All the metal-on-metal noise I reported on the last entry was NOT caused by railroad workers trying to keep us from sleeping . It was all about the gauge, or width of the rail track. When trains leave or enter Ukraine the wheels must be changed or altered because the width of the track is different from most other countries in Europe. What's amazing is they can make this change to a whole bloody train - 25 or more cars - in less than two hours.

 
 
There must be some heavy-duty smuggling going on between the Ukraine and Slovakia. When we reached the Slovak border, guards came on, checked our bags thoroughly, and asked in different - I'll catch you if I can - cagey ways, what we were bringing into Slovakia. All the while, other guards had all the ceiling panelling removed to check for who-knows-what?

 
 
The journey from Lviv to Kosice, a city in Eastern Slovakia was a daytrip. But luckily we once again had our own compartment. Still, the border search was another harrowing train experience for poor Elenka who was again not amused. Most of the attached photos were taken through the train window by Elenka with her new Sony CyberShot.