stumpf@homxa.UUCP (P.STUMPF) (09/25/84)
I am going to Russia (Moscow, Leningrad, Tashkent, Buchara, Samarkand) soon (Saturday) (on a General Tours tour). Any tips on the trip? e.g. tipping, water, food, especially photography (what/who not to photograph - should I avoid taking large-looking zoom lenses?) Thanks, Pete Stumpf
msc@qubix.UUCP (Mark Callow) (10/05/84)
>> To hear him (Robert Heinlein) tell it you are better off staying home on >> a cold winter night in a house with no heat and no windows, eating eels >> and drinking vinegar. >> Alan Silverstein I got back from Leningrad 3 weeks ago and I didn't see or experience anything that could remotely justify such comments. -- From the TARDIS of Mark Callow msc@qubix.UUCP, qubix!msc@decwrl.ARPA ...{decvax,ucbvax}!decwrl!qubix!msc, ...{amd,ihnp4,ittvax}!qubix!msc "Nothing shocks me. I'm an Engineer."
wildbill@ucbvax.ARPA (William J. Laubenheimer) (10/06/84)
> Re: travel in Russia > A while back I saw a long article by Robert Heinlein detailing the horrors > of travel in the USSR. If you are thinking of going you might want to find > it and read it. (Sorry, I can't give you a reference, but you might try > the Reader's Guide by name of author...) I don't have a title, but I read it, too. It's in his collection, \\Expanded Universe//, which I saw as a trade paperback. Don't know if it appears anywhere else. > To hear him tell it you are better off staying home on a cold winter night > in a house with no heat and no windows, eating eels and drinking vinegar. > Alan Silverstein That's not exactly what he says. To paraphrase, it goes something like this: Visiting Russia is essentially a game. It's You vs. Intourist. They are attempting to bleed you white for the sake of obtaining Western Currency, and You are attempting to have a good time and an interesting vacation. Heinlein's advice was to recognize that this is in fact what is happening, and play the game with the avowed intention of making life as miserable for your hosts as they are trying to make it for you. He suggests several interesting maneuvers along these lines. Now all of this was written in a late-'60s-early-'70s time frame, so I don't know how much is still valid today. It is still interesting reading, though, even if you aren't planning a trip to Russia. Bill Laubenheimer ----------------------------------------UC-Berkeley Computer Science ...Killjoy went that-a-way---> ucbvax!wildbill
ajs@hpfcla.UUCP (ajs) (10/14/84)
Re: travel in Russia A while back I saw a long article by Robert Heinlein detailing the horrors of travel in the USSR. If you are thinking of going you might want to find it and read it. (Sorry, I can't give you a reference, but you might try the Reader's Guide by name of author...) To hear him tell it you are better off staying home on a cold winter night in a house with no heat and no windows, eating eels and drinking vinegar. Alan Silverstein