Post: #76

I've had a very different experience in Russia. I never had any problem there and met great people. I've found worse at my hometown, to be honest.

Post: #77

(12-19-2012 04:35 PM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  Actually in some Sofia clubs like Sin City guys look like that and they are the ones accompanied by hot women.Bulgarian guys are characterized by massive necks it is another thing to describe them and another to see them in row.They lack however the uptight tense posture of Serbs and the very big forearms of the latter.
In Ukraine many guys are malnourished and pose no danger.Their physical built does not carry a relation to the common Balkan appearance(wide shoulders, muscular backs etc).In Russia almost all guys have some knowledge of boxing and some skill in martial arts is essential in this country for survival.

Generally Russians are the most unpredictable of all they can change in a moment.Ukrainians are very europeanized and almost never threatening except in Donetsk which is the mafia centre.Russians do not give a shit about foreigners actually they do not want foreigners in their country and the number of tourists to Russia has seriously decreased.A non Slav can have every kind of difficulty in Russia especially if he does not speak Russian.(for example they denied to me to stay on a hotel because I was not a Russian citizen and the hotel was meant for Russians only).

They also never try to facilitate you in anything and cause all kinds of problems for very ordinary stuff.In Ukraine it is the opposite.As long as you pay you get royal treatment and everyone is more than willing to take your euro.(in Russia they even refuse to change to rubles in many cases.They also like to spit in your face and show you who is the boss in Russia).

I'm sorry Kamaki but I just have to pull you up on this one. This is just plain old scaremongering. Yes people should be cautious in Russia and apply common sense but that is the same everywhere. I have never had anyone spit in my face because I was not Russian, refused entrance into hotels, restaurants, niteclubs because I was not Russian nor any cashier refusing to exchange my money from Euro to Roubles because I was not Russian. In fact I never had any bother from anyone on account of my non Slav identity. In fact tourism numbers in Russia are on the up. You have the Winter Olympics in Sochi in little over a year and the FIFA World Cup in 2018 in which Russia is really pushing the boat out in welcoming guests. The 2018 World Cup will be a damn good one. They know how to put on a good show.

Post: #78

(12-19-2012 06:29 PM)Partizan Wrote:  

(12-19-2012 04:35 PM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  Actually in some Sofia clubs like Sin City guys look like that and they are the ones accompanied by hot women.Bulgarian guys are characterized by massive necks it is another thing to describe them and another to see them in row.They lack however the uptight tense posture of Serbs and the very big forearms of the latter.
In Ukraine many guys are malnourished and pose no danger.Their physical built does not carry a relation to the common Balkan appearance(wide shoulders, muscular backs etc).In Russia almost all guys have some knowledge of boxing and some skill in martial arts is essential in this country for survival.

Generally Russians are the most unpredictable of all they can change in a moment.Ukrainians are very europeanized and almost never threatening except in Donetsk which is the mafia centre.Russians do not give a shit about foreigners actually they do not want foreigners in their country and the number of tourists to Russia has seriously decreased.A non Slav can have every kind of difficulty in Russia especially if he does not speak Russian.(for example they denied to me to stay on a hotel because I was not a Russian citizen and the hotel was meant for Russians only).

They also never try to facilitate you in anything and cause all kinds of problems for very ordinary stuff.In Ukraine it is the opposite.As long as you pay you get royal treatment and everyone is more than willing to take your euro.(in Russia they even refuse to change to rubles in many cases.They also like to spit in your face and show you who is the boss in Russia).

I'm sorry Kamaki but I just have to pull you up on this one. This is just plain old scaremongering. Yes people should be cautious in Russia and apply common sense but that is the same everywhere. I have never had anyone spit in my face because I was not Russian, refused entrance into hotels, restaurants, niteclubs because I was not Russian nor any cashier refusing to exchange my money from Euro to Roubles because I was not Russian. In fact I never had any bother from anyone on account of my non Slav identity. In fact tourism numbers in Russia are on the up. You have the Winter Olympics in Sochi in little over a year and the FIFA World Cup in 2018 in which Russia is really pushing the boat out in welcoming guests. The 2018 World Cup will be a damn good one. They know how to put on a good show.

I agree with you. But how do they know you are not Slav? Russians look so different that any European can be taken as one. Like my wife always says its when I speak that they see me as a foreigner. However, when I speak since I speak broken Russian they do not peg me as a Westerner. Westerners usually do not speak Russian. Due to my dark features they think i am Bulgarian or some other x Warsaw pact country. Bulgarian is nice since they liked Bulgaria.
Greek might have a dark tan so they think hes different?Not sure.

