Mir Tours at 30

Then and Now

In the summer of 1990 the first tour groups went to Belarus. In the following years more and more distant destinations were approached. But we don't want to bore you with our chronicle which is available online anyway.

2020, On the occasion of our 30th anniversary, we started here with a few "treasures" from our picture box and show you how travel has changed.

We still add pictures regularly, so it might be worth returning.

Souvenir Factory Brest

workshop — Belarusians pride themselves on their matrioshkas and other handcrafted souvenirs. We have been visiting the Brest factory for 30 years.

women paints matrioshka — The fine handicraft is still interesting, although the popularity of the wooden dolls has now decreased somewhat.

Fish Soup

Pot on fire — Those who take a longer tour to Russia cannot ignore the fish soup. It is best to cook it fresh on site.

Cook with grill and pot — Our currently most famous fish soup cook is Igor. He likes to fish and uses the opportunity to make something delicious out of it.

Malbork Castle, view from the East

castle in sunset — The Marienburg in Malbork is mostly photographed across the river. Here is the back - taken in the 1990s as you can easily see on the historic bus.

Castle in sunset — Here in the evening sun you can see the Marienburg, which is one of the most popular tourist attractions in north-eastern Poland today.

Kyrgyzstan

horses crossing piste — The "rush hour" in Kyrgyzstan consisted of animals rather than vehicles. As everywhere in the world, they have right of way.

Herd in Kirgistan — Here a herd of goats in Kyrgyzstan. Animals are still holding back traffic. But, you can clearly see that the roads are now tarred.

Overviewing Moscow

Overlooking Moscow — The Sparrow Hills lie on the western bank of the Moscow River. Despite their 70m height, they allow a view of the Russian capital.

Overlooking Moscow - skyscrapers — Moscow City has emerged in business districts in the west of the city over the past 25 years.

Silk Road

Oriental Gate — Mausoleum, shrine, madrasa or observatory ... on the Silk Road in Uzbekistan there is an abundance of imposing monuments that we have been visiting for over 25 years.

Oriental Gate — Even today, the beautifully decorated buildings have not lost their attraction.

Tourist Towns

wooden house — The busy Lithuanians have always been active in their tourist resorts of Palanga, Trakai and, as shown here, on the Curonian Spit.

typical lithuanian house — Nida in particular is still a particularly attractive tourist destination that we like to visit.

Bison

Bison in museum — This photo, over 30 years old, was taken in the Museum of the Beloweskaya Primeval Forest. This is a little north of Brest in Belarus.

Bison in open cage — The bison are not only stuffed but also real. The national park is still a regular part of the tour programme.

Hill of Crosses

Hill of Crosses — The Hill of Crosses near Siauliai is a very special monument for the Lithuanians.

Hill of Crosses — Then as now we will visit the hill on the stage between Vilnius and Riga.

Kvass

mobile vat — Kvass is a drink made from stale bread and is considered "the" soft drink in summer.

mobile barrels — Then as now you can find large kvass barrels in many places. They mostly fill your own bottles.

Arbat in Moskau

Pedestrian Area — The Arbat district and the street of the same name are located in the historic city center of Moscow. Traditionally, craftsmen, artists, academics and various nobles lived here.

pedestrian area in Moscow — In contrast to the wide streets, large squares and imposing buildings that we see on the bus ride, the district is ideal for a stroll and a stop at.

St. Petersburg Canals

Channel with Blood Church — St. Petersburg is also called the Venice of the North, because 60 canals and rivers run through the city center. Here is a view of the Grijobedow Canal from Nevsky Prospect, taken in 1998.

Canal with blood church — The same view over 20 years later. There are now a larger number of boat tours, although there is more to do and see.

Raffael Loggia in the Hermitage

painted loggia — "Copy is the highest form of recognition" and so there is also a Raffael Loggia in the Winter Palace (the Hermitage) like in the Vatican.

painted ceiling — Even today we go through the exact copy of the gallery decorated with biblical scenes, ornaments and grotesques, commissioned by Catherine II in 1780.

Catherine's Palace

palace — The St. Petersburgers appreciate their palaces and looked after them even during the times of the Soviet Union. The Catherine Palace in Pushkin or Tsar Village has always been one of the main attractions for visitors.

palace — Since 2003, when the Amber Room was renewed for the 300th anniversary, the palace has been even more popular and groups of visits must be reserved months in advance.

Markets

stalls with fruit — A visit to the market was, no matter where you went, a nice change from the sacred buildings and city tours. In the early years, the products usually came from former Soviet republics and brother states.

Fruits — Today the selection on the market is international and globalized. Is that an advantage?

Signage in Metro

russian signage in Metro station — During our metro visits we had to bring out our knowledge of Cyrillic to find the way to the various beautiful stations.

Metro map — Nowadays, and not only since the 2018 World Cup, this has been well signposted according to international standards.

