travel to russia

[Josh Wilson]

Anna, 

I have to agree with Geneva that one week is an awfully small amount of time to travel and will afford the least exposure for the maximum amount of money. He will have time to come back absolutely loving Russia – or hating it.  But understanding it (or even really picking up much language practice) is far from possible. 

However, curiosity is always to be rewarded in my book – so here are a few things I would recommend:

1) With one week, he should not plan to see much more than Moscow, St. Pete, and maybe someplace in-between (maybe Sergeiv Posod if interested in religion – maybe Novgorod if interested in history). 
2) Recommended hostel in Moscow – Sweet Moscow; Recommended hostel in St. Pete – NORD.  Both can be found with google searches. Location and price are fantastic. 
3) There is a new travel agency in Moscow that specializes in English-speaking service and tours for foreigners.  They are called TravelPartners (www.travelpartners.ru). For now, I can only say that the concept of the business, and that I know that the man who runs it has been around Russia for awhile and seems like a nice guy, makes it a reasonable place to check out.  Ask me in another month when my tickets for Ekaterinburg have been processed and purchased from them and I can say something with greater certainty.  ☺ 
4) Another website to check out is www.expat.ru.  The site is great for networking, and he likely can find some folks (Russians and expats) to hang out with while he is here. Tell him to make a general post in the introductions, café, or travel folders.  But please, tell him not to sound too naïve or to make silly generalizations about foreigners or Russians there or he will be eaten alive by people who have heard it all too often before. 
5) A last website I would recommend is http://www.cheap-moscow.com/. It’s run by this crazy Russian guy, “Uncle Pasha” who at times can seem like the best friend you ever had and at times like a callous jerk (usually when he senses that you need to be “taught” something about Russia).  But his site is a great place to find accommodation, language exchange, cheap domestic tickets, and more. If your student does contact this man, tell him to do some research beforehand and have something specific to request (same with expat.ru, actually – tell him to name SPECIFIC interests he wants info on – asking “what should I do in Moscow” will get him generally nowhere). Pasha can provide the service and product, but he doesn’t do much in the way of advice or planning for you.  His personality doesn’t seem to get in the way of his ability to provide such services and products, by the way.  ;) 
6) Tell him to expect an adventure!  

I hope that helps to some small extent! 

Josh Wilson
Asst. Director
The School of Russian and Asian Studies
Editor-in-Chief
Vestnik, The Journal of Russian and Asian Studies
www.sras.org
jwilson at sras.org

-------------------------------------------------------------------------
 Use your web browser to search the archives, control your subscription
  options, and more.  Visit and bookmark the SEELANGS Web Interface at:
                    http://seelangs.home.comcast.net/
-------------------------------------------------------------------------