stumpf@homxa.UUCP (P.STUMPF) (12/10/84)
<For the borscht-eater>
USSR Trip Report - Personal freedoms, religion & misc -Part II
Being unable to think of a better organization, I'll
start somewhere near the beginning of the trip and work my way through,
pointing out things of interest to me as I go.
On this trip we changed planes in Helsinki, transferring from
Finnair to Aeroflot, for the flight to Moscow.
We met our American guide in the Helsinki airport after an overnight
flight for our customs and immigration briefing.
She has traveled about 5 times to the SU and described the
process as one which would show an extreme example of Soviet rigidity.
We should be prepared to have a "young clean-cut soldier" stare at
us (individually) for about 5 minutes at passport control to make sure
that the person on the passport matched the visa and that they both
matched the person entering the country.
This would be followed by collecting luggage and then through customs
where news magazines (e.g., Newsweek, Time), certains books (e.g., The
Russians, by Hedrick Smith),and other inflammatory literature would
be confiscated. Our luggage would also be Xrayed and/or opened.
I was especially concerned since I was bringing about 25 rolls of
film. Our guide also told us to be patient, since they were only doing
their jobs, and also we had no choice.
The actual process was similar to the one described.
The immigration area was poorly lit, and a bit smokey; left me feeling
ready to turn around and go home before the KGB got me and starting
an interrogation.
There were long lines (our Russian-built plane was a wide-body, and
full), and the lines moved slowly, for the reasons described.
A friend traveling on the trip with me has an atypical (sic)
US passport which had been issued around 1980. This particular model
of passport did not carry the US seal over the picture but rather
has the picture laminated.
This caused the immigration officer enough concern
for him to leave and have it checked by his superiors. (Visas, which
are issued by the Soviet embassy, also included black&white pictures
of the visitor,and required the passport when the visa was issued, so
I would have expected few problems with the passports themselves.)
By the way, this friend is a reporter and was worried (due to stories
heard back home) that reporters had a lot of trouble entering the USSR.
In any case, she got through after several uneasy minutes.
I got through after only one or two minutes of the stare treatment;
I had a relatively new passport, and was (intentionally) wearing the
same shirt that the passport photo was taken in (a tradition of mine).
The soldier asked only my name; they asked no questions besides the
name question of anyone else that I could hear.
One tourist, a young guy with longish hair who was wearing coveralls,
spent a LONG time before his official, probably 15 to 20 minutes.
Several different officials took turns looking at his passport,
and other people were admitted around him, with him left standing
by the immigration window.
The woman in front of me also had too much trouble getting through:
She was born in the US, in Oklahoma, before OK was a state: I don't know
if this made her papers unusual, but it took a referral to a higher
authority to get her cleared.
On to customs! I took my bag of film, all carefully stored in clear tubs
and then zip-locked in a Baggie (TM) and carried it (nervously)
around the X-ray machine (I'm not paranoid), but I let my camera bag
go through their machine (indicating my acceptance of their
authority). The guard choose to inspect this bag (it was Full of lenses
and stuff), and leafed through the one magazine I had in it (a copy
of the New Yorker), which I was given back. And that was it: I was in.
(Only found out later that there was an article on Afghan refugees
in Pakistan in that particular issue - whew!)
But immigration is not always so easy; also on our tour, besides
my friend, the reporter (specialty - Education, paper - USA Today
(not a controversial subject, or paper in the USSR)), was another
reporter, who was Jewish, who worked for the New York Times,
who was an Investigative Reporter, who had visited before, and who
was STRIP SEARCHED (emphasis mine).
He was intercepted at the immigration line, they must have had his name,
and taken to a separate room.
His luggage was checked in excruciating detail (he had been intercepted
at immigration, before customs); his body had been checked in similar
fashion; he was questioned at length - our group was assembled and through
customs well before he was, but not hours before.
They took a couple of his books away; said they were Zionist,
and his stuff was in a jumble when he went through the tourist
customs line. I guess if you want to visit someone else's country, you
play by their rules.
We went to our hotel. Passports were collected by our American guide;
a Russian guide (most officials of any sort are ethnic Russians - our
local guides in Asia were ethnic Russians, a minority in that part
of the Soviet Union) was also with us by then.
