Belarusian Autumn: Journey to Minsk

The Belarusian authorities are hoping that the newly-launched Belavia Minsk-Delhi flight will help encourage two-way traffic between the countries. I took the 7-hour plus here to Minsk today.

The first time I heard of Belarus was in the 1990s when the country’s hockey team played India. The commentator erroneously said then that Belarus initially wanted to be separate from Russia during the break up of the Soviet Union but later had a change of heart and wasn’t allowed to join Russia. We all know that this is untrue.

I became more familiar with Belarus and its culture and traditions after I started living in Russia.

It’s no doubt a thrill to be in Minsk now, but the journey here, including the travel arrangements were anything but ordinary. For starters, when I tried to apply for travel insurance, the country Belarus didn’t turn up as an option on the website of the provider!

Is this a country that doesn’t exist for many Indians? That’s the impression I got at the Delhi Airport yesterday. The friendly security guard at the entrance looked at my ticket and me where Minsk was. When I replied that it’s in Belarus, he looked puzzled and asked where Belarus was. I smiled and told him patiently that Belarus is a land-locked country between Russia and Poland and is in the heart of Europe.

Next was the turn of the immigration officer who asked if I was going there on my Russian visa, to which I mentioned that I needed to and had a separate Belarusian visa.

At the security check, the cop asked if I was going to Belgium! He assumed that Belavia must have been a Belgian airline! When I mentioned Minsk he gave me a blank stare.

A couple of hours later, as I waited to board my flight, I realised the packed flight was mostly being taken by Belarusians. There were just a handful of Indians.

The Boeing 737-800 which is Belavia’s most modern plane makes the 7-hour plus journey between the Indian and Belarusian capitals once a week. It is fairly comfortable and managed by a young crew, but there is absolutely no in flight entertainment, so a flier is often forced to guess where the plane is when looking out the window.

As someone who has taken regular flights to Moscow from Delhi and one to Tashkent from the Indian capital, I had a rough idea of when the plane crosses the Pamirs. Today, we had a glimpse of what I can only assume were the mountains of Kyrgyzstan.

Given the fact that there was no in-flight entertainment and that I was completely deprived of rest the last few weeks, I slept for long periods on the flight that hardly faced any turbulence.

Since Belavia is denied air space by the EU, the plane had to enter and cross Russia before getting to Belarus.

I got my first glimpse of this beautiful, green and fertile land 10 minutes before landing.

The Minsk airport is a small and friendly place since it has few flights from outside the former Soviet space. For someone who had to breathe in Delhi’s toxic fumes for 2 days, it was a relief to get off the aircraft and smell the fresh and clean air of the outskirts of Minsk.