Out of Belarus: Rest days on the lake

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. Apparently leaving Belarus is easier than entering – a quick passport check (we’re not even sure that our registration stamps on our migrations cards were checked in the end!) and a cycle though the checkpoints without even any questions about the dog in the trailer! After a day of continuous rain, the sun was out as we crossed the border in Lithuania, in greeting to the wet cyclists.…

Continue reading

Kamenitsa eco village

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. From Minsk we cycled for two days to Kamenitsa / Каменица. Due to our tight schedule, this was our only proper wild-camping night in Belarus, which we spent without problems on a beautiful meadow that smelled like Thyme. On the first evening, when we cycled through a small village, suddenly we were surrounded by dozens of kids on bikes. They were very eager to fill our water containers…

Continue reading

Biketour in Minsk (part 1)

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. After Shanti-Dom, we cycled 70km to Minsk. Getting into the city was not so easy however, and somehow we had to cross the big ring road that circles the city. Consulting the GPS, we found that the easiest way was to follow a small footpath for 300m – but we soon found out that the footpath was up a hill, just through a corn field (with 3…

Continue reading

Shanti Dom

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. Due to our short visa, we had to take a train to skip most of the 400 km of cycling from Brest to Shanti Dom, a yoga farm with an international volunteering programme about 70 km west of Minsk. Lucky as we are, it started raining cats and dogs just after we got out of the train to cycle 40 km, but when we finally arrived, we…

Continue reading

Biketour in Brest

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. After so many fails, we couldn’t believe it when the bus started going and actually took us into Belarus. At the bus stop we were already awaited by Valentin from Radeja Bike Club, with whom we had been in a lot of contact with to prepare the documents for the visa application. Valentin was over-excited to lead us through the city, and communication was a bit difficult,…

Continue reading

belarus border chaos

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. When the 2016 biketour collective first discussed going to Belarus, we expected that the visa would require some work, but after doing considerable research into the process, decided it was a manageable task. We did some preparation, but then expected that everything would fall into place when we met together at the starting point in Warsaw and would proceed as planned. It didn’t. So, heres a list…

Continue reading

Compost-toilet out of trash

Sorry, this entry is only available in English. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. Paulina invited us to stay at her tiny garden house in the allotment gardens of hajnowka. Shower was a garden hose, food supply came from the incredibly friendly neighbours, our tents were spread out in the garden, toilet was in Kaufland or in the forest. We had some beautiful days there with her. As a thank you we built an own toilet next to the house. So,…

Continue reading

Zamieszanie z wizą na Białoruś

Sorry, this entry is only available in Polski. For the sake of viewer convenience, the content is shown below in the alternative language. You may click the link to switch the active language. W tym roku jesteśmy mniejszą grupą niż w poprzednich latach i zastanawialiśmy się, czy zamieszanie z wizami na Białoruś nie odstraszyło wielu osób. Przez pierwsze dwa tygodnie bike toura, większość rozmów i wysiłków było skierowanych na zdobycie wiz. Najpierw staraliśmy się o wizy w ambasadzie w Warszawie, gdzie napotykaliśmy na coraz to nowe wymówki dlaczego nasze podanie nie może zostać przyjęte. Były problemy z naszym zaproszeniem, z…

Continue reading