Western Belarus - Brest is Best

After the overnight train from the Russian border of Belarus, Vitebsk we had a two full days to explore the Western City of Brest near the Polish border.

Courage Monument at Brest Fort

The night on board the train was at best sleepless. It wasn't anything to do with the comfort as it was ok, it was just one of those nights you get no sleep.  I spent most of it outside our 4 berth sleeping cabin watching the world whizz by out the window. At about £8 the train ride was a bargain. 

Belarusian Railway Museum

We were hit with rain again, so we spent the day in the coffee shops of Brest high street, dodging the rain and staying awake. We didn't last long, so we went back to our appartment and caught up on some much needed sleep.

Our two nights were Friday and Saturday so going out on the town was a must. Which day were we going to take it easy on this holiday?

We did most of the bars on Brest high Street (including the mini casino bar) and followed it up with a club full of youngsters. A decent night out, relatively steady away.

Day 2

Brest fortress was the reason why we ended up in Belarus. A few years ago we were in Albania travelling with the Bradt travel guide and my mate saw an advert for the Belarus edition. On the cover was a giant statue and my mate was desperate to see this.

The front cover of the book that inspired our trip

On our way to the Fort we came across the Belarusian railway museum. We had a look in and were treated to dozens of Soviet steam trains parked up.

One of the many steam trains at the railway museum

We were told it was a special day at the fort with milatary parades. Whilst looking at the trains we could hear the parade and gun fire and we couldn't wait to see what was going on.

The entrance to the fort was very impressive, you had to walk through a giant Soviet star etched into a huge concrete block.  As you went through the Star, old radio clips were playing informing visitors (in Russian) of the German invasion.

Fortress Entrance

We could hear the parade in full swing but sadly it was the finale and by the time we got inside it was just ending. A bit of a disappointment, but the crowds quickly dispersed leaving us with plenty of space to wander around.

Once you have navigated past the series of military hardware (tanks etc.) the very impressive and moving statue named "Thirst" depicting an injured soldier in a quest for water, is the first thing that grabs you.

Thirst Monument

Then it was onto the main statue the Courage Monument. It was huge standing an impressive 33.5m high

The Courage Monument

Around the fort there are plenty of other monuments.

Brest Fortress

The main building inside the fort was riddled with bullet holes.

War damage

Brest fortress was a great attraction quite easily walkable from town, there is an hourly bus if you want to save your legs.

We followed this up with a walk back into the town.  Walking past the football ground we saw we had only just missed a home game, which would have been a good one to get in.

We took a walk through the town taking in some of the many other statues and churches.  It is a nice city.

Our tour ended up at the very impressive train station.  Surprisingly due to the alcohol ban on Belarus trains (see previous blog) there was a very plush station bar, where supped a nice beer and had some local snacks.

Brest Railway Station

No rest for the wicked it was the long walk back to our hotel, a quick shower and change and back on the streets on Brest for a Saturday night on the town.

We had been talking to a guy earlier that day who worked at one of the bar/restaurants.  He was thoroughly made up when he saw us coming in to eat.

This was my evening meal which turned out to be better drinking food than it looked

We had our favourite bar in Brest, Bar Pub (or something like that) it was called.  We liked it because the girls behind the bar treated us like some sort of celebrities. 

The next leg of the journey was he next day when we were heading West to Nesvizh Castle for a few days.  All the research we had done didn't seem like it was possible to sort on public transport.  We had a train booked to a place some 40km away called Baranavicy, however we had no idea how to compete the journey.

We were just discussing this over a beer in Bar Pub, when a local chap (Andrei) started to chat to us. As happens when you are travelling everything just seemed to fall into place.  Andrei was a top bloke and when we asked what he did for a profession we found he and his mates had written an Uber style App which covered the whole of the country.  Andrei fixed us up with a taxi at a very reasonable local price which met us from the train and took us direct to Nesvizh.  He sent us photos of the car and the driver which made the meet up easy. If you are ever stuck in Belarus PROTAXI.br will help you out.

