TRANSPORT Hhl
45 Bus Station ABTOBOK3aa 44 C5 and meals can be ordered. It's on the main road to Zelenogradsk, 15km north along Sovetsky pr. Komnaty Otdykha 586 447 pi Kalinina s d R280 560 Considering it's inside the south train station, the rooms here are surprisingly quiet and clean, and the shared bathrooms are OK.
D Deb
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Museums
The Fine Arts Museum 653 616 pi Lenina 2 admission R50 S 10am-5pm Wed-Mon is surprisingly good. It boasts an impressive selection of 14th- to 18th-century icons and a good selection of 18th-to-early-20th-century Russian painting, with work by nearly all the leading names - look for Sta-nislav Khlebovsky's Death of Prince Oran-skogo 1861 and IB Lampi's portrait of Catherine the Great 1790s . On the 2nd floor, don't overlook the 19th- and early-20th-century textiles and decorative art. The...
Around the Lake
Around Lake Teletskoe, half a dozen small, simple turbazy lie in complete, idyllic isolation accessible only by boat. Novosibirsk's Zhemchuzhina Altaya p511 organises bookings and access by weekly boat R800 return, Thursday from Iogach. Probably the best choice is Altyn-Tuu as it's the closest to the mouth of the dramatic Chulyshman Valley. A 4WD track from here gets you relatively close to the phallic erosional quirks known as Mushroom Rocks Kamennye Griby and you can hike onwards to see the...
INFORMATION Smr
KOHCyjILCTBO OHHJiaHflHH 1 D2 Main post office IloMTaMT 2 D2 D1 KOHCyjILCTBO HopBernn 4 D2 Swedish Consulate KOHCyjILCTBO fflBeipra see 4 'Alyosha' Monument amp Lookout namsthhk An ma h b1 Artistic Craftsmanship Centre IJeHTp xyfloacecTBeHHtix D2 b1 XyaoacecTBeHHHH My3en 9 CI KpaeBe ffie ckhh my3 eft 11 d1 Oceanarium OKeaHapnyM 12 b1 St Nicholas Cathedral cbjito-hhkojiickhh CoSop 13 b4 rocTHHHii a ApKTHKa 14 c2 Hotel Meridian otcjil MepHflnaH 15 c2 H otel M oryak TocTHHima M opaK 16 b3 Hotel...
QUICK EATS Lta
Evrika ul Amurskaya 67 S 8.30am-8pm From behind a historic fa ade, this plain but well- kept stolovaya doles out very cheap chebureki meat turnovers and pozi. Gril Master ul Pushkina 5 burgers R42-56 S 11am-11pm Chita's fast-food joint is better for stuffed chicken roulade R50 than for its microwaved burgers. Several dive bars fill basements on ul Amurskaya, two blocks north of the train station. Super-cheap beers R15 mean you'll meet many swaying, overfriendly local drunks. Expostroi ul...
Info Jsw
Grand Choral Synagogue, St Petersburg p262 the Bolsheviks came to power Russia had over 50,000 churches. Lenin adopted Karl Marx's view of religion as 'the opium of the people'. Atheism was vigorously promoted and Josef Stalin seemed to be trying to wipe out religion altogether until 1941, when he decided the war effort needed the patriotism that the church could stir up. Nikita Khrushchev renewed the attack in the 1950s, closing about 15,000 churches. Following the end of the Soviet Union,...
Info Chx
salad of vegetable, beef, potato and egg in
Kuragino the Vissarion Villages
The pleasant market town of Kuragino has an eccentric new church but litde else to see unless you're interested in Vissarion see the boxed text, p542 . If so, start by contacting the religion's Info Tsentr 23594 www.vis sarion.ru S 8.30am-noon amp 1-7pm , a R30 taxi ride from central Kuragino - ask for Motorskoe Obshchizhitye. Petropavlovka village, 83km east of Kuragino, is the most accessible Vissarion village with a particularly attractive wooden church. Considerably further east is the...
