How do I book a hotel or flight? How would I even pay for it? Booking and Google don't show flights and hotels due to sanctions. What are Russians using?
How can we travel to Russia?
How do I book a hotel or flight? How would I even pay for it? Booking and Google don't show flights and hotels due to sanctions. What are Russians using?
Fly via a third country like Turkey, UAE or Kazakhstan.
Look at hotel listings or blog posts from before 2020 and then contact the hotel directly.
Bring cash to exchange locally.
This. I would just fly to Turkey and get a hotel there for a night and book your entire trip from there.
Use Yandex Maps and 2GIS to find accommodations and reviews, book via the email address, website or phone number in the listings.
Ostrovok.ru
Very interesting. How come it states Visa is accepted? Aren't they blocked due to sanctions?
There must be like 100,000 collective NATO citizens living there. I hate this moronic CNN level brainlet posting. I heard the same thing from redittors telling me to leave China cause of my Canadian citizenship. This despite the fact I didn't personally know a single Canadian who encountered any trouble (and I was in a Canadian expat group of 300+ people). There must be tens of thousands of Canadians in China, definitely 100,000+ if you include Chinese-"Canadians". Yet I am suppose to worry cause China kidnapped 2 people with close ties to the Canadian embassy? Yeah no.
If you are a nobody, nobody will care. That is the rule. Obviously take extra precautions like don't do illegal shit like drugs (which you shouldn't be doing regardless). Practically every political hostage you hear China, Iran or Russia take shakes elbows with the political elite of their home country. Go take your dumbass shit post back to redit where it belongs.
>Very interesting. How come it states Visa is accepted? Aren't they blocked due to sanctions?
Two possibilities:
1. It is an outdated statement from before the sanctions.
2. They are circumventing the sanctions by doing their credit card processing in a third country that doesn't take part in the sanctions.
I have successfully paid for Russian services online by Visa/MC this year, so the second option is very possible.
Is this the moron? Do you think there are no Americans, British etc that they can take instead of you? There are tens of thousands.
Visa cards issued in Russia work in Russia.
Also anyone who thinks you will get arrested for being American is as dumb as a middle age woman who watches MSNBC.
>If you are a nobody, nobody will care
It's fine until it isn't.
Yeah, the street-level police don't give a shit about international relations but you don't always get to pick when you're going to get into trouble and minor trouble can easily become major trouble because of politics.
Some of the foreigners getting shafted in China didn't do anything wrong but were just used by Chinese around them. At least one was just exporting locally made products with the export and import handled by Chinese agents and they used it for drugs then when they got caught, threw him under the bus.
>Some of the foreigners getting shafted in China didn't do anything wrong but were just used by Chinese around them
He was a good boy. He dindu nuffin!
>At least one was just exporting locally made products with the export and import handled by Chinese agents and they used it for drugs then when they got caught, threw him under the bus.
Cool. And who was that and what nationality? Cause I have no idea who you are talking about. How about giving us a name?
>Inb4 Einstein
>There must be like 100,000 collective NATO citizens living there
lol no, there werent even 100k westerners living there before all this shit went down.
The state department estimated 20,000 Americans in Russia (at least before the war). When you include EU citizens and Canadians realistically it can go past 100,000. I can't find the exact number for EU citizens, only Americans. If yo want to google it be my guest.
the vast majority of those are russian dual citizens, implying they are nato citizens is a stretch.
yes, calling russians who are dual citizens "nato citizens" is special pleading and moving the goal posts, thanks for admitting it.
Hes right though. Russians who are NATO citizens are still NATO citizens. Its viewed as the same in NATOs eyes. How would you even know how many of them are dual citizens anyways? You dont.
> There must be tens of thousands of Canadians in China
You’re correct but not for the reason you are thinking.
I would just go to neighboring country and cross overland and take it from there.
Not a smart Idea though to travel there if you are american or other nato citizen. They will certainly be looking for any esxuse to keep you as a bargaining chip.
Russians use yandex.com. Might want to try that for searches in Russia. I tried it and I'm getting prices like $120 total for 4 nights in central Moscow at a nice looking hotel. It can't be that cheap right?
>How can we travel to Russia?
Don't, unless you're from one of the Russian suck-up states.
Hungarians, Chinese and Belarusians are probably fine in Russia and maybe their money will go a long way there right now but everyone else should stay the frick away.
Russia does hostage-diplomacy, don't fricking go there if you're from one of their enemies, which is nearly everybody.
