Recomendations for safety on Eastern Russia

[Maverick_Argentina]

Hi!!!
Im from Argentina and want to travel to Russia next year, on July when it is warmer there.
My route is:
Moscow (7 days)
St Petersburg (3 or 4 days)
Back to Moscow (2 days more)
Then take the transsiberian train and stoping on the most interesting places till i reach Vladivostok, then i fly back to Moscow to return to Argentina.
My question is: How dangerous are the cities in the East, i heard that Vladivostok is very dangerous, i already read about what Dr Woland said, and i think everything would be ok if i dont make "natural victim things"
)
Anyway i wanted to be shure and if there is any advice about a special hotel in those cities or what should i avoid i could thank it very much.
So, that's all for now i think. Hope you answer me soon.
Thank's for all.
My mail is maverick_aleman@yahoo.com
Bye
Martin "Maverick" from Argentina




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[Dr_Woland]

Hi, Maverick Martin!

OK, I ought to mention before we start - part of my work involves writing and researching guidebooks :-)

This is my quick guide to "the most interesting places on the Trans-Siberian route"!

OK, leaving from Moscow...

... EKATERINBURG (formerly Sverdlovsk) is about 36 hours from Moscow. Main reason to visit = place where the Romanov Royal family were murdered by Communists in 1918. Also interesting if you are interested in (i) military things (major city for weapons manufacture inc. "Katyusha" rocket-launcher and "T-34" tank in WW2) (ii) gems, gold, diamonds - all found and mined locally (iii) industrial history - one of the oldest industrial cities in Russia, founded by Peter the Great and named for his third wife Ekaterina. Several nice hotels incl 3-4*.

NOVOSIBIRSK. There is not a lot to see, but I like this modern city on the River Ob. Some small regional museums, and the "Akademgorodok" site of the University. Boat trips too. If you have time for a side-trip, this is the gateway to Altai Mts, via Barnaul-Biysk-GornoAltaisk, for rafting, climbing, riding, caving etc. Novosib. is poor for hotels, though, best is 2*.

KRASNOYARSK is big, but not much to see - worth passing-through, really... unless you are a mountaineer. If you are, the Stolby Reserve offers lots of rock-climbing challenges for serious experienced climbers. (If you have time for a side-trip 3-4 days or more, you can fly south to TUVA from here - the best air connections).

IRKUTSK is probably the Trans-Siberian highlight :-) The city has some interesting museums about Decembrists (C19th political prisoners exiled to Siberia). Main attraction is Lake Baikal (1.5 hrs by road), world's largest Lake, and a huge National Park.

ULAN-UDAY - the city is not very pretty, only one famous sight... the Largest Head Of Lenin In The World (you can spend a whole 15 mins looking at it, I guess). But real attraction is the Ivolginsky Datsan, the largest Buddhist monastery in Russia (historically they were always Buddhists here since C16-17th, this is not a "recently imported" religion), this is about 1 hour by road. The River Selenge is very pretty too. In this area there are some Old Believer communities ("the Amish of Siberia") but they seek no contact with visitors, and will avoid you if at all possible.

(Chita and Mogocha are really horrible places, I suggest you don't stay - Chita has a big crime problem connected with smuggling of both goods, and people :-( The countryside is very pretty, I guess)

BLAGOVESCHENSK is not exactly on the Trans-Sib, but easy to reach on many train. Interesting because half of the city is in China, on the other side of the river. You can cross to China here (but you cannot come back to Russia if you do that - unless you have a second visa to re-enter). The Amur River is very attractive here, although the town is nothing special.

BIROBIDJAN sounds like it should be more interesting than in reality. Stalin made it the "Jewish homeland in Russia" (a deliberate insult to the jews, of course). But I couldn't find any signs of jewish communities or traditions, just a horrible soviet-type town with nowhere to stay.

KHABAROVSK is the biggest city in the Far East, but you would never guess this - it's extremely "provincial" and very boring. There are 2-3 hotels only, mostly bad except for one Japanese hotel. There are 4 museums, of which 3 were closed due to financial difficulties when I visited in 1999. Probably there should be trips on the Amur River which should be very nice, but nothing was happening when I was there. Very clean and tidy and quite safe, but you might die from boredom here.

VLADIVOSTOK is much smaller than Khabarovsk, but the difference between the two is huge! A small, vibrant port, lots of fun things happening (theatre, nightclubs, bars, cafes - ie the opposite of Khabarovsk!). Nice beaches if you can get a car - the harbour is dirty, but in the next bay is Shamora beach, you can swim in the Pacific. Does not feel like Russia at all here, more like Cuba :-)

And about hotels - a common misconception is that cheap little hotels will be full of crime in Russia. Wrong! It's the EXPENSIVE hotels which are full of crime - and criminals, along with casinos, prostitution, and the usual associated activities. Although the room in a cheap hotel will be a bit disappointing as accommodation, usually you'll be quite safe there :-)

(there are probably other places too, but this would be my personal selection).

Schastlivogo vam (zhelezno-)dorogi!

Dr W.

[Dr_Woland]

PS - I don't know when you are thinking of going.... there is talk that in 2002, they will re-lay the rail track from Pyongyang (North Korea) to Seoul (S. Korea). This gives the possibility to make an extension...

....Khabarovsk-Vladivostok-Pyongyang-Seoul.

This makes the longest railway in the world even longer!! And it's a real possibility, Russian/N-Korean/S-Korean railway ministries had meetings about this specific project only 3 weeks ago. (Vlad to Pyongyang is already possible, the line existed for 50 years, but the N Korean visa is VERY hard to get, so few people took this option - which operates once each 14 days).

PPS - I wrote so little about Irkutsk/Baikal because it's already well-known anyhow :-)