Guide to Belarus
Must See Belarus
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Minsk is a mind-blowing experience. Ostensibly a European capital, the city hearkens back to Soviet times: the KGB building can't be missed, and the clean streets are lined with more Soviet iconography than you can shake a sickle at. Never mind, a slick new nightclub is rolling out drum 'n' bass tonight. Before that, drop in to the new sushi bar.
There's a palpable pride of the survivor about Minsk - it has risen from the dead several times. Reduced to rubble during WWII, architects were given a blank slate to transform ruins into a model Soviet city. Today it's a clean, safe city with few tourist attractions, best enjoyed as locals do - among interesting people in cafes, parks and kicking clubs.
Minsk almost carries off its attempt at worker utopia: the uniformity of its monumental facades is softened by its wide streets and pleasant parks. In contrast, the Park Janki Kupaly is a pleasant stretch of greenery bordered on two sides by the snaking Svislach River. You can rent a rowboat or check out the house where Russia's Communist Party held its illegal founding congress in 1898.