Ben’s photos from last three weeks up until leaving Moscow…
http://bristol.facebook.com/album.php?aid=2134618&l=e89d5&id=193107027
Its worth mentioning that our plans changed somewhat upon hanging around in Lviv. We decided to leave the van in some “secure” parking (I certainly wouldn’t mess with the attendant, but you wouldn’t have to if you walked through a hole in the fence) in Lviv and complete a brief former USSR taster trip on the train. A number of reasons compelled us to leave Nevil out in the cold:
- It gives us a chance for a bit of a change. Experiencing Russian trains.
- A break from cold mornings
- Ensures we are totally broke upon return (not used to all this paying for accomodation lark and there are no hostels)
- We looked at a map
We’ve been in Moscow now for a couple of days and had nearly forgotten to write a post about Minsk, but have just found some spare time while waiting for Will and our second Canadian friend also called Nick to get out of bed!
Quite an interesting place Minsk: their president has pretty much made himself into a dictator (“president for life”) and they still have the state security service KGB which keeps close tabs on its citizens. Everything in Minsk is very clean and tidy and there are armies of cleaners and gardeners out all over the central streets.
It is the first city we’ve been to for a while which feels a little like a western city centre (clean, modern, decent roads with no holes/cracks, smart looking shops etc). Apart from their pedestrian-crossing militia who give you a bollocking (and apparently a fine if you can understand what they’re saying, which I couldn’t) for crossing an empty road when the pedestrian light doesn’t say you can cross, the bitter cold temperature and the over-regimented streets, Minsk was quite nice.
In a cafe we met a guy called Sasha who spoke very little English and had nothing to do, and after an hour or so of working through our phrasebook we arranged to meet up the next day for him to give us a tour of the city! Next day saw a museum and a really cool art gallery, I think one of my favourite visits to any art gallery. They like their arts here in Belarus/Russia – ballet, opera, music: there’s lots of it and, unlike in London, it’s dirt cheap.
We were planning on staying a couple more days in Belarus but we were both keen to get to Moscow where there’s much more to do. Also, as we’ve left the van in L’viv (Ukraine) for our travels through Belarus & Russia – had I mentioned that?! – it’s a lot more difficult to get out of the city and see the countryside. Therefore after two days and one night in Belarus and we set off for Moscow.
Belarus is relatively difficult travelling in without knowing any Russian as it is a difficult language and with the different alphabet too gets tiring after a while and can be hardwork. Moscow is not so difficult as there are quite a few English-speaking tourists but still, very few Russians speak any English. More to follow soon…
