Once you finally arrive in Uman. The first order of business is to find your place to sleep. The real problem at this point is the lack of a working fone. With a working internet connection you can contact people, use google maps, play games, write blog posts, etc.
Without one, you are walking (literally) in the dark.
I had the foresight to make a copy of the map to the house i was staying at, and copied the address. I also made sure to come with a bunch of singles (dollars).
These are essential, especially when you first arrive, because the porters will carry your bags halfway across the planet for one or two dollars. And if your packs are heavy, which mine were, that definitely makes life easier.
Unfortunately I did not have the foresight to realize I would be trying to find the apartment at 4am in the morning. So although the porter and I were pretty sure we found the right spot, I didnt want to take a chance on waking the wrong people up.
Which meant walking back half a kilometer up and down a bunch of hills back to Pushkina street.
At this point i decided to go to the tzion and chill out till the morning. This was a great idea, but the guards were not letting people in with bags. So, exhausted, i put my bags down on the sidewalk.
A yeshiva student was walking by and wearily, i asked him if he knew of a place to crash. He said he himself is looking, I nodded and decided to simply relax for a bit.
Above I mentioned the need for internet and fone access. During the holidays, several different Ukranian telecom companies send representatives to Uman to sell and set up sim cards for people. Luckily, two of these guys were standing around 3 feet from where I was sitting and offered to set it up for me. One problem solved.
Then the yeshiva student came back and offered to sneak my bags into the tzion. I was a bit out of it, and decided why not. Without givin me a chance to change my mind, he grabbed my large bag and hiked it down the hill, to an unguarded fence which he climbed over via a rickety platform, onto a concrete ledge, then across a steep hill between houses, up five flights of stairs and dripped it off! I know this because i followed him the entire way. I really owe that guy
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