>Be me >Fall for meme to visit Moscow >Arrive in spring >Near freezing and raining every day for 1 week >Streets are dreary and gloomy >Food is inedible >Women try to scam me in bars >Instantly depressed >decide to fly to another city 4 days of trip left >Arrive in Croatia >Most beautiful place I've ever been >Spend the last 4 days of my trip relaxing by the sea drinking lemon beers with cute backpacker girls in bikinis
>St-Petersburg
I live here. What do you wanna know? Usually May in SPb is alright, second half especially. Last year it was quite chilly though. Moscow should be better in both spring and autumn (at least they feel like proper seasons there).
>advice
if you have a western passport, beautiful russian women can be very..."hospitable"(if you catch my drift)
Not OP but how do you even get to Russia these days? I live in Ireland and there are no flights and apparently you need a bunch of visas and shit. I want to visit St Petersburg too and pay my respects to Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
> visas
Business as usual, iirc you need an "invitation letter", it is provided by your hotel or through a tour agency (no need to book a tour, it's usually a separate service). > flights
Search on aviasales.ru. Skyscanner and a few other flight search sites blacklist Russia as a destination. You'll have a layover in Istanbul or Dubai most of the time.
Also go in summer or winter, or otherwise the weather gonna suck.
>Skyscanner and a few other flight search sites blacklist Russia as a destination
Why?
Flying to Russia isn't illegal and many airlines make a fortune from the decreased competition.
> why
"Because frick you, that's why", aka the same reason a shitton of brands packed up and left
https://ru.skyscanner.com/news/%d1%81%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5%d1%82-%d0%b4%d0%bb%d1%8f-%d0%bf%d1%83%d1%82%d0%b5%d1%88%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b2%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%b2
But that's just a search engine, the airlines themselves are ok
>St-Petersburg
I live here. What do you wanna know? Usually May in SPb is alright, second half especially. Last year it was quite chilly though. Moscow should be better in both spring and autumn (at least they feel like proper seasons there).
Yes there are ways still. One route is Crypto, not an area I know much about. I suggest doing your research on that. There are still banks operating in Russia that are still on the SWIFT system. Here is a list: https://www.banki.ru/news/daytheme/?id=10969329&ysclid=lpqhbgwf8u177042005
From my own research, it seems the banks still on SWIFT require a substantial minimum transfer (for raiffeisen bank $10,000 or equivalent minimum). There will also be fees/commissions on such transfers, although for those seeking a transfer of $10k or more, a $300 maximum fee might be not too disagreeable. One other note, try doing your research on Yandex browser or something that will give you more of what you want to know and less Reuters articles about new rounds of sanctions lol
>it seems the banks still on SWIFT require a substantial minimum transfer
Use Western Unions and transfer it to yourself. In Malaysia have issues with cash machines, this solved it easily. All done through an app.
I was worried about cash in Russia since the whole SWIFT thing but seeing they have Western Unions I wont have to carry a ton of cash on me.
>So it just works as one would typically do such a transfer?
Yep, just fill it out as both you. Fees arent too bad if I remember correctly.
Since you fill it out online you just show them your passport to pick it up, thats all.
>both you
Sender I used "home of record" (U.S.) and receiver the country Im in.
I like the optimism, but for Americans at least, there is no hope of Western Union working to get money from America to Russia. In fact, I think all Western Union is shut down in Russia.
[...]
[...]
there's no trains or buses with Estonia for a long time already dumbass. The only way was the Bus through Finland, and the border is currently closed.
you will have to fly back through istanbul if they don't open anything by the time you're done
Incorrect. A precursory look at Lux Express (https://luxexpress.eu/en/) shows that Tallinn-SPB and SPB-Tallinn routes are operating on a daily basis. Maybe try to exhaust your research before calling other people dumbasses.
>Maybe they'll let me just go straight to ruble?
Yes, convert straight from a hard currency like dollars or euros to pyб. They will want those. They will not want Mongolian turkdurkas or any shit nobody has ever heard of.
Seconding this. USD or EUR are preferred. I have heard that USD is superior to EUR but might just be speculation. Either way, you're good with one of those two.
