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In Reply to: RE: My late mother toured the USSR in 1972 posted by Feanor on June 28, 2023 at 11:01:30
The two situations have nothing in common. Back then they were under constant surveillance, but under no risk. They only traveled in groups and according to an approve plan.
The beginning of the 21st century was totally different. I would go through passport control and then... go anywhere I wished.
Some people were met by friends or families, others were free to board the bus or hire a taxi. I usually had someone waiting for me, either the business partners, apartment rental rep, or rental car folks.
I was still supposed to register with the authorities - they wanted to know where I stayed, but there was an easy workaround - for $20 you could get the required stamp.
You were supposed to declare the cash you brought, but they did not even check it. Only once I was asked to present it, and the custom officer simply lifted the pile of notes with two fingers, and let me through.
The international relations were still good and no one was looking for complications.
Follow Ups:
Visiting post Soviet countries, staying in best hotels and playing aristocracy for a few bucks thanks to ridiculous exchange rates.
They are so pissed off those days are over.
I don't remember Moscow hotels being so cheap in the 90s. They were not enough of them and too many westerners were there hustling.
Arthur Clark was highly critical of travel to the Soviet Union.
You paid in advance than were chisseled at every turn.
How many empty stadiums CAN you stand to visit?
His ONLY advantage? They didn't know his wife spoke near-fluent Russian....
This is not listed in the google search for 'Arthur Clark on Russia' but rather printed in one of his books which is in my personal library......
I doubt anything substansive has changed.
Too much is never enough
If you spoke the language and knew what you wanted, the nineties and the first decade of the 21st century were a goldmine for anyone interested in what that country had to offer.
I really wish that shithole could somehow return to those times, less their negatives.
nt
Dmitri Shostakovich
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