Way to Russia Travel Guide E-Book, Preview Sample

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A handy manual on brute force, love, polysingularity, travel, nature, dancing, living, and cosmos.

Way to Russia Guidance ver 4.5387

www.waytorussia.net

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Register your book copy on www.waytorussia.net/book and receive regular updates!

Way to Russia Guidance - www.waytorussia.net Texts and concept © 2014-2016 Dmitry Paranyushkin Most images used in this book are distributed under Creative Commons license and have hyperlinks to the originals in the caption in case you’re interested to see more of the photographer’s work.

This guide book to Russia was created using the materials from www.waytorussia.net travel guide to Russia. If at any point you’re missing some information, simply log on the website and you’ll find more.

Special thanks to the photographers whose beatiful pictures were used in this book, and also to Danil Perushev, Celine Smith, Kevin McCaughey, Greg Klemm, Karina Golubenko (Kazan guide), Natasha Soboleva (St. Petersburg guide), Masha Mushtrieva, Sheily Jimenez, Diego Agullo, Paul Schoen, Colin Johnco, Alexey Taruts, Konstantin Komarov, Vladimir Paranyushkin, Lyubov Paranyushkina.

This book is a work of fiction. Any coincidence to the real individuals, places or events is a pure and unintended serendipity, which has the potential to arise to the very surface of the actual and the real.

The authors disclaim any responsibility – including, but not confined to the moral, ethical and legal – that may arise from using the advice given in this book. Use it at your own risk and enjoy the weather.

Published in Berlin, Paris and Moscow by Special Agency concept developed with Nodus Labs by way of Polysingularity, originated from Way to Russia Guides, produced by Special Agency / Ways Ltd www.waytorussia.net www.specialagency.co www.noduslabs.com SPECIAL AGENCY, attn Dmitry Paranyushkin 3, Am Flutgraben, 12435, Berlin, Germany +33 6 20 28 44 80 contact@specialagency.co

ISBN 978-0-9569569-9-6 This second edition is published in April 2016 Copy of

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Register your book copy on www.waytorussia.net/book and receive regular updates!

Way to Russia Guidance - www.waytorussia.net Texts and concept © 2014-2016 Dmitry Paranyushkin Most images used in this book are distributed under Creative Commons license and have hyperlinks to the originals in the caption in case you’re interested to see more of the photographer’s work.

This guide book to Russia was created using the materials from www.waytorussia.net travel guide to Russia. If at any point you’re missing some information, simply log on the website and you’ll find more.

Special thanks to the photographers whose beatiful pictures were used in this book, and also to Danil Perushev, Celine Smith, Kevin McCaughey, Greg Klemm, Karina Golubenko (Kazan guide), Natasha Soboleva (St. Petersburg guide), Masha Mushtrieva, Sheily Jimenez, Diego Agullo, Paul Schoen, Colin Johnco, Alexey Taruts, Konstantin Komarov, Vladimir Paranyushkin, Lyubov Paranyushkina.

This book is a work of fiction. Any coincidence to the real individuals, places or events is a pure and unintended serendipity, which has the potential to arise to the very surface of the actual and the real.

The authors disclaim any responsibility – including, but not confined to the moral, ethical and legal – that may arise from using the advice given in this book. Use it at your own risk and enjoy the weather.

Published in Berlin, Paris and Moscow by Special Agency concept developed with Nodus Labs by way of Polysingularity, originated from Way to Russia Guides, produced by Special Agency / Ways Ltd www.waytorussia.net www.specialagency.co www.noduslabs.com SPECIAL AGENCY, attn Dmitry Paranyushkin 3, Am Flutgraben, 12435, Berlin, Germany +33 6 20 28 44 80 contact@specialagency.co

ISBN 978-0-9569569-9-6 This second edition is published in April 2016 Copy of

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You ask: What is this all about?

Table of Contents (click to follow, next page for more)

Let me answer: It’s a 780-page book born from the most popular independent online information resource about Russia www.waytorussia.net that exists since 2001.

page 10, About page 16, User’s Manual page 35, Russianness

page 447, Moroz Moroz

page 51, Context

page 529, Baikal

page 130, References page 141, Habits page 148, Politics page 159, Magi page 160, Systema – Russian Yoga

page 541, Listvyanka page 561, Olkhon Island page 595, Buryatia

At its core it’s a travel guide that contains all the necessary up-to-date information you need to travel to Russia, including recommendations for the best places to visit – retrieved from the website and especially remastered for this 2016 paper edition.

However, this book can also be used for traveling vicariously through the deepest crevices of Russian subconscious, attempting to channel and to express that special something that Russia still has at its very core: the crude force of love that erupts into polysingularity of cosmos.

page 171, Language page 222, Food page 254, Russian Visa page 260, Transport page 266, Safety page 279, Moscow page 397, St. Petersburg page 451, Novgorod

page 481, Transsiberian

page 611, Kazan page 641, Ekaterinburg page 451, Novosibirsk page 687, Barnaul page 695, Altay page 709, Irkutsk page 725, Ulan-Ude page 744, Kamchatka page 753, Vladivostok page 771, Interwebs page 781, Special Agency

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You ask: What is this all about?

Table of Contents (click to follow, next page for more)

Let me answer: It’s a 780-page book born from the most popular independent online information resource about Russia www.waytorussia.net that exists since 2001.

page 10, About page 16, User’s Manual page 35, Russianness

page 447, Moroz Moroz

page 51, Context

page 529, Baikal

page 130, References page 141, Habits page 148, Politics page 159, Magi page 160, Systema – Russian Yoga

page 541, Listvyanka page 561, Olkhon Island page 595, Buryatia

At its core it’s a travel guide that contains all the necessary up-to-date information you need to travel to Russia, including recommendations for the best places to visit – retrieved from the website and especially remastered for this 2016 paper edition.

However, this book can also be used for traveling vicariously through the deepest crevices of Russian subconscious, attempting to channel and to express that special something that Russia still has at its very core: the crude force of love that erupts into polysingularity of cosmos.

page 171, Language page 222, Food page 254, Russian Visa page 260, Transport page 266, Safety page 279, Moscow page 397, St. Petersburg page 451, Novgorod

page 481, Transsiberian

page 611, Kazan page 641, Ekaterinburg page 451, Novosibirsk page 687, Barnaul page 695, Altay page 709, Irkutsk page 725, Ulan-Ude page 744, Kamchatka page 753, Vladivostok page 771, Interwebs page 781, Special Agency

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Quick Links (to the most popular sections of the book)

Recommended (things you might’ve never discovered)

page 16, How to Use This Book: Manual

page 266, Safety

page 51, on Sputnik

Moscow Guide page 285, Moscow Map page 288, Moscow Airports page 290, Train Stations page 303, Selected Hotels page 321, Best Restaurants page 335, Parks & Wellness page 347, Walks & Sights page 367, Clubs, Nightlife page 384, Co-working

page 56, on Gopniki

St. Petersburg Guide page 401, City Map page 402, Transport page 409, Selected Hotels page 429, Restaurants page 433, Sightseeing page 419, Going Out

page 79, on Polysingularity concept

page 141, How to Be Truly Russian: Manual page 180, Russian Alphabet page 212, Swearwords page 224, How to Drink Vodka: Manual page 247, Music for the long Train Rides page 256, Russian Visa Checklist page 263, Buy a Train Ticket in Russia without speaking the language page 164, How to Be Invincible: Manual

Trans-Siberian Guide page 489, Map page 514, Stopovers page 529, Baikal Lake

page 62, on Glonass page 66, on Stalker page 72, on Dead Hand nuclear retaliation system page 76, on Eisenstein film montage

page 91, Biomechanics page 104, #blackorthodox page 113, Local Prophets page 116, Russian YouTube page 122, Cheburashka

page 171, Untranslatable Russian Words page 192, Show this to somebody you want to invite somewhere page 198, Show this to the person you’ve been drinking with on the train. page 318, Most Useful Contacts page 451, Best Escape from Big City Life page 561, The Most Beautiful Island page 595, Baikal’s Lake Best-Hidden Secret page 781, Message for the Initiated

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Quick Links (to the most popular sections of the book)

Recommended (things you might’ve never discovered)

page 16, How to Use This Book: Manual

page 266, Safety

page 51, on Sputnik

Moscow Guide page 285, Moscow Map page 288, Moscow Airports page 290, Train Stations page 303, Selected Hotels page 321, Best Restaurants page 335, Parks & Wellness page 347, Walks & Sights page 367, Clubs, Nightlife page 384, Co-working

page 56, on Gopniki

St. Petersburg Guide page 401, City Map page 402, Transport page 409, Selected Hotels page 429, Restaurants page 433, Sightseeing page 419, Going Out

page 79, on Polysingularity concept

page 141, How to Be Truly Russian: Manual page 180, Russian Alphabet page 212, Swearwords page 224, How to Drink Vodka: Manual page 247, Music for the long Train Rides page 256, Russian Visa Checklist page 263, Buy a Train Ticket in Russia without speaking the language page 164, How to Be Invincible: Manual

Trans-Siberian Guide page 489, Map page 514, Stopovers page 529, Baikal Lake

page 62, on Glonass page 66, on Stalker page 72, on Dead Hand nuclear retaliation system page 76, on Eisenstein film montage

page 91, Biomechanics page 104, #blackorthodox page 113, Local Prophets page 116, Russian YouTube page 122, Cheburashka

page 171, Untranslatable Russian Words page 192, Show this to somebody you want to invite somewhere page 198, Show this to the person you’ve been drinking with on the train. page 318, Most Useful Contacts page 451, Best Escape from Big City Life page 561, The Most Beautiful Island page 595, Baikal’s Lake Best-Hidden Secret page 781, Message for the Initiated

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This Way to Russia Guidance has been

produced at the exact very place where the demarcation line separating the West and the East Berlin was running, within the last-standing utopic structure of the Berlin Wall known as LoveFabrik, combining the hard fist and the heart-felt emotions at its expressional core, using Polysingularity as the methodology for conceptual exploration.

While the love-expression and the fist-production are relatively easy to grasp intuitively, Polysingularity is a much more complex subject. It’s best explained using the East/ West dichotomy mentioned earlier. The Berlin Wall built by the Russians was a hard structure-demarkation-line, sort of a monument, installation, and maybe even a Totemic structure to their beliefs shaped by ideology. Being a Russian myself I share this obsessive propensity to come up with conceptual ideological semi-utopian structures and to implement them into the real life. (I also have a tendency to use long-winding sentences – something we do in Russian on the casual basis.) I understand that my country has suffered a lot for this attitude, however, I insist on this practice as something that brings force into life, even if it’s just because it requires more energy than is needed. Here

we already started to move away from the East/West / Life/ Death dichotomies: force is something that can be complementary to life and vice versa. Polysingularity, therefore, is a practice of saying “Yes, and…” and “And yet…” instead of the “But” and “On the contrary”. It is also a practice of shifting between contexts, attempting to understand something for what it really is… yes… and then also changing perspective and understanding it for something else that it can also be. (Here it could be very easy to slip into the “understanding it for something that it is ‘not’” and yet one has to insist that Polysingularity is a practice of insisting on something as it is, for the moment, while knowing that it can also be something else through occasional contacts with “otherness”). Such dynamic exploration of a phenomenon allows one to cover it from several different points of view, finding a certain emotive and expressive core in multiplicity of its appearances. This way we can be both very specific and very general: maintaining a good view of intentionality patterns within the phenomena we observe and giving ourselves fully up to them at the same time.

Russia has something of a unifying force already contained within itself. The country that exists despite everything that it has actually went through simply has to insist on “Belief ” as the only operational way of evolving itself. Anything else like “rationality” or “common sense” would have already given up. The United States stole the beautiful pyramidlike eye structure from ancient cultures and made it their driving totemic force plastering it over the dollar money.

The American Dream is very materialistic and simple in its essence: the more you work, the more pyramides you get.

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This Way to Russia Guidance has been

produced at the exact very place where the demarcation line separating the West and the East Berlin was running, within the last-standing utopic structure of the Berlin Wall known as LoveFabrik, combining the hard fist and the heart-felt emotions at its expressional core, using Polysingularity as the methodology for conceptual exploration.

While the love-expression and the fist-production are relatively easy to grasp intuitively, Polysingularity is a much more complex subject. It’s best explained using the East/ West dichotomy mentioned earlier. The Berlin Wall built by the Russians was a hard structure-demarkation-line, sort of a monument, installation, and maybe even a Totemic structure to their beliefs shaped by ideology. Being a Russian myself I share this obsessive propensity to come up with conceptual ideological semi-utopian structures and to implement them into the real life. (I also have a tendency to use long-winding sentences – something we do in Russian on the casual basis.) I understand that my country has suffered a lot for this attitude, however, I insist on this practice as something that brings force into life, even if it’s just because it requires more energy than is needed. Here

we already started to move away from the East/West / Life/ Death dichotomies: force is something that can be complementary to life and vice versa. Polysingularity, therefore, is a practice of saying “Yes, and…” and “And yet…” instead of the “But” and “On the contrary”. It is also a practice of shifting between contexts, attempting to understand something for what it really is… yes… and then also changing perspective and understanding it for something else that it can also be. (Here it could be very easy to slip into the “understanding it for something that it is ‘not’” and yet one has to insist that Polysingularity is a practice of insisting on something as it is, for the moment, while knowing that it can also be something else through occasional contacts with “otherness”). Such dynamic exploration of a phenomenon allows one to cover it from several different points of view, finding a certain emotive and expressive core in multiplicity of its appearances. This way we can be both very specific and very general: maintaining a good view of intentionality patterns within the phenomena we observe and giving ourselves fully up to them at the same time.

Russia has something of a unifying force already contained within itself. The country that exists despite everything that it has actually went through simply has to insist on “Belief ” as the only operational way of evolving itself. Anything else like “rationality” or “common sense” would have already given up. The United States stole the beautiful pyramidlike eye structure from ancient cultures and made it their driving totemic force plastering it over the dollar money.

The American Dream is very materialistic and simple in its essence: the more you work, the more pyramides you get.

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The Russian dream or “belief ” is different. It combines brute force and divine purpose as the primary steering principle. It’s based on eruptions and not on gradual growth. It’s completely irrational at its core and that’s why it’s so difficult to comprehend. That’s why the word “Nadryv” exists only in Russian and in no other language, meaning that special tear from the tension that continuously happens inside.

And while this tension is hard to cope with, it also makes all kinds of utopian projects possible. Russian history is full of them. The most obvious example is its territory: since its inception Ancient Rus was an utopia – one of the biggest countries in the world, despite all the odds. Even the cruel Tatar-Mongol Yoke that lasted over 200 years had to surrender to the idea of unified Rus. The rapid modernization violently implemented by Peter the Great in the beginning of the 18th century is yet another example. The numerous wars that have been won, the numerous sacrifices that Russians have been always ready to make, the social experiments that they willingly went through in search for the divine purpose... And also, the greatest inventions originating from Russia: from Mendeleev’s table of elements that unified the whole chemical universe onto one page to the first man in space, from Stanislavky’s system of acting to Tarkovsky’s Stalker, from Kalashnikov’s AK-47 to GLONASS satellite positioning system.

Russia and Russians have always wanted to be special agents, to be unlike anyone else, to follow the plan B, C, D... to be closer to the divine or whatever other name this divine might have had: the God, Cosmos, Bright Communist Fu-

ture, the Universe... Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it did not. Sometimes this desire to be different was abused to indoctrinate and to convert masses of people to ideologies that were destructive at their core. That’s how a cultural trait can be both a source of power and a source of weakness.

Any utopia demands a sacrifice, but that doesn’t mean that making a sacrifice will always lead to utopia. And while it may be true that you have to leave what you love behind in order to transcend, that doesn’t mean that the mere act of abandoning what you love will make you move forward. In this way Russia has many lessons to teach and many lessons to learn...

The Russian culture and Russian territory are full of traces from those tumultuous experiences, lessons, attempts, successes, and failures. Some of those traces weave into complex narrative lines that you can unwind when you travel.

Some of them are simply confusing. Some of them get swallowed into the beautiful chaos of nature, which claims its power over the time.

Real traveling is about coming in contact with all these traces in all their polysingularity; throwing yourself into the very epicenter of those tension lines that run through the country’s history and the collective psyche. It’s not about posting selfies on Instagram and “doing the Trans-Siberian”.

It’s about allowing yourself to be changed and attempting to change the landscape and people around. It’s coming into direct contact with “otherness” and setting up the conditions and possibilities for mutual transformation to occur.

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The Russian dream or “belief ” is different. It combines brute force and divine purpose as the primary steering principle. It’s based on eruptions and not on gradual growth. It’s completely irrational at its core and that’s why it’s so difficult to comprehend. That’s why the word “Nadryv” exists only in Russian and in no other language, meaning that special tear from the tension that continuously happens inside.

And while this tension is hard to cope with, it also makes all kinds of utopian projects possible. Russian history is full of them. The most obvious example is its territory: since its inception Ancient Rus was an utopia – one of the biggest countries in the world, despite all the odds. Even the cruel Tatar-Mongol Yoke that lasted over 200 years had to surrender to the idea of unified Rus. The rapid modernization violently implemented by Peter the Great in the beginning of the 18th century is yet another example. The numerous wars that have been won, the numerous sacrifices that Russians have been always ready to make, the social experiments that they willingly went through in search for the divine purpose... And also, the greatest inventions originating from Russia: from Mendeleev’s table of elements that unified the whole chemical universe onto one page to the first man in space, from Stanislavky’s system of acting to Tarkovsky’s Stalker, from Kalashnikov’s AK-47 to GLONASS satellite positioning system.

Russia and Russians have always wanted to be special agents, to be unlike anyone else, to follow the plan B, C, D... to be closer to the divine or whatever other name this divine might have had: the God, Cosmos, Bright Communist Fu-

ture, the Universe... Sometimes it worked out, sometimes it did not. Sometimes this desire to be different was abused to indoctrinate and to convert masses of people to ideologies that were destructive at their core. That’s how a cultural trait can be both a source of power and a source of weakness.

Any utopia demands a sacrifice, but that doesn’t mean that making a sacrifice will always lead to utopia. And while it may be true that you have to leave what you love behind in order to transcend, that doesn’t mean that the mere act of abandoning what you love will make you move forward. In this way Russia has many lessons to teach and many lessons to learn...

The Russian culture and Russian territory are full of traces from those tumultuous experiences, lessons, attempts, successes, and failures. Some of those traces weave into complex narrative lines that you can unwind when you travel.

Some of them are simply confusing. Some of them get swallowed into the beautiful chaos of nature, which claims its power over the time.

Real traveling is about coming in contact with all these traces in all their polysingularity; throwing yourself into the very epicenter of those tension lines that run through the country’s history and the collective psyche. It’s not about posting selfies on Instagram and “doing the Trans-Siberian”.

It’s about allowing yourself to be changed and attempting to change the landscape and people around. It’s coming into direct contact with “otherness” and setting up the conditions and possibilities for mutual transformation to occur.

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how to travel inside this book 79

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When you see something like this click on the bold text to get teleported to another article in this book that may be related in a way that is obvious (on page 21) or a way that is not so obvious (page 79).

...and outside Many texts in this book continue online if you click the links or scan the QR codes with your phone.

For example, if you’re reading about a hotel, you can see more photos and book it online; if you’re reading about a club, you can see the what’s on listing; if you’re reading about Baikal lake, you can see more photos, watch videos, and read more texts online. www.waytorussia.net

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how to travel inside this book 79

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When you see something like this click on the bold text to get teleported to another article in this book that may be related in a way that is obvious (on page 21) or a way that is not so obvious (page 79).

...and outside Many texts in this book continue online if you click the links or scan the QR codes with your phone.

For example, if you’re reading about a hotel, you can see more photos and book it online; if you’re reading about a club, you can see the what’s on listing; if you’re reading about Baikal lake, you can see more photos, watch videos, and read more texts online. www.waytorussia.net

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User’s Manual Way to Russia is a guide of immersing into the Russianness and learning something from it that will affect your personality for the years to come. The best way to let the flow run freely is, of course, to travel into the land itself. However, if there are any constraints, brief reading of the following 780 pages of carefully crafted materials will leave the observer bewildered enough to want to have their own little piece of Russia in whatever way they can.

In the end it’s all about the brute force, love, and polysingularity. A volatile mix of the heart, the body, and collective intelligence that’s governed by self-replicating fractal-like patterns rather than standard logic.

We start from a general introduction into the land (theory), switching on to the more practical arrangements (practice). We then move on to more site-specifics with a number of detours along the way. Overall your experience and participation is what matters the most, so, please, do not forget to perform prescribed actions hidden within each snippet of text in this publication.