Albert Street in Riga

Art deco house front — In the Albert Strasse in Riga we take a short stroll to admire the Art Nouveau houses. A striking object is house number 2a, built in 1906 by Michael Eisenstein.

Art Deco House front — This house has also recently been restored. The British political scientist and philosopher Isaiah Berlin lived here for part of his youth.

Valdai

Lake — The stage has always been divided between Moscow and St. Petersburg and we have always stayed in Valdai, the town of bell-makers on the lake.

peopla at lake — The foundry is closed, the hotel is more modern, but the water in the lake is still attractive. The route between Moscow and St. Petersburg today takes 4 days and includes 2 sightseeings.

Neva Banks

Neva with palaces — Various palaces are located on the northern bank of the Neva on Vasilyevsky Island in St. Petersburg. Some are still well preserved today and serve as museums.

place at Neva banks — As an educational institution and ministry, the Russian Art Academy has been in the same building since the time of Catherine the Great.

St. Kasimir Church in Warsaw

small church with square — The baroque church of St. Casimir was built as a votive church for the victory over the Turks near Kahlenberg in the 17th century.

small church with square — For more than 25 years in which we have been visiting the Polish capital, we have been coming from the old town through the Barbakan in Freta Street to the Neustadt market square.

Zeppelins

dumplings with sauce — As early as the 1990s, the zeppelins were a "must-try" when traveling to Lithuania.

Dumplings with sauce — You can still find the filled potato dumplings with bacon sauce on every regular menu today.

The Three Brothers

medieval houses — The three brothers are called the three oldest houses in the city of Riga. They were badly damaged in World War II and rebuilt in the 1950s.

medieval houses — House No. 17, which was probably built for a master baker in the 15th century, is the oldest of the three and we pass here every time we visit Riga's city.

Grand Cascade at Peterhof

Cascades — The large cascade is located on the side of the Peterhof Palace facing the lake and its course is a canal that flows into the sea.

Cascades in front of palace — A visit to the Peterhof has been part of the sightseeing programme in the tsarist city for over 25 years. We walk through the garden with a guide and let ourselves be enchanted by the trick fountains.

Palace of the Lithuanian President

Palace with flag — Parts of the building date back to the 16th century when the Bishop of Vilnius had his residence here. The governor general lived here during the tsarist times and also hosted Napoleon. In this picture the building was newly renovated.

Palace with flags — In the old town, not far from the old university, we see the building because the President of Lithuania lives here, who is also responsible for foreign policy. The current resident is called Gitanas Nauseda.

Livu Square in Riga

city square — Livu Square was created during World War II when some buildings were destroyed. Not far from the square are the guild houses and the house with the cat on the roof.

square in town — Today our sightseeing ends at Livu Square, right in the center between the river and the Freedom Monument, and the museums and the market.

Monument for Peter the Great in Moscow

Monument at river — Erected in 1997, this monument by the artist Zurab Zurateli is dedicated to the 300th anniversary of the Russian Navy. But it is said to have originally been designed in honor of the 500th anniversary of the discovery of America.

Monument at river — At 96m, one of the world's tallest monuments is unpopular in Moscow and people want to get rid of it. Because of the millions that a dismantling or a move would cost, it is still there today.

Tallinn Town Hall

town square — A real landmark is the Tallinn Town Hall, here a picture from the 1990s. The house was built in the early 15th century.

town hall with tall tower — The local guide will point out the striking figures such as the water-spouting dragons and the "Old Thomas" weather vane. A visit to the interior is also interesting, but not part of the official program.

Gate of Dawn

church — The Gate of Dawn is part of the Vilnius City Walls. It is a place of pilgrimage for Catholics and Orthodox Christians.

church — Inside is the icon of the Merciful Mother of God. We stroll through or to the gate as part of the walking tour of the old town.

Samson Fountain in Peterhof Park

Fountain — The Samson Fountain in front of the cascades of the Peterhof Palace is supposed to represent Tsar Peter the Great.

Fountain with golden figure — The fountain was erected in 1734 and honors the Russian victory over the Swedes in the Battle of Poltava.

Riga, the works of Michael Eisensteins

Art Deco Building — One of the most famous architects of the Riga Art Nouveau district is Michael Eisenstein, who built around 50 houses in Riga's new town between 1893 and the October Revolution and who was described by his contemporaries as a "crazy confectioner".

Art Deco house — Sightseeing in Riga usually begins with a short stroll on Albertstrasse. Eisenstein's houses are particularly well preserved and the ladies in stone are the image of his current muse.

Tiled Stoves in Catherines Palace

tiled stove — Long before today's Amber Room was inaugurated in 2003, we visited the Catherine Palace in the small town of Zarskoye Selo, also known as Pushkin.

tiled stove in palace — The castle dates back to the early 18th century and was embellished and renovated by each subsequent tsar. The tiled stoves go back to the year 1826, until then the palace was unheated. Brrr.

