| ABOUT THIS TRAVEL Belarus
5 days - march 2005
INTRO
Kind of travel: alone
in a wholly independent travel
When: 25th- 29th
march 2005 (5 days)
How I moved: by
train, bus and minibus (marshrutmyy).
Where I slept: in
expensive and crappy hotels
What I liked: the
colourfull houses spread in the countryside, the safety while travelling and not to be
hassled by any policemen despite the amazing amount
What I disliked: as
first the food (sorry, but it really sucks), then the ratio quality/cost of the
accomodations is the worst I've ever experienced, the sadness due to the worring level of
alcholism and the last but not the least that asshole of Lukashenko
How much daily: accomodations
are a cost expecially if alone: the cheapest hotels range 20- 45$. Eating at the
restaurant 4-12$. Moving around is affordable ( bus Njasvizh- Grodno (250 km), 7$).
Visa 190$ (60$ (invitation, bought in internet)+ 130$ (visa in Warsaw in 7h without
the original voucher)). At the end travelling in Belarus turns out quite expensive:
50$/day
Freezing or baking?: weather for me was nice: the snow covered a lot of
areas and temp +2C. But the last day I was there it lifted up to +10C.
Dangers: not so many, maybe the main one ares by drunks loitering around.
What you do need: a deep
curiosity for the past and the present of Belarus and its culture. Don't expect the
highlights themselves, the few that there are, could be enough to pay the travel off
THE WHOLE TRAVEL
It's several years that I'm curious about Belarus, a country that
15 years ago was the industrial pivot of the whole western URSS and now it's sounds so
anonymous. Living in Poland is a good chance to drop by there for a short travel that why
now I didn't miss the chance.
From Wroclaw (where I live in Poland) I got to Warsaw where I
applied for the visa. The same evening I got on the train for the 10 hours trip to Minsk.
The train was a typical russian one: light blu vagons with dusty white curtains and
plastic flowers hang along the corridor.
At the border it took two hours but without particolar
problems, but then the train stopped more then two hours for somthing that to me was more
then a surprise: the change of the wheels for the whole train due to the larger gauge of
the russian railway system (read the story).
On the train I knew two english guys who had a friend in Minsk who let me know another
friend of him who invited me home. Obviously I accepted and I spent the morning in this
flat in the outskirt of Minsk with his whole family. After so may hours on the train I was
so tired and hungry; they prepared me a typical belarusian breakfast and then helped me
finding a place where to spent the night.
Finally I went to the hotel of the institute, a crappy
expensive place without even any possibility to have a shower (20$). I visited the soviet
and serious Minsk, but the situation got quite animated when a protest against Lukashenko
rose. There were hundreds and hundreds of militaries disposed along the streets forming a
long barrier, while others where pushing away the group of protestants.
The day after I reached Njasvizh in two hours on a crowded but folcloristic
train and half hour packed on supercrowded bus. Frankly the town turned out not so
interesting and I regreted not having spent more time in Mir when later I passed by it
giving just a quick look.
By bus I got to Grodna (Njasvizh- Grodna 6.5h, 7$) where I spent one
full day. Grodna definitely is the cutest city I saw in Belrus, but don't expect nothing
special, it's just worth hanging around for a day. Then in four hours by a superfast
minibus I got to Brest, the more westernised town in Belarus, where I even found a
pizzeria, that, after having eaten shit for 5 days, was a great joy.
In Brest the WWII memorial is really breathtaking and I would say it's the
main highlight I saw in the trip.
The next day I got on the Moscow- Brussel a deluxe train who brought me back
in Poland.
IMPRESSIONS ABOUT
BELARUS
It's difficult to give impressions about Belarus. From a certain
point of view travelling here it's nice: no hassle with the policemen and it's quite safe,
but on the opposite the landscape is monotonous and there're not highlights enough to
justify the trip. In addition the food doesn't help, since it really sucks, but what can
push you there is the possibility of a off-of-the-beaten-track travel in a country almost
under a dictator that today turns out the most isolated in Europe. This situation creates
a particular atmospere definitely interesting to be lived.
Alby
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