Farewell Russia
We arrived at the border at 11am with about 40 cars infront of us and at 17:30 we got Into the customs area! Russia is surely the king of bureaucratic incompetence. The customs have 5 lanes to clear cars so with the queue probably around 10 miles by the time we got to the front we find they have two lanes open. They make everyone open every door, bonnet and boot and don’t touch a thing just stare miserably into the boot. You almost think they expect someone to open their boot and inside will be a large bag with “drugs” written on it! Once you’ve had your car checked...
Read MoreFarewell to Moscow
Like Napolean we left Moscow in smoke a bit earlier than planned. The smoke seemed to have booked in for the next week so we decided we’d leave two days early. We’ve seen most of what we wanted to and will hopefully get another chance to visit in the future. So yesterday was our last day in the city and we spent it at the fascinating Museum of the revolution. There’s a helpful sheet in English for almost every room and it was really interesting to see how the revolution changed the way of life of the average Russian. We thought it was a bit too rosey eyed view of the past...
Read MoreLenin blinked!
When we came here in 1972 we went to see Lenin and I thought he blinked! Well this time he looked pretty wooden to me but Linda reckoned he blinked, and we both got told off for talking! We’ve had a few days of good clear skies and a few days of haze and then one of smoke. On the good days we’ve managed to get round pretty much everything we wanted to see, the Kremlin and its churches which were fantastic, the armoury with an excellent audio guide and some amazing jewel studded treasures, faberge eggs stunning bibles and silver and goldware that would make either of my sisters in...
Read MoreCan you see Mos..cough anywhere?
On our drive up from Volgograd we saw quite a few fields with stubble burning in progress. Some fields had got out of control and burned nearby trees and hedges and one field – not a stubble burn just waste ground – was ablaze right next to a petrol station. The flames were literally within inches of the forecourt and the Russians were happily filling up taking no notice! We didn’t see any foray fires and all the crops in the 1000km drive looked very healthy. The foray fires outside Moscow though have been getting worse and this morning we got an email from the British...
Read MoreMoscow
Our campsite In Moscow is at the Danilevski Hotel 2 stops on the metro from the Kremlin and in the grounds of the Danilevski Monastery which is the Vatican of the Russian Orthodox Church. It is very quiet – no loud music is allowed here – and the hotel has pictures of bearded priests on almost every wall. We overlook the gardens and one of the churches here, it really is a perfect spot! it can only be booked through Perestroika Tours in advance of arrival and we are very pleased we did this. Its also about 300m from the metro and a western style supermarket which makes you...
Read MoreVisas & Russian Bureaucracy
Russia is famed for pointless paperwork and the enthusiastic nature of its policemen to fine you (and keep the proceeds) so we have been VERY careful to drive below the speedlimit and not attract any unwarranted attention From the Police. We’ve been stopped a few times – like everyone else at checkpoints – and found the police to be generally helpful and polite. We’ve only had one lot try to fine us (for going over a white line which apparently is regarded here as a much more serious offence than say fiddling the country out of a few billion and then buying a football...
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