Andrei and his mates

Later Andrei invited us to join him and his mates to Coyote club, where we had a VIP spot overlooking the dancefloor.  One of his mates bizarrely was a Luton Town fan, who was desperate to talk to us about Football Hooliganism in the UK.

Andrei's mate the Luton Town fan

We had a few beers, paid our way and made it back to our hotel as we had an early train the next morning.

Mixing it with the locals

The taxi Andrei arranged for us was easy to spot, it was the only taxi in the station car park, if we hadn't arranged this, it could have been difficult to sort onward travel as it was definitely not a tourist town.

Next up our time staying in Nesvizh Castle and a day trip to Mir castle

Eastern Belarus - Vitebsk and Polotsk

Feeling a little jaded from our boozy stay in Minsk we caught a Marshrutka (privately owned minibus) to the East of Belarus to a place called Vitebsk by the Russian border.  The Uber driver that took us all the way out to the bus park for less than a couple of quid was sound, he even came running after us when he found he had dropped us by the wrong set of minibuses.

We were to stay in Vitebsk for two nights, giving us almost three full days to explore the area as we were leaving on the late overnight train. The plan was day one to have a little wonder around the town. Day two a day trip to Polotsk and finally the third day to explore the city of Vitebsk in more detail.

Vitebsk

We were stopping quite close to the train station, but not that close to the town centre in a hotel called Zolotoy Telenok, which was an old style tower block with a few rooms above a bowling alley.  It looked as though they had hardly had any tourists let alone people from the UK staying there ever. Check in with our Visa and associated documents took quite a while.  Each place you visit you must get your departure card stamped and registered with the police.

It was immediately obvious that the town of Vitebsk was not as affluent as Minsk.  The weather was quite moody with some menacing looking black clouds hanging over us as we took in the city.  We were literally just having a wonder around rather then proper sight-seeing which we were to do on the third day in the area.

One of the Churches as the weather started to turn

The weather was still hit and miss after lunch so we decided to have a few pints. The first place we went into was the Belarusian equivalent to Wetherspoons.  It was ultra cheap and had a mix of strange characters.  A few lads who had been out all day sat with us at the table and spoke to us in Russian for a good 20 minutes.  They were getting frustrated that we had no idea what they were saying.

One of the harder beers to order

We decided on taking an early evening meal and went to the number one place on Trip Adviser, Vitebsky Traktir.  It really was top quality food and didn't disappoint. Whilst we were eating the heavens well and truly opened up and the downpour that followed was quite brutal.

I had mixed meat and veg

My mate had something else!

Once the rain had eased, we found another bar, this seemed to be the same chain as the 'Wetherspoons' bar we were in earlier but was posher with better clientele, we called this one Lloyds Bar.

A group of girls came in and sat on the next table to us, they were celebrating a birthday.  When I went to the bar I thought I'd get them a bottle of Belarusian Champagne.  That went down a treat, they were well happy with that, and so was I, as it only cost £2.




Belarussian Champagne

One bottle of champagne later

Day trip to Polotsk

My mate had managed to book trains on-line before we left for Belarus, so that was one language problem we didn't have to negotiate. Local trains are ultra cheap in Belarus and a good way of seeing the country.

Polotsk, just like Vitebsk was not as affluent as Minsk, but it had lots of old buildings, churches and statues to fill in the day time. As we wandered the city a young student came over to us and in perfect English tried to be our guide for the day.  We weren't really in the mood for a full-on day so we had a chat with the guy and did our own thing.

One of the many statues in the city

We had a walk along the river taking in some nice old buildings until we came across Saint Sofia Cathedral, perched on a hill.  We tried to get in and have a look around, but for some reason we weren't allowed in for 30 mins.  When we got back there was quite a queue waiting to look around, once inside it was neither worth the entrance fee or the wait but was quite nice (I'd say 3 stars). 