Activities 1
Russia offers ample opportunities for all the usual outdoor activities such as hiking, skiing and canoeing. There are also some uncommon ones too, such as sweating it out in a banya p71 or zooming up into the stratosphere in a jet plane pl63 . For information about outdoor activities, it's best to inquire locally. There will often be a group of enthusiasts more than happy to share their knowledge and even equipment with a visitor you might also be able to locate guides for trekking and other...
Music
Belarusian folk music and shows are energetic and colourful. Modern folk music originated from ritualistic ceremonies - either based on peasant seasonal feasts or, more commonly, on the traditions of church music hymns and psalms , which became highly developed in Belarus from the 16th century. The band Pesnyary have been extremely popular since the 1960s for having put a modern twist on traditional Belarusian folk music. Other modern bands that utilise folk songs as a base include Troitsa and...
Moneron Island Octpob Mohepoh
In the Tatar Strait, 50km southwest of Sakhalin, is the largely uninhabited Moneron Island, surrounded by a marine park popular with divers and snorkellers. Unfortunately an increase of poaching has wreaked havoc on the underwater world, but it's still possible to go. Many birds - such as black-tailed gulls and long-billed guillemot - flock here. You must charter a boat that leaves from Nevelsk south of Kholmsk, also reached by bus 518 from Yuzhno . Inquire with travel agents p637 . Daily...
The Dacha
For the vast majority of urban Russians, home is within a drab, ugly housing complex of Soviet vintage. Although quite cosy and prettily decorated on the inside, these apartments are typically cramped and come with no attached garden. Instead, a large percentage of Russian families have a dacha, or small country house. Often little more than a bare-bones hut but sometimes quite luxurious , these retreats offer Russians refuge from city life and as such figure prominently in the national psyche....
Chuysky Trakt Whckhh Tpakt
South of Ust-Sema, the dramatic M52 road to Olgii in Mongolia is known as the Chuysky Trakt. It offers 400km of forested DOMES, STONES AND MOUSTACHES Kurgany are ancient domed burial mounds. Some are over 2500 years old, while others, like those at Shiba 6km west of Tuetka , date 'only' from the 6th century AD, though to the casual observer they're somewhat more impressive. Nonetheless, even these are still just barely discernable piles of stones. Much more interesting are kameny baba figures,...
Flora And Fauna
Altitude, climate ranges and inaccessibility have made the Caucasus extremely rich in flora and fauna. Three progressions of vegetation exist. By the coast and at lower altitudes temperate rainforest dominates with oak, beech and chestnut. Ancient groves of yew remain in places like the Teberdinsky Nature Reserve, along with gigantic 600-year-old beeches and a species of grass higher than a human. Conifer forests dominate with increasing altitude and above the tree line subalpine meadows are...
Irkutsk Hpkytck
3952 pop 591,000 S Moscow 5hr Historic if vaguely seedy Irkutsk, 1090km southeast of Krasnoyarsk, is the nearest big city to glorious Lake Baikal, though it's still 70km inland. With some fancifully rebuilt churches and areas of grand 19th-century architecture it's well worth at least a brief stop. If your Russian is poor, Irkutsk has plenty of Anglophone agencies eager to help, and now has some real if small hostels too. Founded in 1651 as a Cossack garrison to control the indigenous Buryats,...
Murmansk Mypmahck
Midway between Moscow and the North Pole, Murmansk is the largest city north of the Arctic Circle. It's also the most easily-visited northerly city in Russia, perfect for experiencing the midnight sun and polar night. Murmansk endured a pretty bleak 1990s when its population previously approaching 450,000 shrank drastically. But with a profitable fishing industry and a dose of cooperation from Scandinavian neighbours and other Western countries, Murmansk is now well on the way back up. Its many...
Puhok
ab-mye 7va- yu-ti o MeH Ban poch-ta postcard at f-ka stamp mar- ka telephone fax te-le-fe telephone office te-le-ft-ni punkt myes-na-e wye-mya iwectHoe BpeMa Moscow time mas-Aw-ska-e wye-mya M0CK0BCK0e BpeMa Dates are given day-month-year, with the month usually in Roman numerals. Days of the week are often represented by numbers in timetables Monday is 1 . kag-rfoat-prav' yo-et-sya Kotfla OTnpaBaaeTca How long does it take to get to Volgograd skol'-ka wye-me-nim z i-naye-khat'da w gt...
