Rob Ludd
Rob Ludd
Hi all,
I have an opportunity to go to St. Petersburg for 10 days for no cost except plane fare and visa - woo hoo! I have a few questions for anyone who's been there or lives there:
What's the availability of 35mm and 120 film?
What's the level of street crime?
Does film fare fairly well going through Russian X-Ray?
Are there any not-to-miss locations to shoot? (We'll be in the city only)
Are there any awesome cameras I should try to find while I'm there?
Thanks for any advice,
Rob
I have an opportunity to go to St. Petersburg for 10 days for no cost except plane fare and visa - woo hoo! I have a few questions for anyone who's been there or lives there:
What's the availability of 35mm and 120 film?
What's the level of street crime?
Does film fare fairly well going through Russian X-Ray?
Are there any not-to-miss locations to shoot? (We'll be in the city only)
Are there any awesome cameras I should try to find while I'm there?
Thanks for any advice,
Rob
S
StuartR
Guest
Hi Rob, I hope you enjoy your visit to St. Petersburg, it is one of my favorite cities. I spent a little over a year living in Russia, but in Vladivostok and Yaroslavl, so my advice about Russia is more general, though I have spent some time in St. Petersburg. In the major Russian cities the availability of goods is usually very similar to Western Europe, but things can be harder to find and more expensive. There will definitely be places to find 35mm and 120, but professional line kodak and fuji might be even more expensive then you are used to. Maybe not, that's just a guess. It was available rather easily in Vladivostok and Yaroslavl, which are much smaller cities.
The level of street crime is not really any greater than any other major city, and you should excercise a modicum of caution. Russians tend to dress more formally than Americans, so stick to long pants, collared shirts etc. Darker colors are more common. Wear dress shoes over sneakers. If you are going to bring a camera bag, something like a Domke 803 will attract less attention than a crumpler bag or a backpack (of any sort). You will probably be less touristy if you carry the camera at your side or on your shoulder than around your neck, but your mileage may vary. In general, just use your common sense and do what you can not to stick out. Don't speak really loudly in English, stare at some guy with a shaved head and swastika tatoos etc.
I have not had film through a Russian x-ray, so I cannot help you there. I have just put it all in a plastic bag and asked them if they would hand-check it, and they have each time.
Locations. This is probably better from someone who lives there, but here are a few sites:
St. Isaac's Cathedral (Isakovskiy Sobor) -- this is an amazing cathedral, very large, and at the top you have views of the entire city. I would not miss it.
The Russian Museum (Russkiy Muzey) -- everyone goes to the hermitage, but it is a big mistake to miss the Russian Museum. There are some fabulous native painters and artists there, and the building is a beautiful former palace. It is also more manageable than the Hermitage, which has something like 12 miles of corridors.
Petergof (Petrodvorets) is the Russian Versailles, and very worth visiting, but it is outside of town. There are plenty of tour buses ways to get there though, so if you decide to check it out it should not be that hard.
Aleksandr Nevsky Monastery (Nevskiy Monastir) -- The monastery is a quiet and pretty place. The graveyard is quite interesting, and many famous Russians are buried here -- Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky -- the graves are quite interesting too. It might be an interesting place to shoot.
Actually, www.saint-petersburg.com seems to have a really good sightseeing section, so you might want to look there as well. Other than that, Petersburg is just a great walking city and not that huge, so I would recommend walking as much as you can. The metro is really great as well, but you can get most places with your own two feet, and that makes sense, especially for a rangefinder user.
As for cameras, find yourself an Iskra if you can! Great little folder...
The level of street crime is not really any greater than any other major city, and you should excercise a modicum of caution. Russians tend to dress more formally than Americans, so stick to long pants, collared shirts etc. Darker colors are more common. Wear dress shoes over sneakers. If you are going to bring a camera bag, something like a Domke 803 will attract less attention than a crumpler bag or a backpack (of any sort). You will probably be less touristy if you carry the camera at your side or on your shoulder than around your neck, but your mileage may vary. In general, just use your common sense and do what you can not to stick out. Don't speak really loudly in English, stare at some guy with a shaved head and swastika tatoos etc.
