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sheng-ka
Frequent Guest
Joined: 06 Feb 2005
Posts: 11
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 Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 3:30 am Post subject: |
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| cyndy22 wrote: | | Turkey sounds like a great bargain for vacations |
is it  ? this ptice means a very goog hotel + food and alcohol all day round + flight.
| cyndy22 wrote: | | 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 |
I think, Cyndy, it was The Dances of Siberia - it's a very famous folk dance group. and Krasnoyarsk IS in Siberia, 'cos Krsk is a city and Siberia is a region  |
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Daria
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 1146
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 5:21 am Post subject: |
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| cyndy22 wrote: | Daria,
BTW what's your itinerary if you have one in Russia. Will you be in St. Pete? |
Cyndy, what's "BTW"?  |
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e
VIP
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 5:29 am Post subject: |
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It means "By the Way"  |
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Daria
Lounge Wizard
Joined: 16 May 2005
Posts: 1146
Location: Canada
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 5:30 am Post subject: |
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| e wrote: | | It means "By the Way" |
Oh thanks, so stupid of me  |
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Vic
Talk Show Host
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 298
Location: Moscow, Russian Federation
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| Posted: Wed May 18, 2005 2:40 pm Post subject: |
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| rodionx wrote: | | 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? |
Welcome to the tropics. Anything you plant grows, and does not require much work either. For example - At our datcha we leave our 14 chicken (for the fresh eggs - much better than storebought) unattended for days but never had a problem with that, they always seem to come back to the coop to lay the eggs and don't die of hunger. The orange trees and grape vine needs very little work too. The farmers usually give their livestock (cow, goat) to the shepherds who take them up north for the summer (But some dumbasses don't and also don't look after them so when you are driving down the winding mountain road from Sochi to Sukhum you have cows lying down in the middle of the road - at first it is funny, but after a while becomes a real nuisance not to mention hazard) Remember, this routine is in the villages. It Sukhum, Gagra or Pitsunda or any other city (more like towns) it is different, but not by alot, just that people have office jobs, so the routine is more strict, but it is still 'relaxed'.
Just the whole rhythm of life there is slower and much less stressfull. You are never in a hurry to get anywhere, no rushing or anything like that. In the cities, the workday is from bout 9 to about 15 or 16. In Sukhum, the public transport (about 10 trolleybuses) work from 7:30 to 18:00, markets from 10 to 16, stores from 9 to 17 or 18. People relax and enjoy life.
The people there are not "rich" by any means, there are no "abkhazian oligarhs" or anything like that. The cost of living is EXTREMELY low, their electricity is almost free (fixed cost for public because the Inguri dam generates much more than can be used, and they don't want to give or sell any to Georgia, so they end up giving it away to their own people and "exporting" it for free to Krasnodarsky Krai in exchange for (free)maintanence.) A large portion of the population are pensioneers and recieve a 1050 rouble minimal pension from the Russian Federation in addition to their 60 rouble Abkhazian pension, perhaps the only pensioneers recieving a Russian pension that recieve more money than they actually need.
Sorry, got carried away with Abkhazia
E, marry that Russian g/f of yours and come on over! You can only get in if you are a Russian citizen Remember - it is a de-facto republic, so a Georgian visa in your american passport will get you a kick in the ass, and a Russian visa won't do you any good either. Thats perhaps the only bad thing about Abkhazia 
Vic |
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e
VIP
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Thu May 19, 2005 11:11 am Post subject: |
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Abkhasia sounds a lot like Thailand before it was overun with sex, drugs, traffic jams, and western tourists.
Why did you guys choose to vacation there? Is it cheap? Are dachas there cheap?
| Quote: | | E, marry that Russian g/f of yours and come on over! You can only get in if you are a Russian citizen Sad Remember - it is a de-facto republic, so a Georgian visa in your american passport will get you a kick in the ass, and a Russian visa won't do you any good either. Thats perhaps the only bad thing about Abkhazi |
Bylad!   |
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Vic
Talk Show Host
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 298
Location: Moscow, Russian Federation
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 6:11 pm Post subject: |
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Well, my fathers friend is a gynecologist  and an Abkhazian nurse had an internship at his clinic in 1998, so her family invited him down every summer and he really liked Abkhazia, told us about it and so on. The datcha was really cheap - $5,000. It did get hit by a bomb so we did have some work to do...but about $1000 fixed it up!
