Nathan's Insights

World Traveller: 7 Continents, 90 Countries, 871 Days Overseas

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  • World Trip 2006: Day 111 – Minsk to Vilnius, Lithuania

    Monday 17 July 2006
    Highlights: Gediminas Square, St Peter & St Paul Church

    We left the dark and dreary Belarus for the more energetic Lithuania which is the first of the Baltic States and a former republic of the USSR (Belarus is not Baltic and wants to be a republic again).  

    The first thing you get from this place is just how much people are bitter at the former USSR.   Over 25% of the population was lost in WWII and in many ways the country is still suffering from this and the efforts of communism up until 1989. Lithuania was the first ‘republic’ to declare independence from the USSR and at first suffered for this declaration (this was 2 years before the breakup of the USSR).

    Lithuania however did enjoy a good period of independence between the two World Wars. Vilnius has embraced the capitalist world these days.   The busy streets are full of traders is probably the best demonstration of this fact.   Highlights during the day included; St Peter & St Paul Church and the Jesuit University.   In Gediminas Square I stood on the stone / step that says if you make a wish it might came true, we will see!

  • World Trip 2006: Day 110: Moscow to Minsk, Belarus

    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!

  • World Trip 2006: Day 109 – Moscow, Russia

    Saturday 15 July 2006
    Highlights: Borodino Panorama Exhibition, The Kremlin

    We started off by visiting the Borodino Panorama Exhibition.   This exhibition highlights the 1812 war with France and in particular a key battle about 100 kms outside of Moscow.

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  • World Trip 2006: Day 108 – Moscow, Russia

    Friday 14 July 2006
    Highlights: Moscow Red Square, Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

    The Moscow Red Square, site of all those army marches I still remember as a child.   Today I got to visit this incredible place which included Lenin’s tomb just outside the Kremlin. It’s hard to take in just how much world history has come from this place.   St Basil Cathedral has to be one of the most famous sites in the world.

    An unusual feature of the square is no venders are actually allowed inside it (they are however at the gates).   One of the walls of the square contains a fantastic shopping mall (and that is saying something from me!), Stalin must be rolling in his grave as you can buy all the latest fashions.   I’m not sure how the locals can buy from this place however given the prices.

    I also got to see other famous sites in Peter the Great Statue and the Cathedral of Christ the Saviour.   This place is amazing; I think I’m falling in love with this city.   Everyone should visit.

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  • World Trip 2006: Day 107 – Novgorod to Moscow, Russia

    Thursday 13 July 2006
    Highlights: Moscow Metro System

    Setting off from Novgorod we briefly stopped at the small town of Volga which highlighted how the majority of people live outside of St Petersburg and Moscow.   The roads are not very good, it takes a lot longer to travel distances in Russia for example one 200 km stage of the day took 3.2 hours.   It much cost their economy a fortune as trucks can’t go the speed limit, I think the country would get a great efficiency dividend by fixing the main roads.   It was many hours of being bumped all over the place. We are staying at a upper class hotel, “Sovietsky” which like most hotel’s doesn’t have air conditioning but otherwise is probably the best one I’ve stayed at.

    Tonight we went on a tour of the Metro system.   The communist certainly know how to build grand projects when they wanted to.   At times you would think you are in a museum.   The photos I took don’t do it justice.   The trains themselves are cheap (about 6 roubles or 25 cents AUD) and they go very fast (about 100 km/h between stations). At the end of the tour we briefly saw the outside of the Kremlin and Red Square however they were closed due to a concert just finishing.   Heaps of troops obviously helped with the crowd.