Road maps of Russia

[Angus]

Planning a road trip to Russia over Christmas. Anyone know where I can get a road atlas that's got Western Russia as well as Europe??

Suggestions for the packing list as well; things like snow chains and other cold weather driving tools.

[Zak33]

One IL-2 Sturmovik, fully armed with AJ-2 cassettes and 37 mm canons

One set of maps like this

and several MA_rlins very very jealous awaiting your ground attack on thr Germans behind border lines

[stytagm]

Suggestions for the packing list as well; things like snow chains and other cold weather driving tools.

Seriously warm clothes. I went to Russia in December 1995 (saw their first ever elections!) and it varied between chuffing cold and much much colder than that. Our warmest day was -4C in Moscow and our coldest touched just over -30, averaged about -15.

Buy a new pair of cheap boots, 3 sizes too big, and layer up those socks.

Where are you planning to go? Could you get as far as St Petersburg? Well worth the effort. The Hermitage is fantastic and the Summer palace has been restored to it's former stunning glory too. (Although it's famous for its fountains, which means in winter it's famous for it's funny shaped wooden boxes. They are drained and packed for the cold weather).

[Angus]

We've got three weeks, so even Moscow might be a little ambitious; I doubt we'll get to St Petersburg.

The whole point of a road trip is that we use the roads so an IL-2 might be out of the question. Could always take a Aston Martin DB7 with a few added extras if I had a few more pennies

Probably encroaching on GD stuff rather than car stuff here, but has anyone got any recent experience of the russian visa system. I've read somewhere that you need to have hotels pre-booked and everything, but the visa application form I've got doesn;t mention anything.

[schrickvr6]

Look out for car-jackers buddy, if you see a fire on the side of the road such as a burning car DO NOT STOP!

[stytagm]

Have you tried asking dkmech? He's from somewhere in Russia I believe. You could PM him, if not he seems to hang around the Hotpot forum quite a bit.

[Eddy396]

You also might want to think about not driving a car and getting a cab or the bus. The driving is as bad as india apparently, and not recommended for someone who is not familiar with the unwritten rules of the Russian highway.

I'd like to go there but i get the feeling it's a pretty dangerous place to go. Ironically you would have been safer under the communist government.

[dkmech]

I actually hang around here more than i do in hotpot forum, its just that mr Deckard can take a while to respond but thats not a problem.

Could you give some more info on where you want to go, what car you'd be driving, etc. I don't think you'll necessarilly need snow chains - but you might want to consider winter tyres. Yokohamas won't cut it on snow and ice. In fact if you have never driven on snow and ice i would recommend you be very careful... Although then you are running the risk of being shunted from behind. Most main roads will probably be treated, but I wouldn't bet on that.

You are probably looking at being stopped at every police post along the road. Make sure you have fire extinguisher, medi kit with all the medicine recent and not expired, and the triangle. A shovel and something to stick under tyres if you get stuck may be handy too. While bribery is very wide spread I wouldn't risk volunteering it as you may do it the wrong way or whatever. If police tells you to stop - do so, and quite quickly too. With all the terror alerts they may be a bit jumpy. I am sure most of them will be nice enough, but won't hurt to be careful.

[dkmech]

Make sure the car has anti-freeze everything that needs to be anti-freeze. Watch out for cars overtaking on the wrong side of the road. Don't feel that being right makes you more likely to survive a collision. There's a rule that cars on your right have priority at equal magnitude road junctions. Don't forget to go round the roundabouts the right way. If you are going to swap tyres might not want to go for that wide low profile stuff, something with more energy absorbtion may be better.

Give me more info and i will try and scare you further.

Oh, yes, from what i heard recently some road side cafe's are not very safe to eat at - low hygiene

[Angus]

dkmech,

cheers for the advice. We'll be driving to Moscow from the UK, probably get a ferry crossing to Holland.

Route will be Berlin, Warsaw, Minsk, Moscow so hopefully main roads all the way. We'll be driving my MG ZS which makes me more than a little worried about car jackers. How bad is the problem over there? Presumably as long as I don't stop, I'll be alright? Or do they have a tendency to force you off the road at all?

Does the first aid kit have to contain anything in particular or does it just have to be a first aid kit?

What are the road conditions likely to be like? As I say, we'll be sticking to the main roads but what should I expect?

[dkmech]

You'll be going through Belarus? Cool, thats where i am from. Studied in Minsk for 2 years

Car jackings did happen before, but i am not sure what the situation is now. I would suggest you avoid stopping out of towns if at all possible. Problem is - there isn't much stopping them from forcing you to stop I think things are getting better now, but i am not sure. More people drive new cars, plus yours is right hand drive. Personally I am from the east of Belarus, whereas its the west, with cars coming from Europe and going to Russia thats most at risk. Also there is a bit less risk in driving a 10 year old vauxhall cavalier with belarussian plates that we had, than a much newer MG with British plates.

First aid kid should have bandages, plasters, iodine (or equivalent desinfectant), headache pills (aspiring or something like that), something to help with stomach (not very sure what exactly), and the rubber strap thingy you'd use to stop bleeding in a limb, forget what its called - basically a length of thin rubber hose.

You should find out what you can and cannot bring into the country (through customs).

Main roads should be treated with salt/sand, but some areas of towns may be still snowy or icy. Here in uk traffic stops when it snows - well it might be like that all the time.

One other thing. Theres a scam where a car in front of you tries to test your brakes - and when you try to drive around it you end up ramming the car conveniently placed in in your blind spot - watch out for that, although u have steering on the other side so it may not be the blind spot they hope for. They do it to force you to pay for repairs.

Also, learn the spelling of all the towns on your way so that you can read the signs, as they won't be in English (well, shouldn't be anyway, you might get lucky).

Couple link i found, i suggest you have a look for more:
http://www.russia-travel.com/travelTips.htm

[Angus]

Cool.

Do you know if I can I go through Belarus with a Russian Visa? I read somewhere that I could, but it sounds a bit dodgy.

Any tips for getting decent, cheap accomodation? I've heard that (understandably) that there's normally one price for locals and another for 'westerners'; are prices normally negotiable?

[dkmech]

I would check with the belarussian embassy about visa, i am not sure.

Accomodation - can't really say, never really had to do anything about it myself. Prices for westerners are often(always?) more expensive, negotiation - depends if its private accomodation (room to rent) or a hotel. Doubt they will be negotiable in a big hotel.

Sorry I can't be much help here.