My Favorite Things To Do Minsk – Introduction Minsk is the capital of Belarus and a city that is very busy working through the last 100 years of history. The city (as is the country) is trying to figure out what is its identity in a post-Soviet environment with mainly Russian speaking population. Minsk is […]
Priority Pass is a runaway success – in a way, it is a new credit card. Consumers can get an unlimited number of Priority Pass visits with many consumer credit cards all over the world. US banks are the most generous; I myself have three of these cards and have been enjoying many lounge visits at […]
I have been to Russia multiple times – on trips lasting from just a few days to several weeks. It’s certainly not my favorite country, but it’s an interesting one that raises many questions. Here is what I learned on this trip. Russians are the world’s rudest people I have had my share of rude people […]
My Favorite 25 Things to do Moscow – Understand Moscow is quintessential Russia – even more so than St. Petersburg; this is where all our ideas about Russia come together – foreigners and Russians alike. Moscow is a busy city and most of the Russian oil money ends up in Muscovite bank accounts and trickles down […]
Pobeda is an Aeroflot subsidiary that was launched as a 100% LCC in the Russian and European markets last year. The company relies on a brand new Boeing 737-800 fleet from its hub in Yekaterinburg. While Yekaterinburg is a bit of a sleepy city, the location is excellent – right in-between Asia and Europe. Think of […]
My Favorite 13 Things to do Yekaterinburg – Understand Yekaterinburg (also called Ekaterinburg) is the capital of the Sverdlovsk region and is the connection point between European Russia and the Siberian outposts. The weather reflects this geographic position with a continental climate, but with a less extreme character than Novosibirsk or Yakutsk. Yekaterinburg is located 5 […]
Ural Airlines is one of the smaller Russian airlines and I wanted to try them during my time in Russia. The airline has an interesting route network on an all narrow-body fleet. Their A319, A320 and A321 planes go all the way to Beijing and Bangkok from their main hub in Yekaterinburg. The company runs […]
My Favorite 19 Things to do St. Petersburg – Understand St. Petersburg has been the seat of Russian czars and is often referred to as the Paris of Russia. It is where the Russian Empire started and built out its imperial ambitions eastward. The city suffered during the Soviet Union and there is a lot […]
The Courtyard St. Petersburg Vasilievsky is located on the island of Vasilievsky, which is just next to the island that has St. Peterbsurg’s main attractions. The immediate area around it has some seriously good food and is more laid back than the busy city center, though. Check-in was very friendly and in fluent English. The Marriott […]
S7 is the world’s most punctual airline and we have reviewed it before. S7 has not changed much; the airline has stayed a solid member of Oneworld in this region. S7 almost exclusively operates A320 narrow-body aircraft, which is fine for a short hop, but gets tiring quickly for long segments over 5 hours. The company […]
My 14 Favorite things to do Yakutsk – Understand Yakutsk is becoming famous for one thing – its extreme climate that has allowed it to be the coldest big city on the planet. Temperatures regularly drop to minus 60 degrees here (that’s almost as cold as Antarctica on most days in winter). The city has 300,000 […]
My Favorite 23 Things to do Riga, Latvia – Understand Latvia is one of the three Baltic countries that escaped the Russian Empire a bit by accident. The Baltics are now part of the Schengen Agreement and the Euro, making travel there seamless. Latvia is still the most Russian of the three Baltic countries and easily feels […]
What are Carlson Travel Agent Rates? Like other major hotel brands and travel providers, Carlson is known for offering preferred lower rates to travel professionals, either for the agents to use for personal stays or so they can book on behalf of clients. The Carlson Look To Book site does more than just offer a discount, however. […]
This was my second visit to Vietnam; after Saigon a few years ago, I spent time in Hanoi this time. Here is what I learned. It’s all about the people The Northern Vietnamese strike me as an exceptionally stubborn but courteous and somewhat curious people. After such a long period of communist reign you expect people […]
The Central Asia countries are often grouped together as ‘Stans. While this does not entirely do them justice, many have a similar history and a somewhat comparable culture. I just spent three weeks in Central Asia and have traveled there before. I have excluded Afghanistan and Pakistan from this guide; they both have a security […]
My Favorite 33 Things to do Almaty, Kazakhstan – Understand Almaty is the commercial capital of Kazakhstan and has a history of an oasis trading hub in the region. It’s located just north of the Alatau Mountains that separate Kazakhstan from Kyrgyzstan (see My Favorite Things to do in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan). The city is a rewarding travel […]
There is more than one Nigeria Nigeria is not a coherent country. City dwellers in Lagos, those who live in the countryside and the people lucky enough to get direct access to the oil money (Nigeria produces 2 million barrels of oil every day) all live in different worlds that rarely intersect. Nigeria is very […]
If you come from Novosibirsk you may feel you just landed in a smaller version of Novosibirsk. It’s a similar setup – the river, the Soviet era buildings and the parks. However Irkutsk has more character with more old Siberian houses and a more compact city center. The city has no Soviet era wide alleys […]
Trip Index (what we have published so far): Turkish Airlines Business Class Review – Seoul (ICN) to Istanbul (IST) Turkish Airlines (Regional) Business Class Review Istanbul (IST) to Bishkek (FRU) Air Astana Review (Economy Class) Courtyard by Marriott Irkutsk Review DoubleTree by Hilton Novosibirsk Review S7 Airlines Review – Economy Class Astoria Hotel, Vladivostok Review […]
My favorite 14 Things to Do in Novosibirsk, Russia – Understand Novosibirsk is an industrial city in Western Siberia (eastern Russia). It’s a rather modern and efficient city. However, don’t expect much hospitality or tourist infrastructure. Locals probably won’t believe that you are a tourist, as they tend to think that nobody would ever go to […]
Trademark Legal Notice. All product names, images, logos, and brands are property of their respective owners. All company, product and service names used in this website are for identification purposes only. Use of these names, logos, and brands does not imply endorsement.
Selected creative is provided by 