Saint Sofia Cathedral

We continued the Bradt Guide walking tour meticulously however as we were doing so there were some menacing clouds developing again.

A quick lunch stop by the football ground, encountered very little English written or spoken, but eventually we got fed, very pleasant it was too.

The main square in Polotsk

Here like everywhere we had visited in Belarus had beautifully, kept flower beds all around the city.  I'm not one to notice such things so they must have been nice.

Flower beds by the main square

Our train back was quite late in the evening so we had a couple of beers in the town.  We had one guy come and sit with us, hardly speaking any English and drawing of maps he 'chatted' to us for ages.  At one point he tried to give me his ring, necklace and watch.  Not sure what was going on there, but I managed to escape the pub without any of his jewelry.

We got a couple of beers for the train back, however just as I was posing for the obligatory beer train shot, the guard came in and gave us the hard word.  It seems alcohol is banned from trains in Belarus, a fact we confirmed when we got back to Vitetbsk.

This drinking shot almost got us in trouble

A quick nightcap in the bowling alley below our hotel and it was an early night.

Vitebsk before the night train.

Day three of our Eastern Belarus adventure was our sightseeing day.  We had planned the overnight train to Brest.  There were two to choose from one around 6pm the other around 10pm.  We had booked the early one with the idea of having a few pints on-board to help us sleep on the train.  That plan was scuppered by the alcohol ban, and trust me, Belarus isn't somewhere you want to brake the rules.

Whilst the receptionist in our hotel couldn't speak any English, we did have a few conversations using google translate, with varying degrees of success.  When leaving the hotel on the morning we asking if they could store our bags until 5pm.  She spoke into our google translate app, and what came written on the screen was "You want to leave your bags here for 5 years!". Once she understood it wasn't a problem.

Victory Square is the largest (of some very large) squares in Belarus.  It was nice to send time with Statue's, flowers and heavy war artillery (lots of it).  I particularly like the "Three Bayonets" memorial which rose high above one end of the square.  The statue was a tribute to the inhabitants of Vitebsk in the fight against Nazi invaders.

Three Bayonets

Artistically done

One of the many helicopters in and around the square

Tanks, tanks and more tanks

Statues flanking Victory Square

Continuing our walk we passed by many more churches, monuments and we even spent time in the art gallery found at Marc Chagall's former home. It really is a good city. The weather was starting to turn (again)

Dark clouds form over Vitebsk Catherdral

As we had predicted the bad weather did kick in, so we dived into the Theater/Opera Bar which was a restaurant by day and a nightclub by night.  Bit strange having a meal on the dance floor surrounded by pole dancing poles and a DJ booth.

When we got in I went straight to the toilet on returning my mate said "don't worry I've got it sorted they are coming over with menus".  10 minutes later, we still had no menu, and just as we were about to leave, trays and trays of food came to our table.  My mates Russian wasn't the best, but it seemed he had ordered a 3 course special for both of us.  Cracking value at about £2 each.

The weather got out again and we stopped by a few final churches, the wooden church of St. Prince Alexander Nevsky was particularly pleasant.

St. Prince Alexander Nevsky Church

With time marching on, we fancied a couple of beers before boarding the alcohol free train. Beer in Belarus is good, but all of them are hard to pronounce, the letters on the bottles had no relevance to the name of them.

On the Bobpob as I called it (the real name was significantly different)

The sun just popped out long enough for one last picture of a church before we got to the train station for the over-nighter to Brest.

The last lap, Seoul, water fights and a peek into North Korea

The last eight nights of a top adventure and I was to base myself in Seoul. In truth I was just too tired to bother about moving on from place to place. Even with all that time I didn't get around all the sights, if it had been earlier in the trip when I wasn't 'templed out' I'd have got twice as much sightseeing done in half the nights.