I have not had film through a Russian x-ray, so I cannot help you there. I have just put it all in a plastic bag and asked them if they would hand-check it, and they have each time.
Locations. This is probably better from someone who lives there, but here are a few sites:
St. Isaac's Cathedral (Isakovskiy Sobor) -- this is an amazing cathedral, very large, and at the top you have views of the entire city. I would not miss it.
The Russian Museum (Russkiy Muzey) -- everyone goes to the hermitage, but it is a big mistake to miss the Russian Museum. There are some fabulous native painters and artists there, and the building is a beautiful former palace. It is also more manageable than the Hermitage, which has something like 12 miles of corridors.
Petergof (Petrodvorets) is the Russian Versailles, and very worth visiting, but it is outside of town. There are plenty of tour buses ways to get there though, so if you decide to check it out it should not be that hard.
Aleksandr Nevsky Monastery (Nevskiy Monastir) -- The monastery is a quiet and pretty place. The graveyard is quite interesting, and many famous Russians are buried here -- Dostoevsky, Tchaikovsky, Mussorgsky -- the graves are quite interesting too. It might be an interesting place to shoot.
Actually, www.saint-petersburg.com seems to have a really good sightseeing section, so you might want to look there as well. Other than that, Petersburg is just a great walking city and not that huge, so I would recommend walking as much as you can. The metro is really great as well, but you can get most places with your own two feet, and that makes sense, especially for a rangefinder user.
As for cameras, find yourself an Iskra if you can! Great little folder...
netzspannung
aka _basil
Heartily agree with all of the above, from my Muscovite point of view 
clarence
ダメ
Hello,
I hope this isn't too much of a digression. My friend and I got ourselves fired up over a trip on the Great Siberian Railway. Would any of you have any advice to offer?
The plan is to take budget flights from London to Berlin, and then to Moscow. From Moscow we'll ride the train all the way to Vladivostok, maybe stopping at Ekaterinburg and Lake Baikal along the way. We'll then take the ferry from Vladivostok to Japan, and hitchhike to Tokyo or something.
It's still a faraway dream, but I'd like to know if anyone has any advice to offer on taking the Great Siberian Railway.
Thank you.
Clarence
I hope this isn't too much of a digression. My friend and I got ourselves fired up over a trip on the Great Siberian Railway. Would any of you have any advice to offer?
The plan is to take budget flights from London to Berlin, and then to Moscow. From Moscow we'll ride the train all the way to Vladivostok, maybe stopping at Ekaterinburg and Lake Baikal along the way. We'll then take the ferry from Vladivostok to Japan, and hitchhike to Tokyo or something.
It's still a faraway dream, but I'd like to know if anyone has any advice to offer on taking the Great Siberian Railway.
Thank you.
Clarence
S
StuartR
Guest
Hi Clarence,
I have heard mixed things about the train trip from Moscow to Vladivostok. Some people love it, and some people hate it. Keep in mind you are going to be on a train for ages and ages. Also, much of your time you will just be looking at trees flying past. That is, the entire ride is not going to be beautiful. In fact, one of the people I know who has done it thought the whole thing was rather boring, and would rather have just flown to Novosibirsk and then to Vlad. I am not sure how much time you have at the stops, but I don't think it is very much, so that is something to keep in mind. Unless you plan to get off at many stops and get on the next train, your tour of siberia might just be a tour of the train. As for stops along the way, I would definitely recommend stopping at Novosibirsk if you had not wanted to already. I have not been there myself, but I have had friends who lived there who liked it a great deal. It is the cultural and academic capital of Siberia, and is supposed to be pretty cool. That said, this is from the perspective of my friend who lived there for 10 years and was fluent in Russian, so for a traveler it might be different. If you are going to Baikal, then you will probably go to Irkutsk, which is another city worth checking out.
