Slutsk is a small city (60,000 people), 100 kilometres south of Minsk, the capital city. Housing is almost entirely apartments with some houses spread around. Cultural life is almost non-existent, as Slutsk has only 1 small theatre, a few restaurants and cafes....

Slutsk is a small city (60,000 people), 100 kilometres south of Minsk, the capital city. Housing is almost entirely apartments with some houses spread around. Cultural life is almost non-existent, as Slutsk has only 1 small theatre, a few restaurants and cafes. There is also only one hotel, Hotel Slutsk which has been completely refurbished but is still very small by Western standards. There is one department store but again very small. It has many markets with the biggest near to the city centre open every day where almost anything can be bought. The city has undergone considerable  construction work prior to the visit of President Lukashenka in October 2005 and now looks a 'brand new ' city. For those people travelling to Slutsk, 3 ATM's called Bankomats exist, the best being in Ulitsa Lenina (Lenin Street) in the very centre of the city which accepts Visa, Mastercard and Maestro. Be warned though, you can only withdraw 500,000 Belarusian Rubles per day, approximately 230 Dollars - (this is enough for a Belarusian to live on for over 3/4 weeks!). The Belarusbank is only a domestic bank so use either a Priorbank or Promstroybank for your international dealings but neither exist in Slutsk! The city is poor by Western standards and life is bad but the people are friendly, helpful and honest and very little crime happens here. The roads are now good but even so in Winter the snow is heavy and it gets very cold, -30C or more, so take care. Buses in the city are old and slow but very cheap. Taxis (Marshruts, pronounced marsh-roots) are cheap and a Marshrut taxi to Minsk from the bus station, approximately 1 kilometre West of the city (see photos), costs about 5 Dollars! (Journey time around 1 hour 15 minutes). Trains run to/from Minsk very infrequently, the bus (1 hour 30 minutes journey time) or much better a Marshrut taxi is the best option!

Do not expect life here to be as it is at home, it is bad, very 1960's and poor and by the way, there are no MacDonalds or Burger King's here!!! The local food is very Russian and grown locally on street verges, gardens or indeed anywhere which can be cultivated. The people of Slutsk are very adept at self-sufficiency, they have to be to survive! If you want to come here, come in May-August when the weather is much better (up to +25C) and see how lucky you are to live in the West!

A map of Slutsk can be found on; www.slutsk1116.narod.ru, click onto Kapta and run your mouse over the map which is in segments and click the segment required to view and then save if necessary, it is slow but gives a good impression of the area of Slutsk.

(Have a good day).

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