Post: #79

(12-19-2012 06:41 PM)jimukr104 Wrote:  I agree with you. But how do they know you are not Slav? Russians look so different that any European can be taken as one. Like my wife always says its when I speak that they see me as a foreigner. However, when I speak since I speak broken Russian they do not peg me as a Westerner. Westerners usually do not speak Russian. Due to my dark features they think i am Bulgarian or some other x Warsaw pact country. Bulgarian is nice since they liked Bulgaria.
Greek might have a dark tan so they think hes different?Not sure.

Jim, as a previous poster alluded to, they know that you are a foreigner. They can sniff you out just by looking at you. By the way you dress, walk, hold yourself, posture. I remember getting on buses and trams and have half the carriage stare at me. It wasnt hostile or anything just curiosity. I have even had Babushki come up to me in the shops asking me questions of where I was from. They knew I wasnt a local. I'm Irish, pale white skin and I just cannot tan in the summer. Call it the curse of the Celts. When I am here in Dublin, I can tell you a Pole, Russian or other Slavs by just looking at them. Its the same with them. I just dont look Slav at all.

Anyway speaking of curses, here is another one -

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/heal...66002.html

Given that Russian/Balkan diet is heavy in red meat and iron, I'm royally fucked if I stay there for a long time.

Post: #80

(12-19-2012 06:55 PM)Partizan Wrote:  

(12-19-2012 06:41 PM)jimukr104 Wrote:  I agree with you. But how do they know you are not Slav? Russians look so different that any European can be taken as one. Like my wife always says its when I speak that they see me as a foreigner. However, when I speak since I speak broken Russian they do not peg me as a Westerner. Westerners usually do not speak Russian. Due to my dark features they think i am Bulgarian or some other x Warsaw pact country. Bulgarian is nice since they liked Bulgaria.
Greek might have a dark tan so they think hes different?Not sure.

Jim, as a previous poster alluded to, they know that you are a foreigner. They can sniff you out just by looking at you. By the way you dress, walk, hold yourself, posture. I remember getting on buses and trams and have half the carriage stare at me. It wasnt hostile or anything just curiosity. I have even had Babushki come up to me in the shops asking me questions of where I was from. They knew I wasnt a local. I'm Irish, pale white skin and I just cannot tan in the summer. Call it the curse of the Celts. When I am here in Dublin, I can tell you a Pole, Russian or other Slavs by just looking at them. Its the same with them. I just dont look Slav at all.

Anyway speaking of curses, here is another one -

http://www.irishtimes.com/newspaper/heal...66002.html

Given that Russian/Balkan diet is heavy in red meat and iron, I'm royally fucked if I stay there for a long time.

I read that post. I just can not relate to it. Maybe things have changed in the last 5-6 years. The only time they pegged me as a foreigner was when I opened my mouth. In Odessa they would more easily out me as a non local than in Kiev or provinces but they have had foreigners for decades and probably are good at noticing them. But in cities where they have little experience with seeing outsiders it was harder for them to "MAKE" me. Often the women or babushkas would start speaking Russian with me or refer to me as " young man" in Russian asking me directions, etc.
I also often dressed more flashy than even locals and still was seen as a local. Times might be different now, maybe now I would be spotted. The only thing know I have that maybe blends in is i can walk the way a Russian does with that STOIC look on their face. They always have that expressionless face. Cops also have stoic looks on their face ,so I am thinking that is the key. I must have learned to look like a Russian while standing on patrol.
Makes sense. I remember going to the Irish pub with my wing-man who was American to meet his GF, and she thought I was a Russian guy. My wife when I met her thought I was local, and her mom even made a similar comment.

Post: #81

What is Babushki?

Post: #82

(12-19-2012 07:45 PM)FretDancer Wrote:  What is Babushki?

grandma. basically its acceptable to call old women grandma or old women. Young women you basically say "girl come here."

Post: #83

(12-19-2012 06:29 PM)Partizan Wrote:  

(12-19-2012 04:35 PM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  Actually in some Sofia clubs like Sin City guys look like that and they are the ones accompanied by hot women.Bulgarian guys are characterized by massive necks it is another thing to describe them and another to see them in row.They lack however the uptight tense posture of Serbs and the very big forearms of the latter.
In Ukraine many guys are malnourished and pose no danger.Their physical built does not carry a relation to the common Balkan appearance(wide shoulders, muscular backs etc).In Russia almost all guys have some knowledge of boxing and some skill in martial arts is essential in this country for survival.