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User’s Manual Way to Russia is a guide of immersing into the Russianness and learning something from it that will affect your personality for the years to come. The best way to let the flow run freely is, of course, to travel into the land itself. However, if there are any constraints, brief reading of the following 780 pages of carefully crafted materials will leave the observer bewildered enough to want to have their own little piece of Russia in whatever way they can.

In the end it’s all about the brute force, love, and polysingularity. A volatile mix of the heart, the body, and collective intelligence that’s governed by self-replicating fractal-like patterns rather than standard logic.

We start from a general introduction into the land (theory), switching on to the more practical arrangements (practice). We then move on to more site-specifics with a number of detours along the way. Overall your experience and participation is what matters the most, so, please, do not forget to perform prescribed actions hidden within each snippet of text in this publication.

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how is it made?

Subheader / Header Here is a text that attempts to comprehend whatever it’s talking about in a way that is immersive enough to be able to emphathize with the subject of study and yet sufficiently removed to allow for the multitude of meanings to freely float between the gaps of imagination.

This is the name of a place or an object of interest with a short summary of what it’s about.

1, Red Square metro Okhotny Ryad

This is the address or any other practical guidance.

1, Красная Площадь метро Охотный Ряд www.bit.ly/polyscan

This kind of inserts are used to direct your attention to something else in this book indicated with a page number (in this case - User’s Manual). Click the bold text above or the page number below to follow.

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Same as above, but in Russian, so you can show it to a Russian person who will then guide you accordingly.

This helps you turn reading into action: open the URL or use a QR scanner in your phone and watch Interwebs open up multiple possibilities. Or simply save the info and address to your phone or browse the photos of the place.

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how is it made?

Subheader / Header Here is a text that attempts to comprehend whatever it’s talking about in a way that is immersive enough to be able to emphathize with the subject of study and yet sufficiently removed to allow for the multitude of meanings to freely float between the gaps of imagination.

This is the name of a place or an object of interest with a short summary of what it’s about.

1, Red Square metro Okhotny Ryad

This is the address or any other practical guidance.

1, Красная Площадь метро Охотный Ряд www.bit.ly/polyscan

This kind of inserts are used to direct your attention to something else in this book indicated with a page number (in this case - User’s Manual). Click the bold text above or the page number below to follow.

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Same as above, but in Russian, so you can show it to a Russian person who will then guide you accordingly.

This helps you turn reading into action: open the URL or use a QR scanner in your phone and watch Interwebs open up multiple possibilities. Or simply save the info and address to your phone or browse the photos of the place.

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Sometimes we also left some pages blank intentionally, so you can write in the book, ask your friends to write in the book, and add your own information.

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Sometimes we also left some pages blank intentionally, so you can write in the book, ask your friends to write in the book, and add your own information.

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@waytorussia Surely we’ve missed out some stuff in this guidance. If you have any questions, contact us on facebook.com/waytorussia or on Twitter @waytorussia If you feel like you have something to add or update, simply tweet it to us on @waytorussia – you can even include the page of the book with your content. If we add your content into the next edition, we’ll add your credit and offer an update of your existing copy for the new book.

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@waytorussia Surely we’ve missed out some stuff in this guidance. If you have any questions, contact us on facebook.com/waytorussia or on Twitter @waytorussia If you feel like you have something to add or update, simply tweet it to us on @waytorussia – you can even include the page of the book with your content. If we add your content into the next edition, we’ll add your credit and offer an update of your existing copy for the new book.

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One cannot understand Russia with the mind, one can only believe in it.

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One cannot understand Russia with the mind, one can only believe in it.

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О

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О

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The idea of a certain identity defined by the national borders may be slightly outdated but it still influences every aspect of our lives. The fact that our body can physically only be at one place at every moment of time means that the locations we find ourselves in will always exert influence on our behavior: we need to adapt in order to survive. Each landscape also carries a certain degree of specificity defined by its difference from the rest, both on the cultural and topological levels.

So what is so particular about Russia in this sense? How does the Russian landscape affect people, how do they adapt, and what do they become?

To start with the stereotypes. The word “extreme” is, perhaps, the first association that comes to mind and there are multiple reasons for it. Russia is the biggest country in the world and home to the craziest social experiments ever

Russianness

Russian dynamics is neither organized, nor chaotic – it’s both and that’s why it’s so difficult sometimes, as there are simply no rules to describe it.

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The idea of a certain identity defined by the national borders may be slightly outdated but it still influences every aspect of our lives. The fact that our body can physically only be at one place at every moment of time means that the locations we find ourselves in will always exert influence on our behavior: we need to adapt in order to survive. Each landscape also carries a certain degree of specificity defined by its difference from the rest, both on the cultural and topological levels.

So what is so particular about Russia in this sense? How does the Russian landscape affect people, how do they adapt, and what do they become?

To start with the stereotypes. The word “extreme” is, perhaps, the first association that comes to mind and there are multiple reasons for it. Russia is the biggest country in the world and home to the craziest social experiments ever

Russianness

Russian dynamics is neither organized, nor chaotic – it’s both and that’s why it’s so difficult sometimes, as there are simply no rules to describe it.

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conducted. It has always developed in leaps, so the concept of gradual development is something that doesn’t really fit in so well. The Russian country is, in fact, a very artificial construct. There is no single unifying factor like nationality or territory. To be Russian is to be many nationalities. To live in Russia is to live on 1/6 of the Earth’s surface, which is as diverse as the planet itself. The only reason that Russia still exists is its current shape is the will of its people to hold it together. Nobody really knows why, so that’s where the divine purpose comes in. Hence, the importance of power and belief.

Other important aspects that define “Russianness” are the language and the remote territory. Russian language is not as accessible as English and Russians are not rushing to learn English either. This explains a certain degree of isolation, which can still be observed even in the internet age.

The fact that it takes at least a few hours plane ride to travel to the nearest megapolis and the existence of visas also reduces the amount of interactions between Russians and everyone else. And while this does not provide a fertile ground for cross-border collaborations, it makes some things specifically “Russian” and even more so when they come in contact with “strangers”. Moreover, the fact that Russia lies between Europe and Asia defines its unique blend of Asian chaos and European order, which finds itself constantly lost in translation. Russian dynamics is neither organized, nor chaotic – it’s both and that’s why it’s so difficult sometimes, as there are simply no rules to describe it.

Image credit: Ice Floes, Kamchatka Coast, Russia (NASA, International Space Station, 03/15/12)

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conducted. It has always developed in leaps, so the concept of gradual development is something that doesn’t really fit in so well. The Russian country is, in fact, a very artificial construct. There is no single unifying factor like nationality or territory. To be Russian is to be many nationalities. To live in Russia is to live on 1/6 of the Earth’s surface, which is as diverse as the planet itself. The only reason that Russia still exists is its current shape is the will of its people to hold it together. Nobody really knows why, so that’s where the divine purpose comes in. Hence, the importance of power and belief.

Other important aspects that define “Russianness” are the language and the remote territory. Russian language is not as accessible as English and Russians are not rushing to learn English either. This explains a certain degree of isolation, which can still be observed even in the internet age.

The fact that it takes at least a few hours plane ride to travel to the nearest megapolis and the existence of visas also reduces the amount of interactions between Russians and everyone else. And while this does not provide a fertile ground for cross-border collaborations, it makes some things specifically “Russian” and even more so when they come in contact with “strangers”. Moreover, the fact that Russia lies between Europe and Asia defines its unique blend of Asian chaos and European order, which finds itself constantly lost in translation. Russian dynamics is neither organized, nor chaotic – it’s both and that’s why it’s so difficult sometimes, as there are simply no rules to describe it.

Image credit: Ice Floes, Kamchatka Coast, Russia (NASA, International Space Station, 03/15/12)

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Give yourself to the chaos and find your own intention within.

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Give yourself to the chaos and find your own intention within.

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From Russia with Love

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From Russia with Love

46

47

Russia has always existed in some sort of isolation, which is a hard task for a country that’s purely chaos. The boundaries deliniating the shape of this isolation were not only to be kept intact, they also had to be well-protected, both in the abstract and practical sense.

A few very specific formations emerged throughout the evolutionary process to address this challenge. At their very core they combine crude nature and hi-tech engineering. Another characteristic is the sporadic nature of interaction with the outside. The borders will open up for a short window of opportunity to let in the new inspiration. Then the borders shut down and everything that has managed to make its way in mixes within a closed system to produce a very specific Russian brew, which could be both outdated and avant-garde, depending on the circumstances and chance.

This combination of crude, raw nature, instinctive approach, limited exposure towards the outside, propensity towards utopian ideologies, and the ability to go beyond the imaginary into the fiction and hi-tech is that specific something that Russia still has to offer.

46

47

Russia has always existed in some sort of isolation, which is a hard task for a country that’s purely chaos. The boundaries deliniating the shape of this isolation were not only to be kept intact, they also had to be well-protected, both in the abstract and practical sense.

A few very specific formations emerged throughout the evolutionary process to address this challenge. At their very core they combine crude nature and hi-tech engineering. Another characteristic is the sporadic nature of interaction with the outside. The borders will open up for a short window of opportunity to let in the new inspiration. Then the borders shut down and everything that has managed to make its way in mixes within a closed system to produce a very specific Russian brew, which could be both outdated and avant-garde, depending on the circumstances and chance.

This combination of crude, raw nature, instinctive approach, limited exposure towards the outside, propensity towards utopian ideologies, and the ability to go beyond the imaginary into the fiction and hi-tech is that specific something that Russia still has to offer.

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49

#oilandgas – The blood in the Russian veins and the air in the Russian lungs. Oil and gas is what keeps Russia strong and ironically both are the remnants of dinosaurs taken from under the earth by the most advanced technology man had ever known. The crudes meet the hi-tech.

The oil is black and thick and gas is transparent.

The oil is ensuring the global growth, the gas is providing the heat to more than 50% of the European households.

#crudes #technology

Acrylic sculpture filled with crude oil, installation by Andrei Molodkin Š Kashya Hildebrand gallery - www.kashyahildebrand.org

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#oilandgas – The blood in the Russian veins and the air in the Russian lungs. Oil and gas is what keeps Russia strong and ironically both are the remnants of dinosaurs taken from under the earth by the most advanced technology man had ever known. The crudes meet the hi-tech.

The oil is black and thick and gas is transparent.

The oil is ensuring the global growth, the gas is providing the heat to more than 50% of the European households.

#crudes #technology

Acrylic sculpture filled with crude oil, installation by Andrei Molodkin Š Kashya Hildebrand gallery - www.kashyahildebrand.org

50

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#sputnik - Sputnik was

Adam Vackar, “Sputnik Black” 2006, Resine & Mercedes black paint photo by Sergio Calleja - flickr.com/photos/scalleja/

#technology #cosmos #utopia

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703

A replica of Sputnik can be seen at Cosnomautics museum in Moscow (page 351). Parts of the rockets that fall off during the launches from Baikonur can be found near Terletskoe lake at Altay Mountains (page 703).

the first ever man-made object sent into cosmos.

During the second half of the XXth century two countries were high on the idea of space travel: the Soviet Union and the US. Scientific research was the main driver of progress in space race, so heavy investment in technical education also helped produce generations of people whose worldview was defined by their capacity to look from the outside.

This worldview was not only confined to science: many film directors, writers, artists were also influenced by this new capacity of the human to escape into Cosmos. It wasn’t a fantasy anymore, it was real. Both Tarkovsky’s Solaris and

Kubrick’s Space Odyssey probed the most important questions in life from that new scientifically holistic perspective that the newly founded space travel provided.

In that way Sputnik is like the Stalker’s bolt: an attempt to jump into another dimension where all the wishes come true. And even though Sputnik burned up upon reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, it spent 3 months at the Earth’s orbit, traveling 70 Mln kilometers and inspiring generations of people for years to come.

Read more about Tarkovsky’s films on page 66 66

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#sputnik - Sputnik was

Adam Vackar, “Sputnik Black” 2006, Resine & Mercedes black paint photo by Sergio Calleja - flickr.com/photos/scalleja/

#technology #cosmos #utopia

351

703

A replica of Sputnik can be seen at Cosnomautics museum in Moscow (page 351). Parts of the rockets that fall off during the launches from Baikonur can be found near Terletskoe lake at Altay Mountains (page 703).

the first ever man-made object sent into cosmos.

During the second half of the XXth century two countries were high on the idea of space travel: the Soviet Union and the US. Scientific research was the main driver of progress in space race, so heavy investment in technical education also helped produce generations of people whose worldview was defined by their capacity to look from the outside.

This worldview was not only confined to science: many film directors, writers, artists were also influenced by this new capacity of the human to escape into Cosmos. It wasn’t a fantasy anymore, it was real. Both Tarkovsky’s Solaris and

Kubrick’s Space Odyssey probed the most important questions in life from that new scientifically holistic perspective that the newly founded space travel provided.

In that way Sputnik is like the Stalker’s bolt: an attempt to jump into another dimension where all the wishes come true. And even though Sputnik burned up upon reentering the Earth’s atmosphere, it spent 3 months at the Earth’s orbit, traveling 70 Mln kilometers and inspiring generations of people for years to come.

Read more about Tarkovsky’s films on page 66 66

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53

#ak47 #kalashnikov

– Probably the most famous Russian export product and the most efficient machine gun of all times, which can fire under water, below the sand, and basically in any conditions. It’s also cheaper than its Western counterparts. This versatility has made Kalashnikov the number one communication device for those who couldn’t get their voice heard. It also ensured that even the most authoritarian dictatorships could always be brought down in case things get too much out of hand...

Suri with AK-47 in Ethiopia photo by flickr.com/photos/rod_waddington

You can try out a real AK-47 at Strelkovy Club in Moscow (page 341).

341

#force #technology #territory #body

52

53

#ak47 #kalashnikov

– Probably the most famous Russian export product and the most efficient machine gun of all times, which can fire under water, below the sand, and basically in any conditions. It’s also cheaper than its Western counterparts. This versatility has made Kalashnikov the number one communication device for those who couldn’t get their voice heard. It also ensured that even the most authoritarian dictatorships could always be brought down in case things get too much out of hand...

Suri with AK-47 in Ethiopia photo by flickr.com/photos/rod_waddington

You can try out a real AK-47 at Strelkovy Club in Moscow (page 341).

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#force #technology #territory #body

54

55 Communal House of the Textile Institute, architect I.S. Nikolaev, 1930 photo by Sergey Norin - flickr.com/photos/5nap/10541153056

#constructivism -

in Moscow you can find Narkomfin house on 25, Novinsky Boulevard, for more constructivist architecture head to Ekaterinburg, which has many buildings left from the 30s (page 649).

649

Constructivist architecture flourished in the 1920s and early 1930s in the Soviet Union combining advanced technology and communisminspired social purpose.

Originally growing from the Futurist movement, Constructivism tried to apply three-dimensional cubist vision to wholly abstract non-objective constructions with a kinetic movement. In other words, it was an implementation of utopian aesthetics to a practical socialist cause. Setting in motion preconceived notions about collective life through avant-garde architecture.

#universality #technology #utopia

54

55 Communal House of the Textile Institute, architect I.S. Nikolaev, 1930 photo by Sergey Norin - flickr.com/photos/5nap/10541153056

#constructivism -

in Moscow you can find Narkomfin house on 25, Novinsky Boulevard, for more constructivist architecture head to Ekaterinburg, which has many buildings left from the 30s (page 649).

649

Constructivist architecture flourished in the 1920s and early 1930s in the Soviet Union combining advanced technology and communisminspired social purpose.

Originally growing from the Futurist movement, Constructivism tried to apply three-dimensional cubist vision to wholly abstract non-objective constructions with a kinetic movement. In other words, it was an implementation of utopian aesthetics to a practical socialist cause. Setting in motion preconceived notions about collective life through avant-garde architecture.

#universality #technology #utopia

pages 56 to 129 are omitted from this preview document to buy the full book, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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131

The word culture comes from the word cultivation and it’s been always used in that context: to cultivate one’s soul and one’s mind. So how would that happen in a way that would be particularly Russian?

The obvious place to start is Russian litera-

ture.

Russian culture, books to read, films to see, things to think.

Reading a book by Tolstoy will give you a good understanding of why Russians are so keen on global projects. Anna Karenina is a kind of combinatorial exercise where all possible human relations are shown and thoroughly analysed, and it will be a very interesting and relevant read even today.

Another great writer is, of course, Dostoevsky.

His work is interesting because it offers a good idea about the ongoing conflict between the needs of an individual and society’s morals – an ongoing theme in the Russian culture and history.

The works of Gogol were very inspiring for generations of Russian writers, particularly because of his style: his use of zooming in and zooming out, as well as contextual shifts, mixes very well with masterfuly written narratives, which are often funny and almost always political.

The poetry of Mayakovsky, Khlebnikov and other Russian futurists will give a good introduction to the new wave in Russian literature

130

131

The word culture comes from the word cultivation and it’s been always used in that context: to cultivate one’s soul and one’s mind. So how would that happen in a way that would be particularly Russian?

The obvious place to start is Russian litera-

ture.

Russian culture, books to read, films to see, things to think.

Reading a book by Tolstoy will give you a good understanding of why Russians are so keen on global projects. Anna Karenina is a kind of combinatorial exercise where all possible human relations are shown and thoroughly analysed, and it will be a very interesting and relevant read even today.

Another great writer is, of course, Dostoevsky.

His work is interesting because it offers a good idea about the ongoing conflict between the needs of an individual and society’s morals – an ongoing theme in the Russian culture and history.

The works of Gogol were very inspiring for generations of Russian writers, particularly because of his style: his use of zooming in and zooming out, as well as contextual shifts, mixes very well with masterfuly written narratives, which are often funny and almost always political.

The poetry of Mayakovsky, Khlebnikov and other Russian futurists will give a good introduction to the new wave in Russian literature

132

that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. Their creative use of language and desire to search for new forms can still be very inspiring for many fields, beyond poetry and literature.

Nabokov’s works are the finest achievements in terms of the literary language and the richness of narrative threads in his works are simply amazing. Nabokov’s writing is talking about a multitude of things at once, shifting between stories, scales, characters.

Among the most recent writers, Pelevin will give a good feel of the 90s: a mix of capitalism, technology and ancient mythologies popping through the society cracks. Sorokin is perhaps the only well-known and respected contemporary Russian writer and his use of language is phenomenal.

One of Sorokin’s books, “The Queue” is a recording of conversations that occurred at a queue in the end of the 80s, providing a very precise and somewhat ironic portrait of the Russian society during these times, with all their concerns and aspirations. His other book, “Sugar Kremlin” is a very vivid antiutopian narrative that extrapolates the current political situation in Russia.

If you are really interested to learn about the current Russian history, Aleksey Ivanov’s work will be very stimulating. Among his best books are “Psoglavtsi”, “Zoloto Bunta” and “Bludo i Mudo”, as well as “Geograph Drank His Globe Away” (which came out as a movie also in 2013. If you’re

133

interested in Russian literary theory, it may be interesting to read Shklovsky (who was at the beginning of the Russian formalism and wrote a lot of interesting works about Russian artists and cinema-makers of the early Soviet times) and Bakhtin (who in many ways anticipated many structuralist and post-structuralist concerns that later became popular in Western philosophy).

Russian cinema is best known for the early experiments with montage by Eisenstein and Vertov, as well as the amazing work of Tarkovsky. While the approaches of those artists were very different, their work offers a very rich dimensional view on cinema, time, and moving image. Eisenstein and Vertov believed that emotions in cinema can be transmitted through the gaps in montage and the points of view. Their narrative lines are full of swift changes, pane zooms, and surprises – masterfully put together to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.

Tarkovsky, on the other side, was more on the side of allowing the image to unfold its richness through time. That’s why his work is full of meditative still shots and beautiful landscapes rich in detail.

In this context the work of Parajanov stands apart: masterfully using time, rhythm, and montage to create emotionally charged atmospheres in his films. Parajanov drew his inspiration from

132

that occurred at the beginning of the 20th century. Their creative use of language and desire to search for new forms can still be very inspiring for many fields, beyond poetry and literature.

Nabokov’s works are the finest achievements in terms of the literary language and the richness of narrative threads in his works are simply amazing. Nabokov’s writing is talking about a multitude of things at once, shifting between stories, scales, characters.

Among the most recent writers, Pelevin will give a good feel of the 90s: a mix of capitalism, technology and ancient mythologies popping through the society cracks. Sorokin is perhaps the only well-known and respected contemporary Russian writer and his use of language is phenomenal.

