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Does exactly what it says on the tin. Some of the nonsense contained herein may be very loosely related to The Sisters of Mercy, but I wouldn't bet your PayPal account on it. In keeping with the internet's general theme nothing written here should be taken as Gospel: over three quarters of it is utter gibberish, and most of the forum's denizens haven't spoken to another human being face-to-face for decades. Don't worry your pretty little heads about it. Above all else, remember this: You don't have to stay forever. I will understand.
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andymackem
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Probably not a bad plan. Petersburg is lovely.

If you're flying into Moscow, fly BA. It's a bit more expensive but you arrive in Domodedovo airport where the immigration control is almost friendly. The alternative, Sheremtyevo, is a nightmare.
Names are just a souvenir ...
Russian footie in the run-up to the World Cup - my latest E-book available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGJFF6G
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lazarus corporation
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andymackem wrote:Probably not a bad plan. Petersburg is lovely.

If you're flying into Moscow, fly BA. It's a bit more expensive but you arrive in Domodedovo airport where the immigration control is almost friendly. The alternative, Sheremtyevo, is a nightmare.
we were thinking of flying to St Petersburg, doing a week there, then getting a train to Moscow for a week there. Good idea? Bad idea?
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andymackem
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Last time I flew to Petersburg it was still called Leningrad! At that time the local airport didn't have automated baggage carousels.

I'd assume that's been changed, but I couldn't say for sure.

Don't get conned into booking your travel between Petersburg and Moscow before you leave. You'll get hopelessly overcharged if you go through a Western travel agent and there's no shortage of seats.

Last year I went on that route in high season and picked up my tickets on the morning before travelling in the evening. Had no trouble at all.
Names are just a souvenir ...
Russian footie in the run-up to the World Cup - my latest E-book available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGJFF6G
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andymackem
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On an unrelated note, pictures from my trip will start to appear at http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/andymackem2000/my_photos.

So far there's only the ones from Lake Baikal that are worth looking at, and they tend towards the arty and pretentious. I don't really do people, and I certainly don't appear in pictures myself, on the perfectly reasonable grounds that I know what I look like already :P
Names are just a souvenir ...
Russian footie in the run-up to the World Cup - my latest E-book available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGJFF6G
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Brideoffrankenstein
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lazarus corporation
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Brideoffrankenstein wrote:
It doesn't work :?
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/andymackem2000/my_photos

(leave off the final ".")
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Brideoffrankenstein
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great photos andy :notworthy:
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andymackem
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lazarus corporation wrote:
Brideoffrankenstein wrote:
It doesn't work :?
http://pg.photos.yahoo.com/ph/andymackem2000/my_photos

(leave off the final ".")
How annoying. If I punctuate my sentence correctly no-one can access the link.

Doesn't that just say everything about computers? :evil:
Names are just a souvenir ...
Russian footie in the run-up to the World Cup - my latest E-book available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGJFF6G
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lazarus corporation
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On an unrelated note, pictures from my trip will start to appear here.
<< smart arse
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boudicca
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I'm jealous as hell...

I've always wanted to go to Mongolia, do the Trans-Siberian Express, mosey round Moscow and St. Petersburg... and of course the STANS... 8)

:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:
There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets
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andymackem
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It's a good trip (though I've not been any closer to the Stans than Omsk - you can just about see Kazakhstan from there).

On the other hand, I did spend something like £2k in total so it's not all that cheap. But, for a month's travel including flights and three visas, it's not all that expensive either.

It's really not an express either :lol:

Of the places I saw, I'd definitely like to go back to Mongolia. Ulan Batur isn't a bad city (and hotels are very cheap - I had a deluxe suite in one of the more modern hotels for US$60/night) but I would have wanted to see more of the countryside. Trundling through the Gobi on the train was hypnotic, but I'm assuming it's rough travel to really explore it. 40C and a lot of sand and dust doesn't make for easy trekking. I did get as far as Manzhir Khiid (photos to follow), which was impressive. Climbing a rather steeper rock face than I expected was somewhat reckless though.

Also it's the easiest visa to get and the people, by and large, are lovely. It's odd to be in a country where there's not much cash but also not much visible poverty. I'm quite encouraged by this.

I'll probably go see more of China as well, but not at this time of year. Beijing was far too humid - I can't see it being any fun for the sportsmen in 2008. But just when I was getting pissed off with it all I'd stumble upon something which excited me again. The Summer Palace (photos on the way) was probably my single best trip, partly for the beautiful park (which really did look like authentic China) and partly for the great company on the day. The Great Wall was predictably good as well. It's not so much the wall itself as the ridiculously mountainous route they chose: very scenic, but a stupid place to build a wall.

Russia remains Russia. Mad, nightmarishly bureaucratic, far too big yet amazingly friendly and plenty of great places to stop off and visit. Aside from the obvious ones, you get little things like a fabulous museum of space flight in a ratty little nowhere town like Kirov or an impromptu riverside bar/disco in Krasnoyarsk.

Look out for the pictures from Ganina Yama as well - a real fairytale monastery complex out in the birch forests near Yekaterinburg. A totally unexpected find.
Names are just a souvenir ...
Russian footie in the run-up to the World Cup - my latest E-book available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGJFF6G
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boudicca
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:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

You're really not helping the jealousy...
:lol:
There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets
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andymackem
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Holidays did improve when I stopped travelling with my parents. Pity my bank balance didn't :lol:

Maybe you can stow into Libby and Laz's cases when they go to Russia next year?
Names are just a souvenir ...
Russian footie in the run-up to the World Cup - my latest E-book available from https://www.amazon.co.uk/dp/B07DGJFF6G
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Obviousman
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:notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy: :notworthy:

Great pics and taste in travelling :D

I'll just go and sit among the other jealous ones :lol:
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Delilah
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great photos! Welcome home Andy! :D
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boudicca
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andymackem wrote:Holidays did improve when I stopped travelling with my parents.
Hey, I'll cadge Alpine breaks off my dear old mamma and pappa as long as I possibly can! :twisted: I do really love that part of the world, so I'd be an idiot not to.

Doesn't help much with the bank balance though, I had to pay my share of it...

BAH!
There's a man with a mullet going mad with a mallet in Millets
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