Generally Russians are the most unpredictable of all they can change in a moment.Ukrainians are very europeanized and almost never threatening except in Donetsk which is the mafia centre.Russians do not give a shit about foreigners actually they do not want foreigners in their country and the number of tourists to Russia has seriously decreased.A non Slav can have every kind of difficulty in Russia especially if he does not speak Russian.(for example they denied to me to stay on a hotel because I was not a Russian citizen and the hotel was meant for Russians only).

They also never try to facilitate you in anything and cause all kinds of problems for very ordinary stuff.In Ukraine it is the opposite.As long as you pay you get royal treatment and everyone is more than willing to take your euro.(in Russia they even refuse to change to rubles in many cases.They also like to spit in your face and show you who is the boss in Russia).

I'm sorry Kamaki but I just have to pull you up on this one. This is just plain old scaremongering. Yes people should be cautious in Russia and apply common sense but that is the same everywhere. I have never had anyone spit in my face because I was not Russian, refused entrance into hotels, restaurants, niteclubs because I was not Russian nor any cashier refusing to exchange my money from Euro to Roubles because I was not Russian. In fact I never had any bother from anyone on account of my non Slav identity. In fact tourism numbers in Russia are on the up. You have the Winter Olympics in Sochi in little over a year and the FIFA World Cup in 2018 in which Russia is really pushing the boat out in welcoming guests. The 2018 World Cup will be a damn good one. They know how to put on a good show.

Partizan, I am sure your experience was as pleasant in Russia as you have described. I dont know your background or your modus operandi, when you travel. Kamaki´s experience might have been different than yours because we know how and why he travels. Also, maybe being Greek is not such a positive thing in Russia.

Neil, for example, talks about his experience in Russia very positively, but he is a dutch man who went there for the overall adventure....pussy was just a great side benefit. He didn´t bring negative attention to himself, by being a foreing poon hound.

All of this is conjecture, until one personally goes there. I have heard differeing views about how things could go.

Now, several guys going to to a 2nd tier Russian city to hunt is something unprecented, so I think there is no way of knowing what could happen. But I do heed Kamaki´s advice, especially since we know he just went there to slay the local pussy, like some of us will.

Post: #84

I do not talk about Moscow,St. Peterburg but about provincial Russia.Also Russia differs a lot from city to city because it is huge so what is true for one city might be different for the other.
Anyway for the first time traveller Ukraine is much easier,more convenient etc.Also cheaper since ruble is artificially kept expensive(by pumping oil and gas money to support it).

Post: #85

I also heard Russians complaining about foreigners taking their women.They told:These shitty fag useless foreigners come and our women want them.I ask you:What do they find in them?
They also do not respect Mediteraneans especially Italians.Their ladder is:
1.Russians
2.Other Slavs
3.Northern Europeans
4.Mediteraneans

Post: #86

(12-20-2012 02:46 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  I also heard Russians complaining about foreigners taking their women.They told:These shitty fag useless foreigners come and our women want them.I ask you:What do they find in them?
They also do not respect Mediteraneans especially Italians.Their ladder is:
1.Russians
2.Other Slavs
3.Northern Europeans
4.Mediteraneans

So that list is a list of the guys that most likely takes the best of their women am I right? I would generally however expect Asians to be on the very last and bottom of a man a Russian women would ever like in her life and certainly not an upper tier one. However they seem to attack them and others not in that list.

Post: #87

I did not include Asians etc in this list because I do not know Russian attitudes towards them.I wrote about the views on European folks.Slavs escape with a lot of things in Russia which are not possible for the rest.

Post: #88

I have heard that they hunt down Asians, Central Asians, and other non-European origin people like deer and animals.

Post: #89

Russians are generally aggressive.Whether you are Russian or foreigner you are going to be pushed a bit.They do not discriminate.If you get scared the worse for you.

Post: #90

(12-20-2012 03:48 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  Russians are generally aggressive.Whether you are Russian or foreigner you are going to be pushed a bit.They do not discriminate.If you get scared the worse for you.

It's interesting how we have had such different experiences,I've never had a Russian be aggressive to me and would not describe them as such. However you were down in the South if I recall Greek and maybe the mentality is a little harder down there and more aggressive? I think Wolverine mentioned there was a different atmosphere down there then in other parts due to proximity to the Caucus,more suspicion of outsiders etc.

Btw. your point about hotels turning you away is not unique to Russia,I have been turned away from hotels in China ( Beijing ) for being foreign. I think it's a left over from the Communist days as opposed to Russians being inherently racist to outsiders. In Belarus they still charge foreigners ten times the price of locals for rooms.