One of Sorokin’s books, “The Queue” is a recording of conversations that occurred at a queue in the end of the 80s, providing a very precise and somewhat ironic portrait of the Russian society during these times, with all their concerns and aspirations. His other book, “Sugar Kremlin” is a very vivid antiutopian narrative that extrapolates the current political situation in Russia.

If you are really interested to learn about the current Russian history, Aleksey Ivanov’s work will be very stimulating. Among his best books are “Psoglavtsi”, “Zoloto Bunta” and “Bludo i Mudo”, as well as “Geograph Drank His Globe Away” (which came out as a movie also in 2013. If you’re

133

interested in Russian literary theory, it may be interesting to read Shklovsky (who was at the beginning of the Russian formalism and wrote a lot of interesting works about Russian artists and cinema-makers of the early Soviet times) and Bakhtin (who in many ways anticipated many structuralist and post-structuralist concerns that later became popular in Western philosophy).

Russian cinema is best known for the early experiments with montage by Eisenstein and Vertov, as well as the amazing work of Tarkovsky. While the approaches of those artists were very different, their work offers a very rich dimensional view on cinema, time, and moving image. Eisenstein and Vertov believed that emotions in cinema can be transmitted through the gaps in montage and the points of view. Their narrative lines are full of swift changes, pane zooms, and surprises – masterfully put together to evoke an emotional response from the viewer.

Tarkovsky, on the other side, was more on the side of allowing the image to unfold its richness through time. That’s why his work is full of meditative still shots and beautiful landscapes rich in detail.

In this context the work of Parajanov stands apart: masterfully using time, rhythm, and montage to create emotionally charged atmospheres in his films. Parajanov drew his inspiration from

134

ancient myths, freely playing with narratives, creating beautiful cinematographic series of images, one followed by the other, hypnotising the audience into a sort of spell where one came out of the cinema with a warped perception of reality: a more colorful, more sublime, and a more magical one.

Among contemporary Russian filmmakers, Aristakisyan’s work “Palms” documents life of homeless disabled people left alone in a Kishinev ghetto. The narrator, Aristakisyan himself, is addressing his yet unborn child, showing him the world of those destitute people, explaining why they are going to kill him and never bring him into that world. It’s a heavy film with beautifully raw cinematography, a true story of survival and the search for lost spirituality at the place where nothing else is left any longer.

Another Russian film from the 90s, “Brat” or “Brother” by Balabanov. Not very interesting as a cinematographic work, it’s nevertheless an important film for anyone who wants to learn about the realities and aesthetics of the Russian 90s.

“The Russian Ark” by Sokurov is technically a US film, but it’s made by a Russian director in Russia. Very much related to Alexander Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr aesthetically and particularly for his masterful use of time, Sokurov created many more masterpieces, such as Faust (2011)

135

and Moloch (1999). He is perhaps the only contemporary Russian director who will be considered a “classic” in the years to come.

“Chetyre” is an amazingly perplexing film made

by Khrzhanovsky in 2004 after the screenplay of Vladimir Sorokin. Showing the total weirdness of Russian life, “Chetyre” manages to grasp the extraordinary in every little snippet of the everyday. Totally absurd and grotesque actions clash with banality, sublime mixes with gore, and all this escalates into some cyclical self-replicating dance, which doesn’t have a resolution, but definitely has a very tangible impact on the audience.

In Khrzhanovsky’s own words: “This film is about life rolling over people like an asphalt spreading machine.

“The Return” made by Zvyagintsev in 2003 is a story of the two boys who are traveling to meet their father. It’s a beautiful cinematographic work, touching in its intensity and the empathic capacity. Very much connected to the actual Russian landscape it manages to talk about things that are universal and in that it’s one of the few recent Russian films that can have this kind of global appeal.

“Geographer Drank his Globe Away” made

by Veledinsky in 2013 after the book of Aleksei Ivanov is reminiscent of the good old Soviet movies from the 60s and 70s, with a solid story

134

ancient myths, freely playing with narratives, creating beautiful cinematographic series of images, one followed by the other, hypnotising the audience into a sort of spell where one came out of the cinema with a warped perception of reality: a more colorful, more sublime, and a more magical one.

Among contemporary Russian filmmakers, Aristakisyan’s work “Palms” documents life of homeless disabled people left alone in a Kishinev ghetto. The narrator, Aristakisyan himself, is addressing his yet unborn child, showing him the world of those destitute people, explaining why they are going to kill him and never bring him into that world. It’s a heavy film with beautifully raw cinematography, a true story of survival and the search for lost spirituality at the place where nothing else is left any longer.

Another Russian film from the 90s, “Brat” or “Brother” by Balabanov. Not very interesting as a cinematographic work, it’s nevertheless an important film for anyone who wants to learn about the realities and aesthetics of the Russian 90s.

“The Russian Ark” by Sokurov is technically a US film, but it’s made by a Russian director in Russia. Very much related to Alexander Tarkovsky and Bela Tarr aesthetically and particularly for his masterful use of time, Sokurov created many more masterpieces, such as Faust (2011)

135

and Moloch (1999). He is perhaps the only contemporary Russian director who will be considered a “classic” in the years to come.

“Chetyre” is an amazingly perplexing film made

by Khrzhanovsky in 2004 after the screenplay of Vladimir Sorokin. Showing the total weirdness of Russian life, “Chetyre” manages to grasp the extraordinary in every little snippet of the everyday. Totally absurd and grotesque actions clash with banality, sublime mixes with gore, and all this escalates into some cyclical self-replicating dance, which doesn’t have a resolution, but definitely has a very tangible impact on the audience.

In Khrzhanovsky’s own words: “This film is about life rolling over people like an asphalt spreading machine.

“The Return” made by Zvyagintsev in 2003 is a story of the two boys who are traveling to meet their father. It’s a beautiful cinematographic work, touching in its intensity and the empathic capacity. Very much connected to the actual Russian landscape it manages to talk about things that are universal and in that it’s one of the few recent Russian films that can have this kind of global appeal.

“Geographer Drank his Globe Away” made

by Veledinsky in 2013 after the book of Aleksei Ivanov is reminiscent of the good old Soviet movies from the 60s and 70s, with a solid story

pages 136 to 159 are omitted from this preview to buy the e-book, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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161

Система – the Russian Yoga

Every country should have a physical practice that sort of contains a condensed version of this country’s physicality. For Russia it is Systema – a kind of Russian yoga.

The interesting thing about Systema is that it was developed by the instructors in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (police and military) during the Soviet times and the most prominent Systema school is supported by the Russian Orthodox Church – basically two of the most powerful organizations in Russia. However, the practice itself is all about relaxation and learning how to deal with the energy flows and to redirect them to one’s own advantage.

160

161

Система – the Russian Yoga

Every country should have a physical practice that sort of contains a condensed version of this country’s physicality. For Russia it is Systema – a kind of Russian yoga.

The interesting thing about Systema is that it was developed by the instructors in the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs (police and military) during the Soviet times and the most prominent Systema school is supported by the Russian Orthodox Church – basically two of the most powerful organizations in Russia. However, the practice itself is all about relaxation and learning how to deal with the energy flows and to redirect them to one’s own advantage.

162

163

Systema is interesting not only because it is a good body practice. It also helps the practitioner to gain a better understanding of interpersonal behavioral tactics and improve one’s adaptation skills.

In a nutshell Systema is a systematized physical, mental and spiritual practice of adaptation to the environment and other bodies. Heavily influenced by the martial arts and various eastern practices, Systema is a natural toolbox that can help deal with stress and tension, be in touch with the organism, and better deal with the challenges that emerge.

Systema has been traditionally taught for combat situations in the Russian army. During the last years it gained popularity outside of Russia. Many schools opened around the world and these days you can have regular supervised Systema training in New York, Mexico, Paris, and Berlin.

The range of Systema applications extends much further beyond practicalities of a mere fight. One can use it in everyday situations, interactions with people, dealing with extreme occurrences, and simply to feel better physically and mentally. Recently Systema instructors started to teach it not only for combat, but also for survival, movement, dance, etc.

The best way to get introduced to Systema is to visit a few lessons and watch a few videos. After a few classes you can start doing it in everyday life or include it into your own physical routine.

Stills from a Systema training video by Vladimir Vasiliev www.bit.ly/systemavideo

There are many Systema schools all over the world, including Toronto, New York, London, Berlin, and Paris – check out www.russianmartialart.com for the full list and more information.

162

163

Systema is interesting not only because it is a good body practice. It also helps the practitioner to gain a better understanding of interpersonal behavioral tactics and improve one’s adaptation skills.

In a nutshell Systema is a systematized physical, mental and spiritual practice of adaptation to the environment and other bodies. Heavily influenced by the martial arts and various eastern practices, Systema is a natural toolbox that can help deal with stress and tension, be in touch with the organism, and better deal with the challenges that emerge.

Systema has been traditionally taught for combat situations in the Russian army. During the last years it gained popularity outside of Russia. Many schools opened around the world and these days you can have regular supervised Systema training in New York, Mexico, Paris, and Berlin.

The range of Systema applications extends much further beyond practicalities of a mere fight. One can use it in everyday situations, interactions with people, dealing with extreme occurrences, and simply to feel better physically and mentally. Recently Systema instructors started to teach it not only for combat, but also for survival, movement, dance, etc.

The best way to get introduced to Systema is to visit a few lessons and watch a few videos. After a few classes you can start doing it in everyday life or include it into your own physical routine.

Stills from a Systema training video by Vladimir Vasiliev www.bit.ly/systemavideo

There are many Systema schools all over the world, including Toronto, New York, London, Berlin, and Paris – check out www.russianmartialart.com for the full list and more information.

164

165

First is the relaxation. Your body and mind should only be tense where it’s needed to fulfill the intention. The rest should be relaxed and, thus, ready for any sort of movement, fast or slow, in any direction.

The second is breathing. One needs to be aware of the breathing and in order to perform to the maximum of one’s capacity, breathing should be continuous, uninterrupted, and have a pendulum-like oscillatory quality to it.

Systema Principles

To learn more about Systema, check out the Moscow school (page 337), read a short intro on page 95, and watch these videos on YouTube: www.bit.ly/systematube

The third is the constant movement. Scientific research points that the natural body movement in the state of relaxation and rest is close to chaotic oscillatory dynamics of pink noise.

What that means is that even when idle, we’re constantly moving in the way that small amplitude movements happen quite often with an occasional big amplitude involuntary movements that are much more rare. Systema takes this natural tendency of the body and translates it into the oscillatory movement reminiscent in its shape number 8, or a strange attractor (a term from chaotic dynamics). A strange attractor has several trajectories, which are repeated in time but with a slight deviation on each iteration.

337 95

The fourth principle of Systema is the principle of oscillation.

Just like sinusoid waves can be used to describe many processes in the real world, in Systema oscillation is an attempt to replicate the natural dynamics of movement and use it to maintain equilibrium or to transform the incoming flow.

The fifth principle of Systema is redirection. When there is an attack coming, one does not try to fight it back with the force.

Instead, a Systema practitioner meets the incoming flow to redirect it so that what happens is better adapted to their own needs.

164

165

First is the relaxation. Your body and mind should only be tense where it’s needed to fulfill the intention. The rest should be relaxed and, thus, ready for any sort of movement, fast or slow, in any direction.

The second is breathing. One needs to be aware of the breathing and in order to perform to the maximum of one’s capacity, breathing should be continuous, uninterrupted, and have a pendulum-like oscillatory quality to it.

Systema Principles

To learn more about Systema, check out the Moscow school (page 337), read a short intro on page 95, and watch these videos on YouTube: www.bit.ly/systematube

The third is the constant movement. Scientific research points that the natural body movement in the state of relaxation and rest is close to chaotic oscillatory dynamics of pink noise.

What that means is that even when idle, we’re constantly moving in the way that small amplitude movements happen quite often with an occasional big amplitude involuntary movements that are much more rare. Systema takes this natural tendency of the body and translates it into the oscillatory movement reminiscent in its shape number 8, or a strange attractor (a term from chaotic dynamics). A strange attractor has several trajectories, which are repeated in time but with a slight deviation on each iteration.

337 95

The fourth principle of Systema is the principle of oscillation.

Just like sinusoid waves can be used to describe many processes in the real world, in Systema oscillation is an attempt to replicate the natural dynamics of movement and use it to maintain equilibrium or to transform the incoming flow.

The fifth principle of Systema is redirection. When there is an attack coming, one does not try to fight it back with the force.

Instead, a Systema practitioner meets the incoming flow to redirect it so that what happens is better adapted to their own needs.

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166

167

168

169

“...what is the incomprehensible, mysterious force that draws me to you? Why does your mournful song, carried along your whole length and breadth from sea to sea, echo and re-echo incessantly in my ears? What is there in it? What is there in that song? What is it that calls, and sobs, and clutches at my heart?...

Russia! What do you want from me?

What is that mysterious, hidden bond between us?”

Nikolai Gogol, “Dead Souls”

“...какая же непостижимая, тайная сила влечет к тебе? Почему слышится и раздается немолчно в ушах твоя тоскливая, несущаяся по всей длине и ширине твоей, от моря до моря, песня? Что в ней, в этой песне? Что зовет, и рыдает, и хватает за сердце? Какие звуки болезненно лобзают, и стремятся в душу, и вьются около моего сердца? Русь! чего же ты хочешь от меня? какая непостижимая связь таится между нами?” Николай Гоголь, “Мёртвые Души”

168

169

“...what is the incomprehensible, mysterious force that draws me to you? Why does your mournful song, carried along your whole length and breadth from sea to sea, echo and re-echo incessantly in my ears? What is there in it? What is there in that song? What is it that calls, and sobs, and clutches at my heart?...

Russia! What do you want from me?

What is that mysterious, hidden bond between us?”

Nikolai Gogol, “Dead Souls”

“...какая же непостижимая, тайная сила влечет к тебе? Почему слышится и раздается немолчно в ушах твоя тоскливая, несущаяся по всей длине и ширине твоей, от моря до моря, песня? Что в ней, в этой песне? Что зовет, и рыдает, и хватает за сердце? Какие звуки болезненно лобзают, и стремятся в душу, и вьются около моего сердца? Русь! чего же ты хочешь от меня? какая непостижимая связь таится между нами?” Николай Гоголь, “Мёртвые Души”

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The Magic of Russian Language There are a few words in Russian that do not exist in any other language. Those words point to something that is unique to the Russian self and beyond.

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The Magic of Russian Language There are a few words in Russian that do not exist in any other language. Those words point to something that is unique to the Russian self and beyond.

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Nadryv - Надрыв - means a tear or a break, used in the context when you talk about soft material that is broken, but can also be used if you want to talk about the inner tension of somebody who is about to break.

Nutro – Нутро - means the guts or the insides, something that governs your inner being, that can be crude and raw and towards the outside, but also something that you feel inside. It’s your core and your being connected to your physical being in a very tangible way.

Vozdukh - Воздух - means the air, but the original meaning is “the stack of spirit”, to breathe in is to “take the spirit inside” and to breathe out is to “take the spirit outside”, bringing a whole new dimension to the idea of breathing.

Pizdets - Пиздец - something like the French “putain”, which is a not very polite way of saying how something is either super fucked up or amazingly great, depending on the context. It’s interesting that Pizdets comes from the word “pizda”, which means “cunt” and that a similar Russian word “Khui”, which means “dick” cannot be used in the same polysingular manner.

Smysl - Смысл - is both the “meaning” and the “sense” in Russian. The word itself means a binding (s-) of thoughts (mysl) together and explains in a very precise way how Russians make sense of things.

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Sobytie - Событие - Russians love to think in terms of interconnected multiplicities and this word is another example of it. Bytie means “being” and So- means when something is bound together, so then many different processes of being happening together means an event (Badiou could find that quite stimulating).

Tsar – Царь - is the one who oversees everything. A very useful word to introduce into your vocabulary, as it implies utmost and total control of everything legitimized by the divine order.

Vera - Вера - in Russian you use the same word for “faith” and for “belief ”, that’s why when you believe in something in Russian there is no need to question it as it is based on faith and not on some common-sense rational approach.

Nezhnost - Нежность - means tenderness. While it’s a word that does exist in other languages, its origins come from “nega” and “gladky”, which means soft surface that has a little friction as possible. Surprisingly, a lot of things in Russia are “nezhny” even if they look crude at the first sight: from people and surfaces to situations and various foods.

Zamutit’ - Замутить - literally means to stir something up, to muddle. Can be used to indicate getting with a boy or a girl or to organize something.

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Nadryv - Надрыв - means a tear or a break, used in the context when you talk about soft material that is broken, but can also be used if you want to talk about the inner tension of somebody who is about to break.

Nutro – Нутро - means the guts or the insides, something that governs your inner being, that can be crude and raw and towards the outside, but also something that you feel inside. It’s your core and your being connected to your physical being in a very tangible way.

Vozdukh - Воздух - means the air, but the original meaning is “the stack of spirit”, to breathe in is to “take the spirit inside” and to breathe out is to “take the spirit outside”, bringing a whole new dimension to the idea of breathing.

Pizdets - Пиздец - something like the French “putain”, which is a not very polite way of saying how something is either super fucked up or amazingly great, depending on the context. It’s interesting that Pizdets comes from the word “pizda”, which means “cunt” and that a similar Russian word “Khui”, which means “dick” cannot be used in the same polysingular manner.

Smysl - Смысл - is both the “meaning” and the “sense” in Russian. The word itself means a binding (s-) of thoughts (mysl) together and explains in a very precise way how Russians make sense of things.

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Sobytie - Событие - Russians love to think in terms of interconnected multiplicities and this word is another example of it. Bytie means “being” and So- means when something is bound together, so then many different processes of being happening together means an event (Badiou could find that quite stimulating).

Tsar – Царь - is the one who oversees everything. A very useful word to introduce into your vocabulary, as it implies utmost and total control of everything legitimized by the divine order.

Vera - Вера - in Russian you use the same word for “faith” and for “belief ”, that’s why when you believe in something in Russian there is no need to question it as it is based on faith and not on some common-sense rational approach.

Nezhnost - Нежность - means tenderness. While it’s a word that does exist in other languages, its origins come from “nega” and “gladky”, which means soft surface that has a little friction as possible. Surprisingly, a lot of things in Russia are “nezhny” even if they look crude at the first sight: from people and surfaces to situations and various foods.

Zamutit’ - Замутить - literally means to stir something up, to muddle. Can be used to indicate getting with a boy or a girl or to organize something.

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Terpenie - Терпение - a word of the Slavic origins that means suffering through waiting – the kind that does not exist in any other language. Having this word in one’s vocabulary means two things: that this behavior exists and that it has a name.

Tusa - Туса - comes from the word “shuffle” but means a party, which kind of tells you a lot about the kind of parties Russians like.

Ryvok - Рывок - means a fast movement or a change that leads to progress. Sometimes this movement can be so fast that there is a tear. Which is a very typical Russian thing: from Industrialization (page 93) to Ilya Muromets (page 99).

Zhest - Жесть - Russians use this word to identify something that’s totally fucked up crazy wrong, like it couldn’t have been worse. Literally it means tin metal, but you can use it to describe a situation or the way you feel.

Zhertva - Жертва - is a sacrifice. Russians like to use this word and for many it’s an important concept. The idea of sacrificing oneself for something is very strongly reiterated through culture, education, fairy tales and everyday reality, which demands everything in exchange for a feeble promise of light.

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Podvig - Подвиг - is a Russian word for a “feat”. Unlike its English counterpart, which originates from the word “factum” or something that has been done or made, Podvig literally means when something shifts place. It is an event that marks a movement, a change of context, a big achievement that separates the world around itself into what has been before and what will be after.

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Terpenie - Терпение - a word of the Slavic origins that means suffering through waiting – the kind that does not exist in any other language. Having this word in one’s vocabulary means two things: that this behavior exists and that it has a name.

Tusa - Туса - comes from the word “shuffle” but means a party, which kind of tells you a lot about the kind of parties Russians like.

Ryvok - Рывок - means a fast movement or a change that leads to progress. Sometimes this movement can be so fast that there is a tear. Which is a very typical Russian thing: from Industrialization (page 93) to Ilya Muromets (page 99).

Zhest - Жесть - Russians use this word to identify something that’s totally fucked up crazy wrong, like it couldn’t have been worse. Literally it means tin metal, but you can use it to describe a situation or the way you feel.

Zhertva - Жертва - is a sacrifice. Russians like to use this word and for many it’s an important concept. The idea of sacrificing oneself for something is very strongly reiterated through culture, education, fairy tales and everyday reality, which demands everything in exchange for a feeble promise of light.

