Belarus

[cowsfly]

Hello,

I'm quite interested in traveling to Belarus.  Can anyone recommend any local people who can assist this bloke with accomadations, where to go, where to avoid, interpreting, finding and meeting women, visiting the countryside?

Knowing somebody who can help out would be greatly appreciated.

Thanks!

Mark

[ECR844]

The expat and foreigner 'MOB infrastructure' as far as the 'agency' culture and support mechanisms that accompany it are severely lacking there as a result of the political situation in country. If you have plans on going there you're going to need to be far more of a 'self-reliant' individual and 'self-starter' than you would need to be going most other places in the FSU.

Visa's are easy to get and as long as you follow the rules straight forward. Apartments on the short term rental side of things are primarily used as income properties for locals using them as a place to 'hook up' with mistresses and girlfriends away from prying eyes. So prices there avg between 50-200.00/night depending on amenities and how recently constructed they are. There are cheaper places to rent but generally they are far below what the avg westerner expects as far as 'quality of living' and most of these go to locals as a lease or long term rent situation. This leaves you with Hotels which can range from the reasonably priced to the expensive depending on where you're going or staying.

"Herrie," can probably help you out with info. about renting a car there as I've not done that and nor needed to.

Translators are available and can be found privately or professionally and rates will vary depending on where you're going in country.

As far as 'what to see' there's a wide variety of things to see and do depending on interests.

[Larry]

What to see largely depends on how much time you can spend in-country.  If you fly there you will almost certainly fly into the capital city, Minsk.  Hotel prices are surprisingly high there.  A modest hotel not in the city center will cost $90.  A better hotel in the city center will cost more like $200, and prices go up from there.  The metro system is good, and cheap.  There are nice parks throughout the city.  Very little of the city survived the war, so you won't see much of the 19th century architecture you might see in other cities of the FSU. 

And speaking of war, Belarus has had way more than its share of war.  If you're a history buff you might find that interesting.  Napoleon invaded Russia through what is now Belarus.  So did Hitler.  And the armies of both dictators retreated that way too.  If you have time and are interested in the war, you might pay a visit to the fortress at Brest, in Western Belarus near the Polish border, where in the first week of the invasion a few thousand Soviet soldiers held off 20,000 Germans for a time.

There are beautiful lakes in the North of Belarus, near Braslaw.
If you're in the North of the country, I would recommend seeing the city of Polotsk, which was founded in 864 and was an important city for several centuries afterward.  St. Sophia Cathedral there was built I think in the 11th century.  It's situated in a beautiful location on a hill above the river Dvina.

And last, but certainly not least, there are so many gorgeous women in Belarus.  A fair number of them speak English too.

[ECR844]

Larry is correct, there is a large variety of ladies there. For some you will be chum to gobble on their way to their ultimate objectives. However there are many others who are genuine, sincere and have no need of anyone's MEE principles western passports, or money. Things are tough there and getting tougher, but the people are very hardy and are working harder to the best they can to survive. There are ladies of all different shapes, sizes, and attitudes just like elsewhere in the FSU. Also there like the US there are subtle regional differences in attitude and culture depending on where in the country you are and the lady grew up in.





There are lots of areas to explore and it's a beautiful country that is often avoided by 'westerners'. However they do have their fair share of European and Turkish sex tourists, especially in Minsk...

[ECR844]

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