Passports and visas (required for each city in which a night will be
spent) were traded in for "hotel cards".
These cards were good for one person to enter a hotel (any hotel in
the city, and were to be carefully guarded.) To get into our hotel
rooms, we would trade the card in to the "key lady" (their terminology)
who was in charge of our floor.
(The key lady could be enticed to bring you tea in the morning, but that's
a different report section (Part III or IV).
Upon leaving the room, you'd trade back your key for the card; she kept
the card when you left the key on checking out.
Guards insisted upon presentation of the card to enter a hotel;
visitors were allowed (the card said), but had to get a pass from
the hotel desk - I brought back no visitors.
The same passport-card-key business occurred in each of 7 cities; Moscow
and Leningrad and Novgorod (in between those 2) were the only
places where the guards were so insistent. Possibly because in Asia
we looked different (different ethic group) from the "locals",
possibly just less up-tight security.
I was never questioned upon entering the tourist stores (Beriozka's),
but saw people turned away at least twice. Goods can only be bought
with "hard currency" (again, their term), meaning anything with a floating
exchange rate that comes from anyplace outside their bloc.
A brief bit on their goods, more in a different report:
Some identical items are available in both Beriozkas and in
ruble-stores. Price comparison: hard-to-get goods cost more in the
Beriozka (caviar - US$40, versus a marked price of (equivalent US$6 (six)));
luxury goods, but generally available: mink hats (my price US$200 versus
their price US$400),
and some stuff was the same - miscellaneous wooden toys, postcards, books.
Probably due to their artificial rate of exchange, somehow.
Black market: this must belong in the Personal Freedom report.
On our first full day in Moscow, out at a remote abbey (now a museum),
everyone on our group was approached by kids (boys, ages around
14-16, I think) for a couple of reasons.
They wanted gum, or they wanted to trade lapel pins for our tour group
pins, or they wanted to change money and/or buy clothes.
Those who were looking to exchange money (or clothes) waited for the
last members of the group (we were usually last - someone has to be),
and we were also the youngest people (but not too young), presumably
because they didn't want our Russian tour guide to see what was
going on. (We were told in Helsinki that the black market is illegal.)
We were offered the best rate here: 3 rubles to the US dollar,
compared to the official rate of .85 rubles/dollar (over three times
better to save you arithmetic). We were not too frequently bothered
in Moscow by such money-changing opportunities.
One night, as we approached our hotel, a young man (~20) stopped
to try to buy clothes (as he "was a student and couldn't get good clothes,
and wanted to look good"). After refusing him, (he took it well),
he asked for the nationality of our Tour group, its size,and the
approximate floors on which we were staying. (?)
In Leningrad we were deluged with requests for Western goods: tape cassettes,
make-up, news magazines, books, clothes, watches, cameras, money - it
got to be quite a task just trying to walk down the main street.
The people were always young men; they often spoke EXCELLENT English,
and they were extremely friendly. One offer to just come over to their
place to see how a typical Russian lived seemed extremely sincere and
undemanding. They explained that they were just trying to improve their
language skills, and it seemed a reasonable story. I felt
bad turning it down. After several more people stopped us, with similar
offers, only more pointedly offering to show us their collections of
lacquered boxed, or books, or whatever else we might want, did I decide
that everyone really wanted something. (I believe that there are people
who just want to talk, and I would have liked to, but I don't know how
to find them.) Some people seemed desperate for any sort of reading
material, and were uniformly pleasant even after a helpless rejection
(I had nothing to offer).
Not much going on in the Asian cities we visited (Samarkand, Buchara,
Tashkent). People seemed a lot more satisfied with their lot.
We were they in October, and the markets were overflowing with
melons and pomegranates (looked real pretty, too.)
Can't remember is we were offered the chance to change money here,
but the rate was 2 rubles to the dollar every place but the first day
in Moscow. In many cities kids wanted gum, and were willing to trade
lapel pins for it, but his is more along the lines of a tourist
report than one on personal liberties.
SECRET POLICE, BUGS, AND BEING FOLLOWED.