>Tallinn-SPB and SPB-Tallinn routes are operating on a daily basis
Estonia has recently started making noise about closing the border after accusing Russia of trying to flood the EU with migrants by dumping them there and warning EU citizens that travel to Russia may strand them there if land borders close. I'm not sure if the border is even open to all nationalities. I thought it was open to EU citizens under freedom of movement but Russian's visas aren't honored anymore. No idea about other countries.
Apparently everything I want to post is coming back as spam, so I cannot send a link but I will say that the language used on the Estonia official website leads me to believe that Schengen visas issued by other EU nations (so NOT Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland) could still work. The further information leaves that unclear.
>accusing Russia of trying to flood the EU with migrants by dumping them there >accusing >trying
nice saviors of the White Race you've got there, ivan
5 months ago
Anonymous
>darkies coming over water good >darkies coming over snow bad
Really gets your noggin joggin.
5 months ago
Anonymous
all darkies invading Europe are bad, ivan. it's a very israeli thing for israelitetin to do.
>it's ok when we do it to ourselves >it's ok when it's poor Ukrainians
Russia is just helping us with our quotas, bro. Refugees welcome!!!
it's not ok when we do it ourselves. However, I would rather take in White, European Ukrainians than members of the global south which israelitetin is so fond of.
5 months ago
Anonymous
Cuckrope needs to be filled to the brim with all sorts of refugees if they love them so much
5 months ago
Anonymous
Shalom 😉
5 months ago
Anonymous
>it's ok when we do it to ourselves >it's ok when it's poor Ukrainians
Russia is just helping us with our quotas, bro. Refugees welcome!!!
BTW one of the banks has started to issue Mir cards to foreigners remotely.
(use israelitegle transalte, the bank they're talking about is https://yoomoney.ru/ )
https://www.rbc.ru/finances/06/12/2023/656f34a49a7947b107f254ae?from=from_main_1
Welp...pile of cash from Poland it is. And if the border issue changes in Estonia than Belarus it is.
Whatev, I'll wing it, doesnt matter, I wanna take a selfie next to a rocket launcher in the Donbas.
BTW one of the banks has started to issue Mir cards to foreigners remotely.
(use israelitegle transalte, the bank they're talking about is https://yoomoney.ru/ )
https://www.rbc.ru/finances/06/12/2023/656f34a49a7947b107f254ae?from=from_main_1
Didn't wanna make another Russia thread, so gonna plan the trip here for myself, OP and anyone else interested - for reference, I'm American
Transit: Arriving in Ulaanbatar (would've done Beijing, but need a separate visa) and taking the train from there to Irkutsk, transferring to a train to Moscow, then a few days later taking a train to St Petersburg. From there I'll take a train from St Petersburg to Tallinn.
Purchasing these tickets seems to need to happen in person since the only reliable site (rzd.ru, official Russian train site) is down, but I can still probably make the purchase using card in Ulaanbaatar.
Currency: Will convert to Mongolian togrog, then back to ruble at the airport. Maybe they'll let me just go straight to ruble?
Accommodations: Using Yandex to find stuff (anything Western is inconsistent at best). This is actually the first thing that you should book, since it's required for the visa.
Some more info about the letter of invitation/visa support: https://russiable.co.uk/getting-russian-visa-united-kingdom/#Step_3_Get_a_letter_of_invitation_or_visa_support
Visa: Go to this site https://visa.kdmid.ru/, fill out the forms, have your accommodation information ready. When you get a chance, print it out (two copies) and attach passport-sized photos of myself to them. Seems like you have to print it, and seems like you have to show this printed form to the customs agents, nothing else needed. Also, they don't accept handwritten forms, besides your signature
So, order of operations is: Find the times/days of the trains to take, use those dates to find accommodations, book accommodations, get them to send a letter of invitation, use that information to get the visa. After that you just need to book train/plane tickets, get rubles somehow and you should be good.
This thread will probably be dead by the time I get there (next month) but if it isn't, I'll post back about what worked/didn't work.
>train from St. Petersburg to Talllin
Are you sure these still run?
