Nath, Author at The Wheelchair Traveller

Day 3 (Uzbekistan) – The Road (Or Bullet Train) To Samarkand

It was a 5:30am start as one headed to Tashkent railway station to catch the Uzbeks version of the bullet train (Afrosiyob) two hours south to Samarkand for a city tour. As with most places in Uzbekistan, the station consisted of a flight of stairs up to the concourse with no lift to be seen. As a result, we were escorted around the rear by security and into the business lounge whilst we waited for this majestic train. Slightly concerning was the fact that a song bird was locked up in a cage in the lounge with a microphone sounding the actual bird song into the area.

Soon the magnificent train awaited…

Now, the train was actually built in Spain and therefore has to comply with Spanish access legislation so I was a little confused when the train staff decided to lift the wheelchair themselves onto the train! It turns out that there is a ramp onboard in plain sight but when we questioned the staff whether we could use it, the responses were either ‘maybe’ or ‘not possible’…shows how many wheelchair users use the trains in Uzbekistan!

After meeting our tour guide and driver at Samarkand station, we were escorted around the city stopping at notable sights such as Ulugh Beg Observatory which was one of the first places where time was observed…

When wandering around this architectural marvel of a city, one thing that was noted, especially in Registan Square was the amount of ramps in place (albeit some made out of marble so rather slippy!). It seems that Samarkand are much more (well in Uzbek standards anyway!) geared up for wheelchair users, maybe it gains more tourists than the nations capital…

Another thing that one has noticed since being in Uzbekistan is how cheap everything is i.e. you can easily have a three course meal (with three people) for approximately £30.

Today is a chill day in and around the hotel before we travel over the border (and a time zone) to Shymkent in Kazakhstan.

Day 2 (Tashkent) – Markets and Landmarks

When you think of a disabled travellers bucket list, let alone one of an able bodied traveller, it is unlikely that a visit to the capital of Uzbekistan, Tashkent appears on there. However this is oneself we are talking about and we all know that the more obscure a country is, the better!

Today we were delighted to be taken on a private tour of the city. Tashkent fools you a little as the city centre is pretty small yet it does sprawl out over a considerable area. The first stop on the tour was the Tillya Sheikh Mosque which possesses magnificent architecture (which we will see more of tomorrow when we head down to Samarkand)…

The second stop on our wonderful tour was the Chorsu Market which is the largest fresh food and drink market in Tashkent, think of London’s Market but on a larger scale…

Now, the traffic in Tashkent is OK (you still take your life in ones hands when crossing roads), however, it’s just a freefall surrounding the market area which is slightly hair raising to say the least…

Next was Tashkent’s Independence Square (formerly Red Square when under the Soviet regime) surrounded by various governmental buildings, one of the things that has struck me since being here is the cleanliness of the city akin to Belarus and China thanks to the amount of street cleaners scattered all over…

Finally, it was the Museum of Fine Arts which was formerly a Russian officials house and contains over 11, 000 artifacts from various cultures (mainly Persian) and eras…

One should also discuss the citys accessibility. If Superbunny came to Tashkent, one thinks that the majority of our time would be spent either looking for drop curbs or on busy roads as the pavements look flat in the first instance and then a flight of steps confronts you. Also, there aren’t any wheelchair accessible vehicles as of 2019 which is a stumbling block before you even start! Akin to China, there are ramps but it takes a while to actually find them and many are very steep!

It’s a 5am start tomorrow as one heads to the railway station to catch the Uzbeks version of a ‘bullet’ train (Afrosiyob) 2 hours south to Samarkand situated in the south for a city tour!

Day 1 (Tashkent) – Hotel Uzbekistan

Some may say just even getting to Uzbekistan is an achievement, however, visiting the ‘Stans’ has been on the bucket list for quite a while and here one is (albeit without Superbunny)!