Got your attention? - didn't notice any of this stuff when I was
there. BUGS - our tour guide told us that she had had a conversation
with a builder. The builder said there were bugs in the rooms in one
hotel; he had put them there. He also put them in the restaurant,
near the window. We stayed in several hotels that had
over 3000 rooms; if these are bugged they could only listen to them
on a selective basis,but it could be done for those people in whom they
are particularly interested (e.g., our NY Times reporter). Two of the
big hotels we stayed in were French/Russian and Swedish(/Russian?)
built, respectively in Moscow and Leningrad (nice places, too).
Would the workers install listening devices? - yes, if told to.
(Humorous note?- we spent many happy minutes talking to the ceilings
in our hotel rooms, complaining, etc. - never heard any feedback on it.)
BEING TRAILED - No way/not us. Case in point. In Leningrad we three took a
side trip on our own and headed back to our hotel (Pribaltiskaya)
via Metro and bus. Must have gotten on the wrong bus, because at one
stop everyone but us got off. At the next stop the bus made a U-turn,
the driver turned the lights off, and left.
In Suzdal we walked 2 miles through unlit streets after dark to get
back to our hotel from town. There's no reason we should have been followed,
as we weren't looking for dissidents, but we had to have some preconceptions,
right?
We went off on our own in every city (9 altogether) and got mixed up/lost
in a back street in most of them. - There's never a cop when you
need one.
The NY Times reporter claims to have been followed, at least in Tashkent.
SECRET POLICE? - Must be some, somewhere. We were told not to take pictures
of Lubjanka prison (& KGB HQ) in Moscow, but it's illegal in NY to take
pictures of prisons also (had a sister stopped and film confiscated
for that offense (in the good old US of A)).
There are lots of uniforms in Moscow, but it's the capital, after all.
Picture taking- took 750 pictures, lots of soldiers practicing for the
October revolution celebration, bridges, inside the Kremlin, inside subways,
army vehicles (but I don't suggest this is a good idea, I was just getting
adventuresome (didn't take one of Lubjanka.))
As I was taking a picture of the escalator in the Moscow metro, a guard
yelled at me to stop (the depth is supposed to be a state secret - bomb
shelter and all that), but didn't attempt to take my camera or film.
(Its against the law in NYC to take photos in subways - though I've never
been stopped there.)
INTERNAL TRAVEL:
We tried to get an overnight tour to Vilnius, capital of Lithuania,
arranged from Leningrad, as these trips were advertised in the major
hotels. We were told that it would take a couple of days to get
a visa to be allowed to stay overnight, and that a one day trip was
impossible due to the plane schedule. Like I said, a visa is needed
for an overnight stay in any city - pretty restrictive, I think.
The clerk who told us this didn't seem upset that we couldn't go -
she also would have needed a visa.
RELIGION: If you go to the USSR believing there is freedom of religion,
you will leave believing the same thing. I think I understand what Billy
Graham saw.
We went to a Russian Orthodox service in Tashkent, capital of Uzbekistan
Republic. No one was there checking identification, or taking pictures,
or hindering entrance. What was there was ~200 women, all aged 60 or
more, 1 or 2 old men, and about 6 young people.
This way have been the only Russian Orthodox church in the city (population
2 million).
When asked about Moslem population, our guides said they don't keep
statistics. When pushed, they said about 25% are Moslem.
We saw many madrassah's (Moslem schools for turning out holy men)
which had been closed, and turned into museums (architectural only,
empty otherwise.)
Oneof the more beautiful churches in Moscow was torn down to put
in office space; the land was unsuitable, and a swimming pool was
put there (but it's a nice pool - heated for the winter).
Their story for closing churches is that they belong to the people,
and the churchgoers could not keep them up properly. Hence the
state takes them over and makes museums of them (this applies to
the Christian churches in Russia as well as the Moslem shrines
in Asia. In Leningrad the Church of St. Anne has been turned into
the Museum of Religion and Atheism.
In some cities we were shown the only working church.
There's a Temple in Leningrad, someplace.
But externally, the only reason for the lack of churches is lack of
interest. I'm doing firsthand reporting here so I won't describe
what one can read in books on the inside discrimination practiced in
the USSR.