Lake Teletskoe
Deep, delightful Lake Teletskoe is Altai's serene answer to Lake Baikal, a great place to simply relax and catch your breath. Ridge after forested ridge unfolds as you scutde along on one of the myriad litde pleasure boats that buzz out of Artybash village, the lake's charming tourist hub. Artybash amp logach Apibioaw 11 Koran 38843 pop 4500 S Moscow 3hr At Lake Teletskoe's westernmost nose, litde logach village is the main population centre and bus stop. Across the bridge, Artybash is a ribbon...
Lyme Disease
This is a tick-transmitted infection that may be acquired throughout the region. It usually begins with a spreading rash at the site of the tick bite, accompanied by fever, headache, extreme fatigue, aching joints and muscles and mild neck stiffness. If untreated, these symptoms usually resolve over several weeks, but over subsequent months disorders of the nervous system, heart and joints may develop. There is no vaccination against the disease. Treatment should be sought as soon as possible...
TRAVEL AGENCIES Kkv
Baltma Tours 211 880 www.baltmatours.com pr Mira 49 S 9.30am-6.30pm Mon-Fri, 11am-3pm Sat This is the best travel agency in town and by far the best source of regional information. There's nothing it can't do-from arranging visa support and accommodation to any kind of tour. It offers boat cruises throughout the region and excursions with friendly, knowledgeable guides to every corner of Kaliningrad. Car rental with a driver is typically US 10 per hour, guides cost about US 40 a day extra. Pick...
M 1
Magadan 632-4, 633 magazines 76 Magnitogorsk 447 Mahileu 694 Maitreya Buddha Festival 706 Makarevo411 Makarev Monastery 411 Maksimikha 583 Malachite Hall 248 Maladzechna 718 Malaya Zemlya 461 Malevich, Kasimir97, 153, 161 Maloe More 580 Maly Drama Theatre 288 Maly Trostenets concentration camp 670 Maly Yaloman 532 Malye Karely 391 Mamaev Kurgan 423 Mammoth Museum 629 Mamontov, Savva 175,192 Manzherok530 maps 708, 719 Marble Palace 257 Mariinsky Theatre 84, 87, 173, 262, 287, J marshrutka travel...
Vissarion Messiah Of Siberia
Perceiving modern society to be on a destructive collision course with nature, the 30,000-strong Church of the Last Testament follows an ecologically based philosophy for clean living. It was formulated by Vissarion, the 'teacher', who many of his euphoric followers believe to be a second Jesus. He realised his divinity in 1991 and even dresses like a Hollywood Christ. But he was born Sergei Torop and is a former traffic cop from Krasnodar. Settled in remote, beautiful but harsh Siberian...
SLEEPING Nvk
Hotel Zimnyaya 38248 www.valaam.twell.ru ul Tsentralnaya 4 s R1100-2250, d R1200-2500, tr R1500-2100 3 meals R750 On the island close to the monastery, the Zimnyaya occupies the 2nd floor of a 19th-century building. Rooms are bare but clean. Only a handful have private bathrooms. It can get full, so try to book ahead, even though this adds 25 to your room price. Hotel Seurakhuone Dom Ofitserov 22338 ul Karelskaya 22 s d R600 800, lyux R850 1100 Cen trally placed by the bridge near the dock....
Kostroma Koctpoma
This historic town sits 300km northeast of Moscow 95km north of Ivanovo , where its namesake river - the Kostroma - converges with the Volga. The delightful historic centre dates back to the 18th century, when the old wooden structures were demolished by fire. But the pride of Kostroma is the 14th-century Monastery of St Ipaty, which poses majestically on the right bank of the Kostroma River. Founded by Yury Dolgoruky in 1152, Kostroma suffered at the hands of nomadic raiders in 1238. The...