I lived in Vladivostok for about 10 months, which was fun, but I am not totally sure what you want to do there. I suppose the point of the trip is just to go to these places right? Because they don't really have compelling "tourist" locations in the same way that places like Moscow and St. Petersburg do. The Arsenev Museum doesn't quite stack up to the Hermitage etc. If you just want to walk around and explore, I think you will be fine.
As for general advice about Russian train travel, I would recommend being careful about who you drink with if you decide to drink. Don't drink samogon (moonshine), as there have been cases where criminals will drug foreigners and take their stuff. I am not saying it is likely, just that it has happened. As always, when you travel you always want to be aware of the fact that you are foreign and don't pick up on danger signs as quickly as you might in your home country. The Russians you meet will probably be extremely friendly and helpful, but like everywhere, there are some bad people too.
As for the ferry to Japan, I believe there are a couple...one to Fushiki, one to Niigata, I know there is one between Korsakov and Wakkanai, but that is Sakhalin-Hokkaido, so a different area. In any case, I think the flights are actually not that much more expensive than the ferry, so if you are going to take the ferry because of costs, keep that in mind. Also, the Sea of Japan is not known for being calm...
Finally, hitch-hiking in Japan is possible, but it is not really a Japanese thing, so you might have trouble getting picked up...particularly if you are two young males who with giant backpacks who just got off a ferry after having spent a week and a half on a train. Also, all the highways are pretty much fenced in, so you can't just walk up to the road in many places like you can in the US or UK. The good news is that train travel is easy and not that expensive. The Japan Rail Pass can be bought when you are outside the country, and it will give you unlimited travel for a certain number of days. This is definitely the way to go. (BTW, I lived for about 6 months in Japan too...so I have some experience there as well). In any case, I hope this was helpful and not too discouraging. It can be a great trip, you just need to be aware of some of the difficulties involved, particularly if you don't speak Russian or Japanese.
I have heard mixed things about the train trip from Moscow to Vladivostok. Some people love it, and some people hate it. Keep in mind you are going to be on a train for ages and ages. Also, much of your time you will just be looking at trees flying past. That is, the entire ride is not going to be beautiful. In fact, one of the people I know who has done it thought the whole thing was rather boring, and would rather have just flown to Novosibirsk and then to Vlad. I am not sure how much time you have at the stops, but I don't think it is very much, so that is something to keep in mind. Unless you plan to get off at many stops and get on the next train, your tour of siberia might just be a tour of the train. As for stops along the way, I would definitely recommend stopping at Novosibirsk if you had not wanted to already. I have not been there myself, but I have had friends who lived there who liked it a great deal. It is the cultural and academic capital of Siberia, and is supposed to be pretty cool. That said, this is from the perspective of my friend who lived there for 10 years and was fluent in Russian, so for a traveler it might be different. If you are going to Baikal, then you will probably go to Irkutsk, which is another city worth checking out.
I lived in Vladivostok for about 10 months, which was fun, but I am not totally sure what you want to do there. I suppose the point of the trip is just to go to these places right? Because they don't really have compelling "tourist" locations in the same way that places like Moscow and St. Petersburg do. The Arsenev Museum doesn't quite stack up to the Hermitage etc. If you just want to walk around and explore, I think you will be fine.
As for general advice about Russian train travel, I would recommend being careful about who you drink with if you decide to drink. Don't drink samogon (moonshine), as there have been cases where criminals will drug foreigners and take their stuff. I am not saying it is likely, just that it has happened. As always, when you travel you always want to be aware of the fact that you are foreign and don't pick up on danger signs as quickly as you might in your home country. The Russians you meet will probably be extremely friendly and helpful, but like everywhere, there are some bad people too.