A recap: we pretty much went where
we wanted to, when we wanted to, and spoke to whom we wanted to,
in the cities we were actually in. We couldn't get to other cities
on our trip. (Tourists may bring private cars into the country,
but only certain of the main roads are open to them, and I don't have
firsthand knowledge of the details of such travel.
We met one American who had been traveling on her own, so it is
possible (an doable).
A Russian-speaking American on our trip got a $3.50 fine for jay-walking
in Leningrad. Her husband was also hit for one when she complained
to the cop - "what about all the other people doing it?" "I don't see
anyone else doing it." Quoth he.
Nothing to do now, but leave.
Customs on the way out got me. - I fit a profile: tall, young,
(Good-looking :-)) American male in blue-jeans - just the sort of
person who would deal in the black-market. The inspector had me
open all my bags (and we did a lot of souvenir/Christmas shopping),
asked me where I bought stuff, asked for receipts, asked if I had
any rubles (it's illegal to export currency (except for about 2 rubles
in change for souvenirs). He opened stuff which had been wrapped
in the store.
I gave him all the right answers, well -
I said no rubles (since I knew that the souvenir change was
allowed).
He found the change, I said (in excellent Russian) "Souveniry",
and he was satisfied. He had been efficient, polite, and spoke enough
English to do his job. I've had significantly more trouble at American
customs.
I was treated very civilly by all officials I encountered on this
trip.
Oh, yeah. On the way our the NY Times reporter got the business
again. (The full works.) And he was the last person to get out of
the security area to the plane. I expect the plane would have been
held for him. They looked through everything, including his notes.
He said they were polite.
Part III will be coming out sometime in the future - maybe real touristy
stuff in that report -like sites, food, shopping, and weather.
Stay tuned.
Peter Stumpf, ?!homxa!stumpf ({hoxna|hound|?} !homxa!stumpf)
201-870-7368 days/ 201-747-4550 eveningsmsc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (12/13/84)
I just want to second the report this is following up to.
In August I took an bus trip from Helsinki to Leningrad. We were in
a party of German's plus myself (English) and 2 Americans. We
went through customs/immigration with more ease than I've passed though
the US equivalent at times. No one had their bags searched. I even
went through with a copy of "The Times" (London variety, if you had to
ask) sticking out of my flight bag. I also had copies of both
Time and Newsweek. (Aside: did you know they print special editions
without the health warning on the cigarette ads. for those countries
where they aren't required. I think that's odious.) These stayed
in my hotel room in Leningrad when I left.
We had to turn in our passports in return for a hotel card, but we were
never asked to show the card anywhere. We were able to go pretty much
anywhere we wanted even managing to get lost on the Metro (due to the
unfamiliar alphabet). I took a photo of the escalator because the lighting
was interesting. Boy do they build those things deep. I though London
was pretty deep but this was about half as deep again.
We were approached twice by waiters in the hotel. First to change money,
then to buy then American cigarettes in the Beriozka store. Another
person was asked if he would sell his running shoes. When he offered to
give them away the person fled!!!
They make it almost impossible to change money on the black market
by making you fill in an form, on admission, stating exactly what
currency, travellers cheques etc. you have with you. Then at each
bureau de change, they give you another form stating how much you
changed. When you leave you have to say how much you have left.
The books had better balance or else. I.e., entrySum - exchanges
== exitSum and exchanges >= purchases.
All in all it was a fascinating trip.
--
From the TARDIS of Mark Callow
msc@qubix.UUCP, qubix!msc@decwrl.ARPA
...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!qubix!msc, ...{amd,ihnp4,ittvax}!qubix!mscbothner@CSL-Vax.ARPA (12/24/84)
> (Aside: did you know they print special editions > without the health warning on the cigarette ads. for those countries > where they aren't required. I think that's odious.) If you looked carefully at the magazines, they probably said something like "European Edition", and had the price stated in a dozen different currencies. These editions have \different/ ads in them, not just slightly \altered/ ads. They don't print different versions for the cigarette companies, they do it so their advertisers in general can target their campaigns a little more selectively. Btw: In some countries (e.g. Norway) cigarette (and alcohol) advertising is normally forbidden, but foreign magazines is one of the exceptions. --Per