Olkhon Island Octpob Ojilxoh
Halfway up Lake Baikal's western shore and reached by a short ferry journey from Sa-khyurta aka MRS , the serenely beautiful Olkhon Island is a wonderful place from which to view the lake and relax during a tour of Siberia. Considered one of five global poles of shamanic energy by the Buryat people, the 72km-long island's main settiement is Khuzhir, which has seen something of a tourist boom over the last few years mainly thanks to the inspiring efforts of Nikita's Guest House, which also runs...
Minsk Metro
7 November Anniversary of the October Revolution often end up here. The eternal flame is accessible from the underground passageway. Further north is ploshcha Jakuba Kolasa, an other expansive square, this one softened by pleasant parkland and a sitting area near the elephantine monument to the Bela-rusian writer. Pr Francyska Skaryny continues northeast, becoming a bit of a student ghetto around metro Akademija Navuk various faculties of the state university are located nearby, as well as the...
Sleeping C
Dacha Khrushcheva ana XpymeBa 9 B4 Hotel Amur rocTHHHija AMyp 10 B5 Hotel Voskhod rocTHHHija Bocxofl 11 A4 Voslikod i ,ift gt Hol o.l Voslikod i ,ift gt Hol o.l Dacha Krushcheva 540 659 ul Khabarovska 47 r R1500 amp R2500 Built for Nikita Khrushchev -Gorbachev and Brezhnev have slept here -the 'dacha' a concrete villa with small shady yard is a step back in time. Nikita's room is a massive suite with private balcony his gun-toting goons probably took the cheaper rooms downstairs. It's behind a...
Tuvan Food
Almost every rural household keeps a vat of khoitpak fermenting sour milk , which tastes like ginger beer with a sediment of finely chopped brie. Khoitpak is drunk as is or distilled into alcoholic araka. Roast dalgan a cereal, similar to Altai's bran-rich talkan can be added to your salted milky tea, or eaten with oreme sour cream . Local cheeses include stringy byshtag and rock-hard Kazakh-style kurut balls. Tuvans are said to have learnt from Chinggis Khaan a special way to kill their sheep...
Orientation Lcb
Kazan's city centre is flanked in the north by the Kazanka River and in the west by the Volga the train station is on the east bank of the Volga. About 500m east of the Volga shore, a canal bisects the town centre, separating the train station and surrounding gritty residential area from the principle commercial area. The main drag, ul Bau-mana, is just east of the canal, running from the kremlin in the northwest down to busy ul Pushkina. South of the canal, ul Pushkina changes name to ul...
Mongo In Russia
The Far East is Russia's 'wild east,' where hardened Cossacks in the early 17th century - and young Soviets and Gulag prisoners in the 20th - came to exploit the region's untapped natural resources - such as gold of the Kolyma, diamonds of Sakha and oil off Sakhalin. Russian explorers and plunderers even leapfrogged from the Pacific coast and Kamchatka to stake claims on parts of what is today the USA p42 . Much ado locally is made about Anton Chekhov's occasionally whoring trip through the Far...
Lenin Under Glass
Red Square is home to the world's most famous mummy, that of Vladimir Lenin. When he died of a massive stroke on 22 January 1924, aged 53 , a long line of mourners patiently gathered in winter's harshness for weeks to glimpse the body as it lay in state. Inspired by the spectacle, Stalin proposed that the father of Soviet communism should continue to serve the cause as a holy relic. So the decision was made to preserve Lenin's corpse for perpetuity, against the vehement protests of his widow,...
Rostovondon
Rostov-on-Don is an expansive town with the busde of a regional capital, but the wide leafy streets and scattered parks take away any notion of crowding. Passing through the city is the Don River, celebrated in Mikhail Sholokhov's novels of the Civil War - And Quiet Flows the Don and The Don Flows Home to the Sea. The Don is no longer quiet. In 1952 the Lenin Ship Canal linked the Volga and the Don near Volgograd, creating an immense network of canals, lakes and rivers. Oceangoing ships can now...
Lizard Queens And Stony Cults
Legend attributes the mineral wealth of the Urals to the workings of a mysterious queen, who lived within a copper-lined mountain. She was a black-haired beauty with magical powers, appearing at times endearing and at other times wrathful towards the mortals she encountered in the hills, doting on shepherd boys and dropping boulders on mining bosses. The queen often took the form of a lizard. The Lizard Queen is an enduring Russian myth about the Ural Mountains. Her story was passed down...