Minsk, Holy Spirit Cathedral

church — The Cathedral of the Holy Spirit is the main Russian Orthodox church in the Belarusian capital. Here is a picture from the 1990s.

white church with green roof — The simple baroque church dates back to the 17th century and was once part of a Cistercian monastery.

Alexander-Nevski-Cathedral in Tallinn

Orthodox Church — The walking part of the tour of Tallinn usually begins in the Upper Town, more precisely on Toompea, not far from the Alexander Nevsky Cathedral.

Orthodox Church — The cathedral, consecrated in 1900, dates back to the time when Estonia was the Russian governorate and, as a sign of Russification, is controversial then and now.

Peterhof - Upper Gardens

Peterhof Palace Front — Here the view from the St. Petersburg Prospect to the city-facing side of the Peterhof Palace with the Neptune and Apollon Fountain, taken in 1998.

Palace, Fountain and park — The facility has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site since 1991. When visiting St. Petersburg, we do a guided tour of the park with the water features on all tours.

Peterhof Garden with Montplezir

Fountain in Park — Peterhof Palace, in the town of the same name, is about 30km west of St. Petersburg.

Fountain in Park — The "Russian Versailles" with its water features and trick fountains is fascinating then as it is today and well worth a visit.

Riga - Art Deco District

Art Deco House — Alberta Street, alberta iela, is the heart of Riga's Art Nouveau district, here house number 11

Art Deco House — The tenement house designed by the Latvian architect Eižens Laube is characterized by its ethnographic ornaments.

Borodino

Column — The small town Borodino was on our way to Moscow for many years and the battlefield is known to us because of Napoleon, who won a Pyrrhic victory here in 1812.

Column — Some elements such as the pillars of the Raevsky Monument on the battlefield have barely changed over the next 20 years.

St. Nicholas Garrison Church in Brest

Altar — The 19th century church, which was destroyed in World War II, has only been partially restored. That gives it a very special atmosphere, as this picture from 1996 shows.

Inside an orthodox church — In the last 25 years many places of worship have been rebuilt and renovated. Here the church in 2019.

Monastery of the Holy Trinity in Sergiev Possad

Russian monastery — The most striking motif in Sergiev Possad, every year we tour the Golden Ring.

Russian monastery — The complex, which should be visited with a guide, now attracts groups of tourists from all over the world.

Departing Belarus

Caravan at border monument — Departure from Belarus to Russia in 1996. At that time you drove all stages as a group, because you had no GPS, no mobile phone and the tour guide showed the way.

View through windscreen — Today everyone can find their way from A to B, but we still pass the major borders limits as a group. The tour guide shows how to do it. Here you see the departure from Belarus in 2019.

St. Isaacs Cathedral in St. Petersburg

Cathedral with golden dome — Our groups have been visiting Isaac's Cathedral for more than 20 years as part of our city tours.

Cathedral with golden dome — When visiting the cathedral, the local guide explains the difficulties of building such a large structure on the swampy ground.

Cultural Palace of the Unions in Minsk

large building with columns — During the post-war reconstruction, the inner city of Minsk was rebuilt. In 1954 the palace of culture of the trade unions was erected. Here is a picture from 1996.

Classicist building with columns — Today the neo-classical building houses two night clubs, among other things. We see this on our city tours, as it is right behind the Palace of the Republic.

Swislatsch River in Minsk

river in the city — Here is a view of the Swislatsch in Minsk. The river, which is only 327 km long, is hardly navigable and is dammed here and there.

river in city — Even today, the river transforms the spacious inner city into a spacious park with a recreational character.

View Towards the Kremlin

Kremlin — Every sightseeing tour in Moscow stops at the Moskva so that you can take a picture in the direction of the Kremlin. When this picture was taken, Boris Yeltsin was the resident of the grand presidential palace.

View towards Kremlin — At this shot from 2019, Putin had been the man in the Kremlin for 20 years.

Kasan Cathedral in Moskau

typical russian church — There are four Kazan cathedrals in Russia. Along with the one in St. Petersburg, this is the most famous because it is located at the north end of Red Square. This photo is from 1996.

Typical Russian Church — The church, rebuilt after the fall of the Soviet Union, has hardly changed in the last almost 25 years.

Roads of the Capital

6-lane road — There are three large ring roads around Moscow, which were already impressive in the mid-1990s.

6 lane road — Then there are major exit roads in all directions, like here in the east of the city.

Red Square

Red Square — The Red Square in the mid-1990s - the view is in the direction of the historical museum, the Kremlin wall is on the left and the GUM department store on the right.

Red Square with people — 25 years later, the square is of course busier. Here, too, we look to the northwest. On the left is the Nikolaiturm.

Sergiev Possad

Bell tower — The Lawara bell tower, at 88 m, is the highest tower in the Trinity Monastery.

