The story of a Belarusian who left the IT field and is now developing tourism in the picturesque outback

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Big cities, like a vacuum cleaner, suck in talented young people from the countryside. But there are many wonderful examples when children return to their small homeland and begin to change it for the better. Oleg Romeiko -. He came to the village of Konstantinovo, Myadel district, to support his parents, and in the end he himself became the HEAD of an agricultural estate and a guide on trekking trips around the Belarusian Poozerie.

Reconstruction of an old blacksmith's house

And it all started like this. When Oleg was still studying in MINSK, his father, Gennady Vladimirovich, offered to buy an old blacksmith’s house in the neighboring village of Grumbinenty. The 1930s building charmed the whole family with its architectural appearance: beautiful beams, high ceilings. But the building required reconstruction. And the father said that he would bring everything to fruition himself. He already had experience in such a matter: the house in which the Romeiko family lives in the village of Konstantinovo was also furnished by him from a purchased log house.

“In the end, everyone was involved in the reconstruction of the estate: father, mother, me,” Oleg clarifies.

He, then still a student at BGATU, came to the family cleanup from Minsk every weekend. They earned money for materials by picking mushrooms and berries and growing vegetables. Local HEALTH resorts supplied cabbage and greens from their gardens.

First, the Romeikos raised the frame, laid a foundation of oval stones, installed windows and doors, covered the roof, leveled the yard, sowed it with grass and planted trees. So the estate with the attic turned from falling apart into a picturesque one.

- The house turned out not only beautiful, but also warm. Even in winter at minus 25 it is comfortable and cozy in it: Felix the cat will confirm! - Oleg asserts and recalls how then at a construction site he could not breathe the air of his native place: - I was drawn home, they called me Blue Lakes.

To Belarusian Finland along the troll trails

The path home was not easy. At his first place of work, a young specialist who came to one of the farms for assignment was greeted coolly, and Oleg himself realized that he did not like working in the agro-industrial complex. After mandatory work, I went into IT . By the way, the site about Blue Lakes became one of the first in his portfolio.

“I thought I’d help my parents put the house in order and organize the flow of guests to the agricultural estate, and I’ll go away,” the young man admits. But one day he realized that the fate of an office worker, which, in essence, is an IT specialist, was not for him. But the business that father and mother took on became more and more interesting. Oleg became the main driver of the Romeiko family agro-ecotourism project - the owner of the agricultural estate "Near the Blue Lakes". Later, he began leading trekking excursions along troll trails and actively promoting them on social networks. So the whole Internet started talking about Romeiko! Hundreds of travel enthusiasts began to look for an opportunity to get to “Belarusian Finland”.

In the forest "restaurant"

At first, the Romeiko family relied only on the agricultural estate. The guests were treated to natural village food: vegetables from the garden, homemade “marbled” lard with layers, Adyghe cheese, which Oleg’s mother makes from goat’s MILK, country-style scrambled eggs and tea made with forest herbs and berries. We steamed in the bathhouse. The idea of ​​excursions arose later.

- At first I showed the lakes to friends and acquaintances. I walked along the paths for the sake of two people, Oleg recalls.

Quite quickly, hiking became the main trend of the farmstead. Today groups of up to 20 people go there! Age - from 27 to 40. Mostly Belarusians, although we had to show the beauty of our lakes to foreigners. The main 18-kilometer route runs along nine of the fourteen lakes. Those who cannot overcome such a distance can go to the agricultural estate even before its end. But before that, Oleg always invites you to have lunch with luxurious village “prismakami” at an impromptu table on the tourist trail. The menu includes scrambled eggs with potatoes on homemade cracklings, sprinkled with herbs, lard on slices of fresh bread, pastries with herbal tea. If the guide makes the scrambled eggs himself, and very masterfully, then the boiled bulba, sliced ​​pork and biscuits that melt in your mouth are the work of his mother. The provisions she has prepared for the “forest restaurant” are delivered by her father on a motorcycle.

To the waterfall and crossing

But the main spiritual food for tourists, of course, is the beauty of the Belarusian Lake District. Following the troll trail, travelers are able to appreciate the majesty of Big and Small Boltsik, Glubelka, Glublya and other lakes. Special impressions include the cable crossing across the Stracha River and the Mlynok waterfall, which turned the millstones of the mill 100 years ago.

By the way, why is the path along which the excursion takes place called the “troll path”? The fact is that these mythical creatures hide treasures under stones, and there are a lot of them in Poozerie. Many of them reached Belarus during the Ice Age. You cannot do without trekking poles, similar to those used for Nordic walking. Another prerequisite is shoes that are comfortable for walking and weather-appropriate clothing.

The glacial lakes of the Blue Lakes reserve are good at any time of the year. But still, most tourists see them in the summer - during the holiday season. And in autumn and winter, hikes along the troll trail start every other weekend.

“In the snowy season, routes with an overnight stay in an agricultural estate are especially popular,” notes Oleg Gennadievich and clarifies that since the beginning of the year he has already taken about 300 people on a hike.

Only facts and reliable history

Oleg Romeiko conducts most excursions in Belarusian. Interest in him and the country's past comes from his mother Anna Albinovna, a history teacher. The guy, on principle, does not tell legends, for example, that a beauty, whose parents did not want to marry her beloved, threw herself into one of the lakes .

- I don’t hang around like that! - Oleg denies. - I explain how the lakes appeared, what influenced their creation, I talk about the past of my native land and the people who once lived here and left a mark in the hearts of their descendants.

The lands of Poozerie have been owned by the Khaminsky family since the 17th century. Thus, Stanislav Khaminsky was close to the Romanov dynasty. Tsar Alexander II even baptized his son. The second representative of the Khaminsky family, Ludwig, was a philanthropist and polyglot, he knew nine languages. It is known that the Khaminskys had two large libraries. One was taken by the Germans during the First World War, and the second was burned later.

The author of the famous “Polonaise”, Mikhail Kleofas Oginsky, loved the blue lakes and local nature. And in Olshevo, next to Grumbinenty, a domestic breed of horses was bred, which became the basis for the selection of Belarusian draft horses.

Show the best corners of your native land

Oleg believes that agroecotourism is one of the most successful projects in Belarus. And he notes the importance of adopting two presidential decrees aimed at developing agroecotourism and improving the quality of services provided.

- Over the years of government support for agricultural estates in rural areas, our region has risen noticeably. People began to discover the Belarusian Lake District more often,” the interlocutor notes. - And local residents got the opportunity to demonstrate their hospitality, treat visitors to dishes of traditional Belarusian cuisine and show them the best corners of their native land! Cafes and cheese factories began to open here. More information has appeared about the country's tourism opportunities.

Knowing the great attention of the head of state to agroecotourism and love for his native land, Oleg Romeiko collected signatures for a collective letter to the Presidential Administration to restore order on the beaches of the Blue Lakes. They did. Now, in the summer, guests of agricultural estates and vacationers in health resorts boldly go for a swim in specially equipped places.

Oleg adopted the best traits from his parents: love for work and his native land from both of them, and skill and enterprise from his father Gennady Vladimirovich, who relies only on himself in everything.

By the way, Oleg himself is not married yet.

“I haven’t met my man,” the young man admits and clarifies that he believes that someday this will definitely happen, perhaps even during one of his trips.

The project was created using targeted funds for the production of national content.

Tamara MARKINA,

photo - Pavel ORLOVSKY,

newspaper "7 days".