The more interesting/adventurous sides to Moscow

[Aussie TJS]

That's why I tried to spell it out for you phonetically...enjoy the Trans-sib, black bread and vodka.

Yeah Cheers, its one of the main highlights for me on this Journey, really looking forward to it. At the Russian embassy today getting the paperwork in

we should have a BFC shootout in Texas :)

Ha, i'd be in on that.

[marie-angelique]

please tell me you plan to get off that trans-sib train a few times and poke around some of those towns.

[Aussie TJS]

please tell me you plan to get off that trans-sib train a few times and poke around some of those towns.

Ummm... whats the best way to break bad news to you?

[marie-angelique]

Ummm... whats the best way to break bad news to you?

i suppose you just did.....seems to be what most people do, it's just hard for me to wrap my peanut around it.....

[vagabond]

i suppose you just did.....seems to be what most people do, it's just hard for me to wrap my peanut around it.....

Ditto. Will give you more fodder for stories back home and you'll see that not all Russians are blonde hair, blue-eyed but a pretty heterogeneous place. Hell, if you're in Vladivostok you could hope over to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and try to find out if any are actually left. And you're not going to meet your future wife sitting and looking out at the taiga. ;-)

[marie-angelique]

like he said. honestly, it's not that hard to buy train tickets even if you speak no russian. all you really need to know is how to say or write the name of your destination. bring a calender with you so you can point at the date you wish to depart when you buy your tickets.

not all trains run on all days, but you can find everything you need to know about the train schedule in advance, online. http://www.realrussia.co.uk/main_train_screen.asp

or just buy an e-ticket through them and print up the voucher and pick up your ticket at the station. they cost about 40% more than buying it in the station. still way cheaper than buying train tickets outside of russia.

the only other thing you need to know is that all trains in russia run on moscow time. i met some dudes who brought two watches and left one set on moscow time, a good idea for the time zone impaired.

there is a schedule of all the stops on the door to the loo in the train, it is also in moscow time.

oh, and you can say coupee or platarsky, right? for you i would recommend the cheaper platarsky, get an upper bed unless you don't mind someone sitting on your bed all day and possibly drinking and partying into the night. bring eyeshades and earplugs.

please don't cheat yourself out of seeing other parts of russia! and don't worry about the language thing. for a couple of weeks i was travelling with two friends who didn't speak a word. one of them was pretty fearless about going up and mime-ing stuff, he got along beautifully.

and you only need to worry about the registration thing if you stay in one place more than two days. i was all over siberia for nearly 3 months and the only place they ever checked it was one of the times i was leaving Tuva.

[Aussie TJS]

I've been to Russia once before (in 1998 (yes i was very young)) and lived at a kids camp (400 kids) for 3 weeks at a place called Zelensburg. Ever since then i wanted to do the Tran-sib non-stop to mainly to just meet all the Russians on the train. Its a dream i've looked forward to but it was a hard toss up between stopping here and there and then hopping back on the train or just going the non-stop. I reckong i'll be back again as last time i loved Russia heaps. Theres something very unique about the place - ('place' is defined by the small part where i went as Russia is farely big).

Thanks for the info though, every bit helps.

Hell, if you're in Vladivostok you could hope over to the Jewish Autonomous Oblast and try to find out if any are actually left.

I'll take a look. I hope to spend up to maybe a week in Vlad. My Father has been to Vlad a few times, i think 5 times, and i wanna go to some of the places he's told me about.

I'm hopping to explore the Vladivostok underground, take a look. Do you or anyone else know anything about it? http://www.vtc.ru/~vladdig/

i suppose you just did.....seems to be what most people do, it's just hard for me to wrap my peanut around it.....

What was your favourite part of the Journey?

I'm surprised most people do the non-stop. I thought most people would hate the thought of spending so long on a train.
Sorry about your peanut
TJS

[crotalus01]

If you really want to do some full auto shooting America is the place to go. Many members on this board including myself own full auto weapons - check out the show me your gun thread in guns section of the BFC...

[marie-angelique]

What was your favourite part of the Journey?

my favorite part was riding my bicycle to Kyzyl, the capitol of Tuva. it's very hard to get there. there is no train. nearly no one speaks English. it is one of the few places in siberia where the indigenous population outnumbers the russians.

[Aussie TJS]

If you really want to do some full auto shooting America is the place to go. Many members on this board including myself own full auto weapons - check out the show me your gun thread in guns section of the BFC...

You're the 2nd BFCer to tell me to go to the US for serious shooting. The Autos used for 'hunting purposes' or just spraying a crap load of projectiles into targets? Either way suits me

my favorite part was riding my bicycle to Kyzyl, the capitol of Tuva. it's very hard to get there. there is no train. nearly no one speaks English. it is one of the few places in siberia where the indigenous population outnumbers the russians.

Wow thats very unique and interesting. I remember you telling me you rode to Pakistan on a pushy. Where else have you ridden on bikes? You considered a 'Marie-angeliques pushy story thread'? I'd read it for sure

TJS

[lightstalker]

Hey mate...If you are feeling adventurous, take a the ferry from Vladivostok to Kholmsk, Sakhalin. You could spend a week in Yuzhno then head back to the mainland. Sakhalin is a major Japanese tourist destination - plenty of skiing and wildlife watching. Definitely worth checking, even just for the ride over -
the Okhotsk sea is prone to very dangerous storm winds which can for a very bumpy ride. If the weather looks funky, Make sure you get paralytically drunk before you go. Because out there, you are at the mercy of God

Also, make sure you do banya. Its best in the winter time when you can jump straight into the snow, but worth doing anyway.

[Aussie TJS]

Hey mate...If you are feeling adventurous, take a the ferry from Vladivostok to Kholmsk, Sakhalin. You could spend a week in Yuzhno then head back to the mainland. Sakhalin is a major Japanese tourist destination - plenty of skiing and wildlife watching. Definitely worth checking, even just for the ride over -
the Okhotsk sea is prone to very dangerous storm winds which can for a very bumpy ride. If the weather looks funky, Make sure you get paralytically drunk before you go. Because out there, you are at the mercy of God

Also, make sure you do banya. Its best in the winter time when you can jump straight into the snow, but worth doing anyway.

I was trying to reply to this 3 weeks ago when i was in Vladivostok but every computer i jumped on wouldn't let me post, something about Russian Viruses.... Anyway i'll have to remember that for next time when i got more time and money. Certainly sounds like a good adventure though, i hate the sea when its rough but all the more challenge right?....
Thanks LS, TJS