Bell Tower — In a good 25 years, the tower, which houses more than 50 bells, has also been renovated. We visit Sergiev Possad every year.

Tsars Bell

large broken bell — The tsar's bell got a crack when trying to extinguish a burning wooden structure that surrounded it with cold water.

large bell — You can see the over 200-ton bell from the 18th century every time you visit the Kremlin in Moscow.

Tsars Cannon

howitzer — The tsar cannon from the 16th century is a striking sight in the Moscow Kremlin.

howitzer — The 40-ton howitzer is the largest of its kind in the world and is visited by us today, as it was almost 30 years ago.

Open Air Museum Minsk

wooden house — We have been visiting the open-air museum in Minsk for ages.

Wooden house — We always take the opportunity to visit when we are staying in the city of Minsk for more than two nights.

Kiev

Overlooking river — In Kiev, the west bank of the Dnieper is higher up and if you look from the St. Sophia Cathedral to the cave monasteries, you can still see the Mother Motherland statue in the background.

Churches overlooking river — Since the mid-1990s when we first traveled to Kiev, the city has of course evolved. The monasteries and churches have been restored and renovated. The panorama on the Dnieper has hardly changed.

Horse-drawn Carriage

horse drawn farm carriage — Panje wagons had been widely used in Eastern Europe for centuries. These are small two-axle wagons that are pulled by a Panje horse. On the roads of Russia, they often use the sandy hard shoulder, which is now mostly tarred.

open carriage — Whoever wants to see a carriage today has to drive a long way or, as in the picture, to the museum. The Lithuanian open-air museum in Rumsiskes today offers carriage rides.

Market Halls

Market hall — In the Soviet Union, markets were important hubs for food and other products. To this day there is a central market in every city where you can buy all kinds of products from professional traders and private producers.

Fruit Stall — 20 years later, the supermarkets have gotten bigger and the markets smaller. But the range has multiplied, as the Bessarabian market in Kiev clearly shows.

Novodevichi Convent in Moskau

Church Wall — The Novodevichy or Virgins Monastery was founded in the 16th century and is then, as now, one of the most important spiritual institutions in Moscow. In the Soviet era the monastery was used as a theological and spiritual academy. When this photo was taken in 1996, the monastery had been in operation again only two years earlier.

Russian Church — Like many other sacred buildings, the complex was gradually renovated and is still visited today when visiting the city. The adjacent cemetery of honor, which was built in 1898 and became the resting place of many famous Muscovites and Russians, is interesting.

Opera House Odessa

Opera House — The Odessa Opera House was built by the Viennese architects Fellner & Wellmer. It opened in 1887 and has been performing operas and ballets ever since.

Opera House — Externally, the house has hardly changed in about 25 years. At the turn of the millennium, however, there were repeated closings because the building had to be secured. The slope towards the harbor threatened to slide.

GUM Departement Store

Market Hall — There were main or central department stores in every major city in the Soviet Union and some have even thought about it to this day. The most famous of its kind: the GUM in Moscow and a highlight of every trip to Moscow during the Soviet era.

Gallery with shops — Moscow's GUM is now a palace for designer goods and luxury products that only the top ten thousand can afford. Visitors who were there years ago miss the original ambience. Anyone traveling through Minsk can explore a traditional department store there with the ZUM.

Potemkin Stairs

View towards port — It was first known as the Boulevard Staircase but was officially given its current name in 1955. This goes back to the film "Battleship Potemkin" from 1925, in which the staircase played an important role. Here is a picture from 1996.

View towards port — With its 192 steps, the Potemkin Staircase leads from the city center to the harbor and has always been part of every city tour. It is considered the symbol of the city, was declared a monument of the 20th century and has hardly changed.

Catholic Church in Minsk

brick-gothic church — In the 1910s this beautiful brick church "Saint Simeon and Saint Helena" was built in Minsk and served as a theater and cinema for the Red Army between the wars. The Wehrmacht used it as a church in 1941 before the cinema was reopened after the war.

Church with some trees — We know the building as what it has been again since 1990: a Catholic church that is mainly used by Belarusians of Polish origin and Polish guest workers.

Train Station in Brest

railway tracks — The city of Brest was considered the "gateway to the west" in the Russian Empire and the Soviet Union, and even today the majority of rail traffic to Russia and Asia goes through the city. This is also where the trains are converted from Russian to European gauge.

Station building — Here the train station from the front. It is built in the typical confectioner's style. Anyone who drives with us to Best today and has a tour there only sees the station from the outside. If the local technicians agree, we can take a look behind the scenes, i.e. visit the gauge halls.

European Road No 30 in Belarus

Caravan on wide road — The European route 30 starts in Cork and ends in Omsk. It connects the capitals of Berlin, Warsaw, Minsk and Moscow, among others. Here is a picture of the approx. 500 km that lead through Belarus. In the first 10-15 years, people drove across the country with the tour guide due to insufficient signage or language skills.

motorway with motorhome — Today the signage is better, we all have navigation devices to get us to our destination and so most of the participants drive to the next place alone or in small teams. Also on the E30 in Belarus.

