New Year holidays. Part 1. On a visit to Santa Claus.
- What will you do on New Year's holidays? Maybe we will go to Minsk on 6-7?
So the day before the New Year, my old friend and fellow student called me in the hope of spending time together.
But to his regret, I already had plans. Moreover, these plans appeared only at the beginning of December, when the weather "beat" temperature records, and the native city was buried in mud and dullness from reagents and lack of snow. I remembered the Residence of Father Frost in Belovezhskaya Pushcha, and the desire to prolong the children's holiday only strengthened my desire to go there.
Over the next few days, after monitoring the housing, I realized that at a price per day of less than 100 $ / euro, it is unlikely that anything will be found. But I, like a horse with blinders, already saw the goal and direction only forward. Already desperate to save money, I found an agroestate 80 km from Pushcha and 40 km from Brest, where they offered a room for 4 with parking and internet for 65 euros for 2 days.
On January 3, at about 11.00, we set off on our way along the already beaten path and after 9-10 hours of the journey we drove through the gate to the farmstead Veronika in the village of Borisovo, Brest region. The hospitable hostess met us, despite the late hour, helped us to accommodate, showed us where we were. The room assigned to us was warm and large. By the way, all the places in the farmstead were already occupied at the time of our arrival. And no wonder, because a good location a couple of tens of meters from the Minsk-Brest highway attracts transit travelers. Here you can order breakfast from the hostess. And the shared kitchen, bath and toilet were the only disadvantages of this accommodation.
The next day, having slept (we are on vacation), we went to Belovezhskaya Pushcha. The road through Zhabinka, Kamenets to the village of Kamenyuki is practically without cars with good coverage. It even seemed to us that we had made a mistake with the direction.
However, our doubts were dispelled by the traffic police inspector at the gates of Belovezhskaya Pushcha, who turned around all the approaching cars, saying that there were no free parking spaces. So, leaving the car along the road, we headed to the ticket office. Having lost no more than 5 minutes in line, we became the owners of tickets to the Residence and enclosures with animals. The tickets showed the departure time of the bus, and we spent it at the seed stalls.
There is no fixed seat on the bus, but the number of tickets is sold according to the number of seats on the bus. In the queue, all the people, mostly with children, are adequate and cheerful. Therefore, there was no confusion. 15-20 minutes of the way through Belovezhskaya Pushcha and here we are at the gates of the Residence.
It makes no sense to talk about the contests and fun that the organizers of this holiday entertained the guests with. But for sure, there were no frankly bored people. A light frost also contributed to this, so everyone danced round dances, called Santa Claus, made wishes and took pictures.
At the end, everyone received sweet gifts and, while waiting for the return bus, they could enjoy hot tea with pancakes with honey and jam.
The decision to buy tickets to the enclosures right away was the right one. On the way back, the bus makes a stop at the enclosures furthest from the entrance to Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
Thus, walking along the enclosures with animals, you return to the place where you left your personal transport.
To top it off, there was a delicious dinner in a cafe right here on the territory of Belovezhskaya Pushcha.
What else does everyone sometimes need, except for a sense of celebration and a fleeting return to childhood!
