In Thailand, laundry shops are everywhere. There are probably more than 20 near Khao San Road alone and from Phuket to Patthalung, you are never more than a few steps away from a laundry shop. In 2003 I used to pay 300 baht (10 dollars) for a monthly service!
For some reason, laundry provisions vary widely from place to place and as someone who travels a lot, this matters.
In Goa, which is also on the tourist trail, as I walked out of my hotel, laundry bag in hand,there was not a laundry shop to be seen. Hundreds of backpackers milling about, but nowhere to wash clothes. Perhaps it’s why backpackers in India are notoriously smelly? I did manage to find one a small taxi ride away, but it wasn’t easy.
In Empuriabrava, Spain, it was relatively easy. Simply pump “laundry” into google maps and a few options appear. In Syracuse, Sicily, there weren’t laundry shops on every corner, but there was at least one within a few hundred meters. I had the same experience in Annemasse, France, Mui Ne, Vietnam, and even when travelling through western USA I don’t remember once having any difficulty in finding a laundry shop. In Antalya, Turkey, perhaps more like Thailand, we found one after two minutes driving around looking for one.
And so perhaps today I was feeling over confident as I searched for a laundry shop in Kyiv. Somehow, I just thought that there might be some in a city of 2.8 million. Firstly, I searched google maps for “Laundry” and “Laundrette” but it only brought up dry cleaners. I tried the Russian word “прачечная” but it only brought up the same results. But then I noticed one which was slightly different – a laundry service called 5aSec, which I have used before in Geneva. It appeared to have normal laundry machines in the pictures and it was only 20 minutes walk away, so off I trotted with my bags of dirty clothes. 5aSec in Kiev didn’t think to mention on their website or google page which floor of the 6 floor shopping center it was on, so after I checked all the above ground ones, I finally found it in the basement that I didn’t know existed.
“Oh we don’t do laundry” she told me, “only dry cleaning, starting at 90 UAH (3 USD) a piece”. She kindly added “I don’t think you’ll find a laundry service in the city centre, maybe in the outskirts in the big housing developments”. This would explain why I didn’t see any on google. A quick search on Expats in Kiev Facebook page confirms the worst but suggests that at least I’m not the only one.
There are many things about Kiev which I really love, but as I sign a 40 euro bill for doing laundry in my hotel, the ubiquity of laundry shops in Bangkok is one thing that I sorely miss.
And so perhaps today I was feeling over confident as I searched for a laundry shop in Kyiv. Somehow, I just thought that there might be some in a city of 2.8 million. Firstly, I searched google maps for “Laundry” and “Laundrette” but it only brought up dry cleaners. I tried the Russian word “прачечная” but it only brought up the same results. But then I noticed one which was slightly different – a laundry service called 5aSec, which I have used before in Geneva. It appeared to have normal laundry machines in the pictures and it was only 20 minutes walk away, so off I trotted with my bags of dirty clothes. 5aSec in Kiev didn’t think to mention on their website or google page which floor of the 6 floor shopping center it was on, so after I checked all the above ground ones, I finally found it in the basement that I didn’t know existed.
“Oh we don’t do laundry” she told me, “only dry cleaning, starting at 90 UAH (3 USD) a piece”. She kindly added “I don’t think you’ll find a laundry service in the city centre, maybe in the outskirts in the big housing developments”. This would explain why I didn’t see any on google. A quick search on Expats in Kiev Facebook page confirms the worst but suggests that at least I’m not the only one.
There are many things about Kiev which I really love, but as I sign a 40 euro bill for doing laundry in my hotel, the ubiquity of laundry shops in Bangkok is one thing that I sorely miss.
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