THE CLERKS STUDIOUSLY IGNORED ME while Connie waited in the taxi. "Bye-em-bye" Vladimir sauntered up and passed our visa’d passports through the window, nary a word spoken except my half-whispered “Dosvedanya.” Good-bye. Guess he’s the strong, silent type.
One down, one to go
Larysa, on the other hand, is as charming and outgoing as can be. She double-checked our Belarus applications, affixed our photos, assembled all the documents and escorted us to the Belarus Embassy, first stopping so we could purchase the mandatory health insurance policy. Getting visas would have been impossible without her help. We wouldn’t have known what to do and besides, no one at the embassy spoke or read a word of English.
We waited while she explained that we couldn’t leave our passports and that we couldn’t book flights without a guaranteed visa. Eventually we handed over 2850 hrydnia and they returned our passports. We are to return on 10 August, hopefully to receive the official visa. If we are refused we’re out less than $200, no biggie, and we will cancel our hotel in Minsk, our official sponsors.
St Vladimir Cathedral
So far, Larysa has been doing everything from the goodness of her heart — we haven’t contracted a thing with TUI. She didn’t even want anything other than a glass of juice for lunch. We’ll have to make it up to her when we return. She returned to work and we wandered around the very busy St. Vladimir Cathedral then relaxed in the Hilton lobby until it was time to go to the airport.
