Oct 9th, 2012 at 10:00AM: 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 boxes of produce and a vicious argument ensued as my travel companions tried to prevent the men from stacking their crates in our ...Click on a label to read posts from that part of the world.
moscow posts
Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair Of Uzbek Prostitutes, Part Two
Oct 9th, 2012 at 10:00AM: 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 boxes of produce and a vicious argument ensued as my travel companions tried to prevent the men from stacking their crates in our ...Train In Vain: Four Days With A Pair Of Uzbek Prostitutes, Part One
Oct 8th, 2012 at 10:00AM: 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 his days as a soldier in Afghanistan, I was more than ready to get off the damn train.
But there was no timetable and no ...Assassination Of The Romanovs Subject Of New Exhibition
Jun 28th, 2012 at 9:00AM:
In 1918, the emerging Communist government of Russia shocked the world when it assassinated Tsar Nicholas II, his family and members of his staff.
The Tsar had been blamed for a series of national setbacks. First, there was the humiliating defeat of the Russo-Japanese War in 1905, followed quickly by a popular rebellion that was brutally suppressed, the pervasive influence of the unpopular ...This May Be The Last Year To See Lenin's Tomb
Jun 15th, 2012 at 11:00AM: Lenin's Tomb, the place in Moscow where the father of the Communist Revolution lies embalmed, waxen and puffy behind glass, is endangered. As Russians move further away from Communism, a majority – 56 percent – thinks that Lenin should be buried. Members of the administration of Vladimir Putin, who was just elected to a third term as President of Russia, have also voiced concerns ...Video: Teenager Flies Plane Into Red Square During Cold War
Jun 2nd, 2012 at 1:00PM:
If you've seen Moscow's imposing Red Square, still regularly patrolled by Russian guards, imagine seeing a plane land there. This Guardian video shows the story of Mathias Rust who, 25 years ago, flew through the Iron Curtain on a peace mission to "build an imaginary bridge" between cultures. He was an amateur 19-year-old pilot, and managed to fly from Helsinki to Moscow without being taken down ...
Photo Of The Day: Happy Cosmonauts Day
Apr 12th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
Today marks the 51st anniversary of manned space travel, and if you happen to be in a former Soviet country, you may be celebrating Cosmonautics Day. On April 12, 1961, 27-year-old Russian cosmonaut Yuri Gagarin was the first human in space, orbiting the Earth for nearly two hours. The USSR beat the US in the space race by just three weeks, and two years later, Russia would send the first woman ...VIDEO: Ride The Moscow Metro
Apr 8th, 2012 at 3:00PM:
If you've traveled to Russia, you've probably ridden on the amazing Moscow Metro with impossibly deep and fast escalators, Soviet-realistic sculptures and mosaics, and constant flow of passengers. If you haven't been, or just want a refresh, you can take a virtual ride with this video. It combines beautiful images, clever editing and dramatic music for a powerful travel video. Sčastlivovo puti! ...
Photo of the Day: Getting cozy in the snow
Feb 9th, 2012 at 6:00PM:
Most of our favorite travel memories are from summer: school's out and the days are long, you can hit the beach, sit in a park, or people-watch at a sidewalk cafe. Spring and fall are great shoulder seasons for lower prices and fewer crowds, but winter tends to be underappreciated for travel. Outside of visiting family for holidays, winter travelers generally head to the ski slopes or Caribbean ...Travel meets journalism at Roads and Kingdoms
Dec 20th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
Last month, writers Nathan Thornburgh (a contributing editor to TIME and recent guest of Fox News) and Matt Goulding (food & culture writer and author behind the Eat This, Not That! book series) launched a new website with the intriguing tagline: "Journalism, travel, food, murder, music. First stop: Burma." Combining on-the-spot reporting on current events and politics with in-depth cultural ...The Gadling young family travel gift guide
Dec 2nd, 2011 at 10:00AM: If you are traveling with a baby over the holidays, visiting with children on your next trip, or just hoping to convince a new parent that you don't have to hand in your passport once the new addition arrives, we've compiled a gift guide for families traveling with babies. Traveling light is the best advice you can follow when traveling with a baby (even without a baby, it's just good sense) but ...Eight interesting facts about North Korea's airline
Aug 3rd, 2011 at 8:00AM:
What do you know about Air Koryo? Probably not much. The state-run airline for North Korea, it's the only realistic way you can fly into the country, unless you have some sort of crazy commando resources at your disposal. Of course, there's a lot you have to do before booking your ticket, and getting a visa can be quite difficult for Americans and other westerners. If you do make it through ...Russia celebrates 450th anniversary of St. Basil's Cathedral
Jul 11th, 2011 at 10:30AM: It's the most recognizable icon in Russia, reproduced on millions of postcards, books, and websites. St. Basil's in Moscow is a colorful cathedral that's celebrating its 450th anniversary this year. As part of the celebration, the cathedral is opening an exhibition tomorrow dedicated to the mad holy man for whom the cathedral is named.