Vic |
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Jutrzenkapolska
VIP
Joined: 16 Sep 2004
Posts: 534
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| Posted: Sun May 22, 2005 6:48 pm Post subject: |
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| Five thousand?! I could afford a summer house in Abkhazia. |
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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 24, 2005 5:13 am Post subject: |
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| Jutrzenkapolska wrote: | | Five thousand?! I could afford a summer house in Abkhazia. |
Just use mine It has two main levels with 3 rooms + kitchen + bathroom on each level - PLENTY of room |
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vorteks
VIP
Joined: 08 Aug 2004
Posts: 571
Location: European Union
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 4:46 pm Post subject: |
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| Want to swap my motorcycle for a datcha in an orange trees field |
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e
VIP
Joined: 23 Apr 2005
Posts: 654
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| Posted: Tue May 24, 2005 8:12 pm Post subject: |
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| Quote: | | The datcha was really cheap - $5,000. |
Really?!?
What are the rules and regulations for foreigners to buy dachas, or property in general, in Russia?
BTW, hit by a bomb?!? And you say its safe and stable there??? |
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wavetossed
WayToRussified
Joined: 27 Jun 2004
Posts: 339
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 12:02 am Post subject: |
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The main rule is that foreigners cannot buy properties near the borders or near sensitive sites such as military installations or closed cities like Ozersk.
Most foreigners are buying apartments in central Moscow or St Petersburg so that is what real estate agents focus on. I think you would need to be in Russia for an extended period to arrange a deal outside the main cities. |
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Vic
Talk Show Host
Joined: 29 Mar 2005
Posts: 298
Location: Moscow, Russian Federation
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| Posted: Wed May 25, 2005 8:06 am Post subject: |
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Vorteks - nice try If you throw in that hang glider I *might* consider it 
E - Well, it is stable NOW, it wasn't in 1992-1993 when they had a civil war against Georgia. The datcha was just under construction in 92' (Had walls, outer roof complete - no floors yet) The bomb wasn't that heavy, not more than 10kg, most likely a rocket fired from a helicopter or a mortar. Whatever it was, it penetrated the roof and exploded at the 2nd floor level, sending the roof's aluminum sheets flying in outward different directions up to 200 meters. The walls had shrapnel in them, no real structural damage (thats why I said it was pretty weak). The second storey window was also penetrated by an RPG, which 'widened' that window, but all we had to do was put the bricks that were blasted out back into place (the blast just dislodged the stone bricks, it only took a bit of cement to repair this one) Everything was as it was in 93' when we bought it - even the bricks I was referring to were still there. The new owner of the datcha made a new roof, but did not do anything past that, so it was abandoned for about 9 years. All we did is put in floors (the beams were already in place and were not damaged), put in windows (had to replace frames), put in doors, kitchen, bathroom and a stairwell. This all cost a little under 50,000 roubles (1,500USD) This made the total cost without furniture about $6,500. The property (excluding the house itself) had NO damage during the war - the house got 'lucky'. The datcha beside our neighbour's recieved an arial bomb which made a 1.5meter deep vorteks in his yard. After the war he had to replace ALOT of topsoil so ANYTHING could grow there again (the topsoil was everywhere but in his yard - on the house, in the house, on the road, in the neighbours yard, in what is now our yard, ect.) Anyways, it is very safe now, but if you look, you may still be able to see some reminders of the civil war.
There are no restrictions regarding the purchase of property in Russia for foreigners. It is a little more of a pain, but you are allowed to. (With the exception of strategical regions - the city of Norilsk or within 10km of a Nuclear power station, for example; or in close proximity to a state border - 20km I think. (as wavetossed stated)
Abkhazia is a little different. They are trying to keep the rest of Russia from flocking in, so now you have to be a resident in the republic to buy property there, but ours was bought before that and the girl I mentioned before (The one that worked with my father's friend) - her father helped us out. Basically, he bought it and then gave it to us as a gift. (We paid him back, ofcourse) |
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