There are enough buses though, especially if you don't mind going across the border in Narva yourself. Check out LuxExpress for a start. >the only reliable site (rzd.ru, official Russian train site) is down
Try pass.rw.by/en/, the booking portal of the Belarusian railways. They sell tickets for many CIS countries, just make sure to only book e-tickets, otherwise you'd have to pick them up in Belarus first.
>are you sure these still run?
I felt pretty sure, but I really don't care whether it's bus or train, and from some anecdotes I've heard it's still very possible by bus >pass.rw.by
THANK YOU BROTHER, this works perfectly
It's crazy how the ticket from Ulaanbaatar is somehow cheaper than the trip across Russia, crossing one time zone for every $15 spent via Trans-SIberian
Lol, my planned trip is basically the opposite, starting in Eastern Europe and ending in Afghanistan.
How long do you plan this trip to take? Im expecting it to take me a few months.
Next Russian tour will be from Moscow to North Korea (once it opens up). I always wanted to do the full Trans-Siberian railway, but continue through China or maybe Vietnam.
>how long will it take?
Probably just two weeks, I'm doing this trip with the ultimate goal of getting to Europe to meet up with someone anyway >I always wanted to do the full Trans-Siberian
I'd say go for it when you can - it's only ~6 days and costs much less than a plane ticket (depending on the class)
>that map
You're really checking a lotta boxes with that map... know all the cities you'll stay in? Got a way to get visas for particularly Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan?
>two weeks
Thats insane to me, I'd spend two weeks in St Petersburg, another two in Moscow, maybe three, as arranging travel through the country may take some time.
>know all the cities you'll stay in?
I dont research countries before I go, just land and wing it.
>Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan?
I wing it, its always easier in person and by land, its by plane that the issues arrise. Afghanistan was tricky because the old guard still occupies the building on google maps, but some digging and I got a hold of them from a facebook post, entered from Tajikistan.
This is good info for Americans
However if you are a tourist of one of 55 nations (https://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/country_en.html), you can now apply for an e-visa. This is a more streamlined process for those nationals versus the complicated visa regime for nationals such as Americans and UK.
As for the "invitation letter," it seems this is something you just purchase for yourself. I am staying at a decent hotel and when I asked about the invitation letter, the hotel sent me this link (https://ivisaonline.com/) but feel free to search for cheaper options. Some of the "as seen on X brand/channel" sites for invitation letters charge too much imo. However, it could be that a more upscale hotel would do this service themselves.
>train from St. Petersburg to Talllin
Are you sure these still run?
There are enough buses though, especially if you don't mind going across the border in Narva yourself. Check out LuxExpress for a start. >the only reliable site (rzd.ru, official Russian train site) is down
Try pass.rw.by/en/, the booking portal of the Belarusian railways. They sell tickets for many CIS countries, just make sure to only book e-tickets, otherwise you'd have to pick them up in Belarus first.
>are you sure these still run?
I felt pretty sure, but I really don't care whether it's bus or train, and from some anecdotes I've heard it's still very possible by bus >pass.rw.by
THANK YOU BROTHER, this works perfectly
It's crazy how the ticket from Ulaanbaatar is somehow cheaper than the trip across Russia, crossing one time zone for every $15 spent via Trans-SIberian
[...]
Good luck with not dying somewhere on the way
there's no trains or buses with Estonia for a long time already dumbass. The only way was the Bus through Finland, and the border is currently closed.
you will have to fly back through istanbul if they don't open anything by the time you're done
>Maybe they'll let me just go straight to ruble?
Yes, convert straight from a hard currency like dollars or euros to pyб. They will want those. They will not want Mongolian turkdurkas or any shit nobody has ever heard of.
[...]
[...]
I like the optimism, but for Americans at least, there is no hope of Western Union working to get money from America to Russia. In fact, I think all Western Union is shut down in Russia.
[...]
Incorrect. A precursory look at Lux Express (https://luxexpress.eu/en/) shows that Tallinn-SPB and SPB-Tallinn routes are operating on a daily basis. Maybe try to exhaust your research before calling other people dumbasses.
[...]
Seconding this. USD or EUR are preferred. I have heard that USD is superior to EUR but might just be speculation. Either way, you're good with one of those two.
