KaZantip, Ukraine’s Uncharted Republic 3

Money at the Republic
At this year’s opening, 30 thousand people visited the KaZantip. After 45 days, the total was 100 thousand. Information regularly appears in the media that a state of emergency should be placed upon the Republic. People are frightened by rumors about enteric viruses, drugs, and disorderly conduct. Nonetheless, the army of those who wish to become a citizen of the KaZantip diligently grows.

During the short time I spent in the “Republic of Freedom,” I saw neither use of drugs or people making love on a beach. Maybe I just missed it. Of course, the press prefers to use rumor as evidence of the youths’ lack of morals. I must admit I was a bit disappointed that most of young people seemed to be quite ordinary. However, some of them pleasantly surprised me by their appearance: wearing gaudy, garish clothes and exotic hats, but they were the few that everybody wanted to take a photo with.

Struggle against sleep
At midnight, close to the climax of the festivity, when well-rested z-citizens begin waking up, I started dozing off. For those who don’t want to sleep on cold sand by the sea, there is a doss-house in KaZantip. It is really not a doss-house, just a small lodge with two long beds in the open air. Late-comers do not get any space.

Usually, from midnight till 8 a.m. everybody dances. By 9 a.m. z-party-goers leave the dance floors for the beach and sleep. The sturdiest still play volleyball or go on dancing as music is heard around the clock. At 5 p.m. the music fades down gradually, and the Republic slowly slips into the atmosphere of peace and serenity. At sunset people again perk up to pay tribute to the ending “Republic” day with plenty of people appearing on the beach, most of them with photo cameras and camcorders to capture the last rays before rest. The sun sets. Everybody claps, congratulating each on the end of the Kazantip day.

Z End
In KaZantip, time flies by almost imperceptibly. For a day and night I became a citizen of a different republic. A republic where to be happy and enjoy one’s life is the main statute of the constitution. Z Republic is something more than a wild dancing rhythm and vodka with corn for breakfast, which also features 5-minute marriages, cold winds at nights, steep prices, and topless girls on the beach. Kazantip is better seen than described. For those who dare be sure to take a yellow suitcase.

Written and Photographed by Sasha Ivanov

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Written by Devin Galaudet

Last 3 posts by Devin Galaudet

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