Minsk, Independance Square

parked vehicles in front of office building — The cityscape is characterized by huge prefabricated housing estates on the outskirts and wide streets with imposing houses, as well as large squares such as Independence Square. With its 7 hectares, it was once the largest of its kind in Europe. in the 1990s, the cars were parked right in front of the state government headquarters.

square with houses — In the meantime the place has been spruced up and the cars banned. These parking lots are now underground. Under the square you will find parking lots, a metro station and a shopping center.

Cultural Palace, Warsaw

Building and Bus stops — In the 1950s, an imposing building in the Stalinist confectioner style was built in various capitals of the Soviet republics or the brother states such as Poland. Here is a picture from Warsaw 1996.

soviet style building — The Warsaw Palace of Culture is still a striking landmark today. There we meet e.g. the guide for a city tour. If you feel like it, you may go to the viewing platform in your free time.

Lomonossow-University in Moscow

Impressive soviet style building — Russia's largest university is located on the Sparrow Hills in western Moscow. Mikhail Gorbachev, among others, also studied here. The main building is one of the "Seven Sisters", high-rise buildings built in the Stalinist confectioner style.

Building soviet style — A trip to the Sparrow Hills, past the university is part of every visit to Moscow. At the weekend and in the evening, people cavort here, you meet and have a great view over the Russian capital.

Driving Overland through Siberia

Dusty Road with motorhomes — We recognize the journey by the vehicles, that is "In the footsteps of Marco Polo" in 1998 on the way back from China. At that time the streets of Siberia were still partly unpaved or covered with a thick layer of dust. At that time you also drove in a convoy.

Road in open landscape — This picture, taken 10-12 years later, shows better roads in Siberia. Today there are four-lane sections. Also, because of the GPS technology, driving in a group is no longer necessary.

Alt-Orhei in Moldova

Church overlooking river valley — Not far from the Moldovan capital is the place Alt-Orhei, open-air museum, monasteries and folklore invite you. This photo is at least 20 years old.

river with hill and church — Moldova can be found again and again in our travel programme, sometimes in combination with the Carpathians, always with the Ukraine, but also with Transylvania or Bukovina.

Malbork Castle

Marienburg Castle — In the Middle Ages, the castle on the Nogat, an estuary of the Vistula, was the seat of the Grand Master of the Teutonic Order. Later the residence of the Polish kings, it belonged again to Prussia.

Castle Malbork — Today the Marienburg is registered in the UNESCO world cultural heritage and is still considered the largest brick building in Europe. If you're around, take the time to visit.

Silk Production in Fergana Valley

Man at machine — On the Silk Road, specifically in the Fergana Valley in eastern Uzbekistan, we visit a silk mill. This picture was taken in 1998.

Workshop producing silk by hand — Over 20 years later, the craft business is still working and we visit it as part of the Central Asia Silk Road tour.

Tour Brochures

The first trips were advertised under the name Camping Perestroika. The tours only go to Belarus, Lithuania and the Königsberg area.

Front Page — 30 years later - here the special edition for the second half of 2020 - After Corona Lockdown. The regular annual catalogue usually has around 30+ trips to almost as many 30 countries in Europe, Asia and North Africa. Version 2021, which will be released in August 2020, is even a little more extensive.

Folklore in Central Asia

Dancer in Uzbekistan — There has always been folklore in Uzbekistan on our travels. Here is a dancer in the 1990s.

Dancing Folklore — On the Silk Road, dinner with Uzbek specialties and a folklore performance is part of every trip to the region today.

Hermitage

Exhibition 1992 — In the past you could just go to the Hermitage and take a look around.

Room inside Hermitage — In the meantime, you have to order the Hermitage tickets in advance unless you have the time to stand in line.

Heroes

Street with signs of war heroes — Everywhere in the Soviet Union there were the monuments where the heroes of the Second World War are paid homage.

heroes tables on roadside — ... and even today you can find them a little more modern.

Churches

Orthodox church — In the times of the Soviet Union, the churches were not always places of worship, but were used as warehouses, cinema, etc. With perestroika these were slowly brought back again.

Orthodox Church — Today many churches are back in operation as such and many churches are particularly worth seeing.

Mother Homeland

Statue — On the bank of the Dnieper in southern Kiev stands the monument to Mother Homeland.

Statue — Even today, the mother is still home and Kiev is still worth a trip.

Tallinn

view of town — View from Toompea, the upper town, towards the Baltic Sea.

View of city — The skyline of the lower town has not changed in 25 years,

Saint Stanislas Cathedral

church with columns — A building of classicism and with the bell tower next door, the Cathedral of St. Stanislas in Vilnius doesn't look like a church. In the early 1991 it also looked a bit in need of renovation.

cathedral with white columns — Magnificently renovated, the cathedral is a real gem. There is always some kind of event on the huge forecourt.

