| |
Uncle Pasha's
hand-picked and regularly updated collection of
RUSSIAN TRAVEL RESOURCES
Shortcuts:
"Russian
soul" | Moscow for tourists &
expats |
Travelogues & blogs |
Russian travel forums |
Backpacking / budget / adventure / eco-travel /
travel with a cause | Cities &
Regions | Health & Safety |
Platitudes & Truisms | Maps &
train schedules |
Language & Culture | ESL
| "Russian Brides" |
Food | Drink |
Prices | Public Transportation |
Travellers with special interests |
Russian adoptions |
Search engines | ..... | ...... | ......
"Russian
Soul" Related categories: Language
and Culture
-
http://www.bigrussiansoul.org
Good-natured fun poked at the "Russian Soul" concept.
- www.sovokoftheweek.com
October 2006: This site seems to have evolved from a private page into a
full-scale project. Recommended to... I'm at a loss for words here. Not of
tourists, not for business people but for .. Suppose this resource can be
recommended if you are after the spirit of the place. The owners of
Sovok of the Week maintain a
list of resources of the same spirit.
- Daniel Rancour-Laferriere, Slave Soul of Russia. I
can't find the link to the text but you can buy the book
here.
Moscow for tourists and
expats
- Just noticed
www.passportmagazine.ru A fresh compilation of practical
resources of use for an English-speaking traveller. Embassies,
airports, clubs etc. An extensive list of active do-gooder
organizations! (Added April 12, 2007).
- August 5, 2007
www.expat.ru seems to be emerging as a leading information
resource. Especially recommended for accommodation searches.
Travelogues & blogs
[THIS SECTION HASN'T BEEN
UPDATED FOR A WHILE. SKIP IT]
Backpacking,
budget, alternative, adventure, eco-travel, travel with a cause
- www.sv-agency.udm.ru -
The "Svezy Veter" ("Fresh Wind") guys did an admirable job turning Izhevsk, Udmurtia,
an industrial town famous for its Izh and Ural motorcycles, and Kalashnikov
machine gun, into a Mecca for
volunteer English teachers. I regularly hear good things from people who
went to Izhevsk under their programs. All-around support: visa
invitation, tickets, host family matching etc. etc. Active no hassle to use
forums -
www.sv-agency.udm.ru/forum/
[THE FORUM DOES NOT WORK - OCT. 06]
- www.bootsnall.com -
Packed with independent traveller information. An example of how detailed
and in-depth some of www.bootsnall pages are: Through them I found Moscow's only laundromat (Vavilova 11, Tram #39 from M. Leninsky Prospekt or M. Universitet, open 7am to
10pm Mon. to Sat.)
- www.ecotravel.ru -
Ecological Travel Center with focus on Siberia and Lake Baikal.
- www.we-friends.com -
accommodation world-wide Nothing on Russia as of May 2003
-
Travel with a cause -
http://www.miramed.com/articles.htm
[think about using this approach to promote rural travel]
-
http://www.thebackpacker.net
-
Quite a few entries on Russia. An informative site, no-registration BBS.. My
major complaint is their beer board where Baltika No. 9 is recommended.
Don't!! Read my Beer and Vodka page and be
safe and well both during and after your drinking binge.
-
http://www.sv-agency.udm.ru - Svezhy Veter ("Fresh Wind"). Izhevsk, Udmurtia, the Urals
Range. Teaching opportunities, real-life immersion tourism, informative
interactive site, good feedback from my clients in Moscow on their way to
and especially from them.
http://www.vagabondo.net/Indexeng.htm?/Eng/Thenet/europe/russia.html
Good site but the Russian links collection is rather perfunctory, eg. the
Country Description section features a site by the American government and
CIA.
www.backpackers.com
- http://atschool.eduweb.co.uk/ecoliza/
- Cycling Club - http://www.geocities.com/TheTropics/8640/
- http://www.geographicbureau.com/
- http://www.globalfreeloaders.com
- free accommodation, a few offers from Russia.
-
www.hospitalityclub.org
- more free accommodation
- WWW.TRAVELROOMERS.COM -
another free accommodation site
- More free accommodation sites:
www.couchsurfing.com,
www.globalfreeloaders.com,
www.stay4free.com,
www.place2stay.net
- http://www.LostLuggageTales.com">Lost
- A compilation of resources for budget travellers.
-
http://www.sleepinginairports.net/europe/moscow.htm - Sleeping in
Moscow's Sheremetyevo airport
- http://www.couchsurfing.com/
- a database of people who offer a free place to stay in exchange for
same.
