent of northern France. Better housing. Hotels and cafes you would want to stop at. Lots of new cars and an apparently high standard of living.

As I crossed the border my GPS suddenly woke up and recognised where we are. Good to have more than just the compass again.
Day 49 - not a lot to report. Started in the rain which became heavy after 30 minutes but then cleared up. Did 350 miles to Vinnica and may make Poland tomorrow.

Day 50 - Made an early start leaving at 7.15 on a cold damp morning. It soon turned to rain which continued for a couple of hours. Some of the roads looked slippery and glistened with the rain. Tram lines in the cities were an additional hazard to be given due respect.

I made Lv'iv in very good time but had difficulty finding my way out of the city. My map indicated the M11 was the route to the major border crossing point and I was heading out slightly to the north on the M10. I tried cutting across twice but gave up when after a short distance reached unmade dirt roads which with the rain turned into mud, and I didn't fancy that!!

After an hour I gave up and decided to go with the M10 as there seemed to be quite a lot of heavy lorry traffic and I assumed they knew something which alluded me. It led me to the border at the major crossing point from which I concluded my map must be wrong.

It was tedious and slow getting through the formalities on the Ukraine side but quite speedy on the Poland side. I notice that all the passport controllers and customs officials on the Poland side were women.

It was a warming sight to see those little gold stars on a blue background with EU in the middle. I felt I was back in the fold again; no more purchasing insurance; no more passport controls and border checks until I reach the Channel Tunnel. I felt I am with friends again and no longer an intruder.