Bars
Tsinik Cynic Map pp236-7 312 8779 per Antonenko 4 S 11am-3am Sun-Thu, 11am-6am Fri amp Sat Sad-ovaya Sennaya Ploshchad Laid-back, no-frills cellar bar with a cool, student-slacker arty crowd nursing cheap beer and famously delicious grenki black bread fried in garlic . It also has the only men's toilets in the world with the walls entirely covered with Pushkin's poem Eugene Onegin. Red Lion Map pp236-7 5714526 pi Dekabristov 1 S24hr M Sadovaya Sennaya Ploshchad Occupying a huge basement space...
KHATYN XATblHb
The hamlet of Khatyn, 60km north of Minsk, was burned to the ground with all its inhabitants in a 1943 Nazi reprisal. The site is now a sobering memorial centred around a sculpture modelled on the only survivor, Yuzif Kaminsky. Also here the Graveyard of Villages, commemorating 185 other Belarusian villages annihilated by the Germans the Trees of Life actually concrete posts commemorating a further 433 villages that were destroyed but rebuilt and a Memory Wall listing the Nazi concentration...
TRAVEL AGENCIES Nhz
The following agencies can arrange visas to China from the new consulate. At time of research, it costs about US 125 and takes three days to a week - always a week for Americans. Otherwise the consulate accepts visa applications from 9.30am to 12.30pm Monday, Wednesday and Friday for the same price. The agencies can also set you up with train tickets, homestays and tours. Dalintourist 222 949 www.dalintourist.ru ul Admirala Fokina 8 S 10am-5pm Mon-Fri, to 2pm Sat Best all-round agency with the...
Bratsk Epatck
3953 pop 258,000 S Moscow 5hr A stop in Bratsk neady breaks a Krasnoyarsk to Severobaikalsk trip into two overnight rides, but a day here is plenty. Its raison d'etre is a gigantic 1955 dam GES , which caused the drowning of the original historic town. New Bratsk is a confusing necklace of disconnected concrete 'subcities' with a high-rise Tsentralny area that is spirit-crushingly dull. It does, however, have two English-speaking tour agencies Taiga Tours 413951 taigat 3bratsk.net.ru 2ndfl,...
Oryol Opeji
Once the winter snows have melted, Oryol can seem like a magical place. Afternoon boaters float idly along the Oka River as the glow of sunlight illuminates the golden domes of Orthodox churches about town. Couples and friends stroll along the blossom-lined riverbanks, and fill the parks and plazas until late in the evening, when red-and-yellow trams are still rattling through town. In sharp contrast to nearby industrial cities, Oryol is a visibly wealthy place, with a distinctly European...
INFORMATION Dqe
Bank Soyuz Booth EaHK C0103 see BO Guta Bank TyTa EaHK 3 D4 Kofeynaya Karta Ko lt J eHHaa KapTa 5 C3 Main Telephone Office MeacflyropoaHHii Teae lt ohhhh D2 KoHcynLCTBO MoHronHH 7 DB 49 Visitor Information Office 8 D3 Yustas Photo-Salon lOcTac O0T0-Can0H 10 C3 XyaoacecTBeHHHH My3en 11 C3 EoroaBJieHCKHH Co6op 12 CI Dom Ofitserov om 0 lt J HHepOB 13 D1 Islamic Cultural Centre 14 F3 Preobrazheniya Gospodnya Church Ilpeo paaceHHS Raising of the Cross Church Kpe CT0B03 flBHaceHcicaa D4 Regional...
Sleeping Eating 1
There's further choice in Mayma, Aya and Souzga. Hotel Gorno Altaiavtodor 62256 4th fl, Kommunistichesky pr 182 dm R200-350, tw d 1600 2500 Clean, well-kept, three-bed dorms share decent new facilities. Pricier rooms have private bathrooms. Disconcertingly, you have to ring at the rear entry-phone buzzer and give your reservation details before being let in. Book ahead. Dormoststroy 62149 3rd fl, per Granitny 1 tw R1000 Five cramped but comfy new twin rooms with ketde and fridge share a...