>USD or EUR
I'm converting my currency in Mongolia, and am currently in a different Asian country. Why the frick would I bring USD or EUR? I have a Western bank that probably wouldn't do the currency conversion into ruble, but would into Mongolian monopoly money, so I'll likely use it as an intermediary while at the Ulaanbatar airport
Because you're a dumbass.
You generally can't exchange lightly traded 3rd world currencies outside of the country that uses them or border towns and this isn't exclusive to Russia. At least not easily. You are not going to be able to exchange Costa
Rican colones (I think that's what they're called) at a currency exchange in Mongolia either. In Russia you could probably could still exchange yen, Chinese renminbi or maaaybe Thai baht but don't count on it if you're bringing some shit like indonesian currency. Same goes for Mongolia.
I don't know how much clearer I need to make it: I'm not going to try to exchange Mongolian fake money IN RUSSIA. I'm going to exchange it to rubles IN MONGOLIA.
Why would you do that when you can exchange your foreign currency in Russia itself?
Changing your money into rubles in Mongolia has no upsides (your cash can still get stolen) but only downsides (aka worse exchange rates).
5 months ago
Anonymous
I'm not even sure you can easily even get rubles in Mongolia. Maybe at the airport or larger exchange places but you'd get a shittier rate yes and probably more likely to get fakes (study up on how to spot counterfeit bills before you travel in this region) and I wouldn't count on that working. Something to research I guess.
What you want to bring to russia are $100 dollar bills. New and clean ones. Exchange them as you go, not all at once. And exchange extra Mongolian and Russian currency back into USD before leaving those countries.
5 months ago
Anonymous
I'm not even sure you can easily even get rubles in Mongolia. Maybe at the airport or larger exchange places but you'd get a shittier rate yes and probably more likely to get fakes (study up on how to spot counterfeit bills before you travel in this region) and I wouldn't count on that working. Something to research I guess.
What you want to bring to russia are $100 dollar bills. New and clean ones. Exchange them as you go, not all at once. And exchange extra Mongolian and Russian currency back into USD before leaving those countries.
So, I'll reiterate: my plan is to exchange some kind of money into rubles while in the airport in Mongolia. I don't have a ton of cash USD on me because I'm in Japan.
When I start the trip, I'm gonna be on the train for 5 days and can't really waste time in stopover towns trying to exchange currency, so I want to get it in Ulaanbatar. Might only get half of what I need and get the rest in Moscow, fair. But in order to get USD, I have to get it in Japan at shitty exchange rates, which is not what I'd like to do. I'd rather be as local as possible with my money, but I'll bring what USD I have and probably a few hundred more
5 months ago
Cult of Passion
>because I'm in Japan.
Same.
Are we....are we racing?
5 months ago
Racist
Sure, let's see who visits the most countries by the end of this thread's lifespan
You get a head start since I won't be in Mongolia for another month
5 months ago
Cult of Passion
I go Malaysia on the 21st, planned to spend a month there before visiting Thailand to get an apartment, move, *then* tour Russia maybe in spring.
Wanted to visit Russia in the winter but Japan slowed me down for a month.
Or maybe even Moscow?
>Be me
>Fall for meme to visit Moscow
>Arrive in spring
>Near freezing and raining every day for 1 week
>Streets are dreary and gloomy
>Food is inedible
>Women try to scam me in bars
>Instantly depressed
>decide to fly to another city 4 days of trip left
>Arrive in Croatia
>Most beautiful place I've ever been
>Spend the last 4 days of my trip relaxing by the sea drinking lemon beers with cute backpacker girls in bikinis
Not OP but how do you even get to Russia these days? I live in Ireland and there are no flights and apparently you need a bunch of visas and shit. I want to visit St Petersburg too and pay my respects to Fyodor Dostoyevsky.
> visas
Business as usual, iirc you need an "invitation letter", it is provided by your hotel or through a tour agency (no need to book a tour, it's usually a separate service).
> flights
Search on aviasales.ru. Skyscanner and a few other flight search sites blacklist Russia as a destination. You'll have a layover in Istanbul or Dubai most of the time.
Also go in summer or winter, or otherwise the weather gonna suck.
