Rolls Around the World 2007: 14 - Warsaw, Poland to Minsk, Belarus

Sunday, August 12, 2007

Miles for the day 141 (227 km) Miles to date 5,196 (8,362km)

We were on the road on this dreary, wet, foggy day at 6AM. We followed an erroneous road sign instead of the hotel directions, but Marilynn navigated us back onto course and we managed to escape the city before traffic became heavy. We tried the Google Earth driving directions, but they bore little resemblance to reality. Heavy fog persisted for the first hour, but gradually burned off and the sun came out. There was little traffic, and other than two lane construction zones the four lane highway was in good shape - we ran sufficiently ahead of schedule to permit a stop at a nice restaurant for breakfast.

That all changed at the border. The first border guard motioned us into the fast lane, and we were at passport control in minutes - however, as no one could speak or read English, they could not understand the car documents and demanded a non-existent "car pass", so we were shunted to a parking lot and told to stay with the car. I phone Natalia, who had arrived at 9 AM on the Belarus side of the border, and she had the officials there phone the Polish side. It was explained that because the car was old it would take a long time to confirm ownership. After 1 ½ hours sitting in the car, answering questions about it to others waiting for clearance, opening and closing the bonnet (hood) for those wanting to see the engine, and generally sweltering in the sun, we got clearance to leave Poland.

Natalia Padalko, who did an excellent job of guiding me in 2000, was waiting for us and obviously had everything arranged, as we were motioned around traffic and into a parking spot. The process was amazing - it required getting a Belarus car permit, then car insurance ($23), clearing immigration, getting Belarus road permission ($15), presenting local health insurance and clearing customs. Thank heavens we had Natalia, as no one spoke English and all these processes took place in different buildings! She did most of the running around while we answered questions and opened and closed the hood of the car. The process took another hour and a half. There is a joke locally about the German invasion, which didn't take place in Belarus until 1941 even though WWII started in 1939. They say the reason is that it took the Germans that long to get through the border formalities.

The drive to Brest, a city of 300,000 people, was on good roads. With directions from Natalia we were soon checking into the Vesta Hotel. We had a suite with entrance hall, living room, bedroom and large bathroom, aptly described by Lonely Planet as "Comfy as your granny's home".

About 10 minutes later Natalia, Marilynn and I were on our way to an excellent restaurant, where we had a superb feed for less than half the price we have been paying. The car was left at the Intourist Hotel guarded parking lot for the night. Natalia's friend Helen, also an English teacher, joined us. She pressed her son Sergey, who owns a 7 seat taxi, into service as driver for a city tour. We walked through the immense Brest Fortress, where less than 2,000 Belarusian troops held out against the German onslaught for over a month. It is wedding season and Sunday is the popular day, so various groups were having their wedding pictures taken in the picturesque park.

Helen's friend Alla invited us to her apartment for tea. Alla is an artist who does portraits in needle point and petit point - her walls were an art gallery, and some looked like they were paintings, they were so finely done. The tea consisted of berry cognac with tea, and a good size spread of food - enough that supper was no longer on the list. After giving our thanks, Sergey drove us back to the hotel, where Natalia got a call to say I'd left my hat at Alla's apartment. Once again Sergey was pressed into service to retrieve the hat - Helen was in the taxi with him when he returned, and shouted out that it was probably lucky that the only item of my clothing they were retrieving from a lady's apartment was a hat!

Marilynn and I were pooped, so after a nightcap with Natalia headed for our quarters. I was going to have a small beer, but only large seem to exist in Belarus! On the other hand, a drink each including my large beer ran about $2.00 in the hotel bar - a far cry from prices we paid in Europe.

Monday, August 13, 2007

Miles for the day 221 (356 km) Miles to date 5,417 (8,718km)

Our wake up call this morning was Natalia knocking on the door. There was a time change yesterday we didn't know about, so our planned wake-up was an hour later than the agreed time. I threw on some cloths, as the ever efficient Natalia had a taxi waiting to take us to the Intourist hotel to pick up the Rolls.

Back at the hotel Marilynn was up and organized, so we downed sandwiches made in lieu of breakfast and headed out. Many hotels in Belarus and Russian do not start breakfast until 7 or 8 AM. Purchasing gas en route was an interesting experience, as it is necessary to pay in advance. They accepted credit cards, so I paid an amount we guessed at, and then paid separately to fill it the rest of the way. It was nice to see that the price of gas is down to 75 cents per litre.

We made good time to Minsk on good four lane highway where we checked into the luxurious Minsk Hotel, which Lonely Planet says is normally inhabited by diplomats and rock stars. Marilynn looked, but no rock stars were to be seen! When Vladimir made our hotel reservation the hotel had no king sized beds, so the manager of CentreKurot shamed them into buying one especially for us, pointing out that they would soon have to compete with two new five star hotels about to open! The room we had was large, very comfortable, and the new bed perfect.

CentreKurot, the travel company Vladimir & Natalia work with, had arranged a city tour for 2 PM. As it was only 11:30 AM it was decided that Marilynn and Natalia would go shopping while I got a haircut. At 2 PM the manager of CentreKurot, Natalia's husband Vladimir and a reporter from the local media arrived at the hotel. After an interview and photo session with the car we boarded a comfortable van for the city tour.

Minsk, an ancient city dating from 1068, has been a way point for various conquering armies. It was 90% destroyed in WWII, so was rebuilt in the soviet style with wide avenues and lots of parks. The main street of this city of 2 million is 22 km long. Both Brest and Minsk are super clean cities. Even though I had certainly noticed, I was surprised when Marilynn commented on the beauty of the Belarusian women!

In the evening we went for dinner with Vladimir and Natalia, where we managed to do justice to two bottles of vodka, two bottles of wine and a substantial amount of beer with our meal. It was a very cheerful group that left the restaurant to take the subway to the library. The ornate subway was clean and efficient. Shrek 3 was playing on the TV system in the station, but I think we provided better entertainment for our fellow passengers.

The huge dome above the library is covered with lights, which go through a dazzling series of changes in colour and pattern. After watching a complete program cycle we caught a taxi back to the hotel, where we had a nightcap or two before heading to bed.

Tomorrow we leave for Moscow.