Monchegorsk Mohwopck
A neat, fairly prosperous town set between several lakes, Monchegorsk makes a good base for exploring the centre and south of the Kola Peninsula - although the approach from the south is hardly encouraging as you pass through expanses of stunted or nonexistent vegetation, and then encounter the enormous Severonikel Kombinat factory whose past sulphur emissions are responsible for the ecological devastation. Nickel smelting here ceased in the late 1990s but it will be a while before the...
Aktash Aktaei
This nondescript little garrison-village commands a dramatic area of craggy valleys. If bus timetables leave you stuck here, stroll 3km towards Balyktuyul through the striking rocky canyon named Red Gate Krasnyye Vorota . Aktash could make a base for mountain adventures in the lovely Northern Chuysky Range with its challenging mountaineering on Mt Aktru 4044m and Mt Maashey 4177m or for trekking to the Shavlinsky Lakes for idyllic mountain views. However, for all of these you will need outside...
Local Hero
Like many other peoples in prehistory, Kabardians enjoyed their fires for warmth, cooking and defence. One day an evil giant called inizh Nezakve came and stole their fire. The Kabardians suffered for many years until a hero, born out of a large stone, rose up. He was named Sosruko and grew up to meet his destiny - a fight with Nezakve. Victorious, of course, he returned with fire for his people. address the early-morning assembly of stray dogs or lounging taxi drivers. Restaurant Sosruko 720...
Drinking Xnx
Redut 461 951 Litovsky Val 27 meals R100-300 Although there's lots of food on the menu, the main reason to come to this lively pub is the decent selection of beer brewed on the premises. Try the delicious unfil-tered brew. Simple beer-hall atmosphere prevails. V Teni Zamka Tsentralnaya pi, kiosk No 63 cappuccino R40-56 The city's best espresso, coffee cocktails and ice cream are served in this tiny but charming space, seating only 20, inside the apdy named kiosk village. Vostochniy Kafe 147 121...
AROUND CHELYABINSK Lakes District KpaM Cbep
Locals rave somewhat overenthusiastically about the pleasant lakes around Chelyabinsk and Miass, notably Ilmenskoe and Turgoyak. Crowded with turbazy holiday camps and sanatoriums, which serve as bases for travellers wishing to escape the city, the region is ideal for boating, swimming, skiing and otherwise exploring the Urals countryside. On the shores of Lake Turgoyak, known locally as the 'Blue Pearl', the resort Golden Beach 3513-560 093 www.goldenbeach.ru in Russian Miass rRI800-2300...
Eastern Baikal
Sparsely scattered beach villages of old-fashioned log cottages dot the pretty east Baikal coast. They are well described in a usefully practical Prebaikalsky booklet, available for free download from www .tahoebaikal.org. Further north is the dramatic Barguzin Valley, from which Chinggis Khaan's mother, Oilun-Ehe, is said to have originated. Access is across a forested pass from Ulan-Ude via tiny Baturino village with its elegantly renovated Sretenskaya Church. After around 2 ' i hours' drive,...
Buying Tickets For Performances Events
Teatralnye kassy theatre ticket offices or kiosks are found across all sizable cities, although it's not difficult to buy face-value tickets from the kassa ticket office at the venue itself, typically open for advance or same-day sales from early afternoon until the start ofthe evening show. In provincial Russia, tickets range from R30 to R300 and only the most popular shows tend to sell out completely, so there's usually hope for same-day seats. However, in Moscow and St Petersburg competition...
A GUIDE TO BANYA ETIQUETTE Steve Kokker
At the same time every week, people head out to their favourite banya hot bath, a bit like a sauna to meet up with a regular crowd of people the Western equivalent would be your gym buddies . Many bring along a Thermos filled with tea that's mixed with jam, spices and heaps of sugar. A few bottles of beer and some dried fish also do nicely. After stripping down in the sex-segregated changing room, wishing 'Lyogkogo pronounced lyokh-ka-va para ' to their mates meaning something like 'May your...