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e
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Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 654
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 Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 12:34 am Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | (which just happens to be on the Black Sea - in Sukhum, Abkhazia) |
With all of the craziness going on down in Abkhazia is it safe Vic?
BTW with all of this talk about National Parks and camping where are all the major, or at least nice National Parks in Russia and the CIS? Or the best places to go fishing, camping, hunting, and etc in Russia and the CIS? Or do you as Mr Spice says, just go into any random forest and wilderness and camp out there?
| Quote: | | And watch the guys try to jump over the campfire drunk |
If you think thats bad, try watching them fart into the campfire. 
BTW Mr. Spice try coming out West if you want untouched and undisturbed wildlife. The only problem is geting out to them. Most of the good roads don't go anywhere near them.  [/quote] |
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rodionx
Frequent Guest
Joined: 31 Jul 2004
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 1:02 am Post subject: |
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As others have stated, most people just go into the woods with a tent. Actually, I've seen guys go camping with nothing but a sleeping bag, a guitar, and few gallons of vodka. And sometimes they forget the sleeping bag.
That being said, there are some parks with camping facilities. I stayed in a park called Nugush, in southern Bashkiria. There's an artificial lake there, set amid some beautiful mountains. It also has outhouses, a kiosk selling really basic stuff, and some marked trails. Some uniformed guys come around now and then and collect a camping fee.
You can also find camping facilities at certain seasonal music festivals, such as the Grushinsky festival near Samara, and near historical monuments like Arkaim, which is outside Magnitigorsk. |
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MrSpice
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 1:13 am Post subject: |
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| And many people have a "dacha" outside of the city. That is basically a summer home. So many people go to their dachas in the summer, work on the garden, spend time with their kids on the lakes or in the woods, etc. For me, the best and most memorable time I had in Russia was in the summer on our dacha. This is one of the things I cannot replicate here in the US... |
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5_Zvehzda
Just Starting
Joined: 30 Mar 2010
Posts: 1
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 1:46 am Post subject: Camping |
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| Quote: | | In Russia if you go in the forest, it does not have be a state/national/federal park. You can walk around, pick mushrooms, find place for barebeque, etc. No one cares. |
Gotta go camping in Russia . . . because this sounds like a more ideal system of camping to me - less 'designated' campgrounds and more freedom to choose areas to set up a site. I always seek out the more remote, non-populated wilderness - and avoid all of the overly-facilitated, state-managed and fee collecting campsites like the plague. There's never any dry fuel (dead undergrowth) to be found anywhere at these managed sites because all of the wood is already scavenged (and I'm not paying for those tiny bundles of logs, either!  ). As long as people practice common sense and responsibility then they should camp in the areas of thier choice without having to fork over $10-15 just for a place to enjoy peace in the woods. The designated campsites are always too noisy anyway (screaming kids, dogs barking) - and again, there's never any wood to be found to build a fire. However, there's one upside while camping where I live . . . no mosquitos! |
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cyndy22
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 3:00 am Post subject: |
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Mr. Spice,
While I'm sure you will never replicate the good experience you had in your family dacha, people in US can also buy property and cottages in nice forest, lake and ocean regions. Of course it costs money, probably far more than owning dacha in Russia. |
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sheng-ka
Frequent Guest
Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 3:08 am Post subject: |
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Usualsuspect didn't mention thailand - it's a very popular destination for russians who want to get some summer in winter:).
as for the black sea... it's really expensive, but it doesn't mean it's good. that's why russians prefer turkey - service and accomodation are much better there.
and, Cindy, a usual russian annual leave is 24 working days. a lot of people take 12 working days twice a year. |
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cyndy22
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:36 am Post subject: |
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Sheng-ka,
Thank you so much for reply. I welcome you to this forum and hope you will become more involved. I am not sure where you live but you appear to have knowledge and perspective about Russians outside of Moscow and SPB and further into countryside. We do not hear much about Russians in such areas. Perhaps you do live outside metro cities or perhaps you don't, either way I am very interested in learning more from you about Russians, vacations, etc.