>Skyscanner and a few other flight search sites blacklist Russia as a destination
Why?
Flying to Russia isn't illegal and many airlines make a fortune from the decreased competition.
> why
"Because frick you, that's why", aka the same reason a shitton of brands packed up and left
https://ru.skyscanner.com/news/%d1%81%d0%be%d0%b2%d0%b5%d1%82-%d0%b4%d0%bb%d1%8f-%d0%bf%d1%83%d1%82%d0%b5%d1%88%d0%b5%d1%81%d1%82%d0%b2%d0%b5%d0%bd%d0%bd%d0%b8%d0%ba%d0%be%d0%b2
But that's just a search engine, the airlines themselves are ok
>Why?
Virtue signaling
>St-Petersburg
I live here. What do you wanna know? Usually May in SPb is alright, second half especially. Last year it was quite chilly though. Moscow should be better in both spring and autumn (at least they feel like proper seasons there).
>advice
if you have a western passport, beautiful russian women can be very..."hospitable"(if you catch my drift)
Maybe that was the case 25 years ago
I agree. The Chinese passports are becoming more and more attractive for picking up Russian women.
Is there any way to get more money once in Russia or are you basically stuck with what you brought in?
Yes there are ways still. One route is Crypto, not an area I know much about. I suggest doing your research on that. There are still banks operating in Russia that are still on the SWIFT system. Here is a list: https://www.banki.ru/news/daytheme/?id=10969329&ysclid=lpqhbgwf8u177042005
From my own research, it seems the banks still on SWIFT require a substantial minimum transfer (for raiffeisen bank $10,000 or equivalent minimum). There will also be fees/commissions on such transfers, although for those seeking a transfer of $10k or more, a $300 maximum fee might be not too disagreeable. One other note, try doing your research on Yandex browser or something that will give you more of what you want to know and less Reuters articles about new rounds of sanctions lol
>it seems the banks still on SWIFT require a substantial minimum transfer
Use Western Unions and transfer it to yourself. In Malaysia have issues with cash machines, this solved it easily. All done through an app.
I was worried about cash in Russia since the whole SWIFT thing but seeing they have Western Unions I wont have to carry a ton of cash on me.
Nice! I overlooked that entirely. I am digging into it now. So it just works as one would typically do such a transfer?
>So it just works as one would typically do such a transfer?
Yep, just fill it out as both you. Fees arent too bad if I remember correctly.
Since you fill it out online you just show them your passport to pick it up, thats all.
>both you
Sender I used "home of record" (U.S.) and receiver the country Im in.
Western Union didn't blacklist/sanction Russia for good boy points?
I like the optimism, but for Americans at least, there is no hope of Western Union working to get money from America to Russia. In fact, I think all Western Union is shut down in Russia.
Incorrect. A precursory look at Lux Express (https://luxexpress.eu/en/) shows that Tallinn-SPB and SPB-Tallinn routes are operating on a daily basis. Maybe try to exhaust your research before calling other people dumbasses.
Seconding this. USD or EUR are preferred. I have heard that USD is superior to EUR but might just be speculation. Either way, you're good with one of those two.
>Tallinn-SPB and SPB-Tallinn routes are operating on a daily basis
Estonia has recently started making noise about closing the border after accusing Russia of trying to flood the EU with migrants by dumping them there and warning EU citizens that travel to Russia may strand them there if land borders close. I'm not sure if the border is even open to all nationalities. I thought it was open to EU citizens under freedom of movement but Russian's visas aren't honored anymore. No idea about other countries.
Apparently everything I want to post is coming back as spam, so I cannot send a link but I will say that the language used on the Estonia official website leads me to believe that Schengen visas issued by other EU nations (so NOT Estonia, Finland, Lithuania, Latvia, and Poland) could still work. The further information leaves that unclear.
>accusing Russia of trying to flood the EU with migrants by dumping them there
>accusing
>trying
nice saviors of the White Race you've got there, ivan
>darkies coming over water good
>darkies coming over snow bad
Really gets your noggin joggin.
all darkies invading Europe are bad, ivan. it's a very israeli thing for israelitetin to do.
it's not ok when we do it ourselves. However, I would rather take in White, European Ukrainians than members of the global south which israelitetin is so fond of.
