The war-torn road

Katyn Forest memorial
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The next stop after Moscow is in a small place called Yartsevo, and the Hotel's name is Oasis. It conjures up pleasant images, but really it couldn't be any further from the truth. It's really a run-down truckers motel on the Moscow - Minsk road.

There was one thing that the hotel offered: after dinner was some Russian dancing, and the last act is a stripper (female). By then most people had heaps to drink, and we noticed a couple of prostitutes in the place. Coincidentally all of the single guys had been put in their own rooms. It doesn't take Einstein to work out how they planned to try and make money. Everyone on our tour was more interested in drinking amongst ourselves, and it turned into a fairly big night, since the prices are far better then Moscow.

A one Belarusian ruble note is cheaper to use then a sheet of toilet paper is.

Khatyn Town memorial
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We left early in the morning for a big day - the trip into Belarus. First stop was Katyn Forest, where the Katyn massacre took place in the last world war. Over 20,000 people were killed in the massacre - mainly captured Polish people. They were forced to dig their own graves and shot. For many years the Russians blamed the Germans for the massacre, but in recent times it's come out that they were killed at Stalin's order. Now there lies a large memorial in the midst of the beautiful but eerie forest. Falling rain added to the atmosphere and it created a very somber mood.

Orthadox cross at Katyn Forest
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After soviet rule, Belarus is controlled by a dictator with nothing but icey relations with the rest of Europe and the US. The country is in fact still friendly with Russia though. The border itself wasn't too bad, except the tour manager had fun trying to get the documents he needed to actually get out of Belarus the next day. Belarus is the sort of country where you pretty much have to bribe the border guards, and they don't speak great English either. Fortunately Marina on our tour is fairly proficient in Russian.

Rememberance wall at Katyn Forest
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Belarus bears the scars from the last world war, when a quarter of the population was killed in a land grab between the German's and Russian's (2.2 million people). It also contains some of the most amazing war momuments ever created. The most amazing is Khatyn Town. This memorial had an affect on me; it was where an innocent village was destroyed by the German SS troups after a nearby convoy was attacked (not of the villages doing). The German troops surrounded the town, rounded up the 149 inhabitants (including 75 children), and put them into a barn, locked it, and set fire to it. Anyone who attempted to escape were shot. Many tried, including a girl who escaped only to be outrun and killed. On entering the memorial there is a statue of a man holding the corpse of a boy. One of the men of the village (Joseph Kaminsky) regained consciousness to find the entire village destroyed, and he found the body of his dying son who died in his arms. He was the only survivor of the massacre. This village wasn't the only to receive this fate. During the war 618 villages were destroyed. Now the memorial features the ruins of houses with open gates (they were friendly peace loving people), and bells that toll to remind us of the horrors that unfolded.

Remains of a house at Khatyn Town
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We travelled for the next few hours onto arrive in Minsk. We did a quick bus tour of the city - but we couldn't get any photographs due to the failing light. As a result I wouldn't mind visiting Minsk again, since it feels like it was a missed city. What we did see at night was a very beautiful city that still shows some of the trademarks of communist rule (such as the hammer and sickle on building facades).

Pity it was another place (like of the rest of Europe) who seems to have a thing for warm (room-temperatue) beer. In some ways it'd be nicer to visit in winter. All you'd have to do then is swipe the beer out the door and it'd be nice and chilled.

Remebering the 186 villages that have not been rebuilt since they were destroyed in WW2
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One interesting thing about Belarus is it's money. A one Belarusian ruble note is cheaper to use then a sheet of toilet paper is. You sort of realize it when you go to the ATM to find the smallest amount you can get out is 20,000. And comparitively the prices were very good in the supermarket that we visited.

Next stop... Poland.