Russian Trip

[londonbubble]

Somebody asked me to write the details of the Russian part of my solo scandinavia,finland,russia & baltic state ride.

He was on this site last week and i have lost the thread, who are you? contact me and i will explain about the trip....... comrade

[tjompen]

It was'nt me but I really want to know what permits you'll need to enter Russia and things like that


/Thomas

[croydon@twin]

... but I really want to know what permits you'll need to enter Russia and things like that

You might find this a useful site for information on long distance bike trips:

http://www.horizonsunlimited.com/

They are having a get together in June.

Tony

[Recycler]

It was me. I'm particularly interested in the Soviet parts of your tour - visas/problems/surprises etc.

Cheers

[DaveS]

And if you write it then I'll publish it on the site giving you full credit.

[londonbubble]

Okay, its a long post, are you all sitting comfortably, then i'll begin...................................

Here are the details of the paperwork for visiting The Russian Federation, i have tried to make it sound as uncomplicated as possible, it may seem to some as alot of information to take in at once, but it is not as bad as it sounds, and when i was at the Finnish / Russian border it was all adhoc anyway. I have tried to add a bit of humour in the details as well, because generally people always get a sense of forboding when talking about Russia, basically all the stories of woe i was told before i left the UK and during my ride throughout the countries preceding Russia were unfounded, in other words bull!


1) Russian visa; i purchased this in London from the russian tourist office, you need to get it six weeks in advance otherwise the less time you leave before your departure the more expensive it gets, i left it until two weeks in advance of my departure date and it cost me about £125.00 whereas i believe it would have cost me thirty or forty pounds had i applied six weeks before. You will also have to purchase an international drivers license, you can obtain these from the AA or at some main post offices, again i forget the price but it was not expensive


2) You have to get an invitation into Russia first to obtain your visa, usually you will get this from a hotel, or some sort of hostel agency . When you get your invitation they will ask for vehicle details, make, model, frame and engine number etc. I think the hotel company i used for the invitation was called Russiarents.com and the guy i was dealing with was Dennis. He understood the problems associated with motorbike security etc and found me an apartment with a courtyard and big steel gates, off of the main road. When you arrive and book into your place of residence you have to book into the aliens office within twenty four hours, the hotel staff will know about this and will tell you how to get there or accompany you there, i was taken there by Olga the landlady of the flat i was residing at. If you don't register within 24hours there will be a small fine to pay for registering late.


3) If anybody tells you that it is okay to use the green card for motor insurance purposes, don't listen it is wrong information. You will be able to purchase vehicle insurance at the Russian border, i forget the price but it was not a lot, and it had to be purchased for a minimum of one month, what was the insurance worth in the real world?, i don't know i never had to use it in anger. I did get stopped for speeding (77kmh in a 70kmh area) and i had to produce the usual documents, i bribed the cop for the speeding offence the princley sum of ten dollars (US) and he let me go. There was no animosity in the transaction, its the done thing over in Russia, he started the bidding a twenty dollars i knocked him down to ten, I even shook his hand at the end of the event, and it was smiles all around, he muttered to me in a heavy russian accent 'crazy englishman'. So the Russian bribe experience was exactly that, an experience, i broke the law and i was fined, simple. they did not pick on me because i was a foreigner as is the rumour banded about by other people, because whilst i was at the roadside being dealt with by the police they were stopping speeding Russian drivers as well.

Just to put it in perspective, I have received £150.00 fines (three different ones) in this last month in London for the gross crime of parking on a bus stop a three & four o'clock in the morning in a deserted part of town. All of the 'crimes' were caught on camera's, two of the camera's were mounted on buses,and the photos were taken by a Ken Livingstone's 'snitch bitch' (bus driver), hence the reason i never give way for buses now.


4) It is a statutory requirement to carry a first aid kit (which i do whenever touring) and a fire extinguisher on your vehicle whilst driving/riding in Russia, i was never asked for either, but it is best to have one so that you do not give the relevant authorities any reason to bollock you (or fine you). I bought a lightweight fire extinguisher for about a tenner from Tesco's, it is about as big as a large can of furniture polish. I was also told by an Estonian living in London that cars in Russia are required to carry a wheel chock, he was not sure if it was relevant on a bike, so me being the belt and braces type, popped down to Halfords who relieved me of £4.99 for a wedge shaped piece of plastic with a lovely little handle on the large end of the wedge, how quaint. I threw it in the dustbin after left Russia, do you think the Estonian guy may have been puling my leg


5) With regards to currency, as most of us know the Rouble is the national currency of the Russian Federation, but the Euro is also being used in St Petersburg along side the ubiquitous US dollar, I had Euro's with me because thats what the Finnish currency is and i was in Finland before i entered Russia. I took Roubles and US dollars along with the Euro's, it is important when ordering your US dollars from whatever source you obtain them from (bank, post office etc) to obtain some small denomination notes for small purchases and bribes etc but all US dollars must be fresh, clean notes, not torn or crumpled ones.


