A journal from a Belarusian girl who likes camping, hitch-hiking and crazy people

Nice to Minsk you!

amnicat — Sun, 11 May 2014 00:13:00 GMT

Yesterday were two great holidays in Minsk: the anniversary of Soviet victory in the IInd WW and the beginning of World Hockey Championship.

Here you can see how was it:

1. Traditionally the "Day of Victory" is celebrated with a parade of military and military equipment

2. It is moving from the Independence Square to the Victory Square (it is not very far, around 3 km) where a lot of people is waiting to see how the president will lay flowers to the Victory monument

3. For those who want to know more about the Victory Square =)

Personally I think that its inappropriate to conduct a military parade on a such day, because its a sad date when we remember all 30 million victims of the war. Unfortunately government and most citizens don't think so..

4. Anyway this day is usually full of different activities including concerts and fireworks.

5. And of course the openning of Hockey Championship:

6. Usually there are very few tourists in Minsk. But not now =)

And I'm really happy about it! Minsk is a beautiful city and I want more people to see it and the whole Belarus as well.

By the way can you help to make a small research to make Belarus more open to the rest of the world? Fill please a small form =)

If you want to visit Minsk in the nearest future here is one of the best guide. Nice to Minsk you!

Photos: Baguette. Béret. Moustache.

amnicat — Thu, 8 May 2014 15:45:00 GMT

My winter trip to Lyon, 2013

How I met the road. Part III

amnicat — Wed, 7 May 2014 16:00:00 GMT

Good morning from the track!

Next days of our journey were almost similar to those I've already written about. Roads and drivers, sun and dust, laugh and fatigue..

The biggest town we visited before reaching the seashore was Bahchisaray: the city was commissioned by the Crimean Khan dynasty, who moved their capital here in the first half of the 16th century.

Khan Palace is considered to be the main sight here

But personally I'm sure that the most interesting thing a man can find here is Chufut-Kale: fortified settlement built in the 11th century:

Our dream team on the top of Chufut-Kale:

There are a lot of legends about this place, one of them says that Karaites were brought there from Persia at the time of the first Exile. The early settlers of the city exercised great influence upon their neighbors, the Chazars. The ḥakam Abraham Firkowitsch, who was very skilful in falsifying epitaphs and manuscripts, pretended to have unearthed at the cemetery of Chufut-Kale tombstones dating from the year 6 of the common era, and to have discovered the tomb of Sangari, which is still shown by the Karaites. According to Harkavy, however, no epitaph earlier than 1203 can be seen at the cemetery of Chufut-Kale, called "Vale of Jehoshaphat"; and the tombs do not belong to Karaites, but to the old Rabbinite settlers called "Krimchaki." Chufut-Kale, however, existed as early as the seventh century. Abu al-Fida mentions it under the name "Kirk-er.".

After Bahchisaray we went to the seashore and from this moment the only things we've thought about were sun and waves, so it is not really interesting to describe it here. Actually I've already told a lot about that time so next my story will be about another my journey =)

Thank for your attention and goodbye =*

My opinion

amnicat — Wed, 7 May 2014 08:13:00 GMT

If now I'm trying to remember my trip across Ukraine I must say something about current situation there.

First of all Belarusian love Ukranians and consider them as a brother nation, so all victims of the war are welcomed here and will never be punished no matter what side they used to take before.

For the moment nobody in the world can say exatly what's happening in Ukraine, but lots of provocations say that huge amounts of money are spent on this conflict but two competitive forces from the East and West.

In this situation I remember a French motto:

Imagine: there is a war and nobody came!

How I met the road. Part II

amnicat — Tue, 6 May 2014 16:17:00 GMT

In Tarakanov Fortress we spent only one night (full of insects and strange sounds ouside the tent) and early in the morning went back to the road to continue our trip.

After that there was 2 days of road, before we came to the next stop: Kamenets-Podolsky. Its most famous sight is ancient castle built by Casimir the Great, Polish king in 1361 year.

