Russia……… a country that has always fascinated us, but that we could neither could nor wanted to visit on our own. This nation, unfortunately, is still not ready for "do-it-yourself" trips: there are no equipped rest areas for campers, let alone campsites, there's still too much bureaucracy at the borders, you lose hours and hours, the signs are in Cyrillic and only rarely did we see anything written in English, the police can stop you for nothing and if you don't pay the bribe – sometimes a bottle of wine is enough – they make things very difficult for you with considerable loss of time, very few people speak English, and for now they aren't interested in tourism.
For this trip we had already signed up four years earlier with CC La Granda, which was one of the first camper clubs to organise trips to this destination; unfortunately at the last moment I realised my passport was about to expire and I didn't have time to renew it. This year, after many postponements, we made up our minds: we turned to the agency we had been with in Libya, Girocamper; the cost was fairly high at € 3,460, departure and arrival Tarvisio, duration 30 days. After sending the deposit and then the balance in June, 15 days before departure the agency informed us that, having not reached the minimum number of participants, the tour would not take place, but redirected us to the Russian correspondent (sanpietroburgo.it) which, gathering all the various fragments from other clubs or agencies, managed to complete the necessary number to make the trip.
Instead of Tarvisio, the departure will be at Terespol on the Polish/Belarusian border and the end will be Narva on the Russian/Estonian border; only on this stretch will we be followed and assisted by guides: an Italian speaking Russian and a Belarusian speaking Italian and Russian, all at the price of € 1,750, practically half. We accepted immediately; the itinerary before and after Russia we'll do on our own, visiting anyway the places listed in the Girocamper programme.
I have divided this trip by countries, the Slovakia, with Poland partly on the way out and Częstochowa on the way back, Belarus, Russia divided into Moscow with the Golden Ring and St Petersburg with the Residences, and finally Estonia
Day 14 Jul 2006
10/1659 - Brest - Hotel Intourist Parking
CONTINUES FROM "POLAND"
Departure before 8, at customs at 8.30, entry into Belarus at 14.30, all the time under a scorching sun. I turned on the generator for the air conditioning to get a bit of relief, above all for the cats, whose fur wasn't exactly ideal for it. For lunch, canned food, since we had to leave at any moment. For customs, Hugo asked us for all the photocopies of the documents; some didn't have them and he promptly managed to make them. ADVICE: make at least 5 copies of all documents — passport, vehicle registration, international and regular driving licence, and if applicable the animals' health documents. After the border we got to know Alessia, a Belarusian girl who will help Hugo escort us on this tour.
5 km and the first diesel fill-up, Hugo pays for everything and will give us the expense note In Brest, after parking at the Intourist hotel, a lovely lady and a waiter offered us bread, salt and a shot of vodka; the car park has loading/unloading, water and power. Hugo then gave us some currency in Belarusian rubles, 130,000 equivalent to € 50. At the border we'll give him back what's left and he'll charge us only what we spent. On foot we visited the fortress, a very interesting place and important for this nation, a symbol of resistance against the Nazi invasion of '41. Tonight dinner at the hotel, very simple but good. Now they're all watching the Italy-Germany match, I'd rather go to bed.
Weeping willows reflecting in a dark canal in Trieste
Day 25 Jul 2006
382/2041 - Minks - Church parking
During the night we heard shouts of joy for the 2-0, deserved, they told me later. Departure at the scheduled time, 8.30, all motorway, you pay twice, Hugo takes care of it, I'm still in the lead. Many along the way told me to slow down, Hugo, who had to keep to schedule, told me to hurry. Tomorrow I'll be happy to move to the tail and hand over the lead to no. 2. Lunch stop at Mir castle, at Unesco's expense it will be restored, but unfortunately the Belarusians are doing it without respecting the original details, further ruining a beautiful building. On arrival in Minsk, refuelling at the agreed station, Ukoil. Crossing the city, very beautiful and modern, in wartime it was razed to the ground.
Parking at the city's only Catholic church; the parish priest introduces himself shouting Long live Italy, he's a likeable type, he offers to say a mass in Italian for us, nobody answered or accepted……. We're not very religious. We only have the water supply available; it's already late, but we decide to take a stroll around the city, nothing special, nothing distinctive, we can't even make a phone call at the post office, we'll try again
Women selling blueberries, honey and berries in jars from a wooden bench
Day 36 Jul 2006
338/2379 - Smolensk - Intourist Parking - sun
Departure at 8.30, we leave Minsk on the big avenue and take the E30 motorway towards Moscow, toll, asphalt with the usual ruts from heavy vehicles, you have to slow to 70 km/h in built-up areas, on these motorways there are pedestrian crossings, anyone can use them even by bike. We reach the BY/Russia border at 12.30; while Ugo and Alessia deal with the documents, we have lunch. At 14.30, ahead of schedule, we set off again, not before leaving, as a tip because they were quick, a bottle of wine from each crew. On arrival in Russia we put the clock forward another hour (2 ahead of Italy) In Smolensk we stop for the night in a car park of an Intourist motel, very squalid, next to several articulated lorries.
In the evening we have dinner with other crews (11 € each) in the restaurant, 1950s style with red drapes and booth dividers, then on the terrace we down a couple of bottles of vodka, a few laughs and then everyone off to bed. Tomorrow a tough transfer awaits us, not so much because of the motorway but the entry into Moscow in chaotic traffic, as Ugo warns us.
CONTINUES IN "MOSCOW and Golden Ring"
Minsk riverside promenade with paved paths, green lawn and boats on the river
Day 427 Jul 2006
513 / 6298 – ITALY – Majano – HOME
After the first stretch still under construction in Vienna we take the motorway again that will take us home quickly, the interruption found on the way there was no longer there. The trip to and from Russia is over, it was a great experience, we visited interesting countries and places, of Russia, such a large and vast nation we have only seen a part, I hope that in the future it will be possible to visit it easily far and wide without so much bureaucracy and various constraints.
1 reader comments
Complimenti, viaggio meraviglioso.