Sunday 16 July 2006.
Highlights: Buying Beer from Government Shop!

Belarussia President Lukashenko certainly runs this country in and interesting fashion.   While Russia and other countries around have taken great steps forward this President has managed to only move the country a little bit past the USSR era which he longs for a return to.

In order to do this tour you need to come through this country, as a result of this, and the need for hard currency (yes it is that bad) the Belarussia government charge you $61 USD for your visa and crossing from Russia to Belarussia felt like a step back in time. It was intriguing to see a country that was close to the old communist system.  

The local hotel was very basic (but one of the best here), which was fine for me after all the hostels I’ve stayed at, but some on the trip were not impressed (our tour guide had warned us from the start). I went for a walk around the city and you can see that the current system is hurting the locals.   BTW you can only buy beer from the Government, and they say that State Government’s in Australia rely on ‘sin’ taxes too much!