Image courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center
If you think security is tight now, imagine what it was like for Soviet tourists who came to the United States during the Cold War. Although a select few private Soviet citizens were granted permission to visit the Land of the ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
Russian Federation
Forbidden America: Cold War-Era Map Shows No-Go Zones For Soviet Tourists
Image courtesy of the Rockefeller Archive Center
If you think security is tight now, imagine what it was like for Soviet tourists who came to the United States during the Cold War. Although a select few private Soviet citizens were granted permission to visit the Land of the ...Paying More For Flights? Try $70.6 Million Per Seat
Travelers have become accustomed to paying more for flights as airline fees soar, tapping them for billions. Between baggage fees, service fees and in-flight fees, it is getting harder to find cheap fares and no one knows that better than NASA.
As the space shuttle ...Two Days After Scare, Russia Bans Flights Over Syria
Just two days after a commercial airliner with 159 passengers detoured to avoid the danger of flying over a combat zone, Russia has officially banned flights over Syria, Reuters is reporting.
According to the news outlet, some Russian airlines had ignored a warning issue ...Travel Tool: Interactive World Heritage Site Map
When it comes to planning my next trip, a pretty photo only inspires me half as much as a good map. I'm particularly partial to UNESCO's interactive World Heritage List map, which I spend more time clicking on than I'd care to admit. The map identifies the List's 962 ...Google Street View Takes Us To New Heights On Everest, Kilimanjaro And More
We're big fans of Google Street View here at Gadling and over the past few months we've enjoyed the addition of the Grand Canyon, Great Barrier Reef and the Amazon River, amongst other destinations. Through the use of modern technology, Google has given us the opportunity to ...Survey Ranks 'World's Most Unfriendliest' Countries
Have you ever been to a country that just seems to give tourists the cold shoulder? Now, there are some figures behind those unwelcome feelings; the World Economic Forum has put together a report that ranks countries based on how friendly they are to tourists.
The ...Victoria & Albert Museum Showcases Treasures From Royal Courts
The Victoria & Albert Museum in London has just opened a new exhibition about the development of trade and official relations between Russia and the United Kingdom.
"Treasures of the Royal Courts: Tudors, Stuarts and the Russian Tsars" brings together more than 150 ...Video: A Week In The Life Of The International Space Station
The International Space Station is one of the wonders of modern technology. A series of interconnected orbital modules are home to a rotating crew of astronauts and cosmonauts plus a host of ongoing experiments. While the ISS only gets into the news every now and then, ...
Bikini-Clad Snowboarders Take To Siberian Slopes (Video)
Snowboarders worldwide usually dress warmly, covering as much skin as possible to avoid frostbite if not hypothermia. Russians are normally no exception to the rule, with winter temperatures dropping to sub-zero levels with great frequency.
To catch the attention of ...
Video: A Sublime Disruption
"A Sublime Disruption" from Gareth Nolan on Vimeo.
Gareth Nolan shot this short film, "A Sublime Disruption," during a trip around the world he took in 2011. "This video is not about the places I visited, but merely an attempt to evoke the feeling of wonder and ...
The Caucasus, Central Asia And British Airways
I traveled to Beirut earlier this year with bmi (British Midland International), the East Midlands-based airline partially absorbed into British Airways in the spring. My Beirut trip was meant to be the third installment in an ongoing series called "Far Europe and ...Russian Forest Now Features 170-Foot-Long Trampoline (VIDEO)
At Archstoyanie, an annual festival held in the forests of Nikola-Lenivets, Russia, architects from Estonian design firm Salto created a 170-foot-long trampoline. Dubbed "Fast Track," the elongated trampoline acts similar to a people mover at an airport. Except in this ...Russian Ship Carrying 700 Tons Of Gold Ore Goes Missing
A Russian cargo ship carrying more than 700 tons of gold ore has gone missing off the country's Pacific Coast after sending a distress call a few days back. The ship, which is named "Amurskaya," had a crew of nine aboard at the time and was headed for the island of Feklistov ...The Most Dangerous Takeoff Ever Captured On Video? (VIDEO)
Is this the most dangerous takeoff ever? This video shows a Russian UTAir Antonov An-24 taking off from what NYCAviation describes as a "swamp in the central Russian town of Bodaybo."
Struggling to take off amid flying mud a plume of muddy water behind it, ...
How To Stay In A Castle On Your Next Trip
When trying to make your travels extra special, the accommodation can really make or break the ambiance of your vacation. Vacation rentals can help with this by allowing you to stay in all types of unique properties, from the bizarre and architecturally innovative to ...Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair Of Uzbek Prostitutes, Final Part
Read parts one, two, three and four of this story.
I said a tentative goodbye to Marina, not knowing whether she wanted to lose me or not. I didn't have the mental capacity to deal with the chaos and uncertainty of a new place, so I was pleased when Marina said we should ...Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair Of Uzbek Prostitutes, Part Four
Read parts one, two and three of this story.
Day Four
I woke up in a sweat and was told by Marina that we had crossed into Turkmenistan, a country I had no transit visa for. The compartment was a white-hot crucible of heat that was exacerbated by the fact that none of ...Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair of Uzbek Prostitutes, Part Three
Read part one and two of this story.
Day Three
On my third morning on board an increasingly hellish train ride, I found a fully intact piece of excrement resting on the train's only toilet seat I could get to. It seemed not to have been an accident; in fact, the feces ...Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair Of Uzbek Prostitutes, Part Two
Read Part One of this story here.
Day Two
We reached the Kazakh border before lunchtime and there was an unbelievable commotion as scores of merchants boarded the train while others threw big boxes through open windows. Two men barged into our compartment carrying ...Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair Of Uzbek Prostitutes, Part One
Read parts 2, 3, 4 and 5 of this story.
After spending four sweltering, monotonous days on a dirty, cargo-laden train from Moscow to Bukhara, sharing a compartment with two Uzbek prostitutes, a Russian soldier and a capricious, alcoholic conductor prone to flashbacks from ...