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Podvig - Подвиг - is a Russian word for a “feat”. Unlike its English counterpart, which originates from the word “factum” or something that has been done or made, Podvig literally means when something shifts place. It is an event that marks a movement, a change of context, a big achievement that separates the world around itself into what has been before and what will be after.

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Ludwig Wittgenstein said: the limits of my language mean the limits of my world. In many ways language defines who we are.

Some Eskimo tribes have 20 ways of saying the word for “snow”. The word “meaning” in Russian is “smysl”, which means an assemblage of thoughts.

Therefore, for a Russian person something that has a meaning is something that is connected. There are many more examples like this. “Sobytie” means an event, but literally it means an aggregate of beings – a system of meaning again.

In fact, prefix “S” - which carries a strong connotation “to connect” - is used so often, that it starts to alter the mind of the one who speaks. We argue that Russian language affects cognition in such a way that it gains higher propensity for systems thinking. Therefore, learning Russian may increase one’s capacity to find connections, produce meanings, and make sense.

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Ludwig Wittgenstein said: the limits of my language mean the limits of my world. In many ways language defines who we are.

Some Eskimo tribes have 20 ways of saying the word for “snow”. The word “meaning” in Russian is “smysl”, which means an assemblage of thoughts.

Therefore, for a Russian person something that has a meaning is something that is connected. There are many more examples like this. “Sobytie” means an event, but literally it means an aggregate of beings – a system of meaning again.

In fact, prefix “S” - which carries a strong connotation “to connect” - is used so often, that it starts to alter the mind of the one who speaks. We argue that Russian language affects cognition in such a way that it gains higher propensity for systems thinking. Therefore, learning Russian may increase one’s capacity to find connections, produce meanings, and make sense.

pages 178 to 197 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version: www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Come on!

Давай давай!

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Come on!

Давай давай!

pages 200 to 219 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Recent scientific research shows that there are more neurons in our guts than in our brain. Gut flora is a complex system that affects our mood, our wellbeing, our health, and even our cognitive capacities. So the idea that we are what we eat is not just a metaphor, it’s the truth.

If that is really the case (and even if it is not), to eat like a Russian is to become one. The intensity of Russian food and drinks is not to be underestimated. A typical Russian meal leaves you very satisfied, drunk, and often unable to move. It is a sort of union with the universe that may start in a very extrovert way and finish in a very introvert way.

This kind of journey is not something you will want to do every day, but every person who wants to understand Russia should try it at least three times to really know better. And every food communicates a very specific message that we tried to decipher on the pages that follow.

Russki Foods, Zakuski & Fire Water

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Recent scientific research shows that there are more neurons in our guts than in our brain. Gut flora is a complex system that affects our mood, our wellbeing, our health, and even our cognitive capacities. So the idea that we are what we eat is not just a metaphor, it’s the truth.

If that is really the case (and even if it is not), to eat like a Russian is to become one. The intensity of Russian food and drinks is not to be underestimated. A typical Russian meal leaves you very satisfied, drunk, and often unable to move. It is a sort of union with the universe that may start in a very extrovert way and finish in a very introvert way.

This kind of journey is not something you will want to do every day, but every person who wants to understand Russia should try it at least three times to really know better. And every food communicates a very specific message that we tried to decipher on the pages that follow.

Russki Foods, Zakuski & Fire Water

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First of all, Vodka. The magical drink of all times. Perhaps you don’t know about it, but it was the Russian chemist Mendeleev (the one who invented the table of elements taught in every school) who distilled the perfect formula for vodka, which is still used today. So vodka is where the centuries of tradition meet scientific research, and that’s why it’s so special. The real vodka is made based on rye or wheat grain (not potatoes or sugar) and is thoroughly cleansed from all the poisonous substances. It is soft in taste (no need for zakuska) and flows like water.

One shot never goes without the second one, and it’s always good to make up a good toast and drink it at once. The way you drink vodka communicates something about the union between the Earth and the Cosmos. First, you breathe out very quickly through your mouth to relax and empty the body, preparing it for the encounter. Then you drink the whole shot at once – this should send you up into Cosmos.

Once you’re flying, take a piece of smoked meat, a bread, a salted cucumber, or your neighbor’s hat and smell / eat that other earthy substance to get back to this planet. This way you create the contrast or sort of a tear inside, turning the whole experience into an all-encompassing event that has something of every element inside of itself.

If you like vodka, we recommend Beluga or Russki Standard’s Imperia

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First of all, Vodka. The magical drink of all times. Perhaps you don’t know about it, but it was the Russian chemist Mendeleev (the one who invented the table of elements taught in every school) who distilled the perfect formula for vodka, which is still used today. So vodka is where the centuries of tradition meet scientific research, and that’s why it’s so special. The real vodka is made based on rye or wheat grain (not potatoes or sugar) and is thoroughly cleansed from all the poisonous substances. It is soft in taste (no need for zakuska) and flows like water.

One shot never goes without the second one, and it’s always good to make up a good toast and drink it at once. The way you drink vodka communicates something about the union between the Earth and the Cosmos. First, you breathe out very quickly through your mouth to relax and empty the body, preparing it for the encounter. Then you drink the whole shot at once – this should send you up into Cosmos.

Once you’re flying, take a piece of smoked meat, a bread, a salted cucumber, or your neighbor’s hat and smell / eat that other earthy substance to get back to this planet. This way you create the contrast or sort of a tear inside, turning the whole experience into an all-encompassing event that has something of every element inside of itself.

If you like vodka, we recommend Beluga or Russki Standard’s Imperia

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Another important ingredient of the Russian cuisine is the bread - хлеб. The real Russian bread is made using a ferment, which has traditionally been passed on through generations — a mix of flour and water left to ferment for weeks, so that it gets enriched with healthy local bacteria. The ferment that’s used to cook bread is actually a kind of DIY life form and the older it gets, the stronger it becomes. That’s why bread is such a crucial part of any meal in Russia: it is a kind of home-made locally grown life, which is made ready to be transformed into the energy of the body.

To cook your own bread you need to create your own ferment first. Take 100 grams of flour and 100 grams of water. Mix it well until it reaches homogeneous consistency. Cover with cloth or a lid with holes (to let it breathe) and leave in a warm dark place for a day or two. You can occasionally stir it, so that the new life form stays alive and feels your attention and love. Once the bubbles appear at the surface, get rid of excessive liquid and add 50 grams of water and flour again. Leave for a day, stir occasionally, wait till the bubbles appear again. Repeat this procedure for a few days until the ferment is ready (it should grow twice in size). Now when you’re ready to bake, take a half of the ferment (use about 100-150 grams per 500 grams of flour), 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tablespoon

photo from www.lavkalavka.com

of honey, and 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil (if you like), mix everything together into a nice dough and leave it alone covered with a cloth for 2-3 hours. Put the rest of the ferment covered with a cloth or a lid into the fridge to let it sleep (when you want to use it again, put it out 5-6 hours before cooking into a warm place again, to wake it up). Remember that you need to feed the ferment regularly otherwise it will turn sour.

Back to the bread. By now the dough should have risen and if did not happen you can cheat and add a bit of yeast (2-3 grams). Make a nice shape from the dough, take a baking form, oil its surface with sunflower oil, put the bread inside and bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes and then at 180 degrees for another 40 minutes. Once the bread is ready and brown, take it out and leave it to cool down. Then it’s ready to serve. And remember to feed your ferment!

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Another important ingredient of the Russian cuisine is the bread - хлеб. The real Russian bread is made using a ferment, which has traditionally been passed on through generations — a mix of flour and water left to ferment for weeks, so that it gets enriched with healthy local bacteria. The ferment that’s used to cook bread is actually a kind of DIY life form and the older it gets, the stronger it becomes. That’s why bread is such a crucial part of any meal in Russia: it is a kind of home-made locally grown life, which is made ready to be transformed into the energy of the body.

To cook your own bread you need to create your own ferment first. Take 100 grams of flour and 100 grams of water. Mix it well until it reaches homogeneous consistency. Cover with cloth or a lid with holes (to let it breathe) and leave in a warm dark place for a day or two. You can occasionally stir it, so that the new life form stays alive and feels your attention and love. Once the bubbles appear at the surface, get rid of excessive liquid and add 50 grams of water and flour again. Leave for a day, stir occasionally, wait till the bubbles appear again. Repeat this procedure for a few days until the ferment is ready (it should grow twice in size). Now when you’re ready to bake, take a half of the ferment (use about 100-150 grams per 500 grams of flour), 2 glasses of water, 2 teaspoons of salt, 1 tablespoon

photo from www.lavkalavka.com

of honey, and 2 tablespoons of sunflower oil (if you like), mix everything together into a nice dough and leave it alone covered with a cloth for 2-3 hours. Put the rest of the ferment covered with a cloth or a lid into the fridge to let it sleep (when you want to use it again, put it out 5-6 hours before cooking into a warm place again, to wake it up). Remember that you need to feed the ferment regularly otherwise it will turn sour.

Back to the bread. By now the dough should have risen and if did not happen you can cheat and add a bit of yeast (2-3 grams). Make a nice shape from the dough, take a baking form, oil its surface with sunflower oil, put the bread inside and bake at 200 degrees for 20 minutes and then at 180 degrees for another 40 minutes. Once the bread is ready and brown, take it out and leave it to cool down. Then it’s ready to serve. And remember to feed your ferment!

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Borsch - Борщ -

is one of the most famous Russian soups. It’s made out of beetroot, onion, carrots, potatoes, sometimes meat or fish and cabbage as well. The best and the easiest way to cook it is to take a pan, fry thinly sliced onion, carrots and cabbage together until they all get kind of brown and nice. In the meanwhile use another pot to boil potatoes and beetroots in stock (can also be a meat broth).

Once the potatoes and beetroot are ready, add the fried vegetables and cabbage and let it all sit together for a bit, so that all the veggies meet, interact, exchange molecules, fuse their energies and tastes. Borsch goes well with smetana (thick cream) and dill as a topping.

As an entity in itself, Borsch communicates through our gut flora into our brain and body something about the universe that’s both thick and powerful, solid and intense, beautiful and agile, nutritious and overwhelming at the same time.

Russian borsch with dark bread photo by Tanya F - flickr.com/photos/tanyakikis/1807977385/

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The most amazing borsch is served at Pushkin restaurant in Moscow (page 322) and Teplo and CoCoCO in St. Petersburg (page 431).

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Borsch - Борщ -

is one of the most famous Russian soups. It’s made out of beetroot, onion, carrots, potatoes, sometimes meat or fish and cabbage as well. The best and the easiest way to cook it is to take a pan, fry thinly sliced onion, carrots and cabbage together until they all get kind of brown and nice. In the meanwhile use another pot to boil potatoes and beetroots in stock (can also be a meat broth).

Once the potatoes and beetroot are ready, add the fried vegetables and cabbage and let it all sit together for a bit, so that all the veggies meet, interact, exchange molecules, fuse their energies and tastes. Borsch goes well with smetana (thick cream) and dill as a topping.

As an entity in itself, Borsch communicates through our gut flora into our brain and body something about the universe that’s both thick and powerful, solid and intense, beautiful and agile, nutritious and overwhelming at the same time.

Russian borsch with dark bread photo by Tanya F - flickr.com/photos/tanyakikis/1807977385/

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The most amazing borsch is served at Pushkin restaurant in Moscow (page 322) and Teplo and CoCoCO in St. Petersburg (page 431).

pages 230 to 249 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Ruko ~ vodstvo po Rossii

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Ruko ~ vodstvo po Rossii

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While familiarizing yourself with some aspects of Russianness can be a useful thing that would change you forever, no transformation would be complete without the actual encounter with the Russian landscape. Here we explain how to make one’s way to Russia in very practical terms.

Practicalities

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While familiarizing yourself with some aspects of Russianness can be a useful thing that would change you forever, no transformation would be complete without the actual encounter with the Russian landscape. Here we explain how to make one’s way to Russia in very practical terms.

Practicalities

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Step 1: Getting a Russian Visa

Many people think that to get a Russian visa you need to plan the whole trip ahead, book the hotels, decide on the travel dates, etc. In fact, the invitation or the “tourist visa support” is formally a list of your booked accommodations and travel plans.

However, you are then free to travel whenever you want within the span of your visa dates (except for restricted territories).

Citizens of most countries need a visa to travel to Russia.

Despite all the talks and the current political situation, a tourist visa to Russia is very easy to obtain. All you need is to get an invitation (aka “tourist visa support”) from a travel agency (there are hundreds of them online and most of them work just fine). The invitation will be sent via e-mail, you need to print it out, book an appointment at the closest Russian consulate (using their website), and bring the invitation along with your passport, photos and travel insurance (US citizens only) on the day of the appointment. After a short check your documents will be accepted and you’ll receive your passport back with the visa in 7 to 14 days. The invitation costs about $30 on average (payable to the agency) and the actual visa is about $50 - $100 depending on the speed of processing.

If you want to stay in Russia more than a month or travel a few times during a year, it’s better to get a business visa, which is a bit more expensive and takes more time to process, but is as easy to get nevertheless (you’ll need a business invitation, which can be also obtained online). Business visas can be valid for up to 12 months and permit multiple entries. Those visas are not work permit visas, they just allow you to stay longer in Russia and are used for the travelers who want to explore business opportunities, do a project, visit exhibitions, find new business partners, etc. Another option is to get a private visa from a friend (it takes 1 month to process) or a student visa (should be done through the institution).

Once in Russia, your visa needs to be registered if you’re staying there for longer than 7 working days. This can be done at any hotel or if you’re staying at an apartment – by your landlord at any post office using a copy of your passport (the fee is about $5 normally).

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Step 1: Getting a Russian Visa

Many people think that to get a Russian visa you need to plan the whole trip ahead, book the hotels, decide on the travel dates, etc. In fact, the invitation or the “tourist visa support” is formally a list of your booked accommodations and travel plans.

However, you are then free to travel whenever you want within the span of your visa dates (except for restricted territories).

Citizens of most countries need a visa to travel to Russia.

Despite all the talks and the current political situation, a tourist visa to Russia is very easy to obtain. All you need is to get an invitation (aka “tourist visa support”) from a travel agency (there are hundreds of them online and most of them work just fine). The invitation will be sent via e-mail, you need to print it out, book an appointment at the closest Russian consulate (using their website), and bring the invitation along with your passport, photos and travel insurance (US citizens only) on the day of the appointment. After a short check your documents will be accepted and you’ll receive your passport back with the visa in 7 to 14 days. The invitation costs about $30 on average (payable to the agency) and the actual visa is about $50 - $100 depending on the speed of processing.

If you want to stay in Russia more than a month or travel a few times during a year, it’s better to get a business visa, which is a bit more expensive and takes more time to process, but is as easy to get nevertheless (you’ll need a business invitation, which can be also obtained online). Business visas can be valid for up to 12 months and permit multiple entries. Those visas are not work permit visas, they just allow you to stay longer in Russia and are used for the travelers who want to explore business opportunities, do a project, visit exhibitions, find new business partners, etc. Another option is to get a private visa from a friend (it takes 1 month to process) or a student visa (should be done through the institution).

Once in Russia, your visa needs to be registered if you’re staying there for longer than 7 working days. This can be done at any hotel or if you’re staying at an apartment – by your landlord at any post office using a copy of your passport (the fee is about $5 normally).

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Russian Visa Checklist ∆ decide on the approximate dates of your travel from:

to:

total days:

∆ visa should be valid for up to 30 days – tourist visa ∆ visa should be valid for more than 30 days – business visa

∆ decide on the specifics of you travel ∆ plan to travel several times in a year - business visa ∆ need to leave and re-enter - business visa dbl / multi entry ∆ leave / re-enter thru a CIS country - tourist visa dbl entry

∆ get the invitation (aka “visa support”) online or offline ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

do not get locked into staying at parcticular hotels do not get locked into a fixed itinerary a tourist invitation costs about €25, takes 1 day to issue a business invitation costs about €50-€150 takes a few days you should get a scan of the original in your mailbox

∆ download and fill out the visa application form from the russian consulate ∆ make sure your data is exactly the same as in invitation: i.e. if you’re traveling on a tourist visa, the purpose of your travel should be “tourism” not “visiting friends” ∆ make sure you have the name and the reference # of the company that issued your invitation / visa support

∆ see the opening times of the consulate and plan a visit ∆ check if you need to book an appointment online ∆ check if you need to submit any documents online

∆ get the rest of the paperwork ∆ 4 standard passport photos ∆ travel insurance for the duration of the visa dates – only when applying in the US ∆ print out 2 copies of the application form ∆ print out a copy of your invitation / visa support

∆ go to the consulate, apply for the visa ∆ you will first queue to the application counter ∆ you will then need to pay the visa fee (€35 to €70) ∆ you will receive your visa within maximum 2 weeks shorter processing times are sometimes available for extra fee * if you’re from the US, you can get a 3-year visa with a standard 30-day tourist visa support

You can get more information about the process and get the Russian visa support online on www.bit.ly/russianvisa

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Russian Visa Checklist ∆ decide on the approximate dates of your travel from:

to:

total days:

∆ visa should be valid for up to 30 days – tourist visa ∆ visa should be valid for more than 30 days – business visa

∆ decide on the specifics of you travel ∆ plan to travel several times in a year - business visa ∆ need to leave and re-enter - business visa dbl / multi entry ∆ leave / re-enter thru a CIS country - tourist visa dbl entry

∆ get the invitation (aka “visa support”) online or offline ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆ ∆

do not get locked into staying at parcticular hotels do not get locked into a fixed itinerary a tourist invitation costs about €25, takes 1 day to issue a business invitation costs about €50-€150 takes a few days you should get a scan of the original in your mailbox

∆ download and fill out the visa application form from the russian consulate ∆ make sure your data is exactly the same as in invitation: i.e. if you’re traveling on a tourist visa, the purpose of your travel should be “tourism” not “visiting friends” ∆ make sure you have the name and the reference # of the company that issued your invitation / visa support

∆ see the opening times of the consulate and plan a visit ∆ check if you need to book an appointment online ∆ check if you need to submit any documents online

∆ get the rest of the paperwork ∆ 4 standard passport photos ∆ travel insurance for the duration of the visa dates – only when applying in the US ∆ print out 2 copies of the application form ∆ print out a copy of your invitation / visa support

∆ go to the consulate, apply for the visa ∆ you will first queue to the application counter ∆ you will then need to pay the visa fee (€35 to €70) ∆ you will receive your visa within maximum 2 weeks shorter processing times are sometimes available for extra fee * if you’re from the US, you can get a 3-year visa with a standard 30-day tourist visa support

You can get more information about the process and get the Russian visa support online on www.bit.ly/russianvisa

pages 258 to 277 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Moscow view from a plane photo by Andrei Belenko - flickr.com/photos/belenko/4288374217/

Moscow

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Moscow view from a plane photo by Andrei Belenko - flickr.com/photos/belenko/4288374217/

Moscow

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Moscow is the most obvious destination. It’s a huge sprawl-

Москва

ing city that has a little bit of everything that Russia has to offer.

You feel the energy as soon as you come in: as if you are riding on top of a hot, slow and powerful lava stream wave, which overtakes everything on its way and embraces whatever it is that is willing to come along.

Remember, as banal as it may sound, Moscow is the place of contrasts and extremeties and that is its main attraction. Your day might start at a bustling dirty suburban train platform, and a Soviet-style sandwich at a small canteen, the next moment you find yourself at the beautiful winding streets of the old Kitai Gorod central district, visit an underground Soviet bunker 65 meters deep, then see the Kremlin, eat amazing food at Pushkin restaurant, sleep at the Stalin’s skyscraper hotel, end up dancing all night at Solyanka, eat a Borsch at 5 am for breakfast and then hail a car to the 35th kilometer of Moscow - Riga highway to see the Energy Pyramid that’s supposed to have magical powers, recharge your energy, and head to the millionnaires club on top of the roof of the last standing constructivist architecture masterpiece in Moscow.

And when you have had enough you could always go to Sandunovskie Bani for a 2-hour Russian sauna session, then have a nice Russian breakfast and buckthorn tea at overpriced Coffeemania cafe, ending up hanging out with your friends at Losiny Ostrov park only 20 minutes away from the center, which still has wild animals and hectares of beautiful forests.

To get a truly polysingular experience of Moscow you should extend your willingness to connect with the locals beyond the limits of your comfort zone. Here we prepared a list of some places of power, which will help you connect with the unique breed of Russinanness that Moscow has to offer.

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Moscow is the most obvious destination. It’s a huge sprawl-

Москва

ing city that has a little bit of everything that Russia has to offer.

