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Published: September 7th 2006
The Kremlin
I don't know what to say, the Kremlin is amazing, and i mean amazing as in 'so extraordinary or wonderful as to be barely believable or to cause extreme surprise'*, not as it is used in modern parlance 'these chips are amazing'
*Encarta ® World English Dictionary © & (P) 1998-2005 Microsoft Corporation. All rights reserved.
This computer is giving me grief so there are no photos at the moment. They will follow as soon as possible.
Ok where to start with Moscow and Russia in general? I have written this blog a number of times but haven't been happy with it. This, among other things, has caused delay in the posting of this blog. I think I shall start by attempting to introduce Moscow as it was introduced to us.
Before we even left for Europe we had heard all about the infamous police force of Moscow. The biggest scam to be aware of (apparently) is run by cops. To enter Russia you need a visa invitation, (a hang up from Soviet times) which means paying a fee to a travel company. Then, with your invitation you can get your visa, then when you arrive you need to register your visa with the hotel you are staying with. It is an unnecessary but essential hassle. Russian immigration are willing to prevent people from leaving if their paper work is not in order.
Anyway back to the scam. Most tourists stick out like a sore thumb in Russia. The police force have learned
how to pick them. It is a requirement that all travelers carry with them their documents, their passport with visa registration (although some say it is fine to carry photocopies and had no troubles carrying this) with them at all times. Police regularly stop people and ask to see their immigration paperwork. Usually when they see everything is in order they let you go on your way. Some of the dodge cops though will find some error with you documents even though they are exactly as they should be. The way out of this is you can pay an 'on the spot fine', the amount varies depending on how much you have on you at the time. We saw a number of people getting their documents checked, all around Red Square and the airport. We got tired of having to cross the road when we saw police walking the other way. Imagine the pickpockets and general run of the mill crims come in behind the police force as the main danger to look out for... It should be noted that even Russians get hit up for id from time to time too.
When we first arrived in Moscow we
The Tsar
Pure Punishment. (un)fortunately this bad boy was never fired. were shown around our immediate area by a fellow traveler, as we went he gave us a run down of the city, the dos and don'ts. He started with the police. Many of them are members of Russians organised crime outfits he told us (while he is not the most reliable source of information on the subject I see no reason to doubt that some police are). He had a nasty experience with the police in Moscow. Basically they stopped him around the Kremlin and asked to see his passport etc. The cop found an error of some kind and demanded he pay the 'fine'. This traveler had not heard of this scam so he was not cautious with the amount of cash he had. Earlier in the day he had been to the ATM and pulled out a fair bit of cash (he was too embarrassed to tell us how much, I took that to mean lots). The cop emptied him of all he had. When he called his embassy to find out what the go was he was told it was a common scam, and that they would bring it up with the police on his behalf. About
a month later, that is when we met him, the cop was calling him every 15 mins asking him to come to the station so they could sort of this 'misunderstanding'. Not trusting the cop, and on the say so of his embassy, he declined the invitation and didn't answer his phone (although it rang constantly). He told us to avoid the cops at all costs. If anybody reading this is hassled by the police in Moscow threaten to call your embassy and they will back off (apparently). I had my passport checked in the Moscow airport when we left, he had a look and said 'thank you', gave it back and went on his way. We didn't get hassled by the police at all during our 10 day stay in the city.
After he shared this delightful story he said he would take us on a tour of our local area, the internet cafe, the supermarkets etc etc. As we walked he pointed out the many features of our neighborhood. 'Those guys are the neo-fascists' he said, 'try to avoid being too close to them'. 'Don't ever use these ATMs, there are many eyes watching' , as we
Inside the Kremlin take II
The grounds of the Kremlin approached a pedestrian crossing he told us not to cross unless the little man was green, 'the police will fine you'. 'Try to avoid gypsies, they will surround you and empty your pockets' they are to be found at the tourist attractions (Red Square and around) and all major metro stations. He also told us not to have anything hanging out of our pockets, in fact we were not to take out anything we didn't need. Keys, documents and money we will need for that day only. Pickpockets are everywhere, not to mention the police he said.
Basically he told us for about half an hour all the bad things about the area and the city. We arrived back at our bed and breakfast and needed to use the ATM and go to the supermarket. He pointed them out across the road and said 'off you go guys', then went inside.
His intention was not to scare us, but that was the result of his little tour. At about that stage we wanted to fly out of there. It seemed that leaving the apartment would lead to some catastrophic event. Before we had left Moscow we had realised
that he was prone to extreme exaggeration. Half the stuff he told us was rubbish and the other half was made to sound worse than it was. The police didn't rob us, nor did gypsies (in fact we hardly saw any at all), we were never pickpocket, nobody attempted a bag snatch, we were never mugged using at ATM, in fact the only problem was we didn't speak Russian. Moscow is a fine place, at the time or writing it is my second favorite city I have been to after St Petersburg. Russia is head and shoulders above any place i have been to hitherto.
Russia, and Moscow in particular is a strange place though. It looks like other countries, but there is something different about it. The Russians like to do things their way it seems. I think it will be difficult to communicate this here but i will raise a few points.
First of all, many countries around the world allow many travelers 90 day stays without a visa (depending on your nationality). Traveling through Europe in particular is a breeze. Requiring people to have a visa I can understand completely. But what is the point
St Basils Cathedral
This building is about 1000 times more impressive in real life. of having them register their visa with their hotel, seriously? Furthermore, why do we still need a visa invitation to be able to apply for a visa? Anyway iI don't think I'll waste time trying to come to a conclusion on that one.