>booking.com
Don't fricking use that site either, they will let hotels frick you and don't give a shit. Their customer service is useless and almost impossible to contact a human for.
The foreigners that are held "hostage" in places like Russia, China or Iran have either committed criminal acts like drug smuggling or they just glow at night.
If you're not a fed and aren't planning on financing your trip by being a drug mule your chances of being arrested are much lower than being involved in a fatal traffic accident.
Russia is easy to get to:
1. Fly through a third country, like Turkey, Belarus, Georgia, etc.
2. Booking hotels is possible if you use sites like Yandex or other resources russians or chinese citizens use.
3. Bring different cards and also a good chunk of cash to exchange locally "just in case" they don't work. Some of my VISAs did but my mastercards didn't.
4. No one will arrest you, i promise you the FSB doesn't give a frick about a tourist if he sticks to the big cities. They start spying on you only when you rent a car and wander off inland towards the smaller villages, industrial towns, eastern regions where a foreigner has no business going to unless he's looking to spy or do journalist work.
>hey start spying on you only when you rent a car and wander off inland towards >smaller villages, industrial towns, eastern regions where a foreigner has no business going
That's where I want to go though. I'd love to visit the Tula arsenal for example.
>feels bad man
>t. mutt spy
we will need a transit visa from belarus to russia?
how easy is it to enroll in a university in Russia as a foreign student? would be curious to hear from someone who's done this or knows about it how the general life situation is and their thoughts. or is it not a possibility now with the current situation
Look up Studyinrussia and you can do it for free. I've done it. You can study whatever you want at any university. If you don't speel Russian they will put you through a year long preparatory course before your degree starts. It's all completely free. I'm an American in Vladivostok.
How has your student life changed in the last half year?
Opened a Kazah bank account yet?
how do you do it for free? is it for specific programs only or can all foreigners do it? looked at that website and looks like a lot of programs cost the equivalent of 2k to 5k bucks a year
The scholarship is applicable to all programs and there is a quota for every country.
>It's all completely free. I'm an American in Vladivostok.
Three questions:
-Where did you find the list of scholarships?
-How much have they been affected for NATO countries after recent events?
-How old are you? (give a range of you're paranoid about giving away personal info)
1, it should all be listed on the studyinrussia site
2, issuing of visas has not changed
3, 26. They will accept any age it seems. They've got quota spots to fill and now your odds of getting in are probably even better.
Thanks for your answers man, appreciate it.
I just have one more question, what's the best way to approach it financially? Would I be best getting a job here in the west, saving up for a few years and then heading out to Russia. If so, how much would you recommend saving? Or are there decent paying jobs for English speakers over there.
Glad to help (assuming that you're white). For native English speakers it's very easy to pick up teaching gigs. That's probably the only job you can get without a high level of Russian. My stipend is 2800 rubles a month which doesn't go very far. Living expenses are low. Student dormitories cost less than ₽1500 a month. I'd recommend saving up before you get here. The most budget option is to become a cadet at one of the maritime academies. Then food, clothing, living is all free. I study there but I'm not a cadet because my program is logistics.
>Glad to help (assuming that you're white)
Yeah white English, don't worry.
>I'd recommend saving up before you get here
Could you give a rough figure of how much you'd recommend saving up before making the trip? I know cost of living in Russia has risen recently so I don't want to underestimate how much I'll need.
Also, I read on that website that the Russian government allocates it's quotas for scholarships based on its diplomatic relations with countries. Considering that the UK gov is one of the biggest supporters of Ukraine I'm not going to get my hopes up for a scholarship. Can you see them completely shutting the programme down for NATO countries, like the west has done with russian students?
Tough to say. With $500 dollars a month as a student you would live well, eat out often and money to party with. $200 a month if you're willing to live off canned sprats and potato with your entertainment budget goes to a bottle of vodka every weekend. So something between that would make it work. Any more you'll be comfortable. Of course have extra for emergencies and you'll spend a lot up front just getting set up in a new place. You can find grocery store videos on YouTube for prices.
Unlikely the scholarship will get canceled unless there is a complete breakdown in diplomatic relations and visas are no longer issued.
Yeah I could easily manage to save up that much if I do factory work while living with my parents for a year. Thanks for the info anon.
