A famous British videoblogger compiled a ranking of former USSR countries. He placed Belarus in first place. Why?
Popular British travel blogger Benjamin Rich, better known by his pseudonym Bald and Bankrupt, has summarized the results of his many years of travels. Having visited all 15 republics of the former Soviet Union (some more than once) over 35 years, he decided to compile a ranking of them — from worst to best. Belarus ended up at the top of the list.
Benjamin Rich. Video screenshot: baldandbankrupt / YouTube
4.5 million people are subscribed to the blogger's channel. In his new video, dedicated to the ranking of former USSR countries, Benjamin Rich immediately warned viewers: his assessment is subjective and has nothing to do with geopolitics or economic indicators.
«This list is based solely on my personal experience in each country. Did I get along with the locals? Was the visa a headache? Were there cool Soviet things? Or, most importantly, were the local grandmothers feisty and sharp-tongued?» — the blogger explains his approach.
Here's what his top 15 looks like:
1. Belarus
2. Moldova
3. Ukraine
4. Kyrgyzstan
5. Russia
6. Lithuania
7. Armenia
8. Uzbekistan
9. Latvia
10. Georgia
11. Tajikistan
12. Estonia
13. Azerbaijan
14. Kazakhstan
15. Turkmenistan
The blogger explained Turkmenistan's last place by total control, lack of internet, and "nightmarish" visa procedures. Moldova's high place (2nd), however, is due to the "portal to the past" – Transnistria – and the incredible friendliness of its people.
Why is Belarus — number one?
The blogger notes that he had been to Belarus even before he became a YouTube star. Under the pseudonym Arthur Chichester, he wrote the book «The Burning Edge: Travels Through Irradiated Belarus».
«For me, Belarus is not just a country, it's an entire atmosphere, and it's my favorite of all the former Soviet republics. (…) I returned there with a camera to show you the same places and people from the irradiated east who have been on my mind for years,» the blogger explains.
Benjamin Rich admits that in most of the countries on the list, he looked for mosaics, Lenin statues, and cheap canteens. But with Belarus, it was different.
«For me, Belarus has always been primarily about the people — and the stories they shared. These stories usually came with shots of my favorite local vodka — 'Wild Duck',» —
the blogger says, mentioning his heroes who became legends of his channel: Kolya the hermit, who lives alone deep in the forest; the cheerful friends from Chechersk; the "shashlik gang" from the exclusion zone; a 100-year-old grandmother "who lives with her son deep in the radioactive forest and who saw the entire 20th century pass by her small village"; and also a girl from Minsk who taught him how to smuggle a cat in his underwear.
The blogger emphasizes that it was Belarus that started his "Soviet" video series, which ultimately led him to global popularity.
«Let's go back to the very beginning, when a much younger version of me was walking the streets of Babruysk, pointing at the architecture and bus station signs. That's when I first uttered the word 'Soviet' on this channel, not knowing if anyone else would find all of this as interesting as I did. That question received a loud and clear answer from all of you who kept watching,» he recalls.
«Belarus, you are the place where it all began. And that's why, for me, you are the main Soviet republic,» summarized Benjamin Rich.
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