Do you speak any Russian? No? Good luck in Russia. It seems nobody speaks any other language. Nobody in restaurants, nobody in ticket offices for major tourist attractions. What about the tourist information office? Well there isn't one. This didn't really bother me at all, I mean why should they speak other languages? As a traveler it is up to me to learn a bit of the language of each country I visit. However it did strike me that they seem to ignore tourism as an industry. Whereas many European countries realise the value of this particular industry, especially considering the number of internal and well as external tourist the region attracts annually (not all Europe is in the EU don't forget), Russia seems to wish it didn't exist at all. They do things the Russian was here, good on them I say, but it does make for an interesting travel experience.
The difference of
the place that I refer to though cannot be described, well at least not by me. Much of it comes from the 'vibe of the thing'. Perhaps Russia makes you work a little bit harder as a tourist but it is most definitely worth it. We didn't stay at a hotel while we were there. We stayed with a Russian family in their apartment (with a view of the Kremlin, nice). I was unsure what to expect as we arrived but soon realised that it was a sound option. Although Peter (our host) could hardly speak a word of English (except for 'in Soviet time'), and his wife not much more we found them very talkative and very hospitable. After a hard day of sightseeing in the very hot Russian sun we would have dinner and sit around the table talking. Mostly they would teach us about the history and many sights Moscow had to offer, giving us 'the inside word' as it were. The stuff they told us (it is amazing how much you can communicate when you don't speak the same language, trust me) we didn't find in any travel books or web sites. You can't beat local
Lenin
You wind down some stairs and see Lenin (almost) as he was when he died in the 1920s. A very strange experience, we lined up for about 2 hours, went through all kinds of security and entered the tomb to find we were the only visitors there. As we walked out we both said 'can we do it again' knowledge. The people who lived through the ups and downs of Russian history and best equipped to retell it, who would have thought hey?
This was one of the most positive experiences of our stay in the city. While I'm sure they open their doors to travelers out of a financial necessity, they had a genuine interest in making sure we got the most out of their home town. I think we were lucky as I have heard some hosts take in tourists just for cash and can be quite rude when you are there. Fair enough random people coming in and out of my house would ! me off too. Our hosts were great though, we got so much more out of our stay from them.
Then there are the many many sights of Moscow. I really couldn't be bothered giving a run down on them all here, other people have done a far better job than Ii could do I'm sure. Suffice to say though that Red Square and the building surrounding it have been taken from the top shelf. Red Square is surrounded by St Basils Cathedral at one end, the State History Museum at
Red Square
No Communists or Nukes today, just tourists. the other end, while the now shopping mall GUM in a quite beautiful building runs down one length, opposite that is the Kremlin. St Basils I was really looking forward to seeing, I had seen many pictures of it but when I saw it in person...wow, simply amazing. The Kremlin I loved, the cathedrals within the compound were very nice, but nothing especially great for European standards, but the Kremlin... come on the goal of Cold War espionage, the fortress that Napoleon couldn't crack. And Red Square, how can you not look at it and think to all that footage of the Soviets marching their troops and Nukes through that square. Awesome! Please see the photos for these sights. Just Awesome! On top of these sights we encountered some fantastic art galleries, The best chocolate shop I have ever been to as well as some really impressive Orthodox Churches.
And how could I forget Lenin? You can walk down into his crypt and see Lenin as he was when he died in the early 1920s. It is a strange attraction, seeing a dead person who has been embalmed since his death some 80 years ago. We lined up for
about 90/120mins to see the leader of the revolution which led to the Soviet Union. To enter the crypt you have to pass through metal detectors, you have to have your bags searched, any item which could be conceivable be used as a weapon is banned, this includes umbrellas (pretty harsh as you have to line up outside, what if it is raining?). Also banned is photo equipment of any kind, this includes mobile phones with cameras. As we went through this search and the metal detector all i could think was 'why is everything so difficult'? One unintended outcome of all this was the building of suspense. Remember when you were a kid and were about to go on a really hard core rollercoaster and as you progressed in line you got more and more excited? That was exactly the feeling we had. You would think that due to the length of the wait the actual crypt would be full of people. It was in fact the opposite.
We were the only ones in the crypt when we entered. We were allowed about 30 seconds in his crypt, walking around him the whole time, stopping to get a
good eyeful would lead to the guards hurrying you along. Was it worth it? When we walked out we wanted to go line up and do it all over again, alas he is only on exhibition for 3 hours per day (that is weird writing that, a person is only on exhibition 3 hours a day). This was a very strange experience but was really, really, really cool. There is some talk in Russia about burying Lenin and stopping the spectacle, it seems that he may not be on show for that much longer. If you are thinking of going to Russia and want to see Lenin, I suggest getting your arse into gear and go.
When we first arrived in Moscow we were a little scared, mostly because of the stories we were told on our arrival. As I said at the start, these were exaggerated. When we were about the leave Moscow we really didn't want to. I really hate clichés and promised myself I would attempt to steer clear of them when writing this blog, but sorry here it is: Moscow is a furiously paced city, very hectic, it is sometimes difficult to handle but after
a while it gets under you skin (i can't believe i just wrote that, shame on me). We were sad to leave, but as we did so I reminded myself that were we heading to St Petersburg and I was happy again.
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