One thing I definitely wanted to chalk off was a trip to the DMZ (the 4km strip of land controlled by the United Nations that separates North from South Korea). It is not possible to do this day trip as an independent traveller so I had to go in an organised tour. Given the fact I was lazing my way through the last week, this was no bad thing.

The tour started early doors, in dull and wet conditions which in my opinion only added to the moody feel.

On guard at the DMZ

The guide was new to the job and I felt she guessed at answers to questions which only increased the confusion of the tour. I gave up on my questioning and reverted to the tried and trusted technique of reading information boards at each of the numerous stops.

Looking moody with North Korea in the background

The tour overall was great. The numbers were about perfect, I think there were 8 of us, big enough to be able to avoid anyone you didn't like, yet small enough to get to know all you did. In accordance of the dress code I had to zip on my zip off legs to my shorts, and had to wear a collar. I had a little chuckle when one girl from the Philippines was picked up from her hotel wearing a army jacket. She clearly hadn't read the dress code which stated in block capitals NO ARMY WEAR.

Monument at the DMZ 

All the stops in and around the DMZ were interesting, however if anything we could have done with an extra 20 minutes at each one.

Mobbing up!

We got inside a now not so secret tunnel that the Northerners had built so troops had easy access into the South. The tunnel was blocked half way, which along with the serious mood of the soldiers on duty showed the real threat of the area.

The DMZ now a tourist attraction

The tour I booked wasn't the full tour which was fully booked long in advance. The only stop I missed out on was the JSA (Joint Security Area) which is renowned as the best bit in the Lonely Planet. Here this area is patrolled by soldiers from both North and South who 'stand off' and 'eyeball' each other all day in Taekwondo type poses.

Speaking with another traveller in Busan who had done the JSA area, he told me the poses were for the tourists camera's benefit only, but I don't know if that was another ill informed tour guides guess.

A 'clear' view into North Korea

From the Dora Observatory you could see well into North Korea including the huge flag which squared up against the not quite so huge flag of the South. It was a shame it was a dull and cloudy day but with the help of the binoculars you could see quite enough, although not enough to even be tempted to add it to my list of 'been there' countries.

I wanted to catch some football on this trip having missed out in the Philippines due to rain, so a quick Google found FC Seoul were playing at home twice during my stay, I went to both games.

World Cup Stadium, Seoul

The games were at the World Cup stadium which was a classic. Interestingly you could buy beer from the kiosks and so long as you poured it into a cardboard beaker you could take it to the terraces. A beer and a Hot Dog was under £3, probably a third of the price of the Premier League in England.

Beer and a Hot Dog at the football

The first game was the last 16 of the ACL (Asian Champions League) and they were playing against a club side from Japan. A decent game which the home side were winning 1-0 (I'd missed the goal as I was at the bar) with seconds to go they missed an open goal. I couldn't understand why the crowd were going so crazy until I found out this was the 2nd leg and the aggregate score was 1-1. So extra time it was.

FC Seoul Ultras 

FC Seoul scored early in extra time (I missed this also, this time I was at the toilet). Two goals from the away team seemed to seal the result in their favour. The lads around me said FC Seoul needed to score 2 more goals in the last 5 minutes as they were behind on the away goals rules, they left, I stayed, and FC Seoul scored a screamer (I saw this one).

Into extra time, the pouring of beer into the designated cup rule is flouted

Away goals didn't count and a cracking penalty shoot out resulted. It took ten penalties each to decide the winner, FC Seoul coming up trumps and I was celebrating with the locals like it was Darlington at wembley.

The crowd go wild at the end of the game

The second game was in the league, it was a drab game, playing bottom of the table the hosts rested all the star players, complacency never wins any game and it was a 1-1 draw, the highlight been it was Expat Day Package which I got a match ticket, Beer and Hot Dog for £6. 

