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.

Belarus - Minsk

All the red tape we had to hurdle to get our 12 day Visa was worthwhile, clearing immigration was surprisingly easy. We were massively delayed due to a 'drunk' women on-board our plane, it took ages for the Frankfurt airport police to take her away.

The lengthy delay put pay to a Saturday night out in Minsk. We just had to settle for a beer in our Soviet style hotel, Hotel Belarus. The hotel gym was also the location for the World Power-lifting Championships. Around a thousand 'athletes' competing in the various classes over 10 days. You could pay to enter the World Championships, I was tempted, be a good one to have on your CV even if you make a fool of yourself on TV.

Hotel Belarus

The hotel bar was packed each evening with often huge lifters from all corners of the world, competing over who could put the most weight on at breakfast, or how many kgs they could bench press.

Sunday morning we set about a city walking tour, and soon found out how massive this place is.

A short stroll over to Mary Magdalene Church with its impressive golden spire which glistened in the early Sunday morning sun with cloudless blue skies. Next up, what looked a short hop on the map to the Belarusian State Museum of the Great Patriotic War (World War II) with its impressive Soviet monument. This turned out to be a decent walk.

Belarusian State Museum

A short walk took in the Zaslavskaya Memorial (site of 5,000 Jews that were killed in 1942), then the long walk snaking alongside the river to the Island of Tears connected via a bridge. Here a site to commemorate the ill-fated Afghanistan war in the early 80's.

Zaslavskaya Memorial

Island of  Tears

Our first impression of Belarus was it was a vast city with plenty of park. Roads were well maintained and litter or graffiti was virtually non existent. The locals although many could not speak any English were happy to help out with the aid of Google translate. A very friendly bunch and several times we were warned about the dangerous beauty of the girls.

The walking tour continued in stifling heat, passing many churches, squares and cafes as we got deep into the old town.

Victory Square

We navigated through some very impressive squares catching some fine Soviet Architecture. Lenin Square (Nyezalyezhnastsi), Victory (Pobyedy) and Central (Oktyabrskaya) all been interesting.

One of Minsk many Squares

A fine sight in Minsk

I'd only had a single beer in this country and all this walking had built up quite a thirst. So off on a bar crawl we went. Some really good bars offering great people (female) watching opportunities.

On the beer

Beer was more expensive than I had predicted, but still very reasonable in all but the swishest of bars.

Action Shot

We had an organised trip to Khatyn and the Mound of Glory the next day. We arranged this with a guide called Juliana (julianamikolutskaya@gmail.com) before we left for the trip. It was well priced and we had use of a car and driver for as long as we wanted.

Khatyn is situated 80km north of the city and is a memorial to the Nazi barbarism that plagued many villages in the area. It was a very sombre visit. There is a flower bed within the pavement containing only red plants which looked like a river of blood.

The River of Blood (photo doesn't do it justice)

 

Khatyn 

The sculpture of The Unconquered Man at the foot of the flower bed which is six metre high showing a man carrying a small child. As you look at the statue, the bell eerily rang every minute or so, adding to the sombre mood.

The Unconquered Man

Back on the road again to the Mound of Glory, a 70m man-made hill with a Soviet monument on top. Very nice easy walk up the stairs (which for a modern statue feel a little unsafe) which snake around the hill. Views of the flat landscape covered in trees are great from the top.

Tanks at the bottom of the Mound of Glory

Mound of Glory

Up top of Mound of Glory

We requested to be dropped by the new National Library which looked less impressive in daylight than it did after dark. My mate strangely signed up for a library card which cost a pound or two. 

National Library

Over the road on the side of apartment had huge murals which were impressive. A 25p metro ride (very clean and a surprising amount of English helped navigate this easily) and we were back in the city, once again with a thirst on.

Murals on apartment blocks

Having sussed out where to go the night before we got straight on the Belarusian Beer. A tasty meal in a restaurant named Kuchmistr with the appitiser of a mega mix of assorted horseradish vodka. Once I'd done all six shots I was well on the way. The food as I recall was a tasty dish of pork, potato and mushrooms with yet more horseradish sauce, delicious.

Horseradish Vodka Mega-mix

Evening Meal

Having sussed the drinking zone in the heart of the old town we got stuck in. The end of the night was quite heavy. We met up with some top lads who could speak good English, we swapped contacts and were to meet up with them on the last day of the trip for an event they had called "Minsk Alco Rush".

