AhPek Biker - Riding Adventures
Russia 2019 Day 1: KL to Moscow to Sergiyev Posad
Russia 2019 Day 1: 9th May (Thursday)
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Route recommendations: Here are some tips on travelling to and around Russia: 1. Traffic Directions!
Driving in Russia is left-hand drive, and driving is on the right-hand side of the road. Do look to the correct side when crossing roads. Speed limits are between 60 km/h within urban areas, 110 km/h along expressways, and 120 km/h on highways.
2. Getting to & around Russia.
We landed at 7:00pm, after customs and immigration clearance, we headed for Sergiyev Posad at 8:45pm. It was another hour and forty-five minutes van journey to arrive at Sergiyev Posad. We booked hotels, train tickets, and several meals via the internet. Ground arrangements (and airport transfers) in Moscow were made through Alexander of Angel Tour, who can be contacted through WhatsApp at this phone number: +7926-435-86-87. Ground arrangements (and train station transfers) in St. Petersburg were made through Tayna (contact no.: +7921-923-12-27), a local agent in St. Petersburg. For out-of-pocket spending, we exchanged some Russian Rubles before leaving. We also brought along our Big Pay debit cards, as these can be used to withdraw Russian Rubles at ATMs. Debit and credit cards can also be used, but many smaller shops or market stalls only accept cash transactions. Click here for exchange rates to Rubles (presently 1MYR = 18.67 RUR, i.e. Russian Rubles).
3. Immigration & Customs Requirements
Tourists entering Russia will need a tourist visa, which can only be obtained via a TOURIST CONFIRMATION VOUCHER issued by a Russian travel agency or a Russian hotel that has the license to invite foreign tourists. This can be done through a local travel agency with affiliation to a Russian travel agency to obtain this invitation letter. The following is a list of countries that are visa-exempt to enter Russia. For Malaysians, leaving and returning to Malaysia, getting through immigration is easier now. Just install and register MyBorderPass, and getting through will be a breeze. A QR code will be generated, have this scanned, and you're through.
4. Places & Things of Interests
5. Food
a. Pre-breakfast
Green chicken curry with rice, and fish spaghetti on board.
d. Dinner
7. Communicating with Each Other
When travelling in a group, it's important to be able to communicate with each other, especially if one gets lost from the rest. Back then, it was not easy to buy
Russian Sim cards, and our Moscow guide got the
Beeline physical SIM cards (with 14days unlimited data) at 700 RUR (MYR 37.50) for us before we arrived.
8. Communicating with Locals
At hotels and tourist spots, locals speak fairly good English. In the smaller towns, most locals speak only Russian. As such, it would be good to know some basic Russian.
9. Dressing
When entering churches and monasteries, it is advisable to wear long pants, especially for women. Ladies will also have to wear headscarves or veils. Caps and hats should be taken off when in churches and monasteries.
10. Weather
11. Navigation
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PRELUDE
After several months of planning, we kick off our
Russian adventure with a flight from
Kuala_Lumpur to
Moscow with a short transit in
Bangkok. On landing, we were met by our local guide Alex, who took us by van to
Sergiyev Posad.
By the time we reached our hotel, it was late in the evening, just in time to catch a bath and go to bed after a long day of travelling.
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DAY 1: KL-MOSCOW-SERGIYEV POSAD
(Click Here Russia 2019 Days 1 & 2: Moscow to Sergiyev Posad Route Map) Most of the posts below are linked to my Facebook postings during the trip and are embedded here with some comments. (NOTE: Click on respective posts to link to the FB post to read more details. If you can't see the posts, please log out of your Facebook first.)
Russian Rendezvous 2019
Daily Log Day 1: 9th May Thursday - KL to Bangkok to Moscow to Sergiyev Posad
It was a long
day of traveling, starting at 5 am to head for KLIA for our 8:05am Thai Airways flight to Bangkok, followed by a 10:30am connecting flight to Moscow.
The flight from KL to Bangkok went smoothly. But there was a hiccup on the Bangkok to Moscow flight. We boarded the plane but were asked to disembark due
to a technical problem with one of the engines. After a delay of 2-3/4hrs we
took off on the 10-hour flight to Moscow.
We arrived at Domodedovo Airport at 7pm; there was no need to fill in
the disembarkation card as these were auto-printed by Immigration.
Our guide, Alex Anatolvitch, was
most happy to see us after the long delay. And we proceeded on the 1-1/2hrs drive
to Sergiyev Posad (one of the Golden Ring Cities) by Angel Tour van. It was a longer drive than normal, as we arrived just in time to meet the peak traffic hours.l
En route, we passed by the city of Korolev, named after Sergei Korolev, the
architect of the Russian Space Program. Saw some Russian Rocketry there. The Russian poet Alexander Pushkin was born nearby too.
Hiccup on the Bangkok to Moscow flight. We boarded the plane but were asked to disembark due to a technical problem with one of the engines. Jittery me, left power bank on KL-Bangkok plane. Fortunately, the ground crew managed to locate at the Lost & Found, and return to me at boarding lounge.
After a delay of 2-3/4hrs we took off on the 10-hour flight to Moscow.
7:00pm (Moscow time): Landed at Moscow and all smiles despite the delayed and long flight.
With Alex Anatolvitch, our Moscow guide.The "vitch" is a surname or patronym, meaning 'son of'. So he is Alex, son of Anatol.
Pushing our luggage to the waiting van. In the evening at this higher latitude, our shadows are longer ..... OR have we grown taller after the long flight 😂?
Alex had already bought prepaid SIM cards for us. Fortunately, as we could not read Russian, he helped us set it up too!
We landed at 7:00pm, after customs and immigration clearance, we headed for Sergiyev Posad at 8:45pm. It was another hour and forty-five minutes journey by van to Sergiyev Posad, just in time to take a shower and go to bed. 10:30pm here means it's 3:30am back home, which means we have been on the road for twenty-two hours! It's been a long day, we will start our adventure tomorrow after a good night's rest 😀.
The photo was taken on the morning of the following day.
Добро пожаловать в Россию!
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Ceiling lamp seen at Rick's Café (GPS: 33.60504, -7.62040) in Casablanca.
