Thread: Самая красивая область в России? (Nicest part of Russia?)

sperk,
yeah, and beware of bears playing balalaika and crossing avenues here and there.

Ramil is exaggerating. The real reasons why this idea is difficult to implement:

1) You can't rent a car as you do in the US. Perhaps rent-a-car companies exist somewhere in Russia, but this service is not popular at all. I didn't no anybody who rented a car in Russia. And the prices may be unbelievable: it's too difficult to a stranger to drive in big cities, and nobody will give you a car to cross the country.

2) You still can travel by your own car. However, it's hard (and often pointless) to travel on huge distances. The landscape is basically the same for hundreds of miles.

3) The summer is short, and in other seasons you need to have winter tyres and driving experience for ice and arctic conditions. What would you do if the engine won't start in the morning due to low temperature (the battery is weak, spark plugs don't spark, and motor oil gets too viscous)?


Hanna,

railroads are quite good, and traveling by train is an interesting experiense. I didn't travel by train further than to Altai, however. It's 2.5 days travel, we crossed the Urals overnight, and otherwise landscape in Central Russia and Western Siberia is about the same. Getting to Barnal, Altai, you're still on your 1/3 way to Vladivostok.

In Altai mountains, we met Slovak rafters. They were excited that the trip from Barnaul to their river (>500 km) is longer that the whole Slovakia.

BTW, Altai is great:

http://www.teamgorky.ru/photos/photo...er_id=23&id=79



as well as Baikal Lake:

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

Ramil is exaggerating.

Not in the slightest, just move some 50 km away from the main roads (which are maintained now and then) and you'll see.

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

The real reasons why this idea is difficult to implement:

1) You can't rent a car as you do in the US. Perhaps rent-a-car companies exist somewhere in Russia, but this service is not popular at all. I didn't no anybody who rented a car in Russia. And the prices may be unbelievable: it's too difficult to a stranger to drive in big cities, and nobody will give you a car to cross the country.

You CAN rent a car here, I don't know about other cities, but in large ones you can always find a rental company.
I rented VAZ 2105 for as little as $20 per day when my car was being repaired. See for yourself.

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

2) You still can travel by your own car. However, it's hard (and often pointless) to travel on huge distances. The landscape is basically the same for hundreds of miles.

Yeah, I agree, you start noticing the slight changes in the surrounding landscape once in 1,500 - 2,000 km. It's boring.
Still I've managed to drive from Moscow to Sochi and back with no incident (in Summer). 2,500 km (22 hours without stop and sleep).

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

3) The summer is short, and in other seasons you need to have winter tyres and driving experience for ice and arctic conditions. What would you do if the engine won't start in the morning due to low temperature (the battery is weak, spark plugs don't spark, and motor oil gets too viscous)?

Yes, you'll need a SUV, spare motor oil, 2-3 tyres, a spare tank of gas, a toolkit, a winch, chains for your wheels, spare belts for the gas distribution mechanism and the pump, folding ramps (if you go off-road), and a bit of luck.

But only if you really want to drive to some less-populated place. Normally, you can travel by roads without any particular problems (if you have a good car with tough suspension).

Ramil,

I don't think the guy wants to travel 50 km away off main roads, nor drive to Magadan on "zimnik". He wants to travel a bit across Russia.

Technically, you can rent a car. The point is that you can't do it as you do it in the US. And I don't think VAZ-2105 is a reasonable choice for an American. After VAZ, you can drive any car. You can't drive VAZ if you used automatic transmission only.

Regarding winter, you don't need a SUV or tyre chains. You'd need spare spark plugs rather than 2-3 tyres. The point is that most Americans don't have enough experience driving on ice-covered road (e.g. how to slow down without breaks but using transmission), as well as changing spark plugs or just replacing battery at -30C.

And crazy Russian drivers routinely riding at 100+ mph (160 km/h) is a different story.

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

Ramil,

I don't think the guy wants to travel 50 km away off main roads, nor drive to Magadan on "zimnik". He wants to travel a bit across Russia.

Technically, you can rent a car. The point is that you can't do it as you do it in the US. And I don't think VAZ-2105 is a reasonable choice for an American. After VAZ, you can drive any car. You can't drive VAZ if you used automatic transmission only.

I could rent any car, but VAZ was the cheapest. You could rent a Ford Focus with automatic transmission for as much as $80 per day.

Regarding winter, you don't need a SUV or tyre chains. You'd need spare spark plugs rather than 2-3 tyres.

I was describing my own experience, of course the situations as well as the roads can be different. And a spare battery won't do you any good if it's left in the cold.
And if you're a sane person, you won't stop your engine when you have to spend the night in the car.

You don't need to spend a night in the car. Just start the engine in a cold winter morning near hotel.

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

You don't need to spend a night in the car. Just start the engine in a cold winter morning near hotel.

Provided you have a hotel to stop for the night.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

You don't need to spend a night in the car. Just start the engine in a cold winter morning near hotel.

Provided you have a hotel to stop for the night.

Provided that you're smart enough to plan your route and have a map better than "Belomor" pack.

Originally Posted by Ramil

Valley of Geysers.
Even though it's the most remote place to visit in Russia, it is considered a world's natural wonder.
It is located on the extreme Far-East of Russia but truly is a place to visit...

Hey, thanks, Ramil. I was wondering what Kamchatka looks like. I spent many years in BC Canada, and so I wondered what it was like over there. Also in Canada, is the occurrence of km after km of no human construction of any kind, except maybe road. No gasoline, no food, no humans, no emergency workers... Oh, it's beautiful. One little mistake, and you're dead. What they never ever show in the photos are the flies. Mosquitoes, black files, horse flies and I don't know how many other kinds. They make some of the wildlife go crazy sometimes, there are so many flies eating them alive. It is a big relief when the frost comes. Also, the land is often wet/soft and not passable by vehicle, and so when it freezes up, big relief, able to drive again. (This for is off road, and things like logging.)

I don't think Ramil is exaggerating. I've heard some crazy stories from people who have driven there. Plus, check this out:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=6mR4FGX3aOg
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=k8eZg...eature=related
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=uZonCgTJKX4

I think Seraph's right - the closest comparison to Russia in this respect has to be Canada. I've travelled around a lot in Northern Scandinavia and it is pretty desolate and cold.... just forest hour after hour... But compare it on the map; we are just a dot compared with Russia or Canada.

People have to know how to fix simple engine errors so the don't die from exposure if the car breaks down! It's part of the driving test in Sweden.

This is in the middle of nowhere. You can find this extreme in any country vast enough.

The typical highway near Moscow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=CEmcHTT1 ... re=related

In the winter:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=GVvvJi1J ... re=related

Originally Posted by Kudesnik

This is in the middle of nowhere. You can find this extreme in any country vast enough.

You can find such roads not only in the middle of nowhere but on federal intercity roads as well, especially in winter. When people are asking about traveling by car they're obviously interested not only in roads some 50 km near big cities.

Voronezh, 500 km from Moscow:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=EU_wAeJgI8k
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=mek4h5Uf3Hk

Щелково, 20 км от Москвы:
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=HLss0AKmDWM

Originally Posted by Hanna

Originally Posted by Ramil

Well the vastness of Russia is one of the things that makes it so impressive!

I got an idea of Russia's vastness sitting on a plane from Moscow when the girl next to me said she had flown 9 hrs. to get to Moscow from Vladisvostok; that's not even the full breadth of the country.