-
http://www.hospitalityclub.org/ - Hospitality exchange, no money
involved. LOTS OF ACTIVITY, RECOMMENDED
- NEW
http://www.familytravelboards.com/ has just been called to
my attention. Family travel, as the name suggests. Three generations,
pets, scooters. I see these once in a while. These are almost always
budget and time-consuming clients but I don't mind because working with
family types is easy and relaxing. One exception was an American
ex-military type who told his children to smile and be happy or else they
won't get their ice cream. As a former Utilitarian after the John Stewart
Mill sort I was overwhelmed by the simplicity of approach. Took me a week
and a couple of bottles of vodka to recover.
-
http://www.thegreenguide.com
-
http://www.ecoclub.com
-
http://www.unotravel.com
"Travel with a heart" concept.
-
http://www.unotraveler.com/ New site, mostly empty at the moment
(Jan. 2005). Check back.
-
http://www.innsite.com/
- A directory of Bed & Breakfast offers. A few from ex-USSR countries, nothing
from Russian so far but I'm sure it is coming in the next year or two. The
time is right, the demand is there, and Russians are about to overcome their
fear of opening their homes to "strangers". One of these days I'll compile a
list of silly reasons why a starving babushka with a 4-room flat in the center
of Moscow would not run a small B&B operation.
-
http://www.iwf.ru/index_en.shtml
- A site dedicated to the concept of "deep tourism".
Mostly in Russian and for Russians, who seem to represent a rather
sophisticated market for things extreme and outworldly but have a few
English pages.
-
Hitchhiking in Russia:
waytorussia.net - some general advice
hitchhikers.org
mosnews.com - a Moscow News article on Russian style of
hitchhiking
reitsma.ru - a story by a Dutch hitchhiker in Russia\
- www.bestofhorses.com has a
few links to riding holidays in the Altai region. See my
www.russian-horse-rides.com
for more.
-
www.adventuretraveltips.com is a big compilation of verified links,
about 10 of which related to Russia and a couple dozen more to
neighbouring countries. To be reviewed soon.
Russian
search engines, or search engines with good Russian content.
www.rambler.ru
- of the the biggest www.yandex.ru -
Presently seems to be the market leader
www.list.ru
www.weblist.ru???
www.weblist.ru
www.stars.ru
www.www.ru - in English!!
www.google.ru - turn off cookies before
going there or else you will be taken there whenever you want google.com
Cities and regions -
see "outside of Moscow" page at
www.cheap-moscow.com
Moscow and St. Petersburg
North-west of Moscow, including Tver, Novgorod, Rzhev, Pskov, Valdai,
Staraya Russa, New Jerusalem, Volokolamsk, Torshok...
Moldova
Making contact: Russia-related forums
-
-
www.budgettravel.com/messages/index.htm
OCTOBER 2006: NO ACTIVITY SINCE LAST
YEAR... THEIR RUSSIAN PAGES APPEAR QUITE NEGLECTED.
www.we-friends.com
Several homestay offers from Russia, including "home exchange" or "free in
you teach me English" type arrangements.
www.bradynet.com/bbs/russia/
has an odd message on Russian business
OCTOBER 2006: SPAM ONLY
Adoptions BBS - http://www.littlemiracles.org/bbs-russia/bbs-russia.html
OCTOBER 2006: ACTIVE
http://www.studyrussian.com/bbs/
(active, relevant, no
registration hassles, DEFINITELY RECOMMENDED)
Russia.com Web Guide
- http://www.russia.com/
Some of the most active Russia-related forums are here. You have to
register, which is a minor pain, the the board is alive which is the main
thing.
http://www.russianmeetingplace.com/forums/index.php - Active forums. The point of the
site seems to be Western men and Russian women.
http://www.expat.ru - Has a few
ads but you can only reply them via Private Messages which, for all
practical purposes, means no contact unless you are a habitual of this their
forum. August 5, 2007 - THE PROJECT IS ACTIVELY PROMOTING
ITSELF; RECOMMENDED ESPECIALLY FOR ACCOMMODATION SEARCHES IN MOSCOW
JAN. 2008 - NOT MUCH ACTIVITY.
http://www.virtualtourist.com/f/90a60/
http://www.vivreenrussie.com/forum - French forum
http://www.flyertalk.com/forum/ - Lots of
practical questions on travelling within Russia on this forum.