You feel the energy as soon as you come in: as if you are riding on top of a hot, slow and powerful lava stream wave, which overtakes everything on its way and embraces whatever it is that is willing to come along.

Remember, as banal as it may sound, Moscow is the place of contrasts and extremeties and that is its main attraction. Your day might start at a bustling dirty suburban train platform, and a Soviet-style sandwich at a small canteen, the next moment you find yourself at the beautiful winding streets of the old Kitai Gorod central district, visit an underground Soviet bunker 65 meters deep, then see the Kremlin, eat amazing food at Pushkin restaurant, sleep at the Stalin’s skyscraper hotel, end up dancing all night at Solyanka, eat a Borsch at 5 am for breakfast and then hail a car to the 35th kilometer of Moscow - Riga highway to see the Energy Pyramid that’s supposed to have magical powers, recharge your energy, and head to the millionnaires club on top of the roof of the last standing constructivist architecture masterpiece in Moscow.

And when you have had enough you could always go to Sandunovskie Bani for a 2-hour Russian sauna session, then have a nice Russian breakfast and buckthorn tea at overpriced Coffeemania cafe, ending up hanging out with your friends at Losiny Ostrov park only 20 minutes away from the center, which still has wild animals and hectares of beautiful forests.

To get a truly polysingular experience of Moscow you should extend your willingness to connect with the locals beyond the limits of your comfort zone. Here we prepared a list of some places of power, which will help you connect with the unique breed of Russinanness that Moscow has to offer.

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вязкий поток чёрной лавы, переливающиеся звёзды сахарного кремля, толпы людей, стремящихся в направлении, камеры наружного наблюдения, серебристые колесницы, нежно падающий снег, обволакивающий хаос вокруг...

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вязкий поток чёрной лавы, переливающиеся звёзды сахарного кремля, толпы людей, стремящихся в направлении, камеры наружного наблюдения, серебристые колесницы, нежно падающий снег, обволакивающий хаос вокруг...

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This map online: bit.ly/mapofmoscow

Map of Moscow center - Š OpenStreetMap Contributors

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This map online: bit.ly/mapofmoscow

Map of Moscow center - Š OpenStreetMap Contributors

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Airports are special.

Originally designed to be the perfect and the most efficient transition hubs they are full of superimposed order and authority. The air of calmness surrounds paranoid security measures to cover up for the lack of the personal freedoms, which are given away in exchange for safety.

Western World circa 2050, just how it’s designed to be.

Russia is not an exclusion. In fact, visit any Russian airport and you will see what Russia would feel like if you took away all the uncertainties. It would be a calm, friendly place, a little bit strict, but not too much, somewhat carefree, modern, overcrowded in peak hours and empty during the night.

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Airports are special.

Originally designed to be the perfect and the most efficient transition hubs they are full of superimposed order and authority. The air of calmness surrounds paranoid security measures to cover up for the lack of the personal freedoms, which are given away in exchange for safety.

Western World circa 2050, just how it’s designed to be.

Russia is not an exclusion. In fact, visit any Russian airport and you will see what Russia would feel like if you took away all the uncertainties. It would be a calm, friendly place, a little bit strict, but not too much, somewhat carefree, modern, overcrowded in peak hours and empty during the night.

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VKO / Vnukovo Airport

DME / Domodedovo Airport

SVO / Sheremetyevo Airport

The smallest airport, home to many private jets. It’s empty, effortless, probably feels like some Sheikh’s private airfield in Dubai. Serves UTAir, Transaero, Lufthansa, Aigle Azur and others.

Hosts most of the domestic flights and you can feel that it has the most Russianness to it.

It may happen that you’ll arrive at 3 am during the night and have to face a 2-hour long passport control queue, which will be accompanied by shouts and fights.

All this happening in a highly modern air-conditioned setting.

A real “trip”.

Serves AirBerlin, British Airways, TAP, S7 Sibir, Transaero, Ural Airlines, JAL, Iberia, Swiss, Lufthansa

The main airport in Moscow, serves most international flights as well as Aeroflot and some domestic flights.

Express trains from Vnukovo airport depart every hour from Kievsky train station. The trip takes about 40 minues and costs €10. Trains run from 5.00 to 23.00 every hour. www.bit.ly/vkolive

Express trains to / from Domodedovo airport depart from Paveletsky railway station (Павелецкий вокзал). one-way ticket costs €10.

Trains run from 6.00 to 0.00 www.bit.ly/dmelive

A taxi trip from the airport to the city should cost about €35 max. Avoid peak hours 7.00-11.00 and 16.00-21.00 – during this time it’s better to take a train. Count at least 1.5 hours for a trip to the center (only 40 mins during the night). For transfers between the airports – at least 3 hours and €70.

The cheapest way to book a taxi is with GETT or Yandex. taxi apps or online on www.bit.ly/msktaxi

Express trains to / from Sheremetyevo airport depart from Belorusski train station every half hour. the trip takes about 40 minutes and costs €10. Trains run from 5.30 to 0.30. www.bit.ly/svolive

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VKO / Vnukovo Airport

DME / Domodedovo Airport

SVO / Sheremetyevo Airport

The smallest airport, home to many private jets. It’s empty, effortless, probably feels like some Sheikh’s private airfield in Dubai. Serves UTAir, Transaero, Lufthansa, Aigle Azur and others.

Hosts most of the domestic flights and you can feel that it has the most Russianness to it.

It may happen that you’ll arrive at 3 am during the night and have to face a 2-hour long passport control queue, which will be accompanied by shouts and fights.

All this happening in a highly modern air-conditioned setting.

A real “trip”.

Serves AirBerlin, British Airways, TAP, S7 Sibir, Transaero, Ural Airlines, JAL, Iberia, Swiss, Lufthansa

The main airport in Moscow, serves most international flights as well as Aeroflot and some domestic flights.

Express trains from Vnukovo airport depart every hour from Kievsky train station. The trip takes about 40 minues and costs €10. Trains run from 5.00 to 23.00 every hour. www.bit.ly/vkolive

Express trains to / from Domodedovo airport depart from Paveletsky railway station (Павелецкий вокзал). one-way ticket costs €10.

Trains run from 6.00 to 0.00 www.bit.ly/dmelive

A taxi trip from the airport to the city should cost about €35 max. Avoid peak hours 7.00-11.00 and 16.00-21.00 – during this time it’s better to take a train. Count at least 1.5 hours for a trip to the center (only 40 mins during the night). For transfers between the airports – at least 3 hours and €70.

The cheapest way to book a taxi is with GETT or Yandex. taxi apps or online on www.bit.ly/msktaxi

Express trains to / from Sheremetyevo airport depart from Belorusski train station every half hour. the trip takes about 40 minutes and costs €10. Trains run from 5.30 to 0.30. www.bit.ly/svolive

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Trains to Belarus, Berlin and Sheremetyevo Airport / Belorusski Train Station

Trains to Voronezh, South and Domodedovo Airport / Paveletsky Train Station

Located in the north of the city center, at the end of Tverskaya street, Belorusski train station is where the express trains to Sheremetyevo airport depart from. You can also take the trains to Belarus and to Western Europe from here.

There is also a hostel right in the train station building. They offer beds in dorm rooms for €20 per night, private rooms for €70 per night or for €30 per hour.

Located in the south of the city center, trains go to Domodedovo airport, as well as some cities in South and South-East Russia, such as Voronezh, Saratov, Tambov.

1a Paveletskaya Sqare, metro Paveletskaya (green or circle line, south) 1a Павелецкая Площадь (Павелецкий вокзал)

7, Tverskoy Zastavy square, metro Belorusskaya (green and circle line, north city center), Map: 1 7, площадь Тверской Заставы (Белорусский вокзал)

Trains to Ukraine, Hungary, and Vnukovo Airport / Kievsky Train Station Located in the west of the city center, Kievsky train station services the express trains to Vnukovo airport, as well as the trains to Ukraine and Hungary.

1, Kievsky Station square, metro Kievskaya (blue or circle line, west) 1, площать Киевского Вокзала (Киевский вокзал)

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There are a few nice restaurants next to Belorusski station, like Ragu on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya st and Coffeemania on the opposite side of the square. Also, Systema Physical Practice headquarters is located next to the station.

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Trains to Belarus, Berlin and Sheremetyevo Airport / Belorusski Train Station

Trains to Voronezh, South and Domodedovo Airport / Paveletsky Train Station

Located in the north of the city center, at the end of Tverskaya street, Belorusski train station is where the express trains to Sheremetyevo airport depart from. You can also take the trains to Belarus and to Western Europe from here.

There is also a hostel right in the train station building. They offer beds in dorm rooms for €20 per night, private rooms for €70 per night or for €30 per hour.

Located in the south of the city center, trains go to Domodedovo airport, as well as some cities in South and South-East Russia, such as Voronezh, Saratov, Tambov.

1a Paveletskaya Sqare, metro Paveletskaya (green or circle line, south) 1a Павелецкая Площадь (Павелецкий вокзал)

7, Tverskoy Zastavy square, metro Belorusskaya (green and circle line, north city center), Map: 1 7, площадь Тверской Заставы (Белорусский вокзал)

Trains to Ukraine, Hungary, and Vnukovo Airport / Kievsky Train Station Located in the west of the city center, Kievsky train station services the express trains to Vnukovo airport, as well as the trains to Ukraine and Hungary.

1, Kievsky Station square, metro Kievskaya (blue or circle line, west) 1, площать Киевского Вокзала (Киевский вокзал)

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There are a few nice restaurants next to Belorusski station, like Ragu on Bolshaya Gruzinskaya st and Coffeemania on the opposite side of the square. Also, Systema Physical Practice headquarters is located next to the station.

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Trains to/from St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Tver / Leningradsky Train Station

Trans-Siberian Trains / Yaroslavsky Train Station

Located in the north-east of the city center Leningradsky vokzal is one of the more modern train stations, less chaotic than the rest, and has more or less clear navigation. Trains depart from here to the direction of St. Petersburg, to Veliky Novgorod and to Tver. There are automatic lockers at the train station.

Located right next to Leningradsky train station, Yaroslavsky station is where most of the Trans-Siberian trains leave from. You can also use it to travel along the Golden Ring or go to Yaroslavl. There are lockers at the train station as well.

3, Komsomolskaya square, metro Komsomolskaya (red or circle line, northeast center), Map: 2 3, Комсомольская площадь (Ленинградский вокзал, площадь трёх вокзалов)

To read more about the Rus263 sian trains, how to buy a train ticket, which trains are the cheapest and most comfortable, check out the Practicalities > Step 2 > Buying a Train Ticket section.

5, Komsomolskaya square, metro Komsomolskaya (red or circle line, northeast center), Map: 3 5, Комсомольская площадь (Ленинградский вокзал, площадь трёх вокзалов)

Live train schedules and train tickets online are available on trains.waytorussia.net

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Trains to/from St. Petersburg, Novgorod, Tver / Leningradsky Train Station

Trans-Siberian Trains / Yaroslavsky Train Station

Located in the north-east of the city center Leningradsky vokzal is one of the more modern train stations, less chaotic than the rest, and has more or less clear navigation. Trains depart from here to the direction of St. Petersburg, to Veliky Novgorod and to Tver. There are automatic lockers at the train station.

Located right next to Leningradsky train station, Yaroslavsky station is where most of the Trans-Siberian trains leave from. You can also use it to travel along the Golden Ring or go to Yaroslavl. There are lockers at the train station as well.

3, Komsomolskaya square, metro Komsomolskaya (red or circle line, northeast center), Map: 2 3, Комсомольская площадь (Ленинградский вокзал, площадь трёх вокзалов)

To read more about the Rus263 sian trains, how to buy a train ticket, which trains are the cheapest and most comfortable, check out the Practicalities > Step 2 > Buying a Train Ticket section.

5, Komsomolskaya square, metro Komsomolskaya (red or circle line, northeast center), Map: 3 5, Комсомольская площадь (Ленинградский вокзал, площадь трёх вокзалов)

Live train schedules and train tickets online are available on trains.waytorussia.net

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Hail a Ride / Taxi & Public Transport Probably the most exciting thing about Moscow is that you can just hail any car on the street and it will stop to give you a lift for a small fee. Try it while it’s still legal: the feeling of freedom and excitement you get riding with a crazy driver in an old Lada at 150 km / hour through the city is incomparable. The prices start at about 200 R (€5), which is going to pay a 10-minute ride. A good rule of thumb is to count 20 R per minute, so if your trip is from the city center to the suburbs (usually takes at least half hour), you should pay about 600 R (€15).

Sheily and an old Volga of Egish. He can give you a ride, but you need to get his phone number from us.

If you don’t want to risk your life in exchange for an exciting adventure, use any of the many Moscow taxi companies. If you have a smartphone, install GETT taxi app, which has an English interface and order a taxi online. They have great drivers, it usually takes maximum 5 minutes to get a car, and the standard price is 500 R (€10) for a trip that takes 25-30 mins.

Another good app is Yandex.

Taxi, but it’s in Russian.

For those searching for some exotics, you’ve got two options: public transport and private drivers.

Public transport is quite good, but you need to learn the routes.

So to avoid trouble learning the things you’ll never need in your life, just jump into any random bus, buy the tickets directly from the driver (100 R for a 4-ticket strip), and travel wherever the route takes you. There are also private minivans operating on most of the routes called “marshrutka”. These are the faster and crazier drivers, also a fun experience.

Check out the Yandex Maps app or website as it has live public transport route planner in English: maps.yandex.com

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Hail a Ride / Taxi & Public Transport Probably the most exciting thing about Moscow is that you can just hail any car on the street and it will stop to give you a lift for a small fee. Try it while it’s still legal: the feeling of freedom and excitement you get riding with a crazy driver in an old Lada at 150 km / hour through the city is incomparable. The prices start at about 200 R (€5), which is going to pay a 10-minute ride. A good rule of thumb is to count 20 R per minute, so if your trip is from the city center to the suburbs (usually takes at least half hour), you should pay about 600 R (€15).

Sheily and an old Volga of Egish. He can give you a ride, but you need to get his phone number from us.

If you don’t want to risk your life in exchange for an exciting adventure, use any of the many Moscow taxi companies. If you have a smartphone, install GETT taxi app, which has an English interface and order a taxi online. They have great drivers, it usually takes maximum 5 minutes to get a car, and the standard price is 500 R (€10) for a trip that takes 25-30 mins.

Another good app is Yandex.

Taxi, but it’s in Russian.

For those searching for some exotics, you’ve got two options: public transport and private drivers.

Public transport is quite good, but you need to learn the routes.

So to avoid trouble learning the things you’ll never need in your life, just jump into any random bus, buy the tickets directly from the driver (100 R for a 4-ticket strip), and travel wherever the route takes you. There are also private minivans operating on most of the routes called “marshrutka”. These are the faster and crazier drivers, also a fun experience.

Check out the Yandex Maps app or website as it has live public transport route planner in English: maps.yandex.com

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#moscowtraffic

Sometimes you can run into the craziest people while driving in Russia. www.bit.ly/mospsycho

Moscow is notorious for its traffic. It doesn’t really make sense to use a car between 7.00 to 11.00 and 16.00 to 21.00 in the city. However, there is a really good website and app - Yandex Maps - where you can check the current traffic situation live. www.bit.ly/mostraffic (iOS) www.bit.ly/mostrafficweb (Web)

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#moscowtraffic

Sometimes you can run into the craziest people while driving in Russia. www.bit.ly/mospsycho

Moscow is notorious for its traffic. It doesn’t really make sense to use a car between 7.00 to 11.00 and 16.00 to 21.00 in the city. However, there is a really good website and app - Yandex Maps - where you can check the current traffic situation live. www.bit.ly/mostraffic (iOS) www.bit.ly/mostrafficweb (Web)

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Move Fast and Pretty / Moscow Metro

Some stations in Moscow metro have interesting traditions. For example, when you go to Ploschad Revolutsii (blue line, center) you will see lots of bronze statues of partisans commemorating the communist revolution.

Many people have this weird superstition to touch the nose of a dog or the shoe of a worker as it’s believed to bring luck. Watch it a bit and you will see. And touch it!

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Russian metro was built to be a city, a transportation system, a bomb-shelter and a museum – all at the same time.

During the day the metro is the fastest way to move around due to the very busy traffic overground. However, it’s better to avoid it during peak hours: 8 to 10 am and 5 to 8 pm. There’s very little navigation in English, so you will probably need to plan your journey a bit ahead. Just make sure you know the color of the line you need and that you can read a bit of cyrillic – this will save a lot of your time. To get in you should buy a card (the most practical one is for 5 trips costing 160 R or €4) – it’s valid for one journey (unlimited time).

For those who ride long-term, get a Troika card, which can be pre-charged for a number of trips or unlimited trips for a period of time.

The metro is opened daily from 5.35 to 1.00 (last train departures, also the passes between the stations close at 1.00).

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Move Fast and Pretty / Moscow Metro

Some stations in Moscow metro have interesting traditions. For example, when you go to Ploschad Revolutsii (blue line, center) you will see lots of bronze statues of partisans commemorating the communist revolution.

Many people have this weird superstition to touch the nose of a dog or the shoe of a worker as it’s believed to bring luck. Watch it a bit and you will see. And touch it!

116

Russian metro was built to be a city, a transportation system, a bomb-shelter and a museum – all at the same time.

During the day the metro is the fastest way to move around due to the very busy traffic overground. However, it’s better to avoid it during peak hours: 8 to 10 am and 5 to 8 pm. There’s very little navigation in English, so you will probably need to plan your journey a bit ahead. Just make sure you know the color of the line you need and that you can read a bit of cyrillic – this will save a lot of your time. To get in you should buy a card (the most practical one is for 5 trips costing 160 R or €4) – it’s valid for one journey (unlimited time).

For those who ride long-term, get a Troika card, which can be pre-charged for a number of trips or unlimited trips for a period of time.

The metro is opened daily from 5.35 to 1.00 (last train departures, also the passes between the stations close at 1.00).

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поехали ко мне?

Moscow Accommodation

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поехали ко мне?

Moscow Accommodation

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The Olympic Artefact / Izmailovo Hotel

Travelers Hangout / Godzillas Hostel

Izmailovo is a huge hotel complex (more than 4000 rooms) built to host the 1980 Olympic Game. The location is quite nice, as the hotel is just next to the metro, and it’s about a 20-minute ride to the center, so you can explore the nearby park and suburbs. There are several hotels in Izmailovo complex, so just choose the one you prefer.

Your neighbors will be very varied: from budget tourists to Russian entrepreneurs and various dodgy but non-dangerous characters. Occasional offers of sushi and prostitute room delivery might occur, but those can be easily dealt with depending on your willingness to immerse.

This is the first proper hostel in Moscow and it has many options: from cheap bunk bed accommodation to simple, but nice double rooms. Located in the very center of the city, it’s probably the best choice if you want to save money and hang out with other travelers.

71, Izmailovskoe Shosse metro Partizanskaya Гостиница Измайлово 71, Измайловское Шоссе метро Партизанская

6, Bolshoi Karetny, Apt 5, metro: Tsvetnoy Bulvar, Map: 4 6 Большой Каретный пер, кв 5 метро Цветной Бульвар Izmailovo Hotel photo by Artem Svetlov, flickr.com/photos/trolleway

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Explore Izmailovsky Park from here and check out Izmailovsky souvenir market.

www.bit.ly/izmailovo

#moscow #authentic #accommodation #suburbs

www.bit.ly/godzihostel

another good hostel is Fabrika (page 308)

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also go to the bar Zasada (Trap) in Yuzhnoe Izmailovo for some authentic dining in the real Moscow suburbs.

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#moscow #cheap #accommodation #meetingpeople

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The Olympic Artefact / Izmailovo Hotel

Travelers Hangout / Godzillas Hostel

Izmailovo is a huge hotel complex (more than 4000 rooms) built to host the 1980 Olympic Game. The location is quite nice, as the hotel is just next to the metro, and it’s about a 20-minute ride to the center, so you can explore the nearby park and suburbs. There are several hotels in Izmailovo complex, so just choose the one you prefer.

Your neighbors will be very varied: from budget tourists to Russian entrepreneurs and various dodgy but non-dangerous characters. Occasional offers of sushi and prostitute room delivery might occur, but those can be easily dealt with depending on your willingness to immerse.

This is the first proper hostel in Moscow and it has many options: from cheap bunk bed accommodation to simple, but nice double rooms. Located in the very center of the city, it’s probably the best choice if you want to save money and hang out with other travelers.