Cuckrope needs to be filled to the brim with all sorts of refugees if they love them so much
Shalom 😉
>it's ok when we do it to ourselves
>it's ok when it's poor Ukrainians
Russia is just helping us with our quotas, bro. Refugees welcome!!!
Welp...pile of cash from Poland it is. And if the border issue changes in Estonia than Belarus it is.
Whatev, I'll wing it, doesnt matter, I wanna take a selfie next to a rocket launcher in the Donbas.
WU is shut down here.
BTW one of the banks has started to issue Mir cards to foreigners remotely.
(use israelitegle transalte, the bank they're talking about is https://yoomoney.ru/ )
https://www.rbc.ru/finances/06/12/2023/656f34a49a7947b107f254ae?from=from_main_1
I want to go to that famous tank museum russia has but it seems like a pain in the ass to go to russia if you're an amerifat.
Didn't wanna make another Russia thread, so gonna plan the trip here for myself, OP and anyone else interested - for reference, I'm American
Transit: Arriving in Ulaanbatar (would've done Beijing, but need a separate visa) and taking the train from there to Irkutsk, transferring to a train to Moscow, then a few days later taking a train to St Petersburg. From there I'll take a train from St Petersburg to Tallinn.
Purchasing these tickets seems to need to happen in person since the only reliable site (rzd.ru, official Russian train site) is down, but I can still probably make the purchase using card in Ulaanbaatar.
Currency: Will convert to Mongolian togrog, then back to ruble at the airport. Maybe they'll let me just go straight to ruble?
Accommodations: Using Yandex to find stuff (anything Western is inconsistent at best). This is actually the first thing that you should book, since it's required for the visa.
Some more info about the letter of invitation/visa support: https://russiable.co.uk/getting-russian-visa-united-kingdom/#Step_3_Get_a_letter_of_invitation_or_visa_support
Visa: Go to this site https://visa.kdmid.ru/, fill out the forms, have your accommodation information ready. When you get a chance, print it out (two copies) and attach passport-sized photos of myself to them. Seems like you have to print it, and seems like you have to show this printed form to the customs agents, nothing else needed. Also, they don't accept handwritten forms, besides your signature
So, order of operations is: Find the times/days of the trains to take, use those dates to find accommodations, book accommodations, get them to send a letter of invitation, use that information to get the visa. After that you just need to book train/plane tickets, get rubles somehow and you should be good.
This thread will probably be dead by the time I get there (next month) but if it isn't, I'll post back about what worked/didn't work.
>train from St. Petersburg to Talllin
Are you sure these still run?
There are enough buses though, especially if you don't mind going across the border in Narva yourself. Check out LuxExpress for a start.
>the only reliable site (rzd.ru, official Russian train site) is down
Try pass.rw.by/en/, the booking portal of the Belarusian railways. They sell tickets for many CIS countries, just make sure to only book e-tickets, otherwise you'd have to pick them up in Belarus first.
>are you sure these still run?
I felt pretty sure, but I really don't care whether it's bus or train, and from some anecdotes I've heard it's still very possible by bus
>pass.rw.by
THANK YOU BROTHER, this works perfectly
It's crazy how the ticket from Ulaanbaatar is somehow cheaper than the trip across Russia, crossing one time zone for every $15 spent via Trans-SIberian
Good luck with not dying somewhere on the way
>somewhere on the way
Yes, I plan to visit the warzone. Take a selfie next to a tank or something.
YOLO or whatev.
Lol, my planned trip is basically the opposite, starting in Eastern Europe and ending in Afghanistan.
How long do you plan this trip to take? Im expecting it to take me a few months.
Next Russian tour will be from Moscow to North Korea (once it opens up). I always wanted to do the full Trans-Siberian railway, but continue through China or maybe Vietnam.
>how long will it take?
Probably just two weeks, I'm doing this trip with the ultimate goal of getting to Europe to meet up with someone anyway
>I always wanted to do the full Trans-Siberian
I'd say go for it when you can - it's only ~6 days and costs much less than a plane ticket (depending on the class)
>that map
You're really checking a lotta boxes with that map... know all the cities you'll stay in? Got a way to get visas for particularly Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan?