As for the ferry to Japan, I believe there are a couple...one to Fushiki, one to Niigata, I know there is one between Korsakov and Wakkanai, but that is Sakhalin-Hokkaido, so a different area. In any case, I think the flights are actually not that much more expensive than the ferry, so if you are going to take the ferry because of costs, keep that in mind. Also, the Sea of Japan is not known for being calm...
Finally, hitch-hiking in Japan is possible, but it is not really a Japanese thing, so you might have trouble getting picked up...particularly if you are two young males who with giant backpacks who just got off a ferry after having spent a week and a half on a train. Also, all the highways are pretty much fenced in, so you can't just walk up to the road in many places like you can in the US or UK. The good news is that train travel is easy and not that expensive. The Japan Rail Pass can be bought when you are outside the country, and it will give you unlimited travel for a certain number of days. This is definitely the way to go. (BTW, I lived for about 6 months in Japan too...so I have some experience there as well). In any case, I hope this was helpful and not too discouraging. It can be a great trip, you just need to be aware of some of the difficulties involved, particularly if you don't speak Russian or Japanese.
clarence
ダメ
Thank you so much for your advice, Stuart.
The friend and I are both camera-crazy, so the primary purpose of the trip is to visit these places and take photos. I'm planning on bringing my Zorki 5 and a couple of lenses, and a Moskva 5. I'm playing with the idea of bringing my Mamiya TLR kit but it might be too heavy and bulky. I read somewhere that one has to buy separate train tickets if one decides to stop over at any stop. Novosibirsk sounds great and maybe we'll stop over there for one day. Would you have any advice to offer on accomodation?
I only know about the Vladivostok-Fushiki ferry for now. The Rail Pass sounds like a very practical idea. Can one use it for overnight travel? If we could, then we could save on accomodation in Japan. Watashi wa chotto nihongo wo wakarimasu. Imma nihongo wo benkyoushimasu. Rainen motto nihongo wo wakaru to omoimasu. Did you live in Hokkaido? I would like to go to Tokyo at the very least, and maybe Osaka and Kyoto as well.
Clarence
The friend and I are both camera-crazy, so the primary purpose of the trip is to visit these places and take photos. I'm planning on bringing my Zorki 5 and a couple of lenses, and a Moskva 5. I'm playing with the idea of bringing my Mamiya TLR kit but it might be too heavy and bulky. I read somewhere that one has to buy separate train tickets if one decides to stop over at any stop. Novosibirsk sounds great and maybe we'll stop over there for one day. Would you have any advice to offer on accomodation?
I only know about the Vladivostok-Fushiki ferry for now. The Rail Pass sounds like a very practical idea. Can one use it for overnight travel? If we could, then we could save on accomodation in Japan. Watashi wa chotto nihongo wo wakarimasu. Imma nihongo wo benkyoushimasu. Rainen motto nihongo wo wakaru to omoimasu. Did you live in Hokkaido? I would like to go to Tokyo at the very least, and maybe Osaka and Kyoto as well.
Clarence
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StuartR
Guest
No worries Clarence, glad I can help. Unfortunately, I don't really know that much about the Trans-Siberian trip, as I have never really thought about doing it. I think the best thing to do would be to pick up the Lonely Planet guidebook. Their Russian one is really the only Russian guide that I have found that has a good amount of info on the areas outside the Golden Ring (Moscow, Petersburg, and the older cities like Yaroslavl, Novgorod, Vladimir etc). I actually think that they might have a guidebook specific to the Trans-Siberian, so that would certainly be useful.
