Belarus

After the trip where I crossed Russia on the Trans-Siberian railway, I continued to Minsk, and then onwards to Brest. This album contains the photos from my days in the Republic of Belarus.

These photos are licensed under a Creative Commons Attribution-NonCommercial 2.5 License.

Minsk

The capital of Belarus, Minsk is a real curiosity - if a rather uncomfortable one at times. Ordinary buildings look grand, the parks are pristine and the McDonalds is packed, but it's about the most western thing you'll find in the whole city. It's hard to spot a western style advertisement anywhere - even the projectors in the metro stations are playing cartoons rather than adverts. There's plenty of police keeping an eye on things, too. Do so much as walk on the opposite side of the street from the square in front of the presidential palace and you get your details taken - bizarrely after being escorted onto the square in front of the palace, much closer than you ever intended to get to it in the first place! And then you notice the Catholic church being the most attractive feature on the main square by the government buildings, despite a general crackdown against things that aren't the official state-sanctioned Orthodox. Minsk is, perhaps, a place you're better of just not trying to understand.

Great Patriotic War monument	Great Patriotic War monument	Underground part of the war monument
Great Patriotic War monument	Father and son before the eternal flame	Great Patriotic War monument
The eternal flame	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt
Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt
Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Looking at the war monument square
In Janki Kupaly Park	In Janki Kupaly Park	In Janki Kupaly Park
In Janki Kupaly Park	In Orkaha Central Children's Park	In Orkaha Central Children's Park
In Orkaha Central Children's Park	In Janki Kupaly Park	In Janki Kupaly Park
In Janki Kupaly Park	Near Janki Kupaly Park	In Janki Kupaly Park
Another war monument	Another war monument	Great Patriotic War monument
Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Culture palace	Culture palace
On Oktyabrskaya Square	Culture palace decoration	Culture palace sign
Culture palace roof	On Oktyabrskaya Square	On Oktyabrskaya Square
Culture palace	Murals seen on a building	Murals seen on a building
Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	The greatest achievement of capitalism in all of Belarus	Random street art
Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt
Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Along Francyska Skaryny Prospekt	Lenin Square
Lenin Square	Statue on Lenin Square	Catholic church
Catholic church	Lenin Square	Catholic church
Lenin Square	Lenin Square	Lenin Square
Man walks beneath the Lenin statue	Lenin statue	Lenin Square
Lenin Square	Unknown bust

Minsk to Brest

A few photos shot through the (not so clean) train window as I did the four hour journey from Minsk to Brest.

Brest

Brest was somewhat more likable than Minsk. The buildings weren't so overpoweringly grand, but much more down to earth. There were some nice churches and some other nice bits of architecture in the center too. The streets, and especially the mark, were pristine. People didn't cross the streets unless the green light on the crossing was lit. It felt like some kind of utopia - until you talked to anyone and realized just how hard life is for many of them. The prices for things in the shops didn't seem particularly low, but people's wages certainly were.

St Simon Orthodox Cathedral	View from my hotel window	View from my hotel window
Along Masherava Prospekt	The Mukhavets River	The Mukhavets River
One of many "flags" along the roadside	St Simon Orthodox Cathedral	Sunset view from my hotel window
Sunset view from my hotel window	Sunset view of St Simon Orthodox Cathedral	Night view from my hotel window
Night view from my hotel window	View from my hotel window	Statue by St Simon Orthodox Cathedral
Statue by St Simon Orthodox Cathedral	St Simon Orthodox Cathedral	St Simon Orthodox Cathedral
The Mukhavets River	The Mukhavets River	The Mukhavets River
By the Mukhavets River	Random building in the center	Theater
Road in the center	One of the many streets divided by a park	St Peter's Polish Catholic Church
St Peter's Polish Catholic Church	Lenin Square	Lenin statue
Lenin statue	Government building	Building on Lenin Square
In the Park of Culture and Leisure	Monument in the Park of Culture and Leisure	Wooden carving in the Park of Culture and Leisure
Theater in the Park of Culture and Leisure	In the Park of Culture and Leisure	In the Park of Culture and Leisure
In the Park of Culture and Leisure	In the Park of Culture and Leisure	In the Park of Culture and Leisure
Children's rides	Random interesting looking building in the center	St Nikolaiv Church
St Nikolaiv Church	Curious building next to the center	St Nikolaiv Church
St Nikolaiv Church	Buildings on Mitskevicha Street	Tower
Along Savetskaya Street	Random city shot	The station
Crossing the border, leaving Belarus

Brest Fortress

There weren't so many Soviet architectural wonders, but they do exist. Brest Fortress, an easy couple of kilometers walk out of the city center, is one of them. Transformed into a war memorial in the 1970s, it brings home the enormity of the loss suffered by the Soviet forces in World War Two, or the Great Patriotic War as it's known in Belarus. It was the largest, and I think the most moving, war memorial I ever have visited.