Water Castle Trakai

Water castle — The moated castle in Lake Galve was renovated in the times of the Soviet Union, even if this was difficult because of its importance for Lithuanian history.

Water Castle — A photo stop or a visit to Trakai is a must for every stay in Lithuania.

On the road in Poland

Polish country road — With the exception of the motorway from Katowice to Warsaw, Poland used to be just a country road. The picture was taken between Warsaw and Brest.

Truck on country road — There are still many country roads, like here on the way to Lithuania. The roads are as easy to drive today as they were then.

Visa

Old Russia visa — 1993 a visa from the Soviet Union with large stamps, that is a three-part sheet that was placed in the passport. The car was just written on the visa somewhere. We got the visa from time to time by presenting a copy of our passport.

Passport with visa — Today everything is digitized and the visa is stuck in the passport. Obtaining the visa requires a lot of papers, which is mutual.

Warsaw - Camping 123

Wohnmobile im Regen auf Campingplatz — Warsaw has always been on the way east. Campsite Number 123 here on a rainy day in the mid-1990s

Motorhome on campsite — Even today we stand several times a year on the campsite near the city.

Belarus

motorhomes parked in snow — There were always unusual trips to Belarus - here a group in winter.

motorhomes on grass — Nowadays we tend to limit ourselves to the summer, as here on a tour to Belarus for the Thanksgiving Day.

Filling Petrol

red petrol pump — Refueling used to be a challenge, diesel was often scarce and you had to know exactly how much fits in the tank.

Empty road with petrol station — Today there are many filling stations with good fuel, you should still say in advance how much you will fill up. The difference today - the fuel gun has an automatic switch-off.

Strelka

1990s photograph of Strelka in St. Petersburg — Strelka = arrowhead is the name given to the end of Wassiliejewski Insel opposite the Winter Palace. The building with the Greek columns is the stock exchange.

The Rostra columns in St. Petersburg — Taken a little further down the Neva, you can still see the Rostra columns, which used to be used as navigation lights.

Farmhouses

Farmhouse with motorhome — There are many so-called street villages in Russia, in which more or less all houses are built directly on the street. Here is a photo from an exploration trip in the 90s.

Russian Farmhouse — Even today you can still find many old wooden houses on the street, many of them very nicely prepared. But, unfortunately occasionally you see abandoned houses caused by rural exodus.

St. Petersburg

Hare island in winter — Taken from the southern bank of the Neva in December 1992: Hare Island with the Peter and Paul Fortress.

Boat, Neva and Hare Island — Taken from the same direction, not far from the Peter the Great monument on the banks of the Neva - this time in summer.

Red Square in Moscow

Red Square — Red Square in the early 1990s. We look in a south-easterly direction and have St. Basil's Cathedral in front of us.

Red Square — The same picture about 25 years later.

Going into China

Gateway with motorhome — It took several years to organize before the first Perestroika Tours group was able to enter China in 1998. The archway marked the border with the Middle Kingdom.

Empty Road in China — Today the archway is long gone and the road to Kashgar is no longer a gravel road. Everything has been modernized as part of the "New Silk Road".

Open Air Museum Novgorod

wooden houses — In the first half of the 1990s, and with the fall of the Soviet Union, museums were not an important issue and were not well maintained.

wooden houses — In the meantime, the wooden houses and churches have been well renovated and the old culture is being maintained.

At the Border Barrier

car at barrier — In the beginning, as a western "businessman", you often drove right to the barrier, here the border between Belarus and Lithuania.

Motorhomes at border — Today you queue up like everyone else - but the processing has become much faster.

Kola Peninsula

motorhomes taking a break at river banks — On the way to the north of Karelia, here is the picture of a break, around the turn of the millennium. At that time you drove together as a group.

river in sunshine — Even today, the nature of Karelia offers a nice diversity. Differences: today you drive alone or in pairs, nature has become cleaner and the roads are better.

Diesel Supplies

car being filled from petrol can — In the early 1990s, ADAC diesel vouchers were required and, in the event of bottlenecks one refueled at the roadside. But you always had to pay attention to the cleanliness and quality.

Petrol Station — Today the filling station network is good, the systems are exemplary and the fuel is still affordable for us.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal — Our first trip to Lake Baikal took place in 1994 and lasted 66 days.

Lake Baikal — Today you travel part of the way with the Transib and it takes 56 days for the journey, or you also travel through the Altai and Mongolia and it takes over three months.

Transport at Lake Baikal

Helicopter at Lake Baikal — With a little luck you could experience something special, like a helicopter flight on Lake Baikal here.

Russian mini busses — Unfortunately, today you can only get an all-terrain bus for the same amount of money.

Motorway towards Minsk und Moskau

Motorway in Belarus — The route from Poland to Moscow was well developed for the Moscow Olympics.

