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<\/a><\/p>\nWe met up the next afternoon. Sergei grew up in Minsk and had just returned after spending several years away, studying at a university in Lithuania. As we strolled around his favorite parks, we discussed Belarusian history and politics.<\/p>\n
\u201cWhy did you come here? I think it\u2019s not so common, right?\u201d Sergei asked. Like my Uber driver, he was bewildered by my choice of destination.<\/p>\n
The truth is that Belarus has fascinated me since I was a teenager when I started traveling solo. But as a budget traveler, the old visa requirements kept me away. I\u2019d read about how difficult it was to get in: tourists turned away at the border even though they had all the proper paperwork, rejected for a mismatched signature or a single mistaken digit on a form. So when I read about the relaxed entry requirements, it wasn\u2019t long before I bought a plane ticket.<\/p>\n
Sergei and I walked through Gorky Park and rode to the top of a rickety Ferris wheel for a view of Minsk: a sea of crumbling Soviet apartments peppered with historic buildings reconstructed in the wake of World War II and sprawling squares. Glass skyscrapers shot up all over the city.<\/p>\n
Though recent protests and policy changes, like the new visa, point to a shifting political climate, Belarus is still, on the whole, an authoritarian state. Sergei told me that clapping as a form of protest was outlawed in 2011. As we stood in front of the Victory Monument, a 38-meter tall tribute to the soldiers of the Soviet army in World War II, Sergei explained the two versions of his country\u2019s history he had learned: one in elementary school in Minsk, the other at a university abroad. Hearing about a country\u2019s history from its natives is one of my favorite things about traveling, and I was grateful to have the opportunity to speak openly with Sergei and listen to his intriguing dual perspective.<\/p>\n
As we crossed Kastry\u010dnickaja Square in front of the Palace of the Republic and walked past the old KGB headquarters downtown, Sergei pointed to a grocery store. \u201cAre you hungry? Want to have a picnic?\u201d he asked.<\/p>\n
Belarus is cheap \u2014 think Southeast Asia prices. Our entire grocery picnic \u2014 Belarusian sweets, local cheese, seafood-flavored potato chips \u2014 cost only a few dollars. It was hard to believe I was in Europe, but in a country with a minimum monthly wage equivalent to around $120 in the U.S., cheap prices are to be expected. Local specialties like blini<\/span><\/i>, crepe-style pancakes with fillings ranging from salmon and <\/span>smetana<\/span><\/i> (Belarusian sour cream) to strawberries and cream, cost just a few dollars.<\/span><\/p>\n Even touristy activities are cheap: museum passes and gallery entrance fees were about $2. A metro token cost $0.30, and a 45+ minute Uber to the airport ran me less than $9.<\/p>\n Sergei bought local berry-flavored liqueur and vodka for me to sample \u2014 it wouldn\u2019t have been a complete trip to Belarus without at least trying<\/span><\/i> it, he told me. It wasn\u2019t hard to find; corner stores in Belarus stock shelves of vodka how a 7\/11 in America stock refrigerators full of beer and soda. A 750ml bottle of vodka cost less than $1.<\/span><\/p>\n No matter your travel style, you\u2019d be hard pressed to overspend in Belarus. There are plenty of budget accommodation options, from ideally located Hostel Trinity<\/span><\/a>, to the city\u2019s many short-term, newly renovated <\/span>apartment<\/span> rentals that go for a fraction of what they would cost in other European capitals.<\/p>\n The new visa-free visit policy requires tourists to fly in and out of Minsk\u2019s international airport, which can be frustrating since overland transportation from neighboring countries is so cheap. But Belavia, the national airline, offers flights for under $100 round trip between Minsk and Vilnius, Moscow, Kiev, and elsewhere.<\/p>\n After our picnic, Sergei and I walked through Minsk\u2019s Old Town, down cobblestoned streets lined with replicas of 17th-century churches built in the 1980s. We crossed a bridge over the Svislach River onto the Island of Tears, which is crowned by statues of weeping women and angels in remembrance of the 1980s war in Afghanistan.<\/p>\n Although I didn\u2019t get a chance to check out Minsk\u2019s museums, ranging from traditional to downright bizarre, they\u2019re at the top of my list for my (fingers crossed) next visit. Visitors can play feline-themed chess at the Cat Museum<\/a>, learn about the German-Soviet War at the Great Patriotic War Museum<\/a>, or wander through a field of boulders mirroring the country\u2019s unique topography at the Park of Stones.<\/a><\/p>\n<\/a><\/p>\n