Balaklava underground submarine base, Inkerman, Klub Bunker.

Hotel Ukraina is full for tonight, so I have to find another place to stay. I try Hotel Sevastopol. The receptionnist first says they also are full, then recommends asking again after noon. She was right: I got a room in the early afternoon, but I had to promise to stay only for one night. Some local customs are still mysterious to me.

I leave my luggage there for 1 hrivna, and go to the Balaklava underground submarine base. Travelling there with just public transportation requires a connection in the “Fifth kilometer” stop. It’s a busy bus station in the middle of nowhere. There is large market around, with the usual food and clothes stalls, but also (and it’s good to know) camping gear, bike spare parts and all kinds of gloves in the do-it-yourself shops.

Once in Balaklava, I soon spot the base entrance:




The tour is guided in Russian, but a nice Ukrainian guy makes a summary in English for me. The leitmotiv is “Top Secret”. For example, submarines would get in and out only at night. Of course, the whole city was forbidden.




We walk through atomic-proof corridors to a long underground canal which could host 7 nuclear submarines. There is a submarine maintenance workshop including a dry dock, an amunition store and a nuclear amunition factory. It’s almost all empty. The base became useless with a new generation of larger submarines.







Back in Sevastopol, I try to go to Inkerman to find the cave churches and the famous quarries. These quarries are said to date back to the 5th century B.C. The best way to get to Inkerman is a boat trip accross the bay. It’s cheap and fun... once you have found the right ferry.

The Inkerman cave monastery is very old but very small. Some women look down on me because I don’t comply with the dresscode. Anyway, I don’t stay long: the first cave church is closed and the second one is under serious works. The cutest things are the green little onion-shaped bell towers hanging on the cliff.

I walk further along the cliff. There are a few troglodytes, some of them occupied. All of a sudden, a very high tunnel breaks through the hill and leads out into the next valley:







The “valley” is actually a former open-air quarry. The limestone is fine and bright white. There is a wonderful emerald lake in the pit, and people are bathing:




I have no swimsuit with me, so I follow the path on to the top of the hill, where there are ruins of a 15th-century fortress:




A troglodyte is accessible from the top of the hill. It’s small, but clean and the view is great.
Sunset over the Sevastopol bay is a delight, but I have to catch the ferry home. I try an alternative route down the hill, and quickly find myself in the monastery graveyard.


I had noticed this sign on a trolleybus ride in downtown Sevastopol:




I walk back there and yes, it’s open now. It’s a bunker turned into an “Art Club”. Tonight, there are two punk concerts. It’s great to step away from the tourist trail for a while :-) Music is bullshit but, hey, that’s punk. People are young and no so alternative. Very few punks actually.




The bunker is made of long corridors and rooms. There are a few doors left. Don’t even think about such a club in Western Europe, because “it’s for your own safety, kids” (no emergency exit).