Do many Russians take vacation in winter and visit such places as Turkey, Thailand etc It seems quite expensive to me for average Russians to afford such vacation, but perhaps I am wrong. |
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mister_wizzz
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Joined: 27 May 2004
Posts: 582
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 8:39 am Post subject: |
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| cyndy22 wrote: | | Do many Russians take vacation in winter and visit such places as Turkey, Thailand etc It seems quite expensive to me for average Russians to afford such vacation, but perhaps I am wrong. |
Don't know about Thailand, but Turkey is a pretty cheap country. Through a travel agency, I went for 2 weeks and it cost me 450Euros : Flight + very nice hotel + breakfast lunch and dinner.
Turkey is also one of favorite destination of Kazakh people. |
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Daria
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 1146
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 8:44 am Post subject: |
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[quote="mister_wizzz"] | cyndy22 wrote: |
Don't know about Thailand, but Turkey is a pretty cheap country. Through a travel agency, I went for 2 weeks and it cost me 450Euros : Flight + very nice hotel + breakfast lunch and dinner.
Turkey is also one of favorite destination of Kazakh people. |
You can go to Sochi and take a ferry across.Sochi-Trabzon. 
Last edited by Daria on Mon May 28, 2007 5:26 am; edited 1 time in total |
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sheng-ka
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Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 11
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 10:42 am Post subject: |
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thank you Cyndy:)
I'm from Krasnoyarsk - it's in the middle of Russia on the Yenisey river.
as for vacations - middle class can afford a trip to Turkey (or Bulgaria, Tunisia, Spain, Greece, Thailand, Emirates) once a year or once in a couple of years. those who're rich:) go the same places or to France, Italy - anywhere.
a 2 week trip from Krasnoyarsk to Turkey (4*** hotel all inclusive) is approximately $ 1200-1500 US. Thailand is more expensive, Eastern Europe is a little cheaper.
Do many Russians take vacations in winter? charter flights from Krasnoyarsk (there are about 1 mln people) go twice a week (if not more often) and they are full... but Turkey is better in spring and autumn - the season starts on 25 of March, the last charter is 25 of September.
so if you go for a fortnight to Thailand in winter (or anywhere else in spring-summer-autumn) you still have two weeks of leave for, say, camping:) |
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Vic
Talk Show Host
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 298
Location: Moscow, Russian Federation
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 2:57 pm Post subject: |
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I would not say that the Black Sea is the playground of the rich. It is actually mostly middle class that go there for a vacation. It is pretty cheap if you are not directly IN Sochi or Adler, just go up the coast a little bit (or down the coast for that matter). Yes, it is pretty crowded, not like you cannot find a place to sit down, but it is like any tourist summer location.
| Quote: | With all of the craziness going on down in Abkhazia is it safe Vic?
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It isn't crazy at all  Thats the thing. The people are wonderfull and very friendly. The only craziness is coming from the Georgian side that keep wanting it back. I really like it there - just the way of life, the culture. No stresses at all, my friend was telling me that in the villages, the rhythm of life is very slow. (Men - wake up at 11:00, feed livestock, eat, sleep in the shade for a few hours, wake up at 15:00, eat, play cards/domino/chess with neighbour, watch cars go by, eat, [now the sun is setting] go play football, go for a swim) I really do envy them. So no, there is no violence or anything like that (except on the border with Georgia - and that is thanks to them trying to destabilize the situation)
| Quote: | | I've been to Sukhumi few times.It is gorgeous there. |
It is! Come for a stay there too, it is very cheap compared to Adler or anywhere else for that matter - only catch is that you need to have Russian citezenship to get across the border!