Active and NO HASSLE TO LEAVE YOUR POSTING. RECOMMENDED.
www.loot.ru - Lots buy and sell postings
DOES NOT WORK AS OF JAN. 2007.. FORUM DEAD JAN. 2008
http://masterrussian.net/mforum/
- This one has a discussion on IMMIGRATING TO RUSSIA
http://www.russianatlanta.net/forums/forum.asp?FORUM_ID=13 - A lot of
Russia-related travel activity seems to be happening in Atlanta.
http://moscow.craigslist.org/
ACTIVE, INFORMATIVE, EASY TO POST
http://russian-federation.travel-information.org/ - A
monumental but somewhat outdated world travel
resource. The forum is somewhat alive. JAN. 2007 - DEAD
The above
Russian forums will put you in touch with fellow travellers and those involved
into foreigner fleecing. Here I've started compiling a list of internet
resources that will put you in touch with Russians. These are of course in
Russian but hey, for a small fee I'll run your ad. Here:
Health and safety
(the safety issue is periodically raised in Uncle
Pasha's Message Board)
- Petty street crimes, incl. money exchange - http://www.kidalovka.narod.ru/
(in Russian, but
a must to read nevertheless; on request I'll happily do a review with my clients..)
- My own musings on the safety aspect of Russian travel. [to be
added; the main idea is that Russia can be remarkably safe or otherwise, depending on who
you are, the objectivist world-view fails utterly here; examples of my own and other's
experience]
- http://www.ricksteves.com/graffiti/scams.html
- Tourist scam alerts, mostly apply to western Europe, but it would not hurt knowing them
if you are on your way to Russia
Official
and semi-official platitudes and truisms
Maps, schedules, pictures
==>> WILL SOMEONE RECOMMEND A LINK TO A GOOD MAP OF MOSCOW?!!!
(Check out our own VIRTUAL WALKS AND DRIVES IN AND AROUND MOSCOW)
Russian Language,
Culture, History...
Russian Cinema
Hi, I found your page very informative.
I have a reference site dedicated to Russian Cinema:
http://www.geocities.com/rusatg/dir.htm
It contains rated listings of Russian movies, films for children, awards,
actors, directors and alphabetical catalog pages.
And I would like to ask if you would find it appropriate
to add a link to my site on your link page.
Let me take this opportunity to once again urge
beginning Russian students NOT TO BOTHER WITH SMALL DIFFERENCES BETWEEN
SPELLING AND PRONUNCIATION. Just read what you see how you see it. Of it
is "o", just read it as "o". "Pozhaluysta" is just that, not "pAzhal-sta".
Often trying to be "correct" will take your attention away from things
more important. Remember that most Russian courses are designed and taught
by Russian teachers and professors, who are a pedantic breed ready to
forego the communicative function of language for the sake of observing
"rules".
Teaching English in Russia
http://www.eslcafe.com/
An extensive and growing compilation of resources on ESL teaching in
Russia.
http://angl.by.ru/forum.htm (in Russian, a good
place to post your ad)
http://www.language.ru/cgi-bin/ubb/ultimatebb.cgi
(same)
http://www.interced.ru/forum/
(same)
http://www.visarus.co.uk/community/index
"Russian brides"
- Elena's Models:
www.elenasmodels.com. Extensive discussion of Russian Brides
scam. Lists of known scammers. (Speaking of scam, I've been getting a lot of
scam-related inquiries as of recent and decided to make scam control services
official - see Russian brides and scam control)
-
RS Russia Today - General information on Russia geared towards
Russian bride seekers: e-mail forwarding, flower and gift delivery,
translation, how to bring your Russian bride home etc.
- Background checks: Graham and Natalia (speaks Russian too) at Visaplus
in London, Great Britain.
http://www.visaplus.co.uk/
Russian prices
Tickets and visa support
- Jettrav@com2com.ru, www.jettravel.ru,
Inexpensive and hassle-free to deal with. (095) 207-9008, 207-1800, fax 207-1876,
Sretenka 16, office 48, Moscow 103045. [E-MAIL NOT VALID - NOV.
2003]
- Sharma Travel - In Ottawa I and my friends always bought from Sharma
Travel - 36-174 Colonnade Road, Ottawa K2E 7J5, (613) 224-4447. They can get real deals..
[will anybody tell me if they are still alive?? - March 17 comment]
- AS OF RECENT WE GOT
INTO BUYING EX MOSCOW TICKETS ON YOUR BEHALF AT LOCAL PRICES PLUS $25
SERVICE FEE
Olesya's page
www.russiangirlfriday.com/trans-siberian.htm
For a list of visa support agents see
www.cheap-moscow.com.