>two weeks
Thats insane to me, I'd spend two weeks in St Petersburg, another two in Moscow, maybe three, as arranging travel through the country may take some time.
>know all the cities you'll stay in?
I dont research countries before I go, just land and wing it.
>Turkmenistan, Uzbekistan and Afghanistan?
I wing it, its always easier in person and by land, its by plane that the issues arrise. Afghanistan was tricky because the old guard still occupies the building on google maps, but some digging and I got a hold of them from a facebook post, entered from Tajikistan.
This is good info for Americans
However if you are a tourist of one of 55 nations (https://electronic-visa.kdmid.ru/country_en.html), you can now apply for an e-visa. This is a more streamlined process for those nationals versus the complicated visa regime for nationals such as Americans and UK.
As for the "invitation letter," it seems this is something you just purchase for yourself. I am staying at a decent hotel and when I asked about the invitation letter, the hotel sent me this link (https://ivisaonline.com/) but feel free to search for cheaper options. Some of the "as seen on X brand/channel" sites for invitation letters charge too much imo. However, it could be that a more upscale hotel would do this service themselves.
there's no trains or buses with Estonia for a long time already dumbass. The only way was the Bus through Finland, and the border is currently closed.
you will have to fly back through istanbul if they don't open anything by the time you're done
The border at Narva isn't closed. Even if there were no buses you could cross by foot or get someone to drive you.
>Maybe they'll let me just go straight to ruble?
Yes, convert straight from a hard currency like dollars or euros to pyб. They will want those. They will not want Mongolian turkdurkas or any shit nobody has ever heard of.
>USD or EUR
I'm converting my currency in Mongolia, and am currently in a different Asian country. Why the frick would I bring USD or EUR? I have a Western bank that probably wouldn't do the currency conversion into ruble, but would into Mongolian monopoly money, so I'll likely use it as an intermediary while at the Ulaanbatar airport
Because you're a dumbass.
You generally can't exchange lightly traded 3rd world currencies outside of the country that uses them or border towns and this isn't exclusive to Russia. At least not easily. You are not going to be able to exchange Costa
Rican colones (I think that's what they're called) at a currency exchange in Mongolia either. In Russia you could probably could still exchange yen, Chinese renminbi or maaaybe Thai baht but don't count on it if you're bringing some shit like indonesian currency. Same goes for Mongolia.
I don't know how much clearer I need to make it: I'm not going to try to exchange Mongolian fake money IN RUSSIA. I'm going to exchange it to rubles IN MONGOLIA.
Why would you do that when you can exchange your foreign currency in Russia itself?
Changing your money into rubles in Mongolia has no upsides (your cash can still get stolen) but only downsides (aka worse exchange rates).
I'm not even sure you can easily even get rubles in Mongolia. Maybe at the airport or larger exchange places but you'd get a shittier rate yes and probably more likely to get fakes (study up on how to spot counterfeit bills before you travel in this region) and I wouldn't count on that working. Something to research I guess.
What you want to bring to russia are $100 dollar bills. New and clean ones. Exchange them as you go, not all at once. And exchange extra Mongolian and Russian currency back into USD before leaving those countries.
So, I'll reiterate: my plan is to exchange some kind of money into rubles while in the airport in Mongolia. I don't have a ton of cash USD on me because I'm in Japan.
When I start the trip, I'm gonna be on the train for 5 days and can't really waste time in stopover towns trying to exchange currency, so I want to get it in Ulaanbatar. Might only get half of what I need and get the rest in Moscow, fair. But in order to get USD, I have to get it in Japan at shitty exchange rates, which is not what I'd like to do. I'd rather be as local as possible with my money, but I'll bring what USD I have and probably a few hundred more
>because I'm in Japan.
Same.
Are we....are we racing?
Sure, let's see who visits the most countries by the end of this thread's lifespan
You get a head start since I won't be in Mongolia for another month
I go Malaysia on the 21st, planned to spend a month there before visiting Thailand to get an apartment, move, *then* tour Russia maybe in spring.
Wanted to visit Russia in the winter but Japan slowed me down for a month.