Anton Trafimovich • 10 Reasons to Visit Belarus
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NON-STOP KAYAKING
Belarus has one of the lowest population densities in Europe. There are still
no agglomerations in the country so most cities and towns are like islands
of civilization hidden in the forest. Most of the area is covered with forests,
swamps, lakes and rivers. There are ten thousand lakes and twenty thousand
rivers and creeks in Belarus. Many lakes in the north of the country have glacier
origins and are connected by creeks, making long lake chains you can kayak
for days. Forests are huge here! Belarus share the oldest preserved forests in
Europe. Bielaviežskaja pušča together with Nalibockaja pušča are great places
to realize how miserable humans are in comparison with perfect nature.
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THE AMAZON OF EUROPE
Prypiać river in the southern region of Palessie is sometimes called the European Amazon.
The river and its swampy valley create unique nature conditions. If you go there in spring,
when the snow is melting, you can see how floods are creating an inland sea. Ancient Greeks
called it the Sea of Herodotus. This is what you should think about, when you look around and
see nothing but water. When the river and swamps flood they inundate thousands of square
kilometers. The strangest thing is that there have been people living in this area for centuries.
They build houses on high places, have no basements and
everyone keeps a boat in their garage. For some time the
boat was the onl transport that enabled them to get to
y
the mainland.
March 2015
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