71, Izmailovskoe Shosse metro Partizanskaya Гостиница Измайлово 71, Измайловское Шоссе метро Партизанская

6, Bolshoi Karetny, Apt 5, metro: Tsvetnoy Bulvar, Map: 4 6 Большой Каретный пер, кв 5 метро Цветной Бульвар Izmailovo Hotel photo by Artem Svetlov, flickr.com/photos/trolleway

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Explore Izmailovsky Park from here and check out Izmailovsky souvenir market.

www.bit.ly/izmailovo

#moscow #authentic #accommodation #suburbs

www.bit.ly/godzihostel

another good hostel is Fabrika (page 308)

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also go to the bar Zasada (Trap) in Yuzhnoe Izmailovo for some authentic dining in the real Moscow suburbs.

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#moscow #cheap #accommodation #meetingpeople

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A Room for Nothing / Comrade Hostel

Cheap Sex / Hotel Na Pokrovke

Small But Central / Petrovka Loft

Located in the very nice Kitai Gorod area Comrade Hostel has a pleasant interior (no bright stupid colours) and offers beds in 6-bed dorms for €12 per night or private doubles with a shared bathroom for €48 for a room.

Has all the amenities and is dangerously close to all the best clubs in Moscow.

Superb location and the price is only €50 per night for a private double, but the rooms themselves are not as clean and look like they would be best featured in some cheap porn video.

Authentic or maybe just lazy this hotel is the perfect choice if you just need to fuck in the middle of the night. If you prefer to sleep, better to get a private room in one of the many hostels around.

This small and simple hotel located in Kuznetsky Most area, close walk to Kitai Gorod and to Hermitage Garden – an almost perfect location. The rooms are a bit stuffy and small and there are no windows in some rooms, so be sure to book the one that has at least one. Prices are super low for such a great location: from €40 per night for a double.

21 Pokrovka st (Map: 47) It’s hard to find the hotel as it has no sign and it’s just a metal door.

Have no fear: ring the bell. metro Chistye Prudy

2, Petrovka street (Map: 46) metro Kuznetsky Most, Tverskaya

Отель на Покровке 21 Покровка ул

www.bit.ly/petrovkaloft

11, Maroseyka Street (Map: 45) metro Kitai Gorod Хостел Комрад, 11, Маросейка ул +7 495 628-31-26 www.bit.ly/comradehostel

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All these hotels are located in Kitai Gorod area, the most perfect central neighborhood in Moscow.

www.bit.ly/pokrovmos

Петровка Лофт 2, Петровка ул

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A Room for Nothing / Comrade Hostel

Cheap Sex / Hotel Na Pokrovke

Small But Central / Petrovka Loft

Located in the very nice Kitai Gorod area Comrade Hostel has a pleasant interior (no bright stupid colours) and offers beds in 6-bed dorms for €12 per night or private doubles with a shared bathroom for €48 for a room.

Has all the amenities and is dangerously close to all the best clubs in Moscow.

Superb location and the price is only €50 per night for a private double, but the rooms themselves are not as clean and look like they would be best featured in some cheap porn video.

Authentic or maybe just lazy this hotel is the perfect choice if you just need to fuck in the middle of the night. If you prefer to sleep, better to get a private room in one of the many hostels around.

This small and simple hotel located in Kuznetsky Most area, close walk to Kitai Gorod and to Hermitage Garden – an almost perfect location. The rooms are a bit stuffy and small and there are no windows in some rooms, so be sure to book the one that has at least one. Prices are super low for such a great location: from €40 per night for a double.

21 Pokrovka st (Map: 47) It’s hard to find the hotel as it has no sign and it’s just a metal door.

Have no fear: ring the bell. metro Chistye Prudy

2, Petrovka street (Map: 46) metro Kuznetsky Most, Tverskaya

Отель на Покровке 21 Покровка ул

www.bit.ly/petrovkaloft

11, Maroseyka Street (Map: 45) metro Kitai Gorod Хостел Комрад, 11, Маросейка ул +7 495 628-31-26 www.bit.ly/comradehostel

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All these hotels are located in Kitai Gorod area, the most perfect central neighborhood in Moscow.

www.bit.ly/pokrovmos

Петровка Лофт 2, Петровка ул

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A Bed for Nothing / Bear Hostel

Red October Dorm / Fabrika Hostel

Live Like a Local / Renting an Apartment

This hostel chain has three hostels in Moscow. You can get a bed in a 16-bed dorm for about €12 which is perhaps the lowest price you’ll ever find in Moscow center. They also have a special night price of €12 if you stay there from midnight till 10.30 next morning, making it a great place to sleep over after a long night out. Finally, you can also live there a whole month for about €300, which is a bit cheaper than renting a private room at an apartment. They also have lockers for €2 / day.

Located in the central Red October industrial area, which was turned into a creative anclave by local enthusiasts. The prices are low: a bed in a 12-bed dorm is €12 per night, a private double room is €30, which is a very good offer.

Forget about any privacy as the walls are thin and there’s little space, but if you’re just looking for a nice simple place to stay in the center of the city, this is a good choice. They also have nice common areas and a cafe, so perfect for meeting other travelers and hanging out.

Finding a private apartment is a great way to experience life in Moscow. However, as the real estate prices are steep you’re looking at something like €100-€120 per night for something relatively decent in the center of the city. Long-term prices start at €700 per month for a small studio in the suburbs and at €1200-€1500 per month for a studio or a 1-bedroom apartment in the center. Rooms cost from €300 per month.

23, Bolshaya Molchanovka building 2, 5 floor (Map: 5) Arbat area (metro Arbatskaya) Беар Хостел Большая Молчановка, дом 23, строение 2, 5 этаж +7 (495) 649-67-36 www.bit.ly/bearmsk

5, Bersenevsky Pereulok, Krasny Oktyabr area, Strelka metro Kropotkinskaya, Map: 6 5, Берсеневский переулок, Красный Октябрь +7 (495) 506 1091 www.bit.ly/fabrikamsk

#moscow #budget #accommodation #travelers #meetingpeople

When renting an apartment be prepared to see a lot of really weird Soviet-style interiors, but that’s even better if you really intend to connect to the Russian land and history. The best place to look is www. airbnb.com for short-term and www.thelocals.ru (in Russian) for the long-term apartments and rooms. If you want to risk and save money, go to any train station and look for the notes posted on the walls and for cell phone numbers graffitied to the floor. You may find some odd babushka who rents her crib for very little money to the local tourists who need a place to sleep, eat and fuck, but that may as well turn into the most adventurous part of your trip.

The best area to stay is Kitai Gorod - central, residential, lots of cool bars and clubs around, a real Moscow feel to it. also the area near Tverskaya is great for accessibility and there’s lots of nice restaraunts and bars around. If you really need nature close by, try Sokolniki area or Izmailovsky Park. www.bit.ly/aptsmsk

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Kitai Gorod area has a lot of nice clubs and bars, like NII, Powerhouse, and also the Soviet underground Bunker-42 museum. It’s also a great place for walks and Chistye Prudy is a nice green area to chill in summer. #moscow #accommodation #longterm #livelikearussian

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A Bed for Nothing / Bear Hostel

Red October Dorm / Fabrika Hostel

Live Like a Local / Renting an Apartment

This hostel chain has three hostels in Moscow. You can get a bed in a 16-bed dorm for about €12 which is perhaps the lowest price you’ll ever find in Moscow center. They also have a special night price of €12 if you stay there from midnight till 10.30 next morning, making it a great place to sleep over after a long night out. Finally, you can also live there a whole month for about €300, which is a bit cheaper than renting a private room at an apartment. They also have lockers for €2 / day.

Located in the central Red October industrial area, which was turned into a creative anclave by local enthusiasts. The prices are low: a bed in a 12-bed dorm is €12 per night, a private double room is €30, which is a very good offer.

Forget about any privacy as the walls are thin and there’s little space, but if you’re just looking for a nice simple place to stay in the center of the city, this is a good choice. They also have nice common areas and a cafe, so perfect for meeting other travelers and hanging out.

Finding a private apartment is a great way to experience life in Moscow. However, as the real estate prices are steep you’re looking at something like €100-€120 per night for something relatively decent in the center of the city. Long-term prices start at €700 per month for a small studio in the suburbs and at €1200-€1500 per month for a studio or a 1-bedroom apartment in the center. Rooms cost from €300 per month.

23, Bolshaya Molchanovka building 2, 5 floor (Map: 5) Arbat area (metro Arbatskaya) Беар Хостел Большая Молчановка, дом 23, строение 2, 5 этаж +7 (495) 649-67-36 www.bit.ly/bearmsk

5, Bersenevsky Pereulok, Krasny Oktyabr area, Strelka metro Kropotkinskaya, Map: 6 5, Берсеневский переулок, Красный Октябрь +7 (495) 506 1091 www.bit.ly/fabrikamsk

#moscow #budget #accommodation #travelers #meetingpeople

When renting an apartment be prepared to see a lot of really weird Soviet-style interiors, but that’s even better if you really intend to connect to the Russian land and history. The best place to look is www. airbnb.com for short-term and www.thelocals.ru (in Russian) for the long-term apartments and rooms. If you want to risk and save money, go to any train station and look for the notes posted on the walls and for cell phone numbers graffitied to the floor. You may find some odd babushka who rents her crib for very little money to the local tourists who need a place to sleep, eat and fuck, but that may as well turn into the most adventurous part of your trip.

The best area to stay is Kitai Gorod - central, residential, lots of cool bars and clubs around, a real Moscow feel to it. also the area near Tverskaya is great for accessibility and there’s lots of nice restaraunts and bars around. If you really need nature close by, try Sokolniki area or Izmailovsky Park. www.bit.ly/aptsmsk

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Kitai Gorod area has a lot of nice clubs and bars, like NII, Powerhouse, and also the Soviet underground Bunker-42 museum. It’s also a great place for walks and Chistye Prudy is a nice green area to chill in summer. #moscow #accommodation #longterm #livelikearussian

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Boutique Living / Golden Apple Hotel

Business Living / Aquamarin Hotel

For those who prefer to stay on the chic side, Golden Apple is a good choice. A designer hotel it offers accommodation in the very center of Moscow near Tverskaya street. The rooms are quite good and comfortable and not too small (neither too spacious). There’s also a 24hour sauna at the basement and a small restaurant. The hotel has really a home feel and is a great choice for a short stay.

Prices start at €120 per night.

This centrally-located 4-star hotel has probably the best offer in Moscow in terms of the price and quality. Double rooms starting at €90 per night, nice but simple interior of a standard business hotel, quiet neighborhood. Paveletsky train station where the trains to Domodedovo depart from is in about a 15-minute walk and also Tretyakov gallery and many of the clubs near Kitai Gorod like Solyanka are within a walking distance as well.

11, Malaya Dmitrovka Ulitsa metro Pushkinskaya, Map: 7 11, Малая Дмитровка www.bit.ly/goldenapplehotel

26, Ozerkovskaya Embankment metro Novokuznetskaya, Map: 8 Отель Аквамарин 26, Озерковская Набережная метро Новокузнецкая www.bit.ly/aquamsk

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Two great restaraunts nearby: Ragu next to Leningradsky vokzal (trains to SVO) and Pushkin next to Tverskaya metro. #moscow #luxury #accommodation #business

Hilton Leningradskaya Hotel photo by Peter PZ flickr.com/photos/ppz/3367070827

Live at the Stalin’s Skyscraper / Hilton Oktyabrskaya Hotel The best thing about this hotel is that it’s located in one of the Stalin’s skyscrapers, so you can enjoy the interior of this amazing historical building and also a great view if you get a room at the top. Prices start at €100 per night for a double. The location is very convenient as it’s right next to the Trans-Siberian and Leningradsky train stations, but the area is a bit dodgy at night.

Kalanchevskaya Street 21/40 (next to Leningradsky vokzal), Map: 9

www.bit.ly/hiltonmsk

Каланчевская улица 21/40 (площадь трех вокзалов)

#moscow #accommodation #authentic

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Boutique Living / Golden Apple Hotel

Business Living / Aquamarin Hotel

For those who prefer to stay on the chic side, Golden Apple is a good choice. A designer hotel it offers accommodation in the very center of Moscow near Tverskaya street. The rooms are quite good and comfortable and not too small (neither too spacious). There’s also a 24hour sauna at the basement and a small restaurant. The hotel has really a home feel and is a great choice for a short stay.

Prices start at €120 per night.

This centrally-located 4-star hotel has probably the best offer in Moscow in terms of the price and quality. Double rooms starting at €90 per night, nice but simple interior of a standard business hotel, quiet neighborhood. Paveletsky train station where the trains to Domodedovo depart from is in about a 15-minute walk and also Tretyakov gallery and many of the clubs near Kitai Gorod like Solyanka are within a walking distance as well.

11, Malaya Dmitrovka Ulitsa metro Pushkinskaya, Map: 7 11, Малая Дмитровка www.bit.ly/goldenapplehotel

26, Ozerkovskaya Embankment metro Novokuznetskaya, Map: 8 Отель Аквамарин 26, Озерковская Набережная метро Новокузнецкая www.bit.ly/aquamsk

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Two great restaraunts nearby: Ragu next to Leningradsky vokzal (trains to SVO) and Pushkin next to Tverskaya metro. #moscow #luxury #accommodation #business

Hilton Leningradskaya Hotel photo by Peter PZ flickr.com/photos/ppz/3367070827

Live at the Stalin’s Skyscraper / Hilton Oktyabrskaya Hotel The best thing about this hotel is that it’s located in one of the Stalin’s skyscrapers, so you can enjoy the interior of this amazing historical building and also a great view if you get a room at the top. Prices start at €100 per night for a double. The location is very convenient as it’s right next to the Trans-Siberian and Leningradsky train stations, but the area is a bit dodgy at night.

Kalanchevskaya Street 21/40 (next to Leningradsky vokzal), Map: 9

www.bit.ly/hiltonmsk

Каланчевская улица 21/40 (площадь трех вокзалов)

#moscow #accommodation #authentic

pages 312 to 367 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Art and Alternative / NII Nauka I Iskusstvo This relatively new Moscow hotspot has quickly became the place to go for those in the know. Hosting regular events, exhibitions, gallery openings, lectures, and parties, NII Moscow aka “Nauka i Iskusstvo” is dedicated to multimedia projects at the border between arts (“iskusstvo”) and science (“nauka”). Many local artists like to hang out there, for example, you can meet Nadezhda Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot there on occasion.

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You might also want to check out Winzavod contemporary art galleries nearby.

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NII Moscow - Nauka i Iskusstvo Nastavnicheskiy 13-15 metro Kurskaya НИИ Наука и Искусство Наставнический пер 13-15 метро Курская facebook.com/niimoscow/

Nauka i Iskusstvo

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Art and Alternative / NII Nauka I Iskusstvo This relatively new Moscow hotspot has quickly became the place to go for those in the know. Hosting regular events, exhibitions, gallery openings, lectures, and parties, NII Moscow aka “Nauka i Iskusstvo” is dedicated to multimedia projects at the border between arts (“iskusstvo”) and science (“nauka”). Many local artists like to hang out there, for example, you can meet Nadezhda Tolokonnikova from Pussy Riot there on occasion.

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You might also want to check out Winzavod contemporary art galleries nearby.

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NII Moscow - Nauka i Iskusstvo Nastavnicheskiy 13-15 metro Kurskaya НИИ Наука и Искусство Наставнический пер 13-15 метро Курская facebook.com/niimoscow/

Nauka i Iskusstvo

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Urbanology / Strelka Institute Strelka is a hyped Moscow school for design and architecture and it also hosts a bar with a large outdoor area for events and a terrace with a beautiful view. Located at Krasny Oktyabr – a former sweets factory in the Moscow center converted into business lofts for creative and media enterprises – Strelka is on the mission to bring everything contemporary and urbane to Moscow. Hosting regular workshops from the world’s renowned experts on architecture and design goes well with the weekly dance parties featuring quality electronic music acts.

Strelka is definitely an important hub for Moscow trendsetters, but it also seems like an enclave of a sort, an idealistic attempt to be everything that Moscow is (yet) not, pushing it a bit too far sometimes to the point of being unnatural and slightly pretentious. Nevertheless, sometimes one needs to escape from the Russian chaos into the European order and comfort, to be surrounded by the pretty smiling faces talking about the latest trends in metacognitive architectural realms – and Strelka is just the place for that.

The school itself accept students for post-doc 1-year programs (in English), so it may also be a good base to stay in Moscow for a longer time, as they have the bursaries and sponsored accommodation to offer in addition to the very interesting study programs.

14, building 5A, Barsenyevskaya embankment (Map: 22) Strelka Institute and Terrace Bar photo by David Barrie - flickr.com/photos/addictive_picasso/7615147534

metro: Kropotkinskaya or Tretyakovskaya (over the pedestrian bridge from Christ the Savior Church) Институт Стрелка 14, стр 5А, Барсеньевская набережная, территория Красный Октябрь +7 495 771-74-37 www.strelka.com

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Strelka is located in Krasny Oktyabr area.

Read more about it on page 360. There’s a cheap Fabrika Hostel nearby (page 308).

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Urbanology / Strelka Institute Strelka is a hyped Moscow school for design and architecture and it also hosts a bar with a large outdoor area for events and a terrace with a beautiful view. Located at Krasny Oktyabr – a former sweets factory in the Moscow center converted into business lofts for creative and media enterprises – Strelka is on the mission to bring everything contemporary and urbane to Moscow. Hosting regular workshops from the world’s renowned experts on architecture and design goes well with the weekly dance parties featuring quality electronic music acts.

Strelka is definitely an important hub for Moscow trendsetters, but it also seems like an enclave of a sort, an idealistic attempt to be everything that Moscow is (yet) not, pushing it a bit too far sometimes to the point of being unnatural and slightly pretentious. Nevertheless, sometimes one needs to escape from the Russian chaos into the European order and comfort, to be surrounded by the pretty smiling faces talking about the latest trends in metacognitive architectural realms – and Strelka is just the place for that.

The school itself accept students for post-doc 1-year programs (in English), so it may also be a good base to stay in Moscow for a longer time, as they have the bursaries and sponsored accommodation to offer in addition to the very interesting study programs.

14, building 5A, Barsenyevskaya embankment (Map: 22) Strelka Institute and Terrace Bar photo by David Barrie - flickr.com/photos/addictive_picasso/7615147534

metro: Kropotkinskaya or Tretyakovskaya (over the pedestrian bridge from Christ the Savior Church) Институт Стрелка 14, стр 5А, Барсеньевская набережная, территория Красный Октябрь +7 495 771-74-37 www.strelka.com

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Strelka is located in Krasny Oktyabr area.

Read more about it on page 360. There’s a cheap Fabrika Hostel nearby (page 308).

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Real Moscow / Denis Simachev Bar

Getting High / Krysha Mira

Probably the best bar in town, because you really feel that you are in Moscow, and not somewhere else. It’s authentic in its luxurious opulence, expensive, beautifully designed. Home to anyone who can afford it and who can get in (which is not always easy).

A playground for those who want to get the taste of the Moscow highlife. Krysha Mira means “the roof of the world” and is full of millionaires, their girlfriends, boyfriends and other people who just like to have lavish fun and simply observe.

The difference of Krysha Mira from all other fancy clubs in Moscow is that it actually has good music occassionally and even though it’s pretentious it’s not that kitschy after all.

During the day there is Denis Simachev fashion boutique open at the first floor. Check out the website to see the collections – we guarantee it’s some of the best badass outfits you’ll find.

12/3 Kutuzovsky Prospekt entrance from Tarasa Shevchenko embankment metro Smolenskaya, 1905 Goda

Denis Simachev Bar, courtesy www.denissimachev.com

12/2 Stoleshnikov pereulok metro Kuznetsky Most (Map: 23)

12/3 Кутузовский Проспект подъзд с набережной Тараса Шевченко

Бар Денис Симачев 12/2 Столешников переулок

+7 901 519 56 92 +7 495 629 80 85 www.denissimachev.com Open 24 h

There is a nice cool preparty spot very close to Denis Simachev bar: Moto Cafe Enthusiast - a popular party spot in the courtyard of Stoleshnikov pereulok 7/5.

Another legendary location is the old time favorite of expats and probably the first quality Moscow night club Propaganda. That’s the place where it all started, kind of.

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Real Moscow / Denis Simachev Bar

Getting High / Krysha Mira

Probably the best bar in town, because you really feel that you are in Moscow, and not somewhere else. It’s authentic in its luxurious opulence, expensive, beautifully designed. Home to anyone who can afford it and who can get in (which is not always easy).

A playground for those who want to get the taste of the Moscow highlife. Krysha Mira means “the roof of the world” and is full of millionaires, their girlfriends, boyfriends and other people who just like to have lavish fun and simply observe.