Motorway in Belarus — Even today, the road that was once called "Rolling Track" by the German soldiers is easy to drive. Pleasant - there is little traffic.

Lake Baikal

Lake Baikal — Lake Baikal from above in July 1994.

Lake Baikal — View of Lake Baikal about 25 years later.

Driving Together

motorhomes on roadside — Various reasons such as poor infrastructure, poor map material and a lack of signage. In the past, most of the participants followed the local tour guide,

empty road — Today, thanks to satellite navigation, everyone can find the place without much effort. The ability to travel at your own pace clearly brings relaxation and benefits.

Red Square

Women with brooms — A typical picture in the good old times - the cleaning gang.

Red Square - brick wall — ....and you can see - it is still clean.

Polar Circle in Russia

Polar circle with tourists — The Arctic Circle has always been a prominent stop in Karelia, because the landscape is not very varied.

Polar circle monument — Today the monument has been spruced up, but it is still the only highlight on a long stage. The "tree" is said to bring good luck.

Camping Königsberg at Hotel Baltica

campground 1992 — Camping Königsberg in the mid-1990s when almost every group travelled to the exclave.

Camping ground — 20 years later, the space is smaller, the sanitary building has been rededicated, but the meadow with the CEE pillars still exists.

Europe-Asia Border

Monument with motorhomes — At the beginning of the 2000s at the obligatory stop at the monument. The group in the background comes back to Europe after about 4 months in Asia, that is the trip "On Marco Polo's footsteps".

Monument — 15 years later and the monument is unchanged - that's unusual

Siberia

motorhome and road signs — At the entrance to Novosibirsk in Siberia in the late 1990s.

Road with some industrial buildings — Somewhere in Siberia, 20 years later

Burgher Houses

Ruin of a historic house — After the war, it sometimes took more than 50 years for old German ruins to be rebuilt. Those who were relocated to the Kaliningrad region after 1948 appreciated the comfort of the East Prussian city apartments and suburban houses.

Brick Houses — In the meantime the cityscape has been rebuilt and restored. It has been recognized that the old building fabric is also conducive to tourism.

House of the Soviets

Tall Building — The House of the Soviets, built in the 1970s on the site of the Königsberg Palace, was already empty in the 1990s. The statics were no longer stable enough because the ruins were blown up.

Tall building — The "revenge of the Prussians": the House of Councils still stands as a ruin today. Again and again you hear something from investors and business, but demolition is also an issue every now and then. At the site of the old castle, some treasure hunters are still looking for the Amber Room.

Rossgarten Gate

Gate in winter — The Roßgärter Tor 1992. From here the road once led to the seaside resort of Cranz. Historians say that the Wehrmacht held out here for a day after the surrender. A restaurant was opened here some time after the war.

Brick gothic gate — During a visit to Kaliningrad one sees again and again the remains of the old fortress walls and ramparts. The Roßgärter Tor, named after the German district of Roßgarten behind it, still houses a restaurant today.

Stock Exchange Königsberg

Building — The New Stock Exchange, built in 1875, was destroyed in the war and rebuilt in 1967. In the 1990s there were event rooms, a restaurant and a museum.

Building — On this picture taken recently from the bus on Lenin Prospect you can see the New Stock Exchange today. It is used as a business center and is home to a museum for the performing arts

Kaliningrad Port

warehouses and cranes — The port of Kaliningrad in the early 1990s with the old East Prussian warehouses.

warehouses and cranes — The old warehouses still stand today, even with a fresh coat of paint.

Borders

Russian jeep at border — Long waiting times, difficult processing - the borders used to be often a drama. In the successor states of the Soviet Union, the rules changed weekly.

Traffic lights at border — Today you can register in advance at various borders and the check-in takes place with a certain amount of bureaucratic effort, but without any harassment.

Cathedral Kaliningrad

Cathedral ruins — Königsberg Cathedral in 1992, at that time still a ruin in which trees grew. The Kaliningrad exclave was not allowed to be visited by Germans again until 1992.

Cathedral — The cathedral has been a house again for a few years now. However, it may no longer be used as a house of worship, but is a concert hall and houses a Kant Museum, among other things. The famous Prussian philosopher is buried here.

Folklore

Musicians and Caravans — Folklore group in Kaliningrad in the 1990s

Three musicians — Folklore group in Minsk 2019

Fortress Brest

Monument in winter — The entrance to the Heroes Fortress in Brest, Belarus in the spring of 1991.

Monument with star — Almost 30 years later, the entrance has hardly changed.

Minsk

Street and monument in Minsk — The Belarusian capital Minsk in the early 1990s.

Parks and houses — Minsk in summer 2019, a big and green city that impresses visitors.

Red Square

Red Square 1989 — Visited Moscow's Red Square in 1989, while visiting the Soviet Union and before setting up the Camping Perestroika joint venture.