Nightcap in the Beercap

Next stop we headed East to the Russian border towns of Vitebsk and Polotsk.

Madness in Madras

It has been a while since I'd done an England away test match, New Zealand March 2013 to be precise and was getting increasingly jealous reading on Facebook my mates were all there.

My new job meant I had to cancel my hotel in Visakhapatnam (Vizag), but I had 4 days annual leave so I could squeeze a long weekend in Chennai for the last test just before Christmas. My inflexibility of flights (needed to travel after work on the Wednesday and be back Tuesday in readiness for work again Wednesday) meant I paid over the odds on flights, which pained a budget conscious traveller like myself.

I arrived mid afternoon on the Thursday, still in the clothes I went to work in the day before tired after a, restless at best, sleep on the train.

I'd read about the money situation in India, after an overnight withdrawal of all the 500 (£6) and 1000 rupee notes a few weeks back. I'd read of huge queues at ATM's and everyone struggling to get hold of the replacement notes.

I naively thought that arriving at an international airport I'd be ok to use the ATM there and get sufficient to last me my stay....WRONG!

Every ATM was "Out of Order" the money changers only had new 2000 notes at poor rates. I'd read the 2000 notes were near impossible to spend because no one had change, so decided to not bother.

I had 60 rupees from a previous visit, a taxi from the airport was 500, oh dear. However budget conscious Phil, walked to the train station and caught a train to Chennai main station, at a wallet saving price of 5 rupee (6p).

The train was fairly hardcore, no doors and cages separating sections of the carriage. Indian Railways have a novel solution to the train debate in the UK over who is going to open the doors by simply removing them!

I then had to catch 2 further trains for a further 5 rupee. The station I got off at was down a dodgy alley from the main road. I had to paddle through mud, puddles and litter whilst been attacked by goats, chickens, turkeys and dogs...still in my work clothes, and it was hot!

Onto the main road, every ATM I passed had no money, what was I going to do?

My hotel had no money to change. I caught an uber taxi to my mates hotel for a quiet few drinks before the cricket....WRONG (I knew that hotel would allow me to pay by card).

This hotel allowed me to change £30, a friend had sorted my a ticket for the cricket so settled in at the bar. 10 pints, a few shots and a 16,000 rupee bar bill for the 3 of us, £70 each. The fancy bar only had premium lagers, I was looking forward to a cold kingfisher.

Armed with rupees I got a tuk tuk home, the driver got breathalyzed on the way back.

One thing I haven't mentioned is the fact Chennai is a grim old place. The city wasn't helped by a cyclone that had ripped through the city 2 days earlier. Huge trees laid everywhere was evidence of the devastation.

The cricket was tough going, as had been traditional I left at lunchtime to seek out that cold kingfisher....WRONG. A tiny pub I'd frequented during the 2011 world cup near the ground were only selling 6% British Empire beers. It turns out, due to a dispute, Kingfisher is banned from Tamil Nadu state.

The pub was full of my mates, I love the fact you can be in the middle of nowhere more.then half a world away and meet up with your mates.

I did see an ATM that was working, but didn't fancy the 100+ queue to get to the front.

Another day another beer. This time at the hotel bar of the place I stayed at on my last visit. A dark fairly modern underground bar with a loose aquatic theme called the submarine bar.

This place only had 8% fosters. Yes that was 8%! It was drinkable with a dash of sprite but got you way too drunk. Sadly this place at 8pm turned unpleasant when the music started blasting out beats, but by then it was almost time to go home as the effect of the drink had kicked in.

The next few days followed a similar theme, poor England cricket and strong beer.

A blog I posted whilst travelling mentioned that you can tell how good a place is by the number of photographs you take over the trip, I took 8 in 4 days!

In my way home I changed planes in Mumbai, where I finally got a kingfisher, and if I'd wanted to could have withdrawn some money. To finish off the trip, the bus that takes you from the departure lounge to get onto the plane broke down on the short route.

It was literally a flying visit into India, not one I particularly enjoyed. This was my second visit to Chennai, and would definitely be my last. Was it worth it? Well yeah it probably was, after all you can't beat a few days of cricket and beer with your mates.