Belarus was one of those very few European countries I’ve never been to… that until a few hours ago. Now I’m sitting and having a beer in this vacant hostel in downtown Minsk, writing my first impressions of this new country.
This mysterious little country, hidden in the heart of Eastern Europe, whose name will sound to most Americans like a made-up-of-random-letters-and-numbers name given by astronomers to some star at the far end of the Milky Way, and even many Europeans have only vaguely heard of, had always been exciting my curiosity. I always wanted to visit this forgotten European dictatorship which I thought of as a living fossil of the Soviet Union. But the strict visa regulations had been a daunting obstacle.
I was just about to come here once again in the past… A couple of years ago, during a period I resided in Estonia, I was on a visit to Lithuania and had taken the decision to visit Belarus, too. I had spent nearly half a day waiting in the long and slow-moving queue in front of the iron gate of the Belarusian Embassy in Vilnius…
Finally, I walk in and hand my passport to the uniformed clerk. She looks at it, she looks at me… “you are from Greece!” She utters full of surprise. “Yes, I know that” I respond. “And why are you applying for a visa here and not in your home country?” she asks. “Because I am not in my home country but I am here” I answer. I then got to know that one may apply for a Belarusian visa only in their country of citizenship. A stupid, pointless, and unheard-of rule that was. But all the same, my plan to visit Belarus was wrecked.
It’s only been a few months since the Belarusian authorities introduced a new regulation allowing EU citizens entering the country from Minsk Airport a 30-day visa-free stay in the country. So, first chance, I got on that plane early this morning and headed hither.
It’s been a gloomy, foggy, drizzling day in Minsk. The ground became visible no more than 10 seconds before the airplane touched the ground. Some strange, drunk local folks, apparently returning home from some exotic, tropical part of the globe, started to cut coconuts open and play songs on the guitar as soon as the plane landed, totally ignoring the Turkish staff’s warnings that they must remain seated until the plane has completely stopped.
After those folks, the airport was the second thing I deemed strange in this country. It took quite some time to find my way out, having to follow a few ‘arrival’ signs, instead of the ‘exit’ or ‘passport control’ ones you commonly encounter in airports, along corridors and staircases which reminded me more of a derelict apartment block than an airport.
The migration process went fairly smoothly. They made me buy on the spot €8 medical insurance; the whole process took 1 minute. And then I had to wait for no more than 10 minutes in the composed mostly of Caucasian and Central Asian folks queue. As I usually do when going through passport controls (both because I have observed it to usually be faster and because it is… just more pleasant), I looked for a booth with a female officer. To my great surprise, I found out that only female officers were at service in all the 15 or so booths – ones that, if they weren’t officers, could have well made a living as models. Well done Belarusian Police!!
I exited the airport and walked towards the bus stop through the either whispered or shouted “taxi taxi” resounding from all around me. I was a little late to get on the typical, Soviet-style, white minibus, so I had to be among the ones standing for the one hour or so that the trip to the city center lasted. The ticket though, cost just Br4 (and they didn’t even try to rip me off), so nothing to complain about.
It was just by sundown when I got off at the city’s central railway station. I lingered for a while to have a first look at this new city, while having a smoke at a full-with-thrown-all-over-cigarette-butts corner beside a ‘no smoking’ sign, and started on my way through some dark pathways behind the station, looking for my hostel. And here I am now. Tomorrow I will be exploring Minsk.