As mentioned previously, one is staying at the Hotel Uzbekistan in Tashkent, one of the reasons being that it is one of the only accessible hotels in the city as of 2019. Bar from looking a little outdated, it offers all the usual features i.e. roll in shower, seat plus a large room…

As one booked my Uzbekistan trip through Exodus Travels, all the itinerary has been taken care of thus tomorrow we are having a private tour of this magnificent city.

Day 7 (Belarus) – 24 Hours in Minsk

We arrived at our Minsk hotel, Hampton by Hilton yesterday evening where luxurious rooms (compared to the Ibis) awaited us! The rooms are much more spacious along with all the usual accessibility features i.e. shower seats. However, the pinnacle of this is that ones room overlooks the main train station meaning that trains are arriving/departing as I type!

As today was our only day in the city, one headed out to search for the centre passing Soviet built structures along the way…

The centre itself isn’t overly big in size meaning that you can see the majority of landmarks in a matter of hours such as Victory Square…

When walking around the city, one noted that the majority of shops and restaurants have steps at some stage i.e. indoors even when a ramp is outside. Another thing to note is that the main avenues adopt a similar underpass system as China complete with steps meaning that you may end up walking quite a while to reach an over ground crossing point!

The plan after lunch was to simply have a wander back along Prospekt Nezavisimosti (the main street/avenue in Minsk) back to the hotel via an observation tower when we were pleasantly diverted. Whilst attempting to figure which tower was the correct one, we were approached by a guy in a wheelchair plus a ‘social worker’ (who had apparently seen us wandering around earlier) asking the PAs if they were volunteers for a Belarusian charity who provides summer camps for the disabled. After chatting for a while, they invited us to hop onto the metro with them (at an inaccessible station but it was clear that they were pros at the steps business!) out of the centre to a ‘hipster’ neighbourhood complete with street art and quirky cafés/restaurants. It is probable that we would never have found it without them…

Regarding the accessibility of the Minsk metro, once you are down on to platform level, the gap between the edge and the train is minimal (Superbunny would have definitely cleared it). At the destination station, there was a series of ‘platform lifts’ to street level.

Tomorrow, one heads back out to Minsk International Airport to catch our flight back to the UK concluding this trip! Ones next adventure involves visiting Uzbekistan and Kazakhstan.

Day 6 (Lithuania) – The Vilnius Airport Experience

Our strategy for today was simple, get into Belarus! As our flight wasn’t until the evening, one had plenty of time to visit the Old Town one last time. After spending 5 days in Vilnius, I think we came to know the lay of the land far too well!

The best bet if you are a wheelchair user is to contact the ‘Maltieciai’ service (who we transferred with when we arrived in Lithuania) as it is unknown what size vehicle to expect (even for a manual wheelchair!) if one chooses to use Uber.

Now, when one thinks of airports i.e. Bristol or Heathrow, I envisage them being surrounded by hotels, car parks etc, not an airfield located around the back of a conventional industrial estate, oh, and an IKEA to peruse whilst waiting for check-in! Vilnius airport with its Soviet styled exterior isn’t the biggest airport in the world but it has all you need plus a number of disabled toilets!

We flew to Minsk International Airport (or airfield as the hostess put it!) with Belavia (a Belarusian airline) with a flight time of just 35 minutes. Seeing the airport from the air confirmed my expectations of it being an ‘end of the motorway’ structure surrounded by fields and trees. The air quality was pleasantly nice stepping out from the marble and pristine terminal! As mentioned originally, there are no publicly known wheelchair taxi services in Belarus so your options are to catch an accessible bus OR to catch a conventional taxi. One opted for the latter taking 40 minutes and costing a mere 150 Belarusian Rubles!

