Introducing Belarus
Few people consider venturing into this hermetically sealed Soviet time capsule, notoriously ruled with an iron fist by its moustachioed megalomaniac, Alexander Lukashenko.
But that’s exactly why you should visit. Only in Belarus – where the KGB still listens in to phone calls and people keep their politics to a low whisper – will you feel as if the Cold War never ended. Although getting a visa isn’t a problem, the government isn’t crazy about foreign influences and encourages xenophobia with all-pervasive propaganda. Westerners cool enough to come here are living, breathing examples that the world outside Belarus is not going to hell in a hand basket – at least not in the near future, anyway.
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Elderly man sitting in front of his house after a day of hard work in the field, Palesse region.
- Mitchell Kanashkevich
- Lonely Planet photographer