The difference of Krysha Mira from all other fancy clubs in Moscow is that it actually has good music occassionally and even though it’s pretentious it’s not that kitschy after all.

During the day there is Denis Simachev fashion boutique open at the first floor. Check out the website to see the collections – we guarantee it’s some of the best badass outfits you’ll find.

12/3 Kutuzovsky Prospekt entrance from Tarasa Shevchenko embankment metro Smolenskaya, 1905 Goda

Denis Simachev Bar, courtesy www.denissimachev.com

12/2 Stoleshnikov pereulok metro Kuznetsky Most (Map: 23)

12/3 Кутузовский Проспект подъзд с набережной Тараса Шевченко

Бар Денис Симачев 12/2 Столешников переулок

+7 901 519 56 92 +7 495 629 80 85 www.denissimachev.com Open 24 h

There is a nice cool preparty spot very close to Denis Simachev bar: Moto Cafe Enthusiast - a popular party spot in the courtyard of Stoleshnikov pereulok 7/5.

Another legendary location is the old time favorite of expats and probably the first quality Moscow night club Propaganda. That’s the place where it all started, kind of.

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The New Sincerity / Rodnya Bar

A Bit of Everything / Powerhouse Club

A popular spot for afterparties Rodnya has a good Funktion One sound system (which means they take techno seriously) and some of the best DJs in town play there. As it’s more like a morning kind of place, it makes sense to come there from 5 am on, and you can expect that people will slightly be out of their normal selves, but that makes it more interesting.

Powerhouse is many things, including their own music label, studio, a bar, a club and a restaurant. However, its main attraction is the small but charged dancefloor, which features quality electronic music acts from all over the world almost every weekend. Powerhouse is very idealistic in its attempt to be everything at once, but Dewar’s whisky sponsorship deal makes the whole enterprise possible despite all the odds, which makes it a perfect example of how investment can shape reality.

They also host a contemporary electronic music school http://glinka.education

10 Nizhnyaa Syromyatnicheskaya st (Map: 24) metro Kurskaya Powerhouse club - photo from www.powerhouse.fm

ул.Нижняя Сыромятническая д.10, строение 7 Центр Дизайна ARTPLAY +7 925 003-55-90 www.rodnyastudio.ru do check out their website!

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Rodnya is located in Artplay complex, which also hosts the British School of Design, several bars, cafes, creative businesses, and a cheap but super good Chinese restaurant.

A similar place is Design Factory Flacon and Strelka.

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7/4, Goncharnaya st. (Map: 25) metro Taganskaya or Kitai Gorod Место Силы Пауэрхаус 7/4, Гончарная ул метро Таганская или Китай Город www.powerhouse.fm

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The New Sincerity / Rodnya Bar

A Bit of Everything / Powerhouse Club

A popular spot for afterparties Rodnya has a good Funktion One sound system (which means they take techno seriously) and some of the best DJs in town play there. As it’s more like a morning kind of place, it makes sense to come there from 5 am on, and you can expect that people will slightly be out of their normal selves, but that makes it more interesting.

Powerhouse is many things, including their own music label, studio, a bar, a club and a restaurant. However, its main attraction is the small but charged dancefloor, which features quality electronic music acts from all over the world almost every weekend. Powerhouse is very idealistic in its attempt to be everything at once, but Dewar’s whisky sponsorship deal makes the whole enterprise possible despite all the odds, which makes it a perfect example of how investment can shape reality.

They also host a contemporary electronic music school http://glinka.education

10 Nizhnyaa Syromyatnicheskaya st (Map: 24) metro Kurskaya Powerhouse club - photo from www.powerhouse.fm

ул.Нижняя Сыромятническая д.10, строение 7 Центр Дизайна ARTPLAY +7 925 003-55-90 www.rodnyastudio.ru do check out their website!

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Rodnya is located in Artplay complex, which also hosts the British School of Design, several bars, cafes, creative businesses, and a cheap but super good Chinese restaurant.

A similar place is Design Factory Flacon and Strelka.

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7/4, Goncharnaya st. (Map: 25) metro Taganskaya or Kitai Gorod Место Силы Пауэрхаус 7/4, Гончарная ул метро Таганская или Китай Город www.powerhouse.fm

pages 376 to 395 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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St. Petersburg streets photo by Katie Brady - flickr.com/photos/cliche/

St. Petersburg

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St. Petersburg streets photo by Katie Brady - flickr.com/photos/cliche/

St. Petersburg

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St. Petersburg is the least Russian city in Russia, but

Санкт Петербург

it’s one of the most interesting destinations exactly because of that. Built in the beginning of the 18th century in the middle of swampy lands by Peter the Great and co. it was designed to be the stronghold of Russian naval fleet. It is important to notice that back then Russia was quite backwards in terms of technological development and innovation, so Peter had to do the whole thing on steroids (he was hard on his people, many of whom died during the construction works). Nevertheless, his mission was accomplished and now we have a beautiful monument to everything that we think is impossible that nevertheless realizes itself through the power of will – St. Petersburg, that is.

There are many beautiful spots in St. Petersburg, so walking around the city is real pleasure. The streets look like a mix of Amsterdam (because of the many channels) and Berlin (the streets are wide and the houses are kind of rugged and dusty). There are many beautiful mansions and strange, but super interesting courtyards (the other side of the restored building facades).

In terms of the atmosphere, St. Petersburg is the most European city in Russia: very relaxed and friendly. There’s lots of small cafes and bars, it’s very easy to meet locals and many of them speak English. Still, St. Petersburg is a Russian city, so you will still find some truly authentic locations and experiences especially if you go off the beaten track.

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St. Petersburg is the least Russian city in Russia, but

Санкт Петербург

it’s one of the most interesting destinations exactly because of that. Built in the beginning of the 18th century in the middle of swampy lands by Peter the Great and co. it was designed to be the stronghold of Russian naval fleet. It is important to notice that back then Russia was quite backwards in terms of technological development and innovation, so Peter had to do the whole thing on steroids (he was hard on his people, many of whom died during the construction works). Nevertheless, his mission was accomplished and now we have a beautiful monument to everything that we think is impossible that nevertheless realizes itself through the power of will – St. Petersburg, that is.

There are many beautiful spots in St. Petersburg, so walking around the city is real pleasure. The streets look like a mix of Amsterdam (because of the many channels) and Berlin (the streets are wide and the houses are kind of rugged and dusty). There are many beautiful mansions and strange, but super interesting courtyards (the other side of the restored building facades).

In terms of the atmosphere, St. Petersburg is the most European city in Russia: very relaxed and friendly. There’s lots of small cafes and bars, it’s very easy to meet locals and many of them speak English. Still, St. Petersburg is a Russian city, so you will still find some truly authentic locations and experiences especially if you go off the beaten track.

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This map online: bit.ly/spbmaps

St. Petersburg map copyright OpenStreeMap contributors

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This map online: bit.ly/spbmaps

St. Petersburg map copyright OpenStreeMap contributors

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LED / Pulkovo Airport

Trains to Helsinki / Finlandsky Statio

Trains to Moscow, Novgorod and Trans-Siberian / Moskovsky Station

St. Petersburg has one major airport Pulkovo, located about 20 km south of the city center.

While it’s not the most exciting place to be and is not as fancy smooth as the Moscow airports, you have to fly from somewhere.

The cheapest flights to/from St. Petersburg are with Air Berlin, connecting it to the major cities in Germany and also some local airlines flights to Europe and UK. AirBaltic and SAS have also good cheap stopover options.

Trains to Helsinki and Vyborg depart from here. Your best bet for Helsinki-St. Petersburg route is to take a 4.5-hour seater train, which costs from €40 to €100 for one-way trip.

The main train station is Moskovsky, which is almost the exact replica of Leningradsky vokzal in Moscow (or the other way round). Train connections with Moscow and Novgorod, as well as Trans-Siberian.

There are several trains to Moscow daily. You can take a seater express train Sapsan, which takes about 4.5 hours and costs about €100 one way. There are also comfortable overnight options, like the “Red Arrow” train, which takes 8 hours and cost about €100 one way for 2nd class (4-berth compartment) or €200 one way for 1st class (2-berth compartment). Cheaper trains start at €50 for 3rd class (common carriage) compartment. The later a train departs, the cheaper it is usually.

The way to get to the city from the airport is to take a minibus or a bus, which will take you to the center of the city in about 30-60 minutes, depending on the traffic (beware).

Taxi is another option, the cost is about €30 one way. www.bit.ly/spbtran

6, Lenina Square (Map: 2) metro Ploschad Lenina 6, Площадь Ленина метро Площадь Ленина

Trains to Riga & Pskov / Vitebsky Station .

52, Zagorodny Prospekt (Map: 3) metro Pushkinskaya 52 Загородный проспект метро Пушкинская

Central Bus Station Buses to Riga, Tallin and Helsinki. 15 minutes walk south from Moskovsky Station.

36, nab Obvodnovo Kanala (Map: 4) metro Ligovsky Prospekt 36, наб Обводного Канала Автобусный Вокзал

85, Nevsky Prospekt (Map: 1) metro Ploschad Vosstania 85, Московский Вокзал метро Площадь Восстания

You can buy train tickets directly online and see live train schedules and availability on www.bit.ly/rutrain

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LED / Pulkovo Airport

Trains to Helsinki / Finlandsky Statio

Trains to Moscow, Novgorod and Trans-Siberian / Moskovsky Station

St. Petersburg has one major airport Pulkovo, located about 20 km south of the city center.

While it’s not the most exciting place to be and is not as fancy smooth as the Moscow airports, you have to fly from somewhere.

The cheapest flights to/from St. Petersburg are with Air Berlin, connecting it to the major cities in Germany and also some local airlines flights to Europe and UK. AirBaltic and SAS have also good cheap stopover options.

Trains to Helsinki and Vyborg depart from here. Your best bet for Helsinki-St. Petersburg route is to take a 4.5-hour seater train, which costs from €40 to €100 for one-way trip.

The main train station is Moskovsky, which is almost the exact replica of Leningradsky vokzal in Moscow (or the other way round). Train connections with Moscow and Novgorod, as well as Trans-Siberian.

There are several trains to Moscow daily. You can take a seater express train Sapsan, which takes about 4.5 hours and costs about €100 one way. There are also comfortable overnight options, like the “Red Arrow” train, which takes 8 hours and cost about €100 one way for 2nd class (4-berth compartment) or €200 one way for 1st class (2-berth compartment). Cheaper trains start at €50 for 3rd class (common carriage) compartment. The later a train departs, the cheaper it is usually.

The way to get to the city from the airport is to take a minibus or a bus, which will take you to the center of the city in about 30-60 minutes, depending on the traffic (beware).

Taxi is another option, the cost is about €30 one way. www.bit.ly/spbtran

6, Lenina Square (Map: 2) metro Ploschad Lenina 6, Площадь Ленина метро Площадь Ленина

Trains to Riga & Pskov / Vitebsky Station .

52, Zagorodny Prospekt (Map: 3) metro Pushkinskaya 52 Загородный проспект метро Пушкинская

Central Bus Station Buses to Riga, Tallin and Helsinki. 15 minutes walk south from Moskovsky Station.

36, nab Obvodnovo Kanala (Map: 4) metro Ligovsky Prospekt 36, наб Обводного Канала Автобусный Вокзал

85, Nevsky Prospekt (Map: 1) metro Ploschad Vosstania 85, Московский Вокзал метро Площадь Восстания

You can buy train tickets directly online and see live train schedules and availability on www.bit.ly/rutrain

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Kanal Griboedova in St. Petersburg, photo by Ana Paula Hirana - flickr.com/photos/anapaulahrm

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Kanal Griboedova in St. Petersburg, photo by Ana Paula Hirana - flickr.com/photos/anapaulahrm

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Wi-Fi & Internet

Consulates

Wi-fi is ubiquitous in the city and mostly for free, but if you’re staying for a long time and need fast internet, it’s better to get the local SIM with 4G/LTE option. Yota and Megafon offer good options and modems from €50.

Most EU countries, as well as the UK, US, China and India have their consulates in St. Petersburg.

You can buy the local SIM at any telecom shop in the center of the city.

Medical Care / Euromed The easiest (but also the more expensive) way is to contact Euromed private clinic. They have 24-hour emergency medical and dentistry services and provide all kinds of medical care.

60, Suvorovski Proezd +7 (812) 327-0301 www.en.euromed.ru

Laundry & Chill / Stirka 40 Gradusov

Co-Working & Tea / Tsiferblat

USA: 15 Furshtatskaya St +7 812 331 2600 (24 h)

Unlike Moscow there are many laundromats in St. Petersburg.

The best one is centrally-located Stirka 40 Gradusov, which also has a cafe and is a nice meeting spot.

UK: 5, Pl Proletarskoy Diktatury +7 812 320 3200

26, Kazanskaya st (Map: 5) 26, Казанская улица metro Spasskaya

Deutschland: 39, Furshtatskaya ulitsa +7 812 320 2400

www.40gradusov.ru

Just like its Moscow counterpart, Tsiberblat charges per minute (2R or 4 cents in this case) and everything else, including the internet, a working space, tea, coffee is free.

Located next to Moskovsky train station and open during the night on Friday and Saturday, making it a great place to wait for a late-night train.

81, Nevsky Prospekt (Map: 6) 81, Невский Проспект metro Ploschad Vosstania

France: 15, nab Reki Moiki +7 812 332 2270 China: 134, nab kanala Griboyedova chinaconsul_sp_ru@mfa.gov.cn

In case of emergency you can dial 112 on your mobile and call ambulance. They will usually come in a few minutes, provide emergency care, and take you to the nearest hospital. But it’s very unlikely that you’ll find English-speaking staff there.

Tsiferblat’s concept of charging a very small fee per minute and offering everything else for free proved to be so successful, that they opened their spaces in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-na-Donu, Kiev and London. The first one is located in Moscow (page 385).

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nevsky81.ziferblat.net

Co-Working / Work Smart A very nice coworking space with a daily fee of €15, internet and printer included.

23, Plutalova st (Map: 7) 23, Плуталова ул metro Petrogradskaya +7 812 325-22-11 www.work-smart.ru

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Wi-Fi & Internet

Consulates

Wi-fi is ubiquitous in the city and mostly for free, but if you’re staying for a long time and need fast internet, it’s better to get the local SIM with 4G/LTE option. Yota and Megafon offer good options and modems from €50.

Most EU countries, as well as the UK, US, China and India have their consulates in St. Petersburg.

You can buy the local SIM at any telecom shop in the center of the city.

Medical Care / Euromed The easiest (but also the more expensive) way is to contact Euromed private clinic. They have 24-hour emergency medical and dentistry services and provide all kinds of medical care.

60, Suvorovski Proezd +7 (812) 327-0301 www.en.euromed.ru

Laundry & Chill / Stirka 40 Gradusov

Co-Working & Tea / Tsiferblat

USA: 15 Furshtatskaya St +7 812 331 2600 (24 h)

Unlike Moscow there are many laundromats in St. Petersburg.

The best one is centrally-located Stirka 40 Gradusov, which also has a cafe and is a nice meeting spot.

UK: 5, Pl Proletarskoy Diktatury +7 812 320 3200

26, Kazanskaya st (Map: 5) 26, Казанская улица metro Spasskaya

Deutschland: 39, Furshtatskaya ulitsa +7 812 320 2400

www.40gradusov.ru

Just like its Moscow counterpart, Tsiberblat charges per minute (2R or 4 cents in this case) and everything else, including the internet, a working space, tea, coffee is free.

Located next to Moskovsky train station and open during the night on Friday and Saturday, making it a great place to wait for a late-night train.

81, Nevsky Prospekt (Map: 6) 81, Невский Проспект metro Ploschad Vosstania

France: 15, nab Reki Moiki +7 812 332 2270 China: 134, nab kanala Griboyedova chinaconsul_sp_ru@mfa.gov.cn

In case of emergency you can dial 112 on your mobile and call ambulance. They will usually come in a few minutes, provide emergency care, and take you to the nearest hospital. But it’s very unlikely that you’ll find English-speaking staff there.

Tsiferblat’s concept of charging a very small fee per minute and offering everything else for free proved to be so successful, that they opened their spaces in Kazan, Nizhny Novgorod, Rostov-na-Donu, Kiev and London. The first one is located in Moscow (page 385).

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nevsky81.ziferblat.net

Co-Working / Work Smart A very nice coworking space with a daily fee of €15, internet and printer included.

23, Plutalova st (Map: 7) 23, Плуталова ул metro Petrogradskaya +7 812 325-22-11 www.work-smart.ru

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где остановиться?

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где остановиться?

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Live Like a Local / Apartments for Rent

Bed & Breakfast / Sovetskaya, 21

The easiest way to rent an apartment in St. Petersburg is through AirBnB, but there are also many local companies on the market that offer better prices and have more flexible options. When choosing a place to live it’s better to find something quiet, not too far from the central Nevsky Prospekt street, but also a bit away from the tourist crowds. We recommend the area above Nevsky Prospekt, not far from Tavrichesky Garden or Summer Garden (Letniy Sad) – these areas are easily accessible, you’ll have a park nearby, the Neva river is close, and it’s just a 5- to 10-minute walk to most spots in the city. Be ready to pay at least €60 per night for a basic apartment, but if you want something more or less comfortable, it’s going to cost about €80-€100 per night. The rents during the White Nights (end of June) are very high, so you might want to avoid traveling during this period.

This German-managed bed & breakfast is one of the oldest and the most reliable ones in the city. They have several single and double rooms starting at €50 per night. The location is nice, not far away from Nevsky Prospekt and in a quiet area.

The place itself is calm and quiet, probably suits best for a couple.

21, 5 Sovetskaya st (Map: 8) 21, 5-я Советская улица metro Ploschad Vosstania +7 812 923 05 75 www.bit.ly/spbsov

St Petersburg courtyard, photo by passer-by flickr.com/photos/passer-by/

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Live Like a Local / Apartments for Rent

Bed & Breakfast / Sovetskaya, 21

The easiest way to rent an apartment in St. Petersburg is through AirBnB, but there are also many local companies on the market that offer better prices and have more flexible options. When choosing a place to live it’s better to find something quiet, not too far from the central Nevsky Prospekt street, but also a bit away from the tourist crowds. We recommend the area above Nevsky Prospekt, not far from Tavrichesky Garden or Summer Garden (Letniy Sad) – these areas are easily accessible, you’ll have a park nearby, the Neva river is close, and it’s just a 5- to 10-minute walk to most spots in the city. Be ready to pay at least €60 per night for a basic apartment, but if you want something more or less comfortable, it’s going to cost about €80-€100 per night. The rents during the White Nights (end of June) are very high, so you might want to avoid traveling during this period.

This German-managed bed & breakfast is one of the oldest and the most reliable ones in the city. They have several single and double rooms starting at €50 per night. The location is nice, not far away from Nevsky Prospekt and in a quiet area.

The place itself is calm and quiet, probably suits best for a couple.

21, 5 Sovetskaya st (Map: 8) 21, 5-я Советская улица metro Ploschad Vosstania +7 812 923 05 75 www.bit.ly/spbsov

St Petersburg courtyard, photo by passer-by flickr.com/photos/passer-by/

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Hostel / Soul Kitchen

Cheap & Central / Cuba Hostel

Probably the best hostel in St. Petersburg: spacious rooms, great atmosphere, nice staff.

Located not far from St Isaac cathedral on Moika river. The cool thing is that their bunk beds have curtains, so you can easily create a private space for yourself. They’ve also been voted the most secure hostel in Europe. The prices start at €25 during high season for a bed in a 8- or 5-bed rooms, but you can also get a private double for €100, which is probably a bit too expensive for what’s on the offer.

Very centrally located right next to Nevsky Prospekt and Kazansky Cathedral this is probably the cheapest hostel in the city as you can get a bed in a 10bed dorm for about €12 during high season. The interior is a bit bare but they tried to make it fun with some tasteless decoration, which in the end neutralizes the effort and brings it back to the basic, that is, their attractive price.

62/2, naberezhnaya Reki Moyki, apartment 2 (Map: 9) 62/2, набережная реки Мойка

www.bit.ly/cubaspb

+7 965 816-34-70 www.bit.ly/soulhostel

Okhtinskaya Hotel entrance, photo by Kovalski

5, Kazanskaya st. (Map: 10) 5, Казанская ул. +7 812 921-71-15

Room with a View / Okhtinskaya Hotel Housed in a huge Soviet-style building, this hotel is a bit far away from the center (about 15 minutes drive or 1 hour walk), but it has super cheap offers occasionally (€30 per night for a double room) and can be interesting for those who search to find a bit of the communist past. The rooms are quite basic and sometimes you wonder if they kept the curtains from the 80s, but that only adds to the charm. If you get a room at the top floors you’ll have an amazing view of the city.

