Minsk has got to be the city with the cleanest streets I have ever seen ... whole armies of orange-dressed cleaners begin early in the morning and carry on ... till you can literally eat off the streets ... of course, this has a bit to do with the dictatorial effect found in many ex-communist cities in the region ... relatedly, Minsk also has a somewhat secretive feel to it, the feeling that you are being watched, certainly if you are near the dictator's quarters or the KGB building (beware of taking photos)... otherwise too, the city has several communist identities to it ... huge square blocks for buildings, Russian style hotels with prostitutes, dingy private apartments, impressive parks, very few tourists, and suspicious border guards, especially if you (like me) cross over into Belarus by land and are not from one of the neighbouring countries like Poland, Ukraine or Russia... they will pore over your passport for hours ... especially if you don't know the language ...
