Poland to Ukraine overland

My journey to to Lviv in Ukraine wasn’t what you could call a straight forward journey. I would fly to an obscure city in South East Poland called Rzeszow (pron. Sheshov), then take a ninety minute train to an equally impossible to pronounce city very close to the border called Przemysl (pron. Prashemesh). From there it’s a fifteen minute minibus to the border town Medycka where you alight and just cross the border into Ukraine on foot. The last stage is a 2 hour minibus- called marshrutkas- to Lviv. Sound simple? Read on.
I found the route on Wikitravel after finding out that flights to Lviv were very expensive and direct trains and buses from Poland coming with horror stories of up to nine hour delays at the border where officials check for illegal goods on this notorious smuggling route. The trains have the added problem of a two hour wait to change the wheels to the Ukrainian gauge. The convoluted route has the bonus that individuals crossing the border are rarely delayed longer than 30 minutes and western passport holders are sometimes rushed through as they are considered less of a smuggling risk.
I really don’t like just using cities as a jumping board to get elsewhere, I believe that everywhere at least warrants a bit of exploring, but unfortunately with Rzeszow that’s exactly what I did. I took the airport bus to the main station and eager to push on to Lviv I decided to jump on a soon to depart train to Przemsyl as I didn’t know what delays might be awaiting me at the border.
The third stage of the journey from Przemsyl to the border wasn’t immediately obvious. I had to make sure I got the domestic bus that just takes you to the border and not a bus going to somewhere in Ukraine. I eventually found one after stopping to eat a rancid looking burger in a grill in the bus station. The minibus was ridiculously overcrowded and for the start of the journey I was crouched in a very uncomfortable position holding my bag until I somehow found a way of positioning myself between it and the window. I got chatting to a nice Polish guy on the bus who says he was also heading to Lviv. He had never done the journey before either so we said we’d help each other out if necessary. The 20 minute journey was quite uncomfortable but we got to the border amid scenes of dozens of middle ages women flogging bottles of vodka and cheap Ukrainian cigarettes, I was harassed immediately after getting off the bus but just walked past them looking for the border. I expected it to be just there but it wasn’t, it was a walk of about a mile along a concrete path with high fencing both sides. First I cleared the Polish immigration and effectively EU immigration and then walked about 500 metres through neutral border territory to the Ukrainian frontier. After a few pointless questions from the border woman, including “Are you afraid on going to Ukraine alone?” I was stamped into Ukraine and my 37th country. A proud moment! Myself and the Polish group bought a few drinks at a dingy cafe in the dingy border town of Shegyni and walked up the road to the bus station, hoping that Wikitravel had its facts right. It did and a bus was about to depart but I suddenly realised I had no Ukrainian money. Luckily the polish guy Gabor offered to pay for my ticket and I would pay him back when we got to Lviv. The fare was only 15 Ukrainian Hryvna which is about £1.20, not bad for a 2 hour bus ride! I was a little concerned when I saw the bus; it was the same size as the bus from Przemysl to Medycka and with probably more people trying to get on it. I squeezed on it right at the back and had to stand for at least an hour, desperately trying to hold on along probably the worst roads I have ever experienced. We got to Lviv eventually and despite the appalling roads I even managed to doze off for a while, after I managed to get a seat of course. All that was left now was to get some money and get to the Hostel Kosmonaut which I had prebooked, relax and reflect on a quite unique and memorable journey.