At the end of the game a gave myself a private tour of the ground. Plenty of stewards still about but it was if I had an access all areas pass around my neck. I 'found' a match programme in the press box along with another Hot Dog voucher. It was only when I tried to get into the dressing room area that access was denied. I had managed to have a look around the trophy cabinet.

Inside the trophy room

What to do on a rainy day in Seoul? Go out for a long lunch washed down with a bottle of Soju. I got one of the specialist dishes I missed out on in Jeon-Ju. Bibimbap is a sizzling bowl of rice, meat, vegetables and spices topped off with a raw egg and served with all the trimmings. Absolutely delicious.

Bibimbap and Soju - kept me busy for an hour or so

Another day, another sporting event. It was a Friday night there was baseball on and it was a local derby. On the way to the game I wanted to get some sightseeing done.

Changing of the guard

One of royal palaces had a changing of the guard ceremony every day at 2pm. This was free. I decided against getting a ticket and having a look inside. I was following a rule a bloke told me about in Siquijor, Philippines, he said the best way to save money when travelling is only do the things you really want to do. I wasn't that fussed so saved myself the tiny entrance fee of £2 and never went inside, maybe I regret that now.

Instead, there was a the national museum nearby which was free and well worth the one hour I spent in there.

Seoul National Palace

I hopped back on the very efficient and impressive metro to the Jamsil district which is near the Olympic Village and the Baseball Stadium.

The main reason for me going into Jamsil itself was to take in the Lotte Tower which when fully complete and open will be elevated into the top 5 in the world. The key point in that last sentence was 'when fully complete'. I wasn't aware it wasn't finished and expected to go up it for my Seoul Tower fix. 

Lotte Tower in Jamsil, Seoul

The Baseball ground is located by the Olympic Stadium, so off I set off on the decent walk to the Olympic Village. The walk by the main road was full of bronze statues of various sportsmen and women. Turning off the main road found me in a sleazy part of town, Businessmen clubs, Massage Parlours, rooms by the hour and love motels were everywhere.

On getting to the Olympic Village I discovered the Olympic Stadium (and therefore the Baseball Stadium) was in completely the other direction and was 2 metro trains away. I quick walk around the Village and the Museum and it was off to the Basey.

Seoul Olympic Park

The game was the Doosan Bears v the LG Twins. I'd never been to or watched baseball, but it didn't take long for me to realise Doosan Bears were considerably better than the LG Twins.

I really enjoyed it. It was a full house, the crowd were orchestrated well by sets of cheerleaders creating a good, but false atmosphere.

The scoreboard clearly shows it is 7pm, I don't understand anything else

Beers were available to buy and even cheaper than at the football. The scoreboard catered for 12 innings but the game stopped at 9 just after I'd bought a litre of beer. I don't know how long the games usually last but that wasn't ideal. I 'had to' down this beer and then suffer the 1 hour metro back to the area of my hotel in desperate need of the toilet. Many times on the journey I felt like getting off early finding and toilet and then continuing my journey. What a relief when I finally arrived back.

Baseball and a litre of Cass

Fancying a day in the countryside I headed out to a place called Chuncheon. It was described in my book as a nice ride through the hills, with a nice lake and good food. It had the added attraction this weekend of the annual Mime and Water Festival. I'm not much into mime but at least it would remove the language barrier. 

The train ride was nice but did take almost 2.5 hours to get there by slow (but cheap) metro, high speed trains do it from the centre in around half the time.

The guy at the tourist information 'helpfully' gave me a map in Korean and pointed me in the wrong direction for the lake, so I went downtown. 

I never found the Mime element of the festival but well and truly found the water festival. One street was packed with locals dancing to seriously loud music from a live band. Fireman sized hosepipes filled the air with water, all the kids had water pistols and paint powder. It was a decent experience and atmosphere.

Water fight at Chuncheon

Now to find the food element of the town. The local speciality is Dakgalbi and even had a street dedicated to it. I did read that most of the restaurants don't let single diners come in. As I walked up the street an old dear was in a frenzy to get me inside. I was trying to explain I was only one and didn't want a load of food.

