The land of Czars(Tsars), Vodka and Matryoshkas
The largest country by area in the world, Russia, is generally not a country one thinks of when planning a vacation. Reasons could be many – language, cold weather, 11 time zones, safety, unfriendly locals, expensive hotels, and so on. Russia(erstwhile USSR included) has played an important role in the history of the world and I was quite keen to visit Russia. It was difficult to plan the first trip, given that there are there amazing sights spread through the length and breadth of the country. It takes 6 hours to fly from Moscow to Irkutsk( 4 days by train) before driving for couple of hours to Lake Baikal. Moscow to Vladivostak, on the eastern end of Russia, is 8.5 hours by flight! I had about 2 weeks only and did not want to rush from one place to another or spend most of the time travelling.
Eventually I settled on St. Petersburg, Sochi and Moscow. I found it more efficient to fly into St. Petersburg and fly out of Moscow. One can also do exactly the reverse. Even Sochi has very limited international flights to few neighboring countries but I am given to understand these do not operate through out the year.
I personally think Russia should be on travel plans of all die hard vacationers. I think it is a fantastic destination and contrary to the popular belief, the people are quite friendly! I managed simple conversations with me speaking in English and the Russians speaking their local language! No problem at all. Sure there are few issues but which country does not have issues?
Click on any of the images to read more on specific topics.