As for Japan, mainichi benkyo sureba, kanarazu jyozu ni narimasu. You'll be fine if you study...and probably if you don't too. Japan has a lot of stuff written in English, and most of the tourist offices at stations have someone who speaks at least elemental english. Being able to speak Japanese goes a long way though. And yes, I did live in Hokkaido. I was in Sapporo two different times for about three months each, but I have traveled around on the trains a good deal as well. I don't believe that the Japan rail includes the cost of an overnight car. In fact, there are not that many sleeper cars in Japan because the trains are so fast, and the country is not that big (at least most train rides are not that long). The bullet trains are extremely fast, so riding from Akita in northern Tohoku to Tokyo takes less than 4 hours! Anything longer, and you are probably going to have to change trains, which means that there are not that many sleeper cars. Business hotels are really the way to go for cheap, easy accomodation. My personal favorite is the Toyoko Inn chain. http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
They are comfortable, cheap (well compared to hotels). A single room runs about 7000 yen a night (35 pounds), and that includes free internet, free breakfast (onigiri, tea, rice, various sea creatures etc), they have coin-op laudry, vending machines with beer and cigarettes. I.E. what every businessman and traveler needs. Some of them even serve a free dinner of curry raisu and miso soup. Anyway, Toyoko inn is the ultimate cheap, clean, comfortable travel hotel. I only wish they had them everywhere.
As for Japan, mainichi benkyo sureba, kanarazu jyozu ni narimasu. You'll be fine if you study...and probably if you don't too. Japan has a lot of stuff written in English, and most of the tourist offices at stations have someone who speaks at least elemental english. Being able to speak Japanese goes a long way though. And yes, I did live in Hokkaido. I was in Sapporo two different times for about three months each, but I have traveled around on the trains a good deal as well. I don't believe that the Japan rail includes the cost of an overnight car. In fact, there are not that many sleeper cars in Japan because the trains are so fast, and the country is not that big (at least most train rides are not that long). The bullet trains are extremely fast, so riding from Akita in northern Tohoku to Tokyo takes less than 4 hours! Anything longer, and you are probably going to have to change trains, which means that there are not that many sleeper cars. Business hotels are really the way to go for cheap, easy accomodation. My personal favorite is the Toyoko Inn chain. http://www.toyoko-inn.com/eng/
They are comfortable, cheap (well compared to hotels). A single room runs about 7000 yen a night (35 pounds), and that includes free internet, free breakfast (onigiri, tea, rice, various sea creatures etc), they have coin-op laudry, vending machines with beer and cigarettes. I.E. what every businessman and traveler needs. Some of them even serve a free dinner of curry raisu and miso soup. Anyway, Toyoko inn is the ultimate cheap, clean, comfortable travel hotel. I only wish they had them everywhere.
Andrew Touchon
Well-known
clarence said:
I can't help you with the Siberian railway but I have just uploaded some new photos you might want to view. They are in my Japan folder in the RFF gallery.
Rob Ludd
Rob Ludd
StuartR, thanks for the great information. The last thing I want is to stand out - I've gotten good at blending in with central Europeans, so maybe I'll still look like a tourist, but hopefully not a rich American tourist. Especially with my CV R2.
I didn't expect that the Russian authorities would have patience or interest in hand-checking film at the airport. It's difficult enough getting American security to do it. I'll probably have mostly HP5 and NPH, but also at least 3 or 4 rolls of Neopan 1600.
I've heard of the Russian Museum, and that will probably be marginally less-touristy than the Hermitage, too. Going to the graveyard is a great idea - I wasn't even considering that; and so many of those Russians are big influences on me.
The white nights will be awesome to see - I wonder if it will help or hurt the jet-lag.
Many thanks,
Rob
I didn't expect that the Russian authorities would have patience or interest in hand-checking film at the airport. It's difficult enough getting American security to do it. I'll probably have mostly HP5 and NPH, but also at least 3 or 4 rolls of Neopan 1600.
I've heard of the Russian Museum, and that will probably be marginally less-touristy than the Hermitage, too. Going to the graveyard is a great idea - I wasn't even considering that; and so many of those Russians are big influences on me.
The white nights will be awesome to see - I wonder if it will help or hurt the jet-lag.
Many thanks,
Rob
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