Public transportation - live and up-to-date sites
Travellers with
special interests
Adoption, helping
orphanages
www.russiatravel.org
www.littlemiracles.org
See also my own little
project somewhere at
www.unclepasha.com/staritsa_eng.htm
http://www.russianadoption.org/
Another site with a focus on Russian orphans:
http://www.orphanadvoc.org/
Charity
........
Mail order brides
See Olesya's
Russian Women Page
Periodicals in English
New not sorted out:
(in the process)
www.destinationrussia.com - "Welcome to Destination Russia, the world's
Russia Travel information / news portal and the most comprehensive guide
to the Russian Federation." [something non-descript, keep for the sake
of link exchange]
www.Hotelsrussia.net
- Hotels Russia provides online booking and
reservations for DISCOUNT Russia travel accommodation including hotels
and apartments across Russia [same as above]
Minor search
engines: http://rank.stars.ru/
Major search
engines: http://www.aport.ru/
Aviso Online Classifieds-Russia http://www.aviso.kiev.ua/aviso/eng/
AY Search Engine-Russia http://www.au.ru/
Azerbaijan Search Engine-Russia http://www.search.az:8101/
BR Search Engine-Russia http://www.br.by/
Brama Web Directory-Ukraine http://www.brama.com/index.html
BrightonBeachAve Search Eng-Russia http://www.brightonbeachave.com/
CIS Enterprises Directory Russia http://www.trifle.net/cis/e_index.html
irrelevant
Fair Index-Russia http://www.fair.ru/site/
dead
FarEastern Russian Index http://www.fareast.ru/
irrelevant, kill
Hayastan Search Engine-Russia
http://www.hayastan.com/ - Armenian portal, English
Holms Search Directory-Russia http://www.holms.ru/
irrelevant, kill
Ivan Susanin Search Engine-Russia http://www.susanin.net/
empty, delete
Job Online BBS-Russia http://www.yourbbs.com/v2/?bbs=3836
dead
Kharkov Search Engine-Ukraine http://search.kharkov.ua/
dead. delete
Kopilka Search Engine-Russia http://chirinsky.virtualave.net/
delete, irrelevan
http://reenic.utexas.edu/reenic/countries - Brief reviews of CIS
countries
Krygistan Online-Russia http://www.online.kg/
Live, English,
LinkMaker Directory-Russia http://www.ipclub.ru/linkmaker/
- Irrelevant to Russia but hosts catalogues
List Of Russian Webservers-Russia http://weblist.ru/
Dead May 2003
List.RU-Russia http://www.list.ru/
Live, search engine/directory, Russian
Mafias Top Rated Directory http://www.mafia.ru/top100/
Dead as of May 2003
Meta Ukraine-Ukraine http://meta-ukraine.com/defeng.asp
Ukraine, English
Newman Search Engine-Russia http://search.newman.ru/
remove
Ping Search Engine-Ukraine http://www.topping.od.ua/
Ukraine, Russian
Rahoo Search Engine-Russia http://yahoo.kts.ru/
Give a chance to open up (establish category) then remove.
Rambler Search Engine-Russia http://www.rambler.ru/
move to Russian search engines, in Russian
Reenic Directory-Russia http://link.lanic.utexas.edu/reenic/Countries/Kazakhstan/kazakhstan.html
Chang eto
http://reenic.utexas.edu/reenic/countries/russia.html
University of Texas. Comprehensive.
RegionRU-Russian Directory http://www.region.ru/
remove????
Russia on the Net(Search Engine-Russia Only) http://www.ru/
Move under Russian search engines. English.
Russia Today Classifieds-Russia http://www.russiatoday.com/classifieds.php3
Alive, fairly weak, English
Russian Cities On The Web http://www.city.ru/
Alive. Add URL doesn't work
Russian World Directory http://www.serve.com/andrey/russian/business/add.html
Dead
RussianLondon BBS(Russian) http://www.russianlondon.com/wwwboard/wwwboard.html
Irrelevant, remove
RussianStar Search Engine-russia http://www.russianstar.com/index1.htm
dead
Russkie Search Engine http://www.russkie.com/
Dead
Search Kit-Russia http://www.alf.ru/search/1.htm
\Dead
Sensa Ukraine Search Engine http://www.uazone.net/sesna/
Ukrainina search engine, English
Susanin Search Engine-Russia http://www.susanin.com/
Russian directory
Tamapcmah Index-Russia http://www.kcn.ru/tatweb/grepsrch/srch.cgi/tatweb/tatweblist
Tatarstan, in Russian, run by the Kazan State University, slightly stale as
most official projects (move under Regional)
UDM Search Engine-Russia http://search.udm.net/
Search of Udmurtia Region, the Urals, Izhevsk (that's where Sverzhy Veter
operates and seems to be doing a good job attracting visitors to Izhevsk)
Ukraine Meta Search Engine http://www.meta.kharkiv.net/
Active, in Russia, based in Kharkov (Kharkiv)
Ukraine.com Web Guide http://www.ukraine.com/
No content, remove
Ukrania Resource Web Guide http://www.ukrania.com/
Alive and IN ENGLISH!!