P.S. Its "Sukhum" now (Sukhumi but minus the "i" - the Georgians added the "i" when the republic was annexed in the 1930's - if you look back several centuries, it was "Sukhum" and before that "Sukhum-Kale") |
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MrSpice
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Joined: 14 Jul 2003
Posts: 3431
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:25 pm Post subject: |
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cyndy: Obviously people in the US buy properties in the forest, I know that. If you live in upstate New York or in rural Kentucky, or in Western Massachussetts. it's probably easy to do and it's quite inexpensive. In fact, most people in the US live in suburban areas that sort of feel like dacha, so they don't even have a reason to buy a house in the forest. But I live in Brooklyn, NY. The only suburbia within 1-hour drive is parts of Long Island close to New York City or areas of New Jersey adjacent to Manhattan. A typical dacha there would run me about 500K and up. Considering that I still have not bought a main apartment for myself, I don't think I can aford a dacha in New York at this point.
Many people buy "dachas" in the Catskills in New York State or Poconos in Pennsylvania. The prices there are much lower. But that means 2.5 hours in traffic on the way to the dacha, and even more so on the way back, especially on Sunday. |
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rodionx
Frequent Guest
Joined: 31 Jul 2004
Posts: 19
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 5:31 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | No stresses at all... in the villages, the rhythm of life is very slow. (Men - wake up at 11:00, feed livestock, eat, sleep in the shade for a few hours, wake up at 15:00, eat, play cards/domino/chess with neighbour, watch cars go by, eat, [now the sun is setting] go play football, go for a swim) |
How do they make a living? Villagers who get up at 11:00 a.m. are rarity elsewhere in the world. There's too much work to do, especially in the morning. Perhaps these are New Abkhazians?  |
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cyndy22
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 15 Oct 2004
Posts: 1076
Location: massachusetts
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 7:59 pm Post subject: |
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Turkey sounds like a great bargain for vacations! Anyways I am happy to hear that many Russians are able to take nice vacations, camping and more luxurious vacations as well. I am always thinking about vacations and where to go next! If only for more time and money! Next year I am thinking of going to Margarita island which is off the coast of Venezuela but that's not definite. I want to see more of Europe as well. Our big vacation is coming up in a month when we travel to St. Petersburg and Estonia.
Sheng-ka,
About a year ago I saw a folk dance troupe perform here in MA at the University. I believe they were from Krasnoyarsk. But I might be mistaken because I thought they were from Siberia. It was a large troupe of dancers, men and women in various beautiful Russian costumes. They danced ballet and folk dances to traditional Russian music orchestra. I remember the balaika but don't recall the other traditional instruments. They were the greatest dance company I have ever seen.
Mr. Spice,
Alot of New Yorkers come to the Berkshires. I live in the suburbs and you're right I really don't feel the need to retreat to the country. We put a swimming pool and pool house in our back nyard a few years ago and it always feels like we are on holiday in summer when we are out there! Should you and your fiancee want to get away for a weekend from the heat of the city this summer, I invite you to come for a weekend. We will be away 6/20 to 7/4th, but will be around most of July and August. It isn't the Ritz but we live in a nice area of western MA. |
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e
VIP
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Tue May 17, 2005 11:07 pm Post subject: |
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Well Vic, I just might vacation down there. Thanks for the tip as always. Whats the easiest, quickest, and cheapest way down there?
| Quote: | | Many people buy "dachas" in the Catskills in New York State or Poconos in Pennsylvania. The prices there are much lower. But that means 2.5 hours in traffic on the way to the dacha, and even more so on the way back, especially on Sunday. |
Its like that here too. But people actualy go in the winter instead of summer to ski, snowboard and actually see some snow. (This is California after all) The Russians I know go up because the snow and trees remind them of home.
If you're looking for vacationing Russians elsewhere, try the Costa Del Sol in Spain and the Cote D' Azur in France. A lot of the oligarchs and their familes, and extended familites and friends etc have even created their own settlements of dachas there. I saw one called St. Petersberg. I've been told that they're setting up shop in Greece and prefer Greece to most places else cuz its close to Russia as in same religion, similar language, etc.
| Quote: | | Thailand is more expensive |
Thailand aint so bad. The only major thing you'll pay for are plane tickets. If you know your way around and play it right, you can live and have loads of fun on less than $20 a day. |
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