Galloping across Belarus or how to see a lot and not see anything
There were no plans to visit the neighboring country in the near future, but as usual, life makes its own adjustments. Well, in order to get me to point “A”, or rather, to the city of Mogilev, it was possible only by the White Swan branded train Kiev-St. Petersburg, but given that the departure time did not suit me, it was necessary to look for an alternative way. And then the search began and the most interesting thing is that the price of the cost with transfers and travel time were less than a direct message. And now in order. Given all the urgency of the trip, it was decided to combine several tasks, which were subsequently completed. . The first way to Belarus. Kyiv-Nizhin 10 UAH (train) Nezhin-Chernigov-27 UAH (Simferopol-Chernigov, reserved seat, ), Chernigov-Gomel (bus) 64 UAH, total cost 101 UAH. But life again makes its own adjustments. , and now I'm going to Konotop and from Konotop to Gomel (Minsk-Simferopol) the fare for a reserved seat is 289 UAH.
A little about the train ride itself and the border crossing. The composition of the formation of the Belarusian chyginka, it seems that this is the worst composition that I have seen in my life, as my friends told me that their trains are very good, to the point that there are disposable hygiene items in the form of disposable toilet seats. But this does not apply to my case. In the heat of the day, the air conditioner in the car did not work. Approaching the conductor and asking him to turn on the air conditioner, he received an answer saying that the reserved seat is not provided. On what on the electrical panel he showed what to press and where to turn the valve in the compartment, but it turned out that it was not working, asking to call the foreman electrician, he received an answer, he was not there, then he asked to call the foreman of the train. While arguing like this, we reached the border. First you need to understand that in Ukraine and Belarus there is no agreement on simplified border crossing, so you need to prepare for control, fill out a declaration if you are carrying anything and a migration card. According to the declaration, you can bring to Belarus up to 1 liter of strong alcohol or 5 liters of beer and 10 packs of cigarettes. Well, according to Art. Ukrainian border guards sat down and started checking during the movement of the train, do not forget that a child needs a travel document, a blue book in the form of a passport, a birth certificate does not pass, otherwise there is a possibility not to leave the country. Well, the Ukrainian border guards checked the documents, and then the customs officers went, they simply asked if there was something forbidden, whether we would declare anything, they saw that we were only carrying suitcases with personal belongings, they left, well, here is the Belarusian border, the train stops, representatives of the Belarusian authorities come in, i. e. customs officers, border guards and the police close the car and the check begins, do not forget that it’s plus 35 overboard and it’s forbidden to leave the car, and everyone sits soaring for 1.5 hours until they check it, it’s good that the car is half empty in the car with a maximum of 30 people. documents by border guards inspection of personal belongings by all structures and border guards and the police and customs just do three checks of the suitcase. They wanted to force me to fill out a declaration for my 0.875 liters of alcohol, although I already had a ready-made version, but still I had to prove that up to 1 liter can be carried without declaring. but when the dispute already got out, let’s say let’s fill out the declaration and we will fill it out when the turn came to prices in foreign currency asked for a paper on the exchange rate from the National Bank of Belarus, it didn’t turn out, I said that I don’t believe a word and let them bring it with a wet seal and only then we will continue, to which the customs officers consulted and called the management, it was decided to stop declaring because. until they bring this paper, at least 1.5 hours will pass and the passengers begin to resent. So I got to the territory of Belarus. Well, call my friends that I'm already in their country and waiting for them at the train station in Gomel.
To pass the time, I decided to look around and buy a ticket back. I say right away I thought in Ukrzaliznytsya only such laxity, but no. While at the information desk I found out how to get from Mogilev to Chernigov, I spent about 30 minutes, which went to search for an employee of the information desk, stopping his personal phone conversations so that he would answer me about the cost of the ticket, the train number and at which box office to buy a ticket. I received an answer about the box office with a wave of my hand in the direction of the box office and the word “There”, after that I decided to wait for my friends and figure out with them, as locals, at which box office you can buy a ticket. After that, I decided to make a short excursion to the railway station area. I bought a local SIM card from the operator "velcom" with the tariff plan "communication without obligations" worth 30.000 Belarusian rubles. rubles (the exchange rate of bel ruble to hryvnia is 700 to 1, i. e. for one hryvnia 700 bel. rubles) on the account of 3200 rubles the cost of a minute in the network is about 800 rubles. , so you can’t tell jokes on the phone. I also saw forward exchange offices which are not in Ukraine. In Belarus, I have never heard a conversation in Belarusian language, everyone speaks Russian. The Belarusian language can only be seen on signs and signs and big boards saying how much they love Belarus. The quality of roads is better than in Ukraine, public transport runs better than in many regional centers of Ukraine, the fare in trolleybuses and buses is from 3.000 rubles, in minibuses from 5.000. The cost of a taxi is a minimum fare of 50 thousand rubles, a taxi takes veterans to the hospital for free.
Housing prices are not low in Mogilev, a hotel is 70 bucks a day, a studio apartment that my friends rented for me cost 30 bucks a day in the center, in the Tula courtyard, there is a samovar composition in the courtyard, there is also a Moscow courtyard, where there is a nursery a platform in the form of the Kremlin, in general, an interesting idea. The pedestrian street stretches all the way to the Town Hall, in summer it is not full, but in other seasons life is seething there, as several educational institutions are located on it, and as you know, students live happily from session to session. Also in Belarus there is an opportunity to go to the collective farm for a student, and if you are studying on a budget, then this is a must. Prices for food and alcohol will surprise many because it turns out not cheap, for example (an ordinary loaf costs 7.000 rubles, which is 10 UAH, a kilo of boiled sausage from 70 thousand Belarusian rubles is really tasty, I personally liked it. A bottle of the cheapest vodka costs 46.200, a cheap beer bottle is 0.5 l costs from 7000, there is a lot of Ukrainian alcohol, as well as juices and drinks) In the market, you do not put products on the tape, but put a basket and the seller himself puts it in another basket. Prices in cafes are chicken salad about 30.000 rubles, an average pizza from 56 thousand to 80 thousand, an alcoholic soft drink 35 thousand 250 ml and this is a promotional offer.
People are not very interested in local history and architecture, walking along a pedestrian street, I saw a house with a sign that it was an architectural monument, but I didn’t see anything special, a local resident said that there are just few old houses and signs are hung on them.
Well, this is such an unplanned trip.