4 Bolsheokhtinsky Prospekt, Bolshaja Okhta (Map: 11) 4 Большеохтинский проспект, Большая Охта www.bit.ly/okhtaspb

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Hostel / Soul Kitchen

Cheap & Central / Cuba Hostel

Probably the best hostel in St. Petersburg: spacious rooms, great atmosphere, nice staff.

Located not far from St Isaac cathedral on Moika river. The cool thing is that their bunk beds have curtains, so you can easily create a private space for yourself. They’ve also been voted the most secure hostel in Europe. The prices start at €25 during high season for a bed in a 8- or 5-bed rooms, but you can also get a private double for €100, which is probably a bit too expensive for what’s on the offer.

Very centrally located right next to Nevsky Prospekt and Kazansky Cathedral this is probably the cheapest hostel in the city as you can get a bed in a 10bed dorm for about €12 during high season. The interior is a bit bare but they tried to make it fun with some tasteless decoration, which in the end neutralizes the effort and brings it back to the basic, that is, their attractive price.

62/2, naberezhnaya Reki Moyki, apartment 2 (Map: 9) 62/2, набережная реки Мойка

www.bit.ly/cubaspb

+7 965 816-34-70 www.bit.ly/soulhostel

Okhtinskaya Hotel entrance, photo by Kovalski

5, Kazanskaya st. (Map: 10) 5, Казанская ул. +7 812 921-71-15

Room with a View / Okhtinskaya Hotel Housed in a huge Soviet-style building, this hotel is a bit far away from the center (about 15 minutes drive or 1 hour walk), but it has super cheap offers occasionally (€30 per night for a double room) and can be interesting for those who search to find a bit of the communist past. The rooms are quite basic and sometimes you wonder if they kept the curtains from the 80s, but that only adds to the charm. If you get a room at the top floors you’ll have an amazing view of the city.

4 Bolsheokhtinsky Prospekt, Bolshaja Okhta (Map: 11) 4 Большеохтинский проспект, Большая Охта www.bit.ly/okhtaspb

pages 414 to 479 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Trans-Siberian railway, photo by Mikhail Koninin - flickr.com/photos/mksystem/4796685094

Trans-Siberian

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Trans-Siberian railway, photo by Mikhail Koninin - flickr.com/photos/mksystem/4796685094

Trans-Siberian

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#transsiberian Check out the online train schedules on www.waytorussia.net > Train Tickets or go to bit.ly/rutrains

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#transsiberian Check out the online train schedules on www.waytorussia.net > Train Tickets or go to bit.ly/rutrains

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Транссиб

Trans-Siberian railway (usually called TransSib) is the world’s longest and the most famous train route. It crosses the whole Russia, starting in Moscow, passing through the European Russia, crossing the Urals mountains (which separate Europe and Asia), spanning further into Siberia’s taiga and steppes, ending in Vladivostok — the Russian Far East port on the Pacific Ocean. A part of the Trans-Siberian also branches down from Eastern Siberia (after Baikal lake) to Mongolia and China, finishing in Beijing.

Trans-Siberian is not just a railway, it’s an experience, a condensed version of life in somewhat extreme but comfortable and even amazing setting. That’s why TransSib is something people want to do at least once in their life: it’s comparable to climbing a mountain or going to a meditation retreat. Except that in the case of TransSib the adventure is aided by infrastructure, it also has several degrees of comfort (a brief hello from capitalism), and is not a solitary but a truly collective experience – a very 21st-century way of engaging into a spiritual quest.

This metaphor has been elaborated by Victor Pelevin in his short story called “Yellow Arrow”. A train is moving through the endless landscape, the passengers and busy with their everyday chores, eating, sleeping, playing cards, drinking vodka, selling stuff to each other, and having occasional philosophical conversations.

Some people start worndering what’s outside of their carriage and what it is like outside of the train. Some venture to explore

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Транссиб

Trans-Siberian railway (usually called TransSib) is the world’s longest and the most famous train route. It crosses the whole Russia, starting in Moscow, passing through the European Russia, crossing the Urals mountains (which separate Europe and Asia), spanning further into Siberia’s taiga and steppes, ending in Vladivostok — the Russian Far East port on the Pacific Ocean. A part of the Trans-Siberian also branches down from Eastern Siberia (after Baikal lake) to Mongolia and China, finishing in Beijing.

Trans-Siberian is not just a railway, it’s an experience, a condensed version of life in somewhat extreme but comfortable and even amazing setting. That’s why TransSib is something people want to do at least once in their life: it’s comparable to climbing a mountain or going to a meditation retreat. Except that in the case of TransSib the adventure is aided by infrastructure, it also has several degrees of comfort (a brief hello from capitalism), and is not a solitary but a truly collective experience – a very 21st-century way of engaging into a spiritual quest.

This metaphor has been elaborated by Victor Pelevin in his short story called “Yellow Arrow”. A train is moving through the endless landscape, the passengers and busy with their everyday chores, eating, sleeping, playing cards, drinking vodka, selling stuff to each other, and having occasional philosophical conversations.

Some people start worndering what’s outside of their carriage and what it is like outside of the train. Some venture to explore

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and find that not all carriages are the same: the posh ones towards the front of the train are more quiet and comfortable, the poor ones towards the end have no privacy and little space but are much more fun. Some of the explorers end here and start making business having learnt about the social discrepancy on the train (it turns out the poor ones are keen to trade their food for silver spoons from the 1st class carriages).

Only a few do not stop there and try to find out what’s outside of the train. They have lengthy discussions about the possibility of jumping off or climbing outside to see what’s really going on. But they also realize the risks (one can easily fall off or be left behind). Finally, the bravest ones climb out on top of the train roof and realize that there’s a whole new world around passing by which they cannot really explore because they are on the train and that train ride is really their whole life. So the only way to discover the world passing around is to stop the train, to pause their life, to change the rules of the game, but that also means putting an end to their current experience…

It’s better to leave the end of the story to those who want to read the book, but it’s even better to find out what it really feels like through taking the Trans-Siberian journey.

To make your spiritual quest easier we’ll deal with the practicalities first – even a spaceship needs a solid launch station to venture into the cosmos…

A view from Circum-Baikal train photo by Jody McIntyre - flickr.com/photos/scjody/4803338805

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and find that not all carriages are the same: the posh ones towards the front of the train are more quiet and comfortable, the poor ones towards the end have no privacy and little space but are much more fun. Some of the explorers end here and start making business having learnt about the social discrepancy on the train (it turns out the poor ones are keen to trade their food for silver spoons from the 1st class carriages).

Only a few do not stop there and try to find out what’s outside of the train. They have lengthy discussions about the possibility of jumping off or climbing outside to see what’s really going on. But they also realize the risks (one can easily fall off or be left behind). Finally, the bravest ones climb out on top of the train roof and realize that there’s a whole new world around passing by which they cannot really explore because they are on the train and that train ride is really their whole life. So the only way to discover the world passing around is to stop the train, to pause their life, to change the rules of the game, but that also means putting an end to their current experience…

It’s better to leave the end of the story to those who want to read the book, but it’s even better to find out what it really feels like through taking the Trans-Siberian journey.

To make your spiritual quest easier we’ll deal with the practicalities first – even a spaceship needs a solid launch station to venture into the cosmos…

A view from Circum-Baikal train photo by Jody McIntyre - flickr.com/photos/scjody/4803338805

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This map online: bit.ly/transsibmap

Trans-Siberian railway map copyright OpenStreetMap contributors - www.openstreetmap.org

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This map online: bit.ly/transsibmap

Trans-Siberian railway map copyright OpenStreetMap contributors - www.openstreetmap.org

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Transsib, the Best Of...

1) You’ve done the most important and the longest travel route on the planet Earth, spending several days on the train going through Siberia – something to tell your grandchildren about.

2) Your communication skills have dramatically improve! In just a few days you got to hang out with soldiers, professors, mothers, kids, prostitutes, scientists, workers, train conductors, interpreters, cops, writers, photographers, geologists – and literally any other possible type of human being one can imagine.

You shared a small train compartment with them for several days and became their best friend for life. In case of nuclear war you now always have a secret hideout place in Siberia ran by your man Sergei.

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3) You’ve seen Siberia with your own eyes and touched its soil with your own hands! You swam in Baikal lake and you’ve climbed the Altay mountains!

You’ve passed the city where Khodorkovsky was imprisoned for 10 years (Chita, that is). You’ve reached the Russian Far East port of Vladivostok!

4) You’ve tried truly authentic home-made Russian food while on the train: offered by your fellow travelers and by the charming babushkas who sell their food on the platforms when the train stops.

5) You’ve been drinking vodka on the Russian train for several days in the row and now can drink more of this fire water than anybody else you know.

6) You will have had a unique opportunity to reflect and relax for a few days in a comfortable confinement of your train cabin (get the whole compartment if you really are looking for that experience).

7) You’ve traveled the whole continent for €200 – has anyone else done the same?

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Transsib, the Best Of...

1) You’ve done the most important and the longest travel route on the planet Earth, spending several days on the train going through Siberia – something to tell your grandchildren about.

2) Your communication skills have dramatically improve! In just a few days you got to hang out with soldiers, professors, mothers, kids, prostitutes, scientists, workers, train conductors, interpreters, cops, writers, photographers, geologists – and literally any other possible type of human being one can imagine.

You shared a small train compartment with them for several days and became their best friend for life. In case of nuclear war you now always have a secret hideout place in Siberia ran by your man Sergei.

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3) You’ve seen Siberia with your own eyes and touched its soil with your own hands! You swam in Baikal lake and you’ve climbed the Altay mountains!

You’ve passed the city where Khodorkovsky was imprisoned for 10 years (Chita, that is). You’ve reached the Russian Far East port of Vladivostok!

4) You’ve tried truly authentic home-made Russian food while on the train: offered by your fellow travelers and by the charming babushkas who sell their food on the platforms when the train stops.

5) You’ve been drinking vodka on the Russian train for several days in the row and now can drink more of this fire water than anybody else you know.

6) You will have had a unique opportunity to reflect and relax for a few days in a comfortable confinement of your train cabin (get the whole compartment if you really are looking for that experience).

7) You’ve traveled the whole continent for €200 – has anyone else done the same?

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A view from the Trans-Siberian train photo by Desmond Kavanagh - flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/14659738414

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A view from the Trans-Siberian train photo by Desmond Kavanagh - flickr.com/photos/desmondkavanagh/14659738414

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The Trans-Siberian is about

9000 km long and takes 6 days to travel

from Moscow to Vladivostok. After Baikal Lake, near Chita, there are two more branches: the TransMongolian that goes down to Ulan-Bataar (Mongolia) and into Beijing (China) and the Trans-Manchurian that curves around Mongolia border into China – both take about 5 days from Moscow to Beijing.

The best way to explore Trans-Siberian is to make a few stopovers along the way, unless you really want to go for the hard-core 6-day long train experience.

The thing is that if you’re sharing your cabin with other passengers you might get tired of them after the first 2 days and you will also want to move around a bit. So it makes sense to make a few stops to keep oneself fresh and healthy. We recommend to make stops in Ekaterinburg (1 day from Moscow), Novosibirsk (2 days), Krasnoyarsk (3 days), Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude – both are situated on Baikal Lake (4 days). You can also just stop in Novosibirsk for a couple of days and then spend a week or two at Baikal – this way you’ll get your full on train experience but won’t get too tired of it.

Animals on the Trans-Siberian photo by Paul Schoen - www.paulschoen.com

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The Trans-Siberian is about

9000 km long and takes 6 days to travel

from Moscow to Vladivostok. After Baikal Lake, near Chita, there are two more branches: the TransMongolian that goes down to Ulan-Bataar (Mongolia) and into Beijing (China) and the Trans-Manchurian that curves around Mongolia border into China – both take about 5 days from Moscow to Beijing.

The best way to explore Trans-Siberian is to make a few stopovers along the way, unless you really want to go for the hard-core 6-day long train experience.

The thing is that if you’re sharing your cabin with other passengers you might get tired of them after the first 2 days and you will also want to move around a bit. So it makes sense to make a few stops to keep oneself fresh and healthy. We recommend to make stops in Ekaterinburg (1 day from Moscow), Novosibirsk (2 days), Krasnoyarsk (3 days), Irkutsk and Ulan-Ude – both are situated on Baikal Lake (4 days). You can also just stop in Novosibirsk for a couple of days and then spend a week or two at Baikal – this way you’ll get your full on train experience but won’t get too tired of it.

Animals on the Trans-Siberian photo by Paul Schoen - www.paulschoen.com

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Safety is always an impor-

Two “provodnitsa” or train conductors waiting outside of the train photo by Clay Gilliland - flickr.com/photos/26781577@N07

tant concern for Trans-Siberian travelers. The thing is that Russian trains are some of the safest in the world. Not only every carriage of the train has a conductor who looks after the cleanliness and the order, but also every train has a police squad on standby in case anything goes wrong. The reason is not that there are too many problems happening on the train. Rather, Trans-Siberian is the only well-functioning route connecting Siberia to the European part of Russia.

So one has to avoid any sort of problems to ensure uninterrupted flow of trains along the line. Therefore the train security is almost as tight as in airports.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you travel in a compartment you might get stuck with somebody you don’t like.

So in case you want to avoid that get a ticket in 3rd class common carriage (which has no compartments but is still relatively comfortable), book the whole compartment for yourself (which is expensive, ok), or at least get the top bunk bed – like this you can always crawl up and pretend you’re asleep.

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Safety is always an impor-

Two “provodnitsa” or train conductors waiting outside of the train photo by Clay Gilliland - flickr.com/photos/26781577@N07

tant concern for Trans-Siberian travelers. The thing is that Russian trains are some of the safest in the world. Not only every carriage of the train has a conductor who looks after the cleanliness and the order, but also every train has a police squad on standby in case anything goes wrong. The reason is not that there are too many problems happening on the train. Rather, Trans-Siberian is the only well-functioning route connecting Siberia to the European part of Russia.

So one has to avoid any sort of problems to ensure uninterrupted flow of trains along the line. Therefore the train security is almost as tight as in airports.

One thing to keep in mind is that if you travel in a compartment you might get stuck with somebody you don’t like.

So in case you want to avoid that get a ticket in 3rd class common carriage (which has no compartments but is still relatively comfortable), book the whole compartment for yourself (which is expensive, ok), or at least get the top bunk bed – like this you can always crawl up and pretend you’re asleep.

pages 498 to 513 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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It’s better to make a few stopovers along the Trans-Siberian route, as it will make your experience more diverse and also make your journey more comfortable. If you are a hard-core train fan you can of course travel all the way from Moscow to Vladivostok (or Beijing), but you will regret that you haven’t stopped at Baikal lake after you see it passing by your window…

Kazan is only a few hours from Moscow along the

Trans-Siberian Stopovers

Trans-Siberian and can be a great place to explore for a couple of days. It’s the capital of Tatarstan republic and is predominantly Muslim, making it different from the rest of Russia in a very special way. It’s a friendly, clean, and safe city: there are many touristic sights and a bunch of cool clubs and bars, so you’ll definitely have some fun there.

Kazan Kremlin - photo by khawkins33 - flickr.com/photos/82877821@N00/

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It’s better to make a few stopovers along the Trans-Siberian route, as it will make your experience more diverse and also make your journey more comfortable. If you are a hard-core train fan you can of course travel all the way from Moscow to Vladivostok (or Beijing), but you will regret that you haven’t stopped at Baikal lake after you see it passing by your window…

Kazan is only a few hours from Moscow along the

Trans-Siberian Stopovers

Trans-Siberian and can be a great place to explore for a couple of days. It’s the capital of Tatarstan republic and is predominantly Muslim, making it different from the rest of Russia in a very special way. It’s a friendly, clean, and safe city: there are many touristic sights and a bunch of cool clubs and bars, so you’ll definitely have some fun there.

Kazan Kremlin - photo by khawkins33 - flickr.com/photos/82877821@N00/

516

Ekaterinburg is a 32-hour journey from Moscow – a major industrial city in Urals famous for its constructivist architecture and UralMash mafia gang from the 90s. Nowadays it’s much safer than it used to be, so bury all hopes of getting back into the brutal reality of the early capitalist Russia. Instead it’s going to be some off-the-beaten track sightseeing and the night-time clubbing experience in the best Russian tradition. Perfect to stop by for one or two nights.

Ekaterinburg - photo by Andrij Bulba - flickr.com/photos/andrijbulba/977498881

517

Novosibirsk is about 2 days journey from Moscow

and 1 day from Ekaterinburg. It’s the capital of Western Siberia, a major industrial and scientific center. Not so much sightseeing in the traditional sense of the word as most architecture is relatively new, but there is something magical in this sprawling concrete city located in the midst of Siberian taiga forests. Also, the adjacent Akademgorodok used to be a secret scientific center, so it’s well worth a visit for some nostalgic trip into the Soviet past. There’s also a lake near the city and hectares of uninhabited forests providing for a nice break from the long train ride.

A bridge over Ob river - photo by Mikhail Koninin flickr.com/photos/mksystem/7087207613

516

Ekaterinburg is a 32-hour journey from Moscow – a major industrial city in Urals famous for its constructivist architecture and UralMash mafia gang from the 90s. Nowadays it’s much safer than it used to be, so bury all hopes of getting back into the brutal reality of the early capitalist Russia. Instead it’s going to be some off-the-beaten track sightseeing and the night-time clubbing experience in the best Russian tradition. Perfect to stop by for one or two nights.

Ekaterinburg - photo by Andrij Bulba - flickr.com/photos/andrijbulba/977498881

517

Novosibirsk is about 2 days journey from Moscow

and 1 day from Ekaterinburg. It’s the capital of Western Siberia, a major industrial and scientific center. Not so much sightseeing in the traditional sense of the word as most architecture is relatively new, but there is something magical in this sprawling concrete city located in the midst of Siberian taiga forests. Also, the adjacent Akademgorodok used to be a secret scientific center, so it’s well worth a visit for some nostalgic trip into the Soviet past. There’s also a lake near the city and hectares of uninhabited forests providing for a nice break from the long train ride.

A bridge over Ob river - photo by Mikhail Koninin flickr.com/photos/mksystem/7087207613

pages 518 to 779 are omitted from this preview to get the complete version, go to www.waytorussia.net/book/

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Special Agency produces mediated experiences for soma-cognitive reconfiguration. Learn more on www.specialagency.co

781

This object was produced by the Special Agency.

The role of the Special Agency is to act as an interface that offers additional choices not usually visible under the normal circumstances.

Special Agency attempts to affect both normality and the very notion of it, as well as employing various practices of mind expansion, such as polysingularity, network analysis, Systema, Noguchi taiso, and the intuitive approach. Every Special Agent acts within the frame of normality, which is constantly questioned, expanded, and morphed into poly-orthogonal shapes, which gain their own frequency, rhythmicality, physicality, emotional hues, and variable dynamics. In that Special Agent channels the very unique thing that is only him/her/its and nobody else’s – the natural lifeflow that was mysteriously obfuscated by one’s personality. It’s the remainings and artefacts of those obfuscations which are of interest to a Special Agent, as they are forming the building blocks and energy packets within physical matter – such as this book, the retina of the one who’s reading, the neuronal signal of the one who’s writing, the tremble within the air produced by somebody who speaks.

780

Special Agency produces mediated experiences for soma-cognitive reconfiguration. Learn more on www.specialagency.co

781

This object was produced by the Special Agency.

The role of the Special Agency is to act as an interface that offers additional choices not usually visible under the normal circumstances.

Special Agency attempts to affect both normality and the very notion of it, as well as employing various practices of mind expansion, such as polysingularity, network analysis, Systema, Noguchi taiso, and the intuitive approach. Every Special Agent acts within the frame of normality, which is constantly questioned, expanded, and morphed into poly-orthogonal shapes, which gain their own frequency, rhythmicality, physicality, emotional hues, and variable dynamics. In that Special Agent channels the very unique thing that is only him/her/its and nobody else’s – the natural lifeflow that was mysteriously obfuscated by one’s personality. It’s the remainings and artefacts of those obfuscations which are of interest to a Special Agent, as they are forming the building blocks and energy packets within physical matter – such as this book, the retina of the one who’s reading, the neuronal signal of the one who’s writing, the tremble within the air produced by somebody who speaks.

784

The barcodes are just there to support the dissemination of thought and emotional intentionality into the digital realm of consciousness and irrational functionality of evolving chaos.

ISBN 978-0-9569569-9-6