Rewind - how to get to Minsk, eventually

News of the Georgian and Moldovan accessions to the EU Political Partnership Agreement is barely two days old. It means in the months or years to come that Singaporeans might, just might, get the same visa-free access to Moldova as it does for the rest of the EU. Georgia already offered that from three years ago. That Belarus are light years away from signing such an accord, however, renders the following information useful for any Singaporeans who wish to visit Belarus.

Belarus is actually not hard to visit, despite having to figure out what seems like labyrinthine paperwork (strictness and processing times apparently differ between consulates). You only need to be willing to pinch yourself and part with some cash. As with Russia, you will need to produce an invitation to visit the country (or a general tourist voucher) and a hotel booking prior to applying for the visa. The tricky bit is that unlike Russia, Belarus isn't represented in Singapore. The authorities do permit citizens of countries without Belarusian consulates to obtain visas on arrival only at Minsk-2 airport (and then only if you aren't flying in from Russia), although the application process needs to be completed beforehand via a tour agency.

This is where the good people from Vokrug Sveta have been very helpful and responsive. They issued my invitation, for €10 per person, after I confirmed and paid for my Minsk hotel booking through their agency. The process, once I got in touch with them, was pretty straightforward, and all I had to do once the visa support package was sent to me was to book my flights to Minsk, and wait. As mentioned before, the only thing which hurt was having to pay €90 per person for the visa on arrival.

Mary crunched her first snow underfoot when we got out of the plane on the Minsk-2 tarmac. After settling our visas on arrival and purchasing the mandatory Belarusian health insurance policy covering the length of our stays, we walked out of the customs booth to find our baggage already waiting for us. (Everyone else had left.) It must be said that the officials who dealt with us were all very civil, even the immigration lady who scoured every detail in our visas and passports. She must have told right away we got a little rounder since the passports were issued.

We were a little unlucky to clear immigrations just a couple of minutes into one of the hour-long breaks which the otherwise 24-hours currency exchange booth had. So we waited close to an hour to change our greenbacks into Belarusian rubles, and it being already half past nine when that was done, decided against braving a public transport adventure to get into town. The official taxis were nowhere in sight, and the one pot-bellied chap who claimed to represent them appeared a little too aggressive for our liking. Some unsuccessful haggling (again witness my miraculous negotiation prowess) got us a ride into town for US$45, five more dollars than what would seem to be the official rate, we later found out. 

The pot-bellied chap offered us a ride for US$50, by the way. But praise the Lord, in Belarus they don't use coins. All denominations are represented in notes.