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Post by Netsuke on Aug 20, 2016 13:02:50 GMT 2
Who here has been to Russia and what would you say to someone thinking of going there? The Trans-Siberian - anyone done that? Which direction, east to west or west to east?
The Trans-Siberian and the Trans-Mongolian combined - how much more difficult? A whole lot more planning?
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 20, 2016 13:36:27 GMT 2
I think Shrjeff went recently.
My dad travelled the trans siberian and trans mongolian all the way from Moscow to Peking (?) in 1989. they were in Peking a couple of weeks before the Tian an men "events", which were already brewing. There were already people protesting at the time. Thankfully, they had already moved on to Shanghai by the time the rest of the world became aware of the issues. I don't think it's a lot more planning. it's just getting more visas and transport booked?
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Post by shrjeff on Aug 20, 2016 13:52:08 GMT 2
nope, i was in the former soviet union last month: latvia, lithuania, estonia and finland... i visited moscow and st petersburg quite a few years ago but have no personal experience with the long distance trains...
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Post by auntieannie on Aug 20, 2016 18:04:57 GMT 2
ah, I must be losing the plot. I thought that somehow your trip had included St Petersburg... my bad!
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Post by wikki on Aug 20, 2016 19:08:39 GMT 2
I was in Russia ( St Petersburg, Moscow, Kazan, Tsheljabinsk, Tolyatti and Sotchi) few months ago. Positively surprised.
Food and Tea is amazing. :-)
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Post by kuskiwi on Aug 20, 2016 22:14:05 GMT 2
Nothing I did in 1968 is likely to be relevant now although my cousins took the train last year and really enjoyed the journey.
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Post by tzarine on Aug 21, 2016 14:34:14 GMT 2
have been 2x
did the transsiberian the second
used a beijing outfit called monkey business.the guys were great. the owner appeared in our video. route was beijing, ub, irkutsk w a stop @ lake baikal
st p is glorious
see the kirov/marinsky if possible
dom knigi is a cool bookstore
love just strolling nevsky prospekt
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Post by Voy on Aug 27, 2016 15:28:47 GMT 2
did the transsib from Irkutsk to Ulan Bator -- but it was in the 70s... sadly out of date.At that time they took the dining car off at the border of Mongolia.. so no food ... from about midnight until the next afternoon. Thank god a we had some crackers and a bag of wonderful cherries!
one silly piece of advice from then, bring a squash ball to use as a stopper in the sink, as there were very rarely any there.
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Post by tzarine on Aug 27, 2016 17:50:55 GMT 2
love love love irkutsk
strolling nevsky prospekt is soooooooooo fun
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Post by Netsuke on Aug 28, 2016 16:28:45 GMT 2
Some interesting stories here and quite a few of you have already been to Russia in one form or another. I plan on going the whole length of the Trans Siberian Railway starting out in Vladivostok through to Moscow and St. Petersburg, with a stop at Ulan Ude, then Mongolia for UB, Irkutsk, Listvyanka then Moscow and St. Petersburg.
Wikki, did you find the language barrier difficult or do you speak Russian?
I has no idea what Nevsky Prospekt is, thought it was a town, a city, then find out it is a street. Very pretty it is too.
As I will be going to Mongolia then back to Russia, I would need a double entry visa. But .... what if you wanted to pop over to Finland from St. Petersburg? How would you get back into Russia for your flight home? I'm guessing it would be easier and/or cheaper flying from Moscow than Helsinki?
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Post by tzarine on Aug 28, 2016 16:41:43 GMT 2
netsuke
i did flashcards
learned basic phrases
you could see finland from our hotel in st p.
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Post by wikki on Sept 1, 2016 12:33:07 GMT 2
I know few words, but I can read and that helps a lot, many words are actually pretty similar to words that are used in other languages.
I am used to be in places where I don't speak the languages.
If people wanna help- the language is not a problem and in Russia I found a lot of people very helpful.
My north American colleagues had some issues with the behaviour of Russians.
I didn't but I am from Austria. Guess we are not so different.
People don't smile. It does not mean they are unfriendly or grumpy!
Women don't shake hands. It's not rude it's their culture. (someone told me if a woman shakes hands it means you can buy her...)
this are the two biggest complains that I heard.... ahhh, and people don't hold doors open for the following people.
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Post by tzarine on Sept 4, 2016 20:26:13 GMT 2
in moscow, tzar & i loved strolling red square in the evenings
the metro has some gorgeous stations
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Post by shrjeff on Sept 5, 2016 4:13:46 GMT 2
there is the circle metro line... we rode from station to station getting out and admiring each, then getting on the next train... all on one fare  |
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