Llama in a sweater: July 2019

Two weeks ago my husband and I went to Belarus, Minsk for the 2nd European Games for three days. Well, not exactly for the Games, but thanks to them, as for the period of the European Games Belarus introduced visa-free travel. To be honest, when I read about this, I didn’t believe that I would actually make use of this opportunity. I don’t really know how it happened that thoughts turned into action. I contacted some friends of mine inviting them to travel together, however in the end they couldn’t go. It was a pity, but going only with my husband is also fun.

Preparations

The first thing was to decide how to get to Minsk. My initial thought was to go by car, but after analyzing cost of fuel, insurance (my motor insurance does not cover Belarus), as well as worrying about car thefts I decided that it would be better to go by public transport. Train and plane were really expensive, so the bus won. There are surprisingly many buses on the route Warsaw- Minsk, and prices are quite reasonable (about 50 EUR per person for tickets back and forth).

One of the most important issues was to buy tickets for the Games – they were the documents allowing to cross the border. We got the tickets to sambo (martial art), because they were the cheapest tickets available (about 4 EUR). In the end, we didn’t go to watch, but it was not our aim to actually visit the Games ;)

Before going to Belarus one has to remember about insurance. It is obligatory to have the policy while being on the Belarusian territory. It is not as easy as it could seem, however. Not all insurers are accepted by the state, and the policy has to have Russian or Belarusian translation. Please check the list of providers before buying the insurance.

Bus

Minsk is not far away from Warsaw, and we went only for three days, so no further preparations were needed. On Friday evening we went for the bus, and our Minsk adventure has begun.

We took the night buses – to Minsk we went with Biacomex (Belarussian bus company), and to Warsaw with Flixbus. Surprisingly, Biacomex was much more comfortable, and we managed to sleep most of the route. On the way back, with Flixbus, it was much more difficult to fall asleep, because of the badly shaped seatings. If you have a choice, do not choose Flixbus.

Border

Big disadvantage of going to Belarus is the necessity to have the border control. Not because it is unpleasant itself, but because it takes a lot of time, especially when you go by bus. Crossing the border took us about 2 hours. Luckily, there were no problems with our tickets, and the insurance policy wasn’t checked at all.

Accommodation

I always look for accommodation on booking.com. To my surprise, most places to stay were really far away from the city center, and there were no hostels with private bathrooms. Hence, for the first time, I decided to book a private apartment (also available on booking.com), and the choice turned out to be perfect. The apartment was nicely furnished, cozy and clean. Also, location was fine, as it was not far from the city center and close to the park and subway station.

My heart almost stopped when I saw the big TV with almost 100 channels in Russian. I felt like in a dream ;)

Minsk

Minsk is very nice and green city – during free walking tour I got to know that it is the 5th most green European capital city. No wonder, there were big parks almost at every step (also close to our apartment). Since the city was almost completely destroyed during the II WW, there are not many historical buildings there, but the architecture is nice anyway. Rebuilding the city was successful and it is still going on. For example, there is new (rebuilt only three years ago) “old town” near the Svislach river – picturesque promenades with cafes and restaurants. There are also plenty of museums (we managed to go only to one of them – the National Art Museum) and other attractions, like abovementioned parks, planetarium, zoo, botanical garden, breweries. Simply walking around the city took almost two days, and it wasn’t enough for me.

Speaking of breweries, I wanted to book the tour of the Alivaria Brewery. I got the information that the tour is on Saturday at 6 P.M., but when we got there it turned out that the tour took place at 2 P.M. As a consolation we could go for the beer tasting. There was a short lecture on how to do the tasting, and we got one dark beer and one cherry one. The cherry beer was incredible, but I couldn’t find it in any store :(

During our trip we wanted to see also something outside the city, and we chose to go the Dudutki museum. It is an open-air museum located one-hour bus drive from Minsk. I expected to see some rural building from XVIII-XIX centuries, to see how people lived in the country in past times, but I was wrong. There were only craftsmen workshops, some animals (ostriches, ducks, horses, pheasants) and shops where one could buy some national products and souvenirs. It took us an hour to see everything very thoroughly, and there was still two hours to the next bus. Luckily, there was a place to drink a beer there. All this boredom costs about 5 EUR, so think twice before going there.

On one evening we went to the National Theatre for the modern ballet “Sleeping beauty”. The theater itself is impressive both from the outside and on the inside(however inside there are toilets only on the ground floor, and we had seats on the third balcony…). The play was great, what made the biggest impression on me were the costumes. The biggest disappointment – no live music.

Prices

Minsk is not such a cheap city as it could seem. The prices are comparable to the prices in Warsaw (except for beer in pubs, which is much cheaper). What was the most shocking for me were the books prices. I waited so long for the visit to the bookstore, and when I finally went to one, I was horrified by the prices. They were much higher than in Poland. In the end I bought five books, but I had a feeling that it was not enough…

Generally, based on the TV coverage and logic it could seem that Belarus is a poor country. I don’t know how the life is there, of course, but from the outside the economic situation isn’t bad at all. There are plenty of investments, decent roads, streets are very clean and building are well looked after. Also, people drive in nice and new Western cars and wear branded clothes.