By Joe Lindsley
The sound of rapid water amid tolling bells; the feel of mushroom-filled forests in autumn or an outdoor herbal hot tub in winter; the thrill of skiing, hiking, biking through grand vistas: North of the Ukrainian city of Uzhhorod, the Uzhanska valley is a place for good emotions, as a new tourism video adeptly shows.
Zakarpattia, or Transcarpathia, is a Ukrainian region bordering Poland, Slovakia, Hungary, and Romania. It’s a region of mountains, valleys, and vineyards–and a cuisine formed by the fusion of several cultures. Filmmaker Bogdan Kozachuk, based in the oblast capital, Uzhhorod, has made a video promoting the nature of the region, in all seasons.
««It was a long play, because we wanted to show a couple of seasons,» says Bogdan. «So we had shootings in winter, spring, and summer. Approximately it took us half a year to finish all the shots.»
A chan is a Carpathian outdoor hot tub, heated by a wood-burning stove and filled with herbal water. Source: from the above video.
The video, with support from the Ukrainian Cultural Foundation, a state agency, is part of Discover Uzhanska Valley (пізнай ужанську долину), a program created by Lyudmila Suzeva. Through the project, which you can access here, you can select different audio tours, in English and Ukrainian, led by a variety of guides who share history and guide you along recommended routes.
«Me and my partner in crime and good friend Anton Ryzhykh started to plan a couple of trips beforehand, to explore the locations and manage the time and places,» says Bogdan. «For me personally, it was also a special experience, because I am familiar with most places of that area. My grandparents live in that part. So since I was a kid I had the chance to explore it a couple of times. But I also was surprised by some locations that I entered for the first time.»
«So basically to make a promotion for my homeland region and discover more on the way was the reason why I wanted to do it personally.»
«I’m just a guy who likes moving pictures,and sometimes can make a living out of it. And no I don’t shoot weddings.»
You can see more of Bogdan Kozachuk’s work at his Vimeo page.
The climate in Transcarpathia, on the other side of the high mountains from Lviv, tends to be sunnier and a bit warmer. If you want to visit the region, Uzhhorod is a good homebase, with many hotel options. It’s a city known for its cafés, coffee, wine, and cuisine. Read more here: «In Uzhhorod, ‘Coffee is a Power That Holds Us.’»
By Joe Lindsley
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Lviv Now is an English-language website for Lviv, Ukraine’s «tech-friendly cultural hub.» It is produced by Tvoe Misto («Your City») media-hub, which also hosts regular problem-solving public forums to benefit the city and its people.