St. Basil lived during the time of Ivan the Terrible ...Moscow Metro celebrates 76th anniversary
May 20th, 2011 at 1:00PM:
This year marks the 76th anniversary of the Moscow metro system. From the public to the private areas, the stunning architectural images showcase one of the world's most fascinating transportation masterpieces, far exceeding the beauty of those in the United States.
Opened in 1935 with one 11 kilometer line and 13 stations, it was the first underground rail system in the then Soviet ...Pop-up restaurants: dining for a new decade
Apr 28th, 2011 at 1:30PM: First, it was underground supper clubs. Now, everything's coming up pop-ups. As with food trucks, this form of guerrilla cheffing borne of economic need has become a global phenomenon. Equal parts dinner party and dinner theater, a pop-up refers to a dining establishment that is open anywhere from one to several nights, usually in an existing restaurant or other commercial food establishment.
...Knocked up abroad: pregnant travel in the first trimester
Mar 16th, 2011 at 11:30AM: For more on pregnant travel, see parts 1 and 2 of Knocked up abroad: pregnancy in a foreign country here and here.
There's no question that having a baby changes you: your body, your lifestyle, even your shoe size. One thing I hoped not to change altogether was traveling, as long as it was reasonably safe and comfortable for me and the baby. From the beginning of my pregnancy in Istanbul, my ...10 ways to survive a Russian winter vacation
Jan 12th, 2011 at 3:00PM:
The phrase "Russian winter" may bring to mind images of tall fur hats, snowcovered gold church domes, and steaming bowls of borscht. It may also remind you that both the armies of Hitler and Napoleon were driven off by the cold winter of the north and that "Russian winter" is also an explanation why every invader has failed to conquer the country. Winter of 2010-2011 was forecast to be the worst ...Winter holiday celebrations in Russia
Dec 31st, 2010 at 4:00PM:
In most of the western world, Christmas and Hanukkah have come and gone, but in Russia, presents are being wrapped in anticipation of tonight, New Year's Eve. In the days of the Soviet Union, religious celebrations were frowned upon, so Russians shifted their winter celebrating to December 31 and combining the traditions of gift-exchanging and New Year's revelry into one night. In the Russian ...Daily Pampering: Year-round yachting at Radisson Royal Moscow
Nov 15th, 2010 at 4:00PM: Feel like taking the yacht for a ride through the ice? Not a problem, if you're in Moscow.
The Radisson Royal Moscow just introduced a fleet of specially commissioned river yachts now equipped with ice breakers -- just so that winter travelers can still see the [snow-capped] sights while in Russia.
The yachts provide year-round, private cruises along the Moskva River, where guests can take ...Top ten cities with best public transit systems
Nov 4th, 2010 at 11:30AM:
These ten public transportation systems, in random rather than top-to-bottom order, are among the world's best. The transit systems profiled here include some of the most impressively massive as well as some of the best-scaled urban transportation systems. Today's focus is on international public transit systems; as such, the better US public transit systems (New York, Chicago, and Portland, ...Photo of the day (10.29.10)
Oct 29th, 2010 at 5:30PM:
This photo, taken by Flickr user Andrey Dorokhov as part of a 365 Project, captures Moscow's Mezhdunarodnaya metro station in a moment of real stillness. Opened in 2006, the Mazhdunarodyaya station really does look like a spaceship from this angle. No surprise then that Dorokhov titled the photo Day 246, Spaceship.
Got a spaceship-esque image in your personal photography library? Post it to ...