6) Mechanical breakdown cover: For me this was a worry, i had been trying for weeks to obtain breakdown and relay cover in Russia, i would have went without it if i had to, but i would rather have some cover than no cover at all. It was becoming a real stumbling block and getting in the way of all my other preperations, it was a pioneering trip for me and i was riding solo so i wanted to make every concievable precaution. Non of the major breakdown companies would cover my bike for breakdown and relay in Russia, much less a fourteen year old bike, the AA will only give mechanical cover for your motorbike for maximum ten year old bike and only in the EEC members of Europe, if i broke down in Russia what was i gonna do? i was getting a bit concerned. Help came by way of the BMF, i phoned there offices and asked about mechanical breakdown and relay cover, and they gave me a telephone number to call, here is the sequence of events that led me to obtaining a policy for me(health) and the bike(mechanical)

I phoned the number the BMF gave me and exlpained to the person that answered the phone the details of my journey, and my predicament about the age of the bike and travelling Russia. She went away from the phone for a moment, and when she came back to the telephone she said 'cover for all the EEC countries was fine', i said 'what about Russia? 'hold on i'll find out for you' she said. So off she went again leaving me in anguish on the end of the telephone, this was the last chance saloon, i had no other breakdown companies to phone, i had exhausted all my lines off communication, she came back to me after a minute or two and said 'we will only cover you up to 'St Petersburg' 'Halle- f*****ng- lujah' i thought to myself. 'Oh i forgot to tell you' i said sheepishly , 'the bike is over thirteen years old'.

There was a slight intake of breath on the other end of the phone, 'there will be a loading on the premium' she said, 'i know that i was expecting it' i replied, i heard her shuffling some paper at the other end of the phone, i feared the worse it was gonna cost big bucks.

I bent over the sofa and assumed the position....... with the telephone in my hand waiting for a reply, i dropped my trousers to my ankles ,i took a jar of vaseline in my free hand whilst biting hard on a piece of leather dangling from my mouth, i was gonna take it like a man. I mouthed through clenched teeth .......c'mon big momma give it to me i can take it i'm a big boy now.......i heard the sound of her coming back to the other end of the telephone, the womans voice said 'the combined premium for your bike breakdown cover and medical insurance will be............ i grimaced waiting for it............ 'a hundred and twenty five pounds' Ah ha! i knew it! rip off UK, 'whats that £125.00 per day'? i ranted, i knew i was crazy even to think of going to Russia 'no sir, thats for twelve months' she replied..... 'are you sure love' it is a thirteen year old bike' i asked' 'yes' she replied 'the policy covers you for Denmark,Norway,Sweden,Finland,Sth Russia,Estonia and any other EEC member states, for your health, accident cover, and motorcycle breakdown/ recovery for a period of twelve months'.....I spat the piece of leather out, chucked the vaseline in the bin, stood up and pulled my trousers from my ankles and regained my composure, do you take credit cards transactions over the phone sweetheart, 'yes' she replied.......kartching! (cash register bell) 'sold, to the London Bubble.

6) My mobile phone did not work in Russia despite having the roaming option on, i have since heard that you have to sign up to one of the Russian network providers. Or get your phone unblocked here and buy a Russian pay-as-you-go card when your there, the cards are not that expensive and it is cheaper to phone international from there than our own pay-as-you-go prices


When you enter Russia at the border, you will have to remember that all the paperwork is based on the old soviet ways, you will have to fill in a form with your entry and exit days, and declare all your currency. I had about £1,500.00 in cash in six different currencies on me tucked away in various places I declared enough currency to show them i could get by comfortably in Russia for a week. You will also have to declare any radio transmitting devices like GPS units and mobile phones, again there are rumours about that you cannot take a GPS into Russia, it is not true, i declared the GPS and my mobile phone at the border and took them both into Russia and no one batted an eyelid.

So that is all the paper work side of the Russian part of my trip that i can think of, if anybody is considering doing trip to Russia and needs to know more details on things i may have not covered in this post, contact me and i will see if i can help them in any way. There is a great site on foreign travel mentioned before in this post it's www.horizonsunlimited.com Unfortunatly i found this website after i came back from Russia, this site has everything you want to know about foriegn travel in all parts of the world, and it has some amazing stories and pictures from riders all around the world, it's worth a read even if you don't have any intention of biking abroad

I know that Recycler wanted details of my Russian ride as well as the information on how to get into Russia, do you (administrator) want me to send details of the ride onto the forum? i got some pics as well i don't wanna bore anybody




London Bubble

[inshed]

excellant post, thanks

[DaveS]

do you (administrator) want me to send details of the ride onto the forum? i got some pics as well i don't wanna bore anybody
London Bubble

Oh yes!
Anything you've got.

[xrv_jim]

Great write up LondonBubble. Can't wait to see your travel tale and pics.

[Recycler]

I know that Recycler wanted details of my Russian ride
i got some pics as well i don't wanna bore anybody
London Bubble

Nice one, many thanks.

Photos man, PHOTOS!