CULTURE CONTACT Cyclist gets look at Eastern Europe

A great disparity between wages and prices plagues the area, he observed.
By PETER H. MILLIKEN
VINDICATOR STAFF WRITER
TALLINN, Estonia -- When Boardman native Bob Lutsky crossed the Gulf of Finland to visit the Baltic States and Poland on his bicycling tour, he found a population making poverty wages but having to pay relatively high prices for consumer goods.
In Estonia, Latvia and Lithuania, which are known as the Baltic States, the average wage is about $2 an hour, he said. "Unfortunately, Western prices are starting to creep in, so they're really on the short end of the stick there," Lutsky remarked. His travels in the Baltic States and Poland were part of a 10,000-mile, 14-month cycling adventure that began in Oslo, Norway, in May 2003.
The Baltic States still have "a little bit of a Russian feel" because of the Russian influence while they were part of the Soviet Union, but they're becoming more Western as time goes on, he observed. "They have trains and buses, and the cities are quite modern," he said.
Because some Finnish natives settled in Estonia, the tradition of the sauna carried over from Finland into Estonia, but not into Latvia, Lutsky said.
Met with generosity
People were friendly and helpful in the Baltic States, allowing him to camp almost anywhere and often feeding him and giving him overnight shelter in their homes. He was in Lithuania when its people were glued to their TV sets to watch that country win the European basketball tournament and celebrated the victory in the streets that night.
When Lutsky crossed into eastern Poland, he found the people making the same $2-an-hour wage but paying double what Americans pay for fuel. Prices for computers, TVs, VCRs, microwave ovens and some clothing and food were equal to or higher than U.S. prices, he added.
But locally made bread and locally grown fruits and vegetables are "very affordable," and housing and health care cost less than in the United States, he said. "To make things even close to fair, [they] would need a 300 percent increase in wages with no change in prices," he said of the Polish economy. "People are very unhappy about what's going on," he added.
Lutsky then cycled through Slovakia before spending the winter in the Czech Republic, where he taught English and skiing to help finance his travels. He then flew from Dresden, Germany, to Antalya, Turkey, to resume his cycling adventure.
Turkish diversity
He cycled to central Turkey and south to the Syrian border, where he was denied a visa, then followed Turkey's Mediterranean Coast and visited Istanbul. Lutsky said he regards Turkey as "the most interesting country in the world" and his favorite for cycling. "It's a big country with a lot of diversity," with excellent food and "unrivaled hospitality," he observed.
Along its scenic Mediterranean and Aegean coasts, Turkey is modern and tourist-oriented, and the citizens are less traditional in their customs. "In some places, you feel like you're in western Europe," he noted.
Some 6 million tourists, many from northern Europe, vacation annually along Turkey's Mediterranean coast. "The mountains in the southern part of Turkey just dip right down to the sea," Lutsky observed.
In contrast to the modernity of the coastal areas, customs are very traditional in central Turkey. "Women still stay covered up. Some marriages are arranged" in the interior, he said.
Outside of the major cities, Lutsky said he was almost always invited to eat dinner, spend the night and have breakfast in private homes. He attributes that pattern of hospitality to travelers to the country's nomadic history.
The Balkans
However, Lutsky said the hospitality stopped when he entered Bulgaria. Although Bulgaria isn't a Communist country anymore, Lutsky said it was "the most strongly influenced by Russia" of all eastern European countries. "People are still afraid to talk to foreigners" and don't feel comfortable inviting anyone into their homes, he said.
Macedonia is "a small country, but it's very beautiful" Lutsky said, adding that its citizens are very interested in talking to travelers from Western nations. Its people have a strong sense of independence and individuality and want to project a distinct national identity, he added.
Lutsky then rode through the northern mountains of Greece, which he said tourists seldom visit, and he found both the roads and prices steep. "Instead of 20 cents for a coffee, you pay $2 for a coffee," he recalled.
He went on to Albania, which is making the transition away from Communism, was closed to outsiders for 90 years and required a visa for visitors until this year. The people are friendly and like Americans, he said.
Albania's roads are in disrepair, and its rural areas seldom are visited by foreigners, Lutsky observed. "The border guard had been there 30 years, and mine was the first American passport he'd seen," Lutsky said. "It's a very corrupt country in the sense that the police are very happy to accept $20 to turn a blind eye to any wrongdoing," he added.
War-torn nation
In Bosnia, many homes are concrete shells without roofs or windows due to bomb damage, and trees and plants are growing through their floors. Many banks, post offices and government buildings that are in use still are full of bullet holes, he reported. New houses are being built, but there's no sign of any effort to repair or demolish damaged structures, he said.
Croatia's road along the Adriatic Sea coast, which is popular among tourists, is "one of the most scenic places in the world," Lutsky said, describing that country as modern and expensive to travel in. Slovenia is similar to Austria in prices, geography and architecture, he said.
Hungary is "doing better than some of the other European countries, but people are still struggling for income. There are not a lot of jobs," Lutsky observed.
"However, in the Czech Republic and Hungary and Slovakia, they're building Western-style modern highway systems, and a very modern high-speed train is being put in at great expense," he added.
After cycling through Slovakia and the Czech Republic, Lutsky ended his cycling odyssey by flying from Frankfurt, Germany, to Boston.
His next ambition: a one-year bicycling tour starting next month from Kiev, Ukraine, and going to Capetown, South Africa, possibly followed by a year of additional cycling through Africa to Spain.
XThose wishing to read accounts and see photos from Lutsky's travels can find them at lutskybob.tripod.com. He can be e-mailed at boblutsky@yahoo.com.