Learning Cyrillic is definitely a bonus - many words when transliterated back to latin are words we already know.

-eg кофе = cafe

I know there are a million Mika's.But I was wondering if this is my friend Mika from Buenos Aires.

I am new to Russia also. I've been here 2 1/2 weeks on a motorcycle. I thought the people in South America were great. But the Russian people are the best. You can't understand until you are here and meet them. People invite you to stay at their house, come home for dinner, change tires for free. I've been at a mechanics house for 5 nights now. I never met him before. They have fed me, done my laundry, is replacing the crankshaft in my motor, and taken me on tours. He says he won't take any money. He will find money after I leave though. And I have had similar experiences in other cities. Russia is magic.

Hola Doug
 

Priviet Doug (Doogle),

yes there is more than one Mika, but you are lucky this is your friend from BsAs.

What? You are replacing your crankshaft on the KLR? Where are you?
Are you drunk? Why do you post the same answer twice?

But even with a broken/worn crankshaft somewhere in Russia and real drunk, it can only be better than driving around in circles in Switzerland, half drunk bier...

Did you meet my friend Andrey from the Iron Tigers in Vladivostok?

Hope you can get a new crankshaft from the US, because this should be difficult to get in Russia. But than, the Russian mechanics are the best, believe me, and I have seen a few.

Sure your hosts and maybe also your mechanic wont take any money, to give/take money can be big insult in Russia.

Yes, Russia is magic.

Nashdarovje

Paca

mika

Same post twice because this tiny tablet is too small for me.I'm in Ulan Ude for a week now. I stayed at the Iron Angels club. I thought I had the name mixed up.Didn't know they were 2 different clubs.

A crankshaft has been shipped from USA. But I'm worried there will be problems in customs. I've read too many bad stories.

Doug

bump for this thread...cysne, klausmong, jc_bromley, I guess you're all here or have been and gone by now, would be interested in your impressions?

hmm I think for 100% certainty it was meant Пожалуйста ("pa-zhal-sta") - Please and You're Welcome (for anyone now knowing language) and i am certain most of russian speakers also understands it even you say
ba-shals-ta

Raising hotel price as hotel administration realises person asking room is not russian and actually is tourist is not really unheard case. That is fact/common practice coming as long time from Soviet Union times and was even teached us during russian language education at school end of 80's and 90's. So i think this is something very possible to happen even modern times sometimes.

But i agree. Russia is vast country full of different people. I think someone mentioned, which was excellently said (i think it was probably Colebach) that if you stay on main roads you have to remember that people come there to earn money on roadside. You meet totally different kind of hospitality and people if you venture to smaller roads and villages.

I have had lot of good experiences in Russia. Perhaps it helps i speak some of language so it helps communicate with people or that finnish people generally are well liked in Russia. Now I have done pretty much all my motorcycle travels from year 2010 there, now 5 or 6 shorter and longer trips and i have never felt bad about it.

Sure it's possible, but I've never encountered it. What I encounter in many hotels, however, is that there are different "classes" of room, with varying prices. When you pull up you're quoted the price for the cheapest class of room, and when it turns out that that room is not so nice and you want another, nicer, one, the price goes up. I don't see what's wrong with that.

Hi

I am still in Ulanbataar at my wifes family.

Russia was such a friendly country, it was awsome.

Yes, they have bad plumbing sometimes, but who cares?????

I dont judge people or countries on theyr plumbing.

When we stoped somewere beside the street, people came here to ask if they can help us, or if they can take a picture for theyr kids.....

I Volgograd a guy came up an showed us his city, and was really nice.....
He drove in front of us to bring us to the important places.

In some other places we met bikers, and they always showed us good places for the night or the right way......

In Odessa I met an old man on the beach, he told me that he was in germany and startet to sing some old Nazi song.
But i did not blame him for that, this guy was no Nazi, he just know this in german, so should i blame him for that?? Dont think so.

In Mongolia it is even better.
At the beginning i had some bad experience with a few people who tried to betray tourists ( like in europe too ) but once we had problems with my clutch, i could see how friendly people are. And when i came around with my family, i met the nicest people on earth.

In a week i will go back over russia and I am sure i will enjoy it.

Nothing wrong with that. Totally normal, everywhere in the world hotels work like this.
But that was not what they pulled on me. That was called cheating by international standards.
I know it's very hard to accept that fact if one is a Russia lover.
Try to travel without speaking fluent russian, only 5 words, and there will be a totally different Russia.
Still a lot of nice and great people, but it might open eyes to see the high density of * in Russia, the highest in the world.

Please don't fry me for speaking up again.
You digged it up.
P.S.
* means whatever you like.

We could always deal with the gostunizas about the price.

I found out, it is always possible and you still get rooms which are ok.

ANd all i want is a cheap bed to sleep when I ttravel.

And when you try to talk to the russions in the Hotels, the get friendly and helpful.

I was not a russion lover before, and i was never in the country before, but i had my experience that it is really nice there

When I left St Petersburg I knew the Russian words for
Petrol
Thank You
Please
Hotel/Guesthouse
ATM

That was it, I learnt about 50 in total while I was there. I loved it and really want to return.

Yes, certainly different to some extent, but I think the bigger problem is the Trans-Siberian Highway.

Honestly it is difficult to see how anyone could have a very favorable impression of Russia if that is all they saw--it is a long boring ride lined with hard-bitten police, truck-drivers, and proprietors of various cafes, motels, etc. Then to end the day by staying in some crappy roadside truck stop and then getting up to do it all the again the next day--no thanks!

I encourage people to stay in the bigger cites along the way to the extent possible. Tyumen, Krasnoyarsk, Novosibirsk, Omsk, Irkutsk, Ulan Ude, Chita, Kemerovo, etc. are all rather nice cities full of nice hotels, cafes, and (at least on weekends) nightlife.

+1

Taking the Trans Siberian highway and thinking thats Russia, is like taking an Autoroute from Paris to Calais and saying you have "seen France".

All you have seen is trucks, fuel stations, motorway food and toll booths.

In Russia, if you ride the Trans Sib, all you see is trucks, fuel stations, highway food / hotels and loads of police. Thats not Russia