Basilius Cathedral Moscow — The red square 30 years later in the summer of 2019.

Hill of Crosses

motorhome at hill of crosses — The Hill of Crosses in Lithuania around 1999 when you could stop right next to it.

Hill of Crosses — The Hill of Crosses today, parking spaces with barrier, information center, etc. - everything is well organized.

Vilnius

white house in city centre — View of the house across from St. Stanislas Cathedral in Vilnius.

Square, streets and houses in Vilnius — This picture shows the Gedimino Prospect in Vilnius, just opposite the St. Stanilas Cathedral.

Shows

exhibition stand 1990s — Camping Perestroika was presenting at the fair in Essen in the 1990s.

exhibition stand with clients — Today the new trips are presented at the Caravan Salon in Düsseldorf.

St. Petersburg

Motohome in front of blood church in St. Petersburg — Exploring St. Petersburg in the 1990s. At that time you could still park on the canal between the Church of the Redeemer and Nevski Prospekt.

Canal and Blood Church in St. Petersburg — Today the street on the canal between Nevski Propekt and Church of the Redeemer Blood is a pedestrian zone at least on one side.

Budapest at night

View of Budapest in the evening — View of Budapest in the 1990s

View of Budapest at night — In 2019 we visited Budapest and on the way home from the organ concert we made a short stop to admire the city again.

Streets

pothole — This pothole, photographed in 1993, was at the entrance to Kaliningrad and thousands of vehicles had to drive around it every day.

View from the windshield: good road conditions in Russia — Today most of the roads, especially the main ones, are in very good condition.

Spa Town Svetlogorsk

quiet resort town — Side street in the center of Svetlogorsk, known as Rauschen in East Prussian times in the 1990s.

Spa town atmosphere — A street in Rauschen, which has experienced a boom again, especially in recent years.

Lake Naroc in Belarus

Picknick in Russian Winter — An overland business trip includes picnics and drinks. Here on Lake Naroch during one of the first visits there, before the opening of the campsite. We also went fishing on the frozen lake and ate the catch in the evening as fish soup.

camping group sitting together — Cozy evening at the campground at Lake Naroch in Belarus. This is still in the tour programme every two years as part of the Belarus trip.

Svetlogorsk

old picture of stairs to the beach — The great staircase in the seaside resort of Svetlogorsk, known as Rauschen in East Prussian times. This picture is from the early 1990s. Mir Tours has been traveling to Rauschen since 1993.

stairs to the beach — The stairs in midsummer in 2016. Rauschen is still in our tour programme.

Brest

Escort with parked camping group — For more than 25 years, the hotel car park in Brest has been a good location to explore the city and to make your first sightseeing in Brest.

Overnight place in Brest — Here the Moscow-St.Petersburg group from 2019 on the guarded hotel parking lot. There is electricity from CEE plugs, toilets in the hotel and shower in the room. You may change money, buy phone cards, eat and shop nearby. Museums and the pedestrian zone are even within walking distance.

The Aurora

Battleship in St. Petersburg 1992 — The armored cruiser Aurora has been anchored in St. Petersburg for over 60 years.

Battleship Aurora — The museum ship is a landmark of the October Revolution, because on October 25, 1917, a shot from the bow cannon gave the signal to storm the Winter Palace.

Camping Perestroika

dirty motorhome entering campsite — Entrance to the Perestroika campsite in the former rocket position near Minsk. The vehicle has taken on a little patina on a 5-month trip to China.

campground exit — The same driveway about 15 years later. The space is now being used for other purposes and we are staying in the center of Minsk

Rocket Launcher next to motorhome — The special thing about the campsite in the missile launching base was the trip with the missile carrier through the forest. A special highlight for many participants.

Petrol Station

Soviet petrol station — In the first few years you still had to buy gasoline vouchers and you were at the mercy of the cashier. Diesel was sometimes bought on the roadside and there was only one unleaded petrol station in the Soviet republic of Belarus.

Petrol Station — Today, even on remote routes, there are filling stations with different qualities of petrol and diesel, toilets, snack bars and parking facilities.

Trakai

ground of pioneer camp — Here pictures from the first visit to a pioneer plant near Trakai in 1991. After Belarus, Lithuania was the next country in our portfolio.

campsite — Here is a picture of the place near Trakai from this millennium.

Karelia

Unpaved main road in Karelia — On the M 18 in Karelia: Peter Rettau and Peter Wallas on an exploration trip in early summer 2000.

country road in Karelia, Russia — The M 18 in summer 2019, photo taken during the trip "In the light of the midnight sun".

Golden Ring

Monastery in Sergiev Posad — Sergiev Posad in the 1990s. We have been touring the Golden Ring since the mid-1990s.

Trinity Monastery, Sergiev Posad — Sergiev Posad in summer 2019. We are touring the city on the Golden Ring as part of Moscow-St. Petersburg tour.