By Viktor Kharkov
Summers may differ, sometimes rainy, cool or extremely hot. Really, no two years are ever the same. However, it is summer which dictates behaviour. Many traditionally plan to go on vacation during their holidays, and evidently, summer is the best choice.
With this in mind, the choice of this issue’s main theme is clear. Nevertheless, it also has its own reason. We’ve tried to focus on, not only the best season to holiday, but on the places best suitable for this purpose. Of course, nobody is limited in their choice. Some are attracted by the seaside and others dream of visiting exotic places or remote countries. In turn, we’ve decided to throw light on the advantages of vacationing in Belarus, whose unique nature creates a wonderful holidaying atmosphere. Accordingly, the main topic of this issue is entitled Nature View Recreation.
The season really doesn’t matter. This especially refers to those wishing to visit Belarus’ Naroch Lake — as the author of Warmth and Light of Naroch article asserts. He once changed his tradition and went to Naroch in February to recuperate. Now, he is happy to share his impressions, “The local winter air is truly incredible! Importantly, the lake attracts with its silence, which is great in comparison to a large noisy city. Several months later, in the summer, I returned there. Naroch welcomed me then not with ice but with blue-emerald water. Swans were swimming along the banks and were not afraid to come out and take bread from holidaymakers’ hands. Birds and people easily found a common language, as calmness and kindness are natural for Naroch. Ideal conditions for recuperation are created here, with nature contributing greatly to the local infrastructure — pines, sandy banks and the lake. The latter spreads so far that it gives the impression that a sea is emerging from the fog. No banks are distinguished. With this in mind, when my friends tell me that Belarus lacks its own sea (which is the country’s disadvantage), I always answer: ‘We have Naroch — which is our advantage’.” Really, the argument is convincing.
Naroch is situated in the Minsk Region, but many more Belarusian locations can rival this area. Travelling to the north of the country, tourists would become convinced. Braslav, in the Vitebsk Region, is known as a natural pearl: the Braslav lake group — numbering over 30 lakes — is the largest in Belarus. It’s was formed as a result of a huge glacier melting. Local nature is unique, with beautiful banks, eye-catching landscapes and pine forests with clean air. Potential tourists are welcomed.
Further examples can be shown. Belarusian Polesie’s unique sites are known as ‘Europe’s lungs’ and the ‘Belarusian Amazon’. The Pripyatsky National Park is another corner of virgin nature, with its off-beat flora and fauna. No other site of the kind can be found on the globe. Anyone coming to this ‘lost world’ obtains a single impression — that this location is worth visiting over and over again.
Read our Come to Return article in this issue and you’ll come to recuperate in Belarus. No doubt, you’ll never regret your choice.
