Part 6: Istanbul (IST) to Minsk (MSQ) on Turkish Airlines in economy class
Flight TK283 – Airbus A321 - Seat 5A – 120 EUR for CLJ-IST-MSQ
STD 1.00pm - STA 3.30pm (flight time 2h30m)
After spending some time in the lounge I headed to my boarding gate, which was closer by than I initially thought. Boarding had not yet began, so I queued up in an empty priority line. Turkish does priority boarding well, as at the new airport all gates have clearly signposted lines for priority boarding, the first half of seats on the plane, and the back of the plane (based on seat number). Within minutes another person queued up behind in the priority line, which whom I ended up in a funny chat. The man, a short but muscled fire brigade colonel from Kuwait, told me that he went on his annual hunting trip in the forests of Belarus. As boarding time was postponed by 15 minutes, we both ended up in an animated chat with the gate agents.
The Kuwaiti passenger started to poke some fun at the gate agents, two younger-looking Turkish men probably around 20 years old and one older-looking man probably in his early 40s, for being all extremely thin, joking they could use some more training and some more chicken. Coupled with the inability of some of the gate agents to communicate in complete fluent English (they did speak basic English for most) it ended up being quite an hilarious talk in which the extra 15 to 20 minutes wait flew by. We also poked a bit of fun at one woman among the Minsk passengers who had both her kids tied to her wrist on a leash like they were some dogs – a concept that neither of us could really fathom at all...
When boarding started, we both gave the gate agents a good handshake and waved them goodbye as we both walked to our seats in economy class. I was seated in the first row of economy class. For pictures and being in a chatty mood struck up a conversation with one of the friendly flight attendants, who told me that on that day they were rostered to fly IST-ESB-IST-MSQ-IST... talk about a long day, ouch! The FAs were all however in good spirits and delivered a great service during the entire flight. Even though economy seemed pretty full today (90 percent) boarding was completed relatively quickly. Mercifully, a short taxi time meant we were soon airborne and on our way to Minsk.
Turkish is one of the few European carriers to serve hot meals on flights of this length. This meal was for sure one of the better economy meals I had in quite a while, both in terms of quantity and quality. The main consisted out of beef köfte – two good pieces of it – grilled veggies and rice. It tasted excellent. The dessert, a sort of hazelnut mousse, tasted equally great.
For the rest of the flight, I just used the in-flight entertainment, which came in the form of a window from where you can look at things, such as cool cloud formations..
..and cities and airports down on the ground. This is Bila Tserkva Airport in Ukraine, located just to the south-west of Kiev.
Time flew by and before I knew it, we were on final approach to Minsk. Belarus is as flat as a pancake with little geographical elements in the country, which was visible upon landing as it was mostly fields as far as the eye can see. No wonder that the country was easily invaded quite a few times (Napoleon, Hitler) as the terrain is basically like this all the way to Moscow.
Minsk has a pretty cool-looking airport. Even though I have visited Belarus twice before, I never arrived by plane into the country, so this marked a first time for me.
Since a short while, visitors from many countries are exempt from a visa if they arrive at the airport in Minsk (you do need to get a visa in advance if you enter by train, car or bus). The process to enter is fairly straightforward. At passport control you will be asked a few questions, after which the agent will admit you into the country if all your papers are in order. Basically all you need is proof that you will depart the country again, a hotel reservation or other proof of accommodation, as well as proof of holding enough funds and health insurance as these will be questions you will face at passport control.
Even though I had zero cash on me, the agent was happy enough when I showed some plastic bank cards when she asked about funds. For health insurance, I showed my EU insurance card, which was sufficient proof as well (as a backup I had a letter in Russian stating that my health insurance is indeed valid in Belarus, or indeed wherever in the world – but this was not necessary in the end). Those who do not have this do not need to fear, as there is a special health insurance booth at the airport where within minutes you can get the necessary coverage for Belarus for just a few euros per day that you plan to stay. The border agent was however a bit puzzled when she found out that I would already leave a day later when I explained at second instance (after just briefly saying 'tourism' as reason) that my primary reason to visit Belarus was optimising mileage on Turkish with a great business class deal out of MSQ. She even called a supervisor, who couldn't be bothered and waved me through immediately. All in all it was a super easy process which took about three minutes.
After getting some Belarusian roubles from an ATM in the arrivals hall, I ventured outside the terminal to catch one of the frequent airport buses into the city, which is about an hour away.
Located at a motorway interchange just outside the airport was the first of many Soviet monuments that I would see during my stay in Minsk. The Hill of Glory is a memorial hill topped with four rising bayonets, built in honour of the victory in World War II (called the Great Patriotic War in Russian speaking countries). Watch for it from the window of your bus or taxi!
The airport bus goes all the way to a bus terminal located right next to the main train station of Minsk. It however does also stop at one of the outlying metro station in the north-east of the city of the blue line (I believe it was the Uruchcha metro station). On some days it is much quicker to get off here and travel onward by metro as the bus can get stuck in city traffic. For me it was much more convenient anyway as I could head straight by metro towards the stop closest to my hotel (Ploschad Lenina – Lenin Square).
Upon disembarking the metro station, it already felt decidedly Soviet at Lenin Square. The dark clouds which were approaching did for sure also play a role creating a gloomy, communist surrounding.
Next up: two days in Minsk, Belarus