I would prefer to study in Siberia, so I'm curious what are Siberians like compared to cosmopolitan Russians from Moscow and St Petersburg which we mostly hear about here? I'm assuming they're less liberal and more down-to-earth, and this certainly seems to be the case from videos I have watched, but I'm curious to hear a foreigner's perspective.
Shit, meant for
It does seem that Siberians are the most volkish people in Russia. Simpler and kinder. Petersburg is full of hipster homosexuals and Moscow is full of busy bodies. If you want to study in Siberia I recommend Krasnoyarsk and Tomsk.
>It does seem that Siberians are the most volkish people in Russia
Because I accidentally typed folkish with a v?
How's Vladivostok, do you like it there?
Honestly I wouldn't recommend it. It's in the ass end of Russia. Moscow is an eight hour flight away. Asia is close but I'm not a weeb and that's basically irrelevant anyways due to covid and sanctions. The weather here is miserable and you hardly get a chance to enjoy the sea. The night life leaves a lot to be desired. I don't like Moscow because of its massive size but there's a lot of large cities in Russia that are wonderful. Saint Petersburg is probably the best. Nizhny Novgorod was great and Krasnoyarsk is my favorite in Siberia.
Do they offer advanced degrees in English, or is it all in Russian?
Plenty of Master's degrees are offered in English especially at the Higher School of Economics.
If youre Latin American the Russian government has a bunch of scholarships for us. Only benefit of being from this shitty hell region of Earth.
I'm an American but also have Russian citizenship, would that disqualify me for applying for the foreigner scholarship or could I still come as a foreigner
I wouldn't go to Russia if I had a Russian birth certificate or passport. They might drag your ass to the front lines.
I did this in early 00s
Everything is to be done in Russian and in triplicate
I dont know if they will accept Americans right now.
You better speak decent Russian before you go. Speak and UNDERSTAND.
don't go you shitter, stop giving Putin money
there are hundreds of reasons not to go, "not giving putin money" is not one of them.
the money russia will get from western tourism is COMPLETELY irrelevant in the big picture.
you literally have to be a peabrained npc with no critical thinking to think like you.
Because things are tense, it is a good idea to be extra diplomatic and friendly if you do visit.
Ask people lots of questions and show interest in what they do. This is a great way to get people to open up to you. For example, visit a government office and say you’re an American interested in learning more about their beautiful country, perhaps taking some photos etc. (Ask for group selfies).
Russians have a negative perception of Americans right now for obvious reasons, so be sure to tip a LOT. Carry lots of small bills and give generously. I suggest keeping them handy in your pockets along with your passport so you don’t have to keep reaching in and out of your bag.
And remember, humor and a smile can span any language gap.
Fly to Belgrade and then take Air Serbia to Moscow. that's how russians do it
How do you get a russian visa if you can’t fly from your country direct to russia? Anons are saying fly to serbia or turkey then fly to russia, but I thought tourist visas only work for direct flights from your home country to russia (and there are no direct flights in nato countries anymore).
I don't think that's ever been the case.
Even before 2020 a lot of places didn't have a direct flight to SVO.
You have no idea how tourist visas work. Also Turkey is a NATO country.
Russia allowed people to directly enter from their home countries due to the coof but since most of Europe doesn't have direct flights any more I guess this rather studpid rule doesn't apply nowadays.
The covid related restricting was that tourists could only enter the country through airports. Since July all land and sea crossings are open.
Turkey is a NATO country but they didn't block Russian tourists/flights. In fact they seem to be encouraging them....
I am going in November to finish my masters...I did the first year online because of covid...
I will take a bus in Finland and enter ..
I am curious about some things.
Prostitutes. I see in websites that you can frick an elite prostitute for like 20 euros an hour in small cities. I am just curious about the legality of prostitution, can I go to jail for ordering an escort ?
I am also curious about villages and small 100k towns..how easy would it be to find a slavic village girl frick her to death and impregnate her pussy.
>20 euros an hour in small cities.
I'm no expert so take it with a grain of salt AND I was there for FIFA so prices were probably inflated but the prices definitely werent that low.
I am a Russian speaker , so I search in Russian sources, of course in the World Cup they were searching for suckers.
Anybody here ever been to Petrozavodsk?
Flying to Helsinki and taking a bus to Saint Petersburg - decent prices too
there's no reason to go to Russia right now except for sex trafficking, OP
Not OP but I just want to go. It's a cool country with an extremely interesting history and a unique peoples. Not everything is about sex you know.
https://www.tema.ru/eng/start/