Ukranian Homepage Directory http://search.uar.net/
Does not exist as of May 2003
Uzonline Search Engine-Russia http://www.angelfire.com/ak/Uzonline/
Does not exist as of May 2003
Wanted.RU Directory-Russia http://www.hochu.ru/
- Mostly Russian (place under Russian search engines, recommended if you are
looking for something exotic and very un-turisty, so 98% of you have no
business here)
Yahtka Search Engine-Russia http://www.ulitka.ru/
- Mostly Russian, more of a directory than a search engine. Alive May 2003
Yandex Search Engine(Russia) http://www.yandex.ru/
- Mostly Russian language resources, alive May 2003
Zubr Search Engine http://www.zubr.com/eng/
- Alive as of May 2003, specializes in Belarus, in English (move
under search engines)
CIA World Factbook - Russia - http://www.cia.gov/cia/publications/factbook/geos/rs.html
Presents general facts on the country and focuses on its
economy, government, people, transportation, communications, and geography.
- Too perfunctory, remove. (general info)
Russian News Network - http://www.russiannewsnetwork.com.
Statistical and historic briefs on CIS and Baltic states, in
English. Don't expect to find "new" news there however.
. - live and active as of May
2003, specializes in news coverage, English.
Little Russian Gate - http://home.earthlink.net/~bikbov/
Collection of Russian web sites, message boards guide.
An informative, cozy and totally non-commercial in feel. Don't be fooled by
it, many powerful resources out here lack commercial lustre.
(classifications??, mark as my pesonal favourite)
Russian Phone Search - http://russianphonesearch.hypermart.net/
Searching phone numbers by address and addresses by phone
number in Russia. - Site alive. Anybody tried that service?
ASMO-Press - Encyclopedia - http://enc.ex.ru/cgi-bin/n1fsrc.pl?lang=2
Information about Russian manufacturers. - Seems
rather dead as of May 2003. Check back in a year.
Russian Cities on the Internet - http://mitglied.lycos.de/Cityweb/Worldwide/Europe/Russia/russia.html
Collection of links of Russian localities. -
Many links outdated and in Russian only but could be an excellent resource
if updated.
WorldSkip Guide to Russia - http://www.worldskip.com/region.asp?RegionID=ru
Links to news, information, products and services from
Russia. - does not open, remove
FreeGK.com: Russia - http://atlas.freegk.com/world/europe/russia/russia.php
Including map and overview of history, culture, economy and
currency. - too supeficial and
perfunctory, to be removed.
http://www.einnews.com/russia/classifieds.php3 - You can place your
classified there. Not much Russian content, mostly spam, but shows up well.
CHECK:
Zamoskvorechye
map
Map and description of
Zamoskv.
Metro system, in English
Visa
and registration issues
|

Septemer 26, 2007
August 5, 2007
April 12, 2007
Nov. 15, 2006
October
23, 2004
Back to =>
MAIN INDEX
www.cheap-moscow.com
www.russian-horse-rides.com
www.moscowdrivers.net
www.staritsa.info
www.oldmanfriday.com
Olesya's site:
www.russiangirlfriday.com
Marisha of Chisinau, Moldova:
www.marisha.net
contact info
Central & Eastern Europe & The Baltic:
www.euromost.info
Link Exchange
Requests to be included from the owners of RELEVANT and QUALITY
resources welcomed. Please note that this is NOT a perfunctory links
page for the sake of raising the rating but an attempt to compile
informative or otherwise valuable resources. Lots of pointers to this
page from my sites. Real submissions welcomed. Spam-like offers are NOT.
Visas &
Registration See
www.cheap-moscow.com for Russian visa links. Positive feedback I
come across on Russian visa support gets added there.
TALK TO ME
ABOUT YOUR VISA SUPPORT NEEDS!! |