Tomorrow is our only day in Minsk so let’s see how that goes…

Day 5 (Lithuania) – Belarus Visas

Well it wouldn’t be a trip without a hiccup would it now? When planning this trip originally, one was going to fly from Vilnius to Minsk rather than catching the train but soon opted for the latter simply for ease. During the train booking, I completely forgot (until this morning when one was checking everything) that in order to enter Belarus without a visa (as of 2019), you must fly in and out of Minsk International Airport. If you wish to travel over the international borders via any other means, you still need to obtain a visa prior to your trip otherwise face deportation, little contradictory to the word ‘visa free’, don’t you think?

Annoyingly, one discovered this a hour or two after todays flight to Minsk had departed (it had to be the day that the flight departure time was 09:25am instead of 6:40pm) hence we have another night in Vilnius before catching a 35 minute flight tomorrow evening simply to cross the Belarusian ‘checkpoint’! One positive of this situation is that tomorrows flight cost less than £190 for all 4 of us!

As a result, one only has 1 day to explore Minsk so a strategic plan has been devised to make the most of it!

(Definite lesson learnt here that if a country says it is ‘visa free’, it may not mean that you can travel over any old section of the border!)

Day 4 (Vilnius) – The Neris River Trek

The Neris River runs through the heart of the city and then meanders through the various parks/forests leading out into the suburbs. Like many rivers, a level cycle path runs beside it (providing that you know how to enter onto said path). Despite having roads either side, it was rather peaceful as we walked/rolled along it, a nice change from the noise of the city! The thought of food directed off the path and into a rather run down suburb, however, the highlight of this area was most definitely UNO Park, if you know of Go Ape in the UK, it’s exactly that but mostly free (albeit not accessible at all!)…

As one approached the restaurant that Google Maps directed us to, the realisation dawned upon us that this may just be a conventional supermarket! Fear not though as another restaurant was bolted onto the side providing the best service thus far (the usual wait for food in Vilnius seems to be between 45 – 60 minutes), it’s the unusual places that are the best!

Tomorrow afternoon, we head down to Vilnius railway station (which YouTube has kindly shown has minimal facilities) to catch the train to Minsk in Belarus. Now, according to YouTube, the train is fitted with lifts, whether it works is another story…

Day 3 (Vilnius) – TV Tower and Public Transportation

Today one headed to the Vilnius TV Tower. Now, an able bodied individual would have two walking options to reach this landmark, the easiest being through the lush green forests (Vingio Parkas) that seems to be of plenty in the city, the other one being to follow various dual carriageways. You can immediately guess which option one had to take…don’t be stupid, of course the forest walk isn’t going to be accessible! It is with this that we set off on our quest coincidentally straight through the financial district…

Like many European cities, as soon as you step out of the city centre, the pavements aren’t exactly smooth? It’s not all doom and gloom though in Vilnius, rather than having steep ramps to access underpasses, many have elevators down from street level akin to a metro station…

One of the reasons why a visit the TV Tower (bar it having an observation deck/restaurant) was important was due to its tragic role that it played in the opposition to the Soviet military seizure in 1991 where many were injured for which there is a museum in commemoration.

Disabled individuals can enter for a discounted price of 9 euros. However, it is worth noting that to enter said structure, its necessary to seek signs that show a wheelchair and a Lithuanian phone number. One presumed that you could phone that number if you required assistance, however, we chugged on our own. The reason for the phone number became apparent when the signs began directing us towards a flight of steps. Once inside, one was approached by a member of staff (who talked little English) basically telling us that there is in fact an accessible entrance around the back but fenced off (hence the phone number being displayed) which we got to experience when exiting the building.

The plan was also to visit the restaurant strangely named the ‘Milky Way’ which, unbeknown to one consists of a rotating dining area providing a 360 degree view of Vilnius as you eat (very cheap too!)…

One decided that the bus would be the best option to get back to the hotel afterwards. The majority of buses in Vilnius are low floor with a conventional pull out ramp (as 95% of the bus stops don’t have ‘humps’).

Tomorrow is the last full day in Vilnius before one catches the train down to Minsk on Sunday afternoon. On our short walk on Wednesday evening, we discovered that a footpath runs for miles along the River Neris out of the city (which isn’t too far anyway) so the plan is to roll along said path and see where we end up.