Approaching the fortress	Approaching the fortress	The moat
The entrance	The moat	The entrance
The entrance	The entrance	The entrance, from the inside
The entrance, from the inside	The entrance, from the inside	Entrance to what was probably a bunker
Old tanks	The beautiful gardens in the grounds	Part of the moat system
Valour monument and obilisk	Valour monument and obilisk	Looking towards a building housing a museum
The vast, open space in the memorial	Ruins	Ruins
Ruins	Valour monument	Valour monument
Valour monument	Obilisk	Valour monument and obilisk
Valour monument	Valour monument and obilisk	Valour monument
Valour monument	Rememberence of cities that suffered especially in the war	Nikalavisky Church
Valour monument	Valour monument	Valour monument
Valour monument	Nikalavisky Church	Nikalavisky Church
Nikalavisky Church	Nikalavisky Church	Nikalavisky Church
Nikalavisky Church and obilisk	Nikalavisky Church	Valour monument - back
Church, valour monument and obilisk	Restored fortress buildings	Valour monument and obilisk
Old weaponary	Old weaponary	Old weaponary
Valour monument and obilisk - back	Old weaponary	Old weaponary
Kholmiskie Gate	Kholmiskie Gate	Kholmiskie Gate
Kholmiskie Gate	Plaque by the gate	Kholmiskie Gate
Kholmiskie Gate	Kholmiskie Gate	Bridge to Kholmiskie Gate
Bridge to Kholmiskie Gate	Moat	Valour monument
Valour monument	Valour monument	Ruined buildings
Ruined buildings	Valour monument	Valour monument
Valour monument	The eternal flame	Ruined buildings
Looking back towardsthe entrance	Some remaining buildings	Thirst statue
Thirst statue	Thirst statue	The moat
The entrance, from the inside	The entrance, from the inside	The entrance - as I exited

Brest Railway Museum

Brest's railway museum looked like it would be small from the road outside, with just three tracks across with some locomotives on. However, it went back for a long way, with dozens of exhibits. Some of them were even opened up for inside viewing.

Map of the Belarus railway network	Steam locomotive	Another USSR logo
Steam locomotive	Steam locomotive	Inside a steam locomotive
Inside a steam locomotive	Inside a steam locomotive	Steam locomotive
Another USSR logo	Another USSR logo	Diesel locomotive
Inside a steam locomotive	Inside a steam locomotive	Inside a steam locomotive
Inside a steam locomotive	Possibly a shunter	Diesel locomotive
Steam locomotive	Star logo on locomotive front - as on all of them	USSR plaque
Steam locomotive	Belarus Railways and USSR painted logo	Huge snow plow
Steam locomotive	Steam locomotive	Shunter
Recovery crane	Carriage	Crane
Possibly-derelict building	Diesel locomotive	Steam locomotive
USSR plate	Diesel locomotive	Diesel locomotive
Track maintenance vehicle	Track maintenance vehicle	Diesel engine
Cab of a diesel locomotive	Cab of a diesel locomotive	Cab of a diesel locomotive
Cab of a diesel locomotive	Diesel engine	Diesel engine
Diesel engine	Diesel engine	Diesel engine
Paired diesel locomotives	Diesel train controls	Diesel engine
Diesel engine	Diesel train controls	The museum entrance

Kamenets

Located about 30km from Brest, Kamenets (the name meaning stony, a good description of the earth there) is home to a tower - apparently one of if not the last of its kind in Europe - dating back to the 13th century. The bricks are a different color in the lower part, since they were covered in earth until a recent excavation set out to try and determine if the tower did indeed have an entrance. They did find it - and a moat - after removing the built-up earth!

The 30m-high lookout tower	The countryside around the town	The countryside around the town
Orthodox church	The 30m-high lookout tower

Belovezhskaya Pushcha

Lying part in Belarus, part in Poland, this claims to be one of the oldest national parks in Europe. Indeed, it does hold remains of the canopy of trees that once covered northern Europe some centuries back. It's also home to Belorussian Santa Claus, and the place where the "death certificate" of the USSR was signed. However, that building is not available for visiting now. The president uses it as his forest hangout, and in his paranoia won't allow tourists to even sight it today; once you could go right up to it. It's also a sensitive border zone, thus as an individual visitor (with a guide, mind) I attracted special attention to make sure I didn't have opportunity to do anything crazy!

Statue of man with machine gun	National park grounds	National park grounds
Entrance to home of Belorussian Santa Claus	Entrance to home of Belorussian Santa Claus	Wooden carving of fairytale character
Me with Belorussian Santa Claus	Residence of Belorussian Santa Claus	Windmill
Grounds by Santa Claus' residence	Me with the "January" statue, from a Belorussian fairytable	Month statues from a Belorussian fairytale
The Christmas tree - rather tall	Month statues from a Belorussian fairytale	Windmill and pond
Many letters sent by children	Shelves of various ornaments	The roof
Room where the letters were - note the straw roof	Mushroom	The Santa Claus residence again
National park grounds	Belarus-Poland border	Belarus-Poland border
Belarus-Poland border
Bear - thankfully, doubly caged	Wolf	Wolf
Deer	Wild horse - getting a bit tame	Wild horse
Wild horse	Wild horse	Feeding a bison
Bison	Bison	Bison
Deer	Deer	Deer
Deer