Dakgalbi Street, Chuncheon

With the help of some of the locals I managed to get a half portion which was still massive. It was chicken, pasta, potatoes, veg, herbs and spices. Delicious and good value for £6.

It was cooked at my table and I had a good laugh with the local youngsters. The girls back right in the picture found it particularly amusing when I shouted "smile" at at the old lady just before snapping her cooking my dinner.

Dakgalbi been cooked at my table

I stayed in a few different areas in Seoul, the last of which Itewan is said to have great nightlife. I stayed in an excellent hostel and got invited to one of the staffs leaving party and instantly made lots of friends.

At the end of the party only 4 lads were left standing and we went out and hit the town. It was my first experience of a party night out on my travels, but not one I enjoyed. The lads (Dutch, Japanese, Korean and myself) were sound and good fun, but the location was an expat and army base area. One street was completely full of bars and restaurants catering for westerners and tourists. It was also littered with Korean girls desperate to hook up with a foreigner and hookers. 

As decent as the lads were, I was a little bored and not enjoying paying for the overpriced beers. Give me a night out in Korean only locations, the beers are cheaper and the girls are much more genuine. I left shortly after witnessing a street brawl, once the round was complete.

Having been denied the tower experience at Lotte Tower I went over to Seoul Tower. It isn't the biggest in the world by any means, but it is seriously high up from the top as it's base is on top of a huge hill in the city.

Seoul Tower, with love locks in the foreground

It is easy to enough to walk up to the tower base, but I had quite a bit of currency left so I took the cable car late in the day. The plan was to see it in daylight, watch the sunset and see Seoul from above at night. This is a tactic I use many times when visiting towers.

At the base of Seoul Tower

The sun sets over Seoul on the last night of my trip

Once the sun had set and I'd seen enough I headed to the mall under the tower where LG were showing off their talents with a LCD tunnel and a 3D screen both of which were very impressive (and free).

LG LCD Tunnel

Seoul Tower lit up at night

What to do on my last night of a near 100 day trip? I gave the lads I'd met the previous night the swerve and headed out on my own for a Korean meal and an early night. 

Getting cheap Korean food in Itewan wasn't as easy at it should have been. Plenty of international fare, Turkish, Moroccan, Japanese, American, Irish, Indian etc. But not much local, and when I did find a Korean restaurant it was fine dining with not so fine prices.

I ended up in a cafe just around the corner from my hostel, a cafe I'd ruled out a couple of times as not been nice enough to host my last evening meal. The food I chose was Ginseng Chicken Soup (as recommended to me by a Korean lady earlier in the week). It was decent, nothing too special but once again it was a huge feed. The staff tried to get me on the beer or soju, but I wasn't feeling like it. It was the end of a mini era (8 months) in my life.

My last nights evening meal - Ginseng Chicken Soup

My mini era had taken me to some fabulous places in Asia, met up with loads of friends old and new, eaten some great local foods (plus a few not so great), found a life away from possessions and status, and most of all I learned the importance of a smile. 

My final day was last minute souvenir shopping followed by a soak and a relax in a Korean Jjimjilbang (spa).

Souvenir shopping, the bear I bought was quite a bit smaller

Jjimjilbang at Dragon Hill Spa in Seoul

Boarding the late night flight home, I considered my next move in life, my next chapter. My batteries are now fully recharged and I'm eager to start work again. I will ramp up my efforts to find a job in the 13 days I'm home. 

Should I call my 2 week trip to Czech Republic and Hungary the 3rd installment of my career break? This I'm not sure, perhaps I'm looking on it as part of my reintegration back into 'normal' life, a holiday the type I've taken each year for nearly 20 years.

Flying home

Do I regret quitting my job and travelling? No, not one bit......so long as I can complete the reboot of my career and find a new job soon, it was the best decision of my life.