Day 2 – Vilnius Old Town and Gediminas Castle Tower

The weather forecast wasn’t wrong, today the city was not only much cooler than yesterday (when it was around 32C) but was also being drenched by torrential downpours. For us, this meant running for cover from time to time in the most unusual of places…

Anyway apart from sheltering from downpours, the aim for today was to explore The Gediminas Castle Tower followed by a wander around the Old Town. Now, The Gediminas Castle Tower is perched on top of a rather steep hill, however, luckily for us, a funicular railway has been erected providing a hassle free passage.

One was rather intrigued to see its accessibility given the one in Prague which is completely inaccessible to even a manual wheelchair, however, was pleasantly surprised to discover that this one is fully equipped and free for wheelchair users! The best way to describe the railway car is that to an elevator. Essentially, the car comes flush to the door (enabling level boarding) and then a large space presents itself and some majestic views can be seen when riding…

It is a completely different story once at the top, large cobble stones (as you would expect from a Castle Tower) makes it impossible for even a manual wheelchair to roll about, at least one receives a free panoramic view of Vilnius!

Rolling around Vilnius, one is constantly reminded of its past but also how it has rebuilt itself since the dissolution of the Soviet Union…

Vilnius Old Town reminded one a little of Tallinn in Estonia in terms of its cobbled streets and buildings. Like Tallinn, the majority of shops and restaurants have multiple steps, even McDonald’s (one was searching for a level entry disabled toilet at this point) hence an electric wheelchair may take quite a while to navigate this area!

The traditional food here is rather interesting also…honey and fruit atop of a crispy dough base!

Another interesting event that one stumbled across n the way back to the hotel was a Lithuanian university graduation ceremony. If only mine was introduced by an instrumental orchestra playing Bruno Mars!

The weather forecast for tomorrow looks slightly better than today as we enlist the assistance of Google Maps to direct us towards the TV Tower, a scene of tragedy in January 1991.

Day 1 (UK) – The London City Airport Experience

At the time of writing (2019), London City Airport is undergoing a major refurbishment, the centrepiece being a new terminal. The probable reason for this became clear as you enter the existing terminal, it’s just too small for todays demands! Despite this, the staff are probably one of the friendly that oneself has come across either that or a shift change had occurred meaning that everyone was happy and jolly (even security were smiling!). The only downside of the existing terminal is the lack of disabled toilets, there is only one in the main concourse!

Anyway, due to the size of the airport, jet bridges were replaced by conventional stairs up to the aircraft and the usual scissor lifts were nowhere to be seen. This meant not only were we escorted down on to the airfield but a chair was needed for one to navigate the stairs element, quite a fun experience!

The flight of just 2 hours and 10 minutes (albeit we were delayed somewhat leaving LCY) soon touched down in Vilnius Airport, one of the places that I have been looking forward too. Almost immediately, you could see a stark contrast to the airports in the UK; bar the obvious Soviet styled buildings, the airport is also used for light aircraft and flying schools for which people were simply standing around chatting like it was this small airport in addition to staff relaxing on grass a few hundred metres away, clearly the definition of health and safety differs here!

One enlisted the assistance of the ‘Maltieciai’ service (the only publicly known wheelchair accessible taxi service in Vilnius) to transport us to our Ibis hotel in the centre of the city. Two very friendly guys met us outside the airport and escorted to a minivan kitted out with the usual ramp and wheelchair restraints. Now, an accessible taxi from the airport usually costs between 50 – 100 euros, this service costs 9 euro (the charity is of course funded elsewhere)!

What to say about the hotel then? Well, it’s just your standard Ibis really, the ‘special’ room is a little small but at least it has a shower with a seat!

The plan for tomorrow is to head down to the Old Town via the Gediminas Castle Tower which stands proud over Vilnius.

Nath