Me and my roadmate came there first so by the moment when others joined us we had seen all the main sights and went to find something else to see. On the photo above you cаn see that the castle is on hill rounded by moat, and on the other side there is another hill, where we continued our hiking while waiting for others. Here is the photo made by the rest of the group from castle window:

Tired but happy we went out of the city at around 6 o'clock and near the sity border one kind man proposed to pick us up for a short distance just to make our trip easier. Important to mention that for this moment only 5 of us left (3 girls and 2 boys), because one person decided to continue his way alone. Somehow it happened that boys and girls divided and after a few minutes there was a 10km distance between us.

Soon after that a track picked up one person and we waited in two. Next our car was with two men from Moldova who laughed all the time and proposed us to eat every 10 minutes =) After an hour of road we saw the third girl who went to the road again because her driver had to wait before he could continue his way. That's how all three girls of our team were near the Vinnitsa margin before the darkness.

Meanwhile there wasn't any news from our boys: both phones were turned off. We were really nervous because our drivers went in the needed direction but we couldn't continue our way without the rest of the team. So we started to find a place to sleep (both tents we had were in boys' bags) and - MIRACLE - boys phoned us and say that they were picked by the track driver who picked up the first girl! Its difficult to describe how happy we were that everything is ok with our dear boys, they are alive and we'd meet each other in several hours.

We met another track driver near a parking who proposed us to stay in his empty track (a day ago it was full of tree, so the smell there was like in the forest). We waited for the biys, had a dinner with nice drivers and went to sleep late in the night. Despite the fact that we were sleeping almost in the road we overslept and next our day began from really hot weather.

That's all for today because I have to make my studies =) Wait for part III

Photos: Hitch-hiking

amnicat — Tue, 6 May 2014 15:55:00 GMT

Some unusual experience

How I met the road. Part 1

amnicat — Mon, 5 May 2014 18:59:02 GMT

Three years ago I sat at home surfing the net when I achieved a proposal to go hitch-hiking across the Ukraine with 5 random people. I'm not sure I was in the mind but I agreed... And it is still the most right decision I've ever made!

We met each other in Brest, crossed the Belarusian-Ukranian border by train and came to Lviv in the early morning. As you may know Ukraine was divided between Russian Empire and Austria for a long time, so the architecture in Western and Eastern parts is really different. And Lviv is the best example of typical Central European city with it narrow paving streets, small stone and brick buildings and cozy trams. I can tell a lot of facts and legends about it but this story isn't about one city, but about the journey =) So just believe that one day wasn't enough for us and we decided to stay there for a few days. We found an apartment to rent, left there our big bags and plunged into friendly atmosphere of the city.

It's important to say that on the second our day there was an Airborne Troops Day. Traditionally it is the day when military guys get completely drunk before lunch and wallow in fountains. Just for fun we went to the Rynok Square (another name is Market Square) with the biggest fountain and joined them. And you know what? Comparing to us brutal soldiers looked like wet humsters, so laughing and crazy we were =)

When we bathed enough we returned to our apartment, had a quick lunch and went towards new adventures. This is the moment in my story where main miracle begins: my first hitch-hiking experience. Our group divided into three couples and stood along the road. For six hours trucks' and cars' drivers picked us up for different distances (from 10 to 100 km), some of them talked to us, some didn't, but almost everyone said smth like: "I envy you. You're young and free to travel as much as you want, I'm too old for this". I heard it and smiled every time, because the only borders for a man is the man himself.

Our second (after Lviv) stop was Tarakanov Fortress: little-known fortress in the forerst near Trakanovo village. It was built in the 17th century, out of use since the middle of the 18th century, and occupied alternately by the Nazis, the Soviets during the II WW. Unfortunately there was no reconstructions since that time, so for now the fortress is partly ruined. Locals stand for the renovation but in local budgets there is always not enough money.

Oops, few characters left, so wait for the part 2 =)