Post: #91

Yes,Russia probably differs according to region.It is a huge country.Meaning the experience you get in the south can be very different from what you face in the western border of Russia or in Siberia.
In Belarus hotels they charge you a bit more than the locals it is close to 20% more.

Post: #92

(12-20-2012 04:56 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  In Belarus hotels they charge you a bit more than the locals it is close to 20% more.

20% more then CIS citizens but about ten times more then locals ( in my experience anyway ). I checked into a hotel in Svetlogorsk with my,then, brother in law. He paid $7.50 for a night and I paid 60'something for mine. Exact same standard of room. Pretty galling.

Post: #93

(12-20-2012 04:56 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  Yes,Russia probably differs according to region.It is a huge country.Meaning the experience you get in the south can be very different from what you face in the western border of Russia or in Siberia.
In Belarus hotels they charge you a bit more than the locals it is close to 20% more.

Ah there is the key. Russia is a huge country and attitudes differ from one okrug/oblast to the next that it is difficult to give a truly accurate picture without fumbling into stereotype territory. The country is made up of many different ethnic groups with different religions, languages and customs which is a telling factor why it is difficult to get an accurate view of the place. Kamaki you were in the Krasnodar region where due to the closeness to the Caucases there has always been a rough edge about the place and it is the home of the Cossacks, the warrior tribe which took no shit from any invader or local if they got uppity.

Regarding overcharging, I got that when I was in Bulgaria too. It was so blatant that they never hid it and I just accepted it as the norm. Everywhere from hotels, spa resorts to taxi drivers would charge me that bit more than a local. It didnt cloud my view of the place and it was a memorable period. That said, just as in Russia you needed to keep your wits about you otherwise you would have been taking advantage of. I knew an American guy in Rousse who got royally shafted by a taxi driver. For a short spin from his hotel to the centre he got charged €70 out of a fee that would normally be about €2. Then again many Yanks I met on my travel were so naive it just had to be seen to be believed.

Post: #94

(12-20-2012 05:23 AM)Vorkuta Wrote:  

(12-20-2012 04:56 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  In Belarus hotels they charge you a bit more than the locals it is close to 20% more.

20% more then CIS citizens but about ten times more then locals ( in my experience anyway ). I checked into a hotel in Svetlogorsk with my,then, brother in law. He paid $7.50 for a night and I paid 60'something for mine. Exact same standard of room. Pretty galling.

Is that the place in Belarus?

I remember checking into a nice guest house in Veliko Turnovo with my then girlfriend and being charged 4 times the amount she paid.

Post: #95

Yes,if you speak Russian and try to book from Russian websites they have different prices than the ones advertised in the internet for foreigners.However you usually have to send e-mail to them containing data,passport etc.

Post: #96

(12-20-2012 05:53 AM)Partizan Wrote:  Is that the place in Belarus?

Yeah the Belarus one not the Kaliningrad one.

Post: #97

i'd like to visit the FSU someday but all this talk is scaring me. i am a small indian man.

Post: #98

(12-20-2012 06:07 AM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  Yes,if you speak Russian and try to book from Russian websites they have different prices than the ones advertised in the internet for foreigners.However you usually have to send e-mail to them containing data,passport etc.

Ukraine was like that also. It is law but if you have residency they had to charge local price.I think Disney land in America charges florida residents less. Its a global thing.

Post: #99

In Russia everyone took me for a Russian.Even when I said I come from Greece they insisted that I am Russian of Greek origin.In Ukraine they took me for Pole usually and in Belarus the same.In Poland they usually thought I was Ukrainian or Czech.
When I said that I come from Greece however the attitude changed and it was not for the better.It is obvious that Slavs get better treatment in slavic countries.I mean that they befriend you instantly if you come from neighbour slavic country.

Post: #100

(12-21-2012 03:47 PM)Greek kamaki Wrote:  In Russia everyone took me for a Russian.Even when I said I come from Greece they insisted that I am Russian of Greek origin.In Ukraine they took me for Pole usually and in Belarus the same.In Poland they usually thought I was Ukrainian or Czech.
When I said that I come from Greece however the attitude changed and it was not for the better.It is obvious that Slavs get better treatment in slavic countries.I mean that they befriend you instantly if you come from neighbour slavic country.

Locals always get treated better. The ones who like Westerners will treat you better but of course they have motives.
Greek if they took you for local ,it means you must have had that stoic look perfected. I can even dress different and be taken as a local. Since people in FSU have so many different hair colors ,eye colors and features its easy to blend in if you are white. I think the stoic facial expression is the key to being local looking. Its like in invasion of the body snatches when the stars had to blend in with the humans possessed by aliens. They walked with no emotion or expressions on their face.