Blogs from Belarus, Europe - page 11

What a helpful bunch of people these Belarussians are! Some of the friendliest people I've met on our journey I met today, here in Belarus. But first, let's talk about what happened... Around 9am it seems that the rain finally stops and we crawl out of our tent that held up well against the storm. We use the last of our water for some coffee and continue along the M7 towards Ashmani. The first problem: we need money. I try a cash machine, but it turns out that Belarussian cash points don't accept debit cards. Fortunately, I have some Litas left over and I find a bank that does foreign exchange. Taking all my Belarussian (which I got out of a simple language book) together, I go in and manage to get my money exchanged, the ... read more

I must admit, when the idea of going to Belarus first cropped up my initial thoughts were; “umm…no way…it’s too dangerous…it’s too communistic.” Strangely enough, the longer I mulled it over, the more excited I became and decided that this was just too good of an adventure to pass up. Well, fast forward two weeks later… train tickets purchased and visas freshly stamped we were off to Minsk. I found the Russian night train to be surprisingly well appointed. The beds were soft, the linens were clean and the pre-war Soviet music which was blaring throughout our compartment was actually quite pleasant. We shared a four-person sleeper with two other Russian women who very generously offered us their aid with translating the Russian customs forms. So, I tucked myself into my bunk, popped two Unisoms and ... read more

Yep, I made it. Actually I'm kind of glad I ended up having to fork out the dough for the flights. Everything I read about the train trip to Belarus talked of problems people had. I just flew in, got my passport stamped and got out! Easy peasy. No difficult visa questions, no nothing. Marina came with a friend of hers to pick me up, it was really great to see her again. As if I wasn't attracting enough attention already for being the obvious westener, Marina then went and screamed loud enough to shatter glass when she saw me. Still, it was nice. :) We then drove sans seatbelts (apparently not required in Belarus) and made our way to Marina's home at some speed. I guess traffic police arn't big here. Yikes, screw the corrupt ... read more

Long relaxing day as the train chuntered through the rest of Poland and then reached the border with Belarus - 1st stop in the former USSR. An amazing experience with changing the bogies - the track width is different in Russia and Europe so the whole train is lifted up, the undercarriage removed and replaced - takes many hours but is incredible to watch. Only downside being the lack of toilets for 6-7h - amazing how this thought makes you think of nothing else but needing the loo! Men crawling underneath train was very scary to watch! Women entered the train trying to sell us beer and other goods continually - nobody seemed to buy anything so we don’t understand how they make their money. Had to fill in customs forms which was made a little ... read more

Woke up at 5pm, I felt really hung over, after a few too many beers at quiz night. We did not win again; the Dog (my great and wild living friend) was looking up the answers on his mobile phone and we still came third. The driver was a talker who never shut up all the way up to the airport...”Where are you going mate?” “Prague” I told him, which was kind of the truth. I really could not face his questions about Belarus. “Yeah just going on a stag night with team Moston”...I gave him a 2 pound tip and he was happy. I had to change planes in Prague, the first time I went to Prague was with my old travelling partner Jeff in 1992 and the Airport had really changed since them days, ... read more