Moscow has definitely changed

N

Napoleon

2,500+ Posts
The New York Times has a travel story on Moscow. And it's not the same as it was during the USSR days.

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One of my next trips is going to be to Moscow. I would have liked to have seen it before capitalism took hold but still would be an interesting place.
 
I was just in Moscow about 2 months back.

First, Russia is still the Wild West. Moscow in particular is full of all kinds of strange ****. You can walk down a main street and see hookers getting out of Hummers with guards carrying machine guns. Actually many people carrying guns.

You can also be harassed by the cops to no end. We were walking late one night and were approached by multiple unmarked cars. Guys with machine guns pop out and demand your papers, do the bribe thing, etc. You truly get a feeling that anything can happen there. You don't feel safe at all.

Regarding what the article highlights, the new "high-life" and buzz in Moscow, yeah, its there. You better be rich and also possibly learn to carry a weapon, but its there. I can see Moscow being what NYC was around 1920. Fast, bright, and violent.
 
That is one town I am never going back to. What stabone said is exactly right--you never feel safe. I've never been in a place quite like it, and I've been to plenty of places. The sense of insecurity follows you no matter what you are doing or where you are, whether you're checking out a museum, having dinner in a restaurant, getting a drink in a bar, or trying to get some sleep in your hotel room.

And it would be one thing if everyone around you were carrying a gun and you knew the rules and could expect what would set them off. But you just can't. Russia is so foreign that it was impossible to tell anybody's motivation--e.g., I don't know why the cop is hassling me; I suspect he may just want a bribe, but it's entirely possible that offering him a bribe may insult him and earn me a bullet to the face.

Seriously--never again.
 
I remember in 1997 taking a train from Helsinki to St. Petersberg, I was asked if I was scared about St. Petersberg.

I was riding in a room with 5 other people. Three seats facing three seats. The 3 people across from me didn't speak any English, but the guy (~40) next to me did as well as the girl (~25) by the door. She was very fashionable, was reading VOGUE & COSMO and had bought tons of things in Helsinki. She's the one who asked me the question.

I didn't feel scared (having already traveled 6 weeks in Europe) and I was kind of confused as to why they I would be. I figured that times had changed. I didn't see Russia being anything like it was in the past.

Sure there were Ladas & the other **** cars being passed by S Class Mercedes & 7-Series BMWs, but I just saw that as the mob showing off their money.

I was only there for two nights & two days and didn't do anything either night because I didn't know anyone in my hostel and I didn't want to be caught on the wrong side of the bridges when they went up at 1:30am. Plus the streets were fairly dark, so I figured that like in any big city, it's best not to walk around on dark streets at night by yourself.

So it seems that things have changed for the better and worse. In the BOURNE SUPREMECY, that assassin comes out of that bar in Moscow and it is broad daylight. Then soon after, we see him hop into a really nice Mercedes and not too long after that, we find out that he is Secret Police. Ohhhhh
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that's nice.
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Interesting, because Moscow is one of my most favorite places. I'm going back for my third trip this next summer, spending a month.

I have never had a run-in with any law enforcement in Moscow. The only precaution I ever took was approaching Red Square either through GUM or from Kitai Gorod, and avoiding Tverskaya Ulitsa altogether. I had a short cut to the Metro through the parking lot of the central bank and had to walk by the guard with the machine gun...that was always weird but there was never any hassles.

If you want to see what the Soviet Union was like, take a trip to Minsk.
 
I agree about Moscow, I've been there twice now and didn't feel safe. The safest I felt was walking around in the Kremlin, but anywhere else it was an absolute zoo, cops harassing anyone and everyone for their passports, papers, etc. My cousin was there a few years ago and they had left their passports in the hotel (they require you leave them at the front desk at check-in, for registration with the authorities) and just forgot to pick them up on their way out. Well the cops asked for their papers and almost hauled my cousin and his friend to jail over that one. I avoid Moscow at all costs. Much nicer places to go with my time.
 
Well, Napoleon, it is no surprise Moscow has changed since your last visit. When you left in the Fall of 1812, it was largely a wooden city and was just beginning to burn, with the odd explosion here and there.
 
I was there 3 years ago and I felt safe most fo the time. Of course any time you travel to a city that you dont know well, you have to be careful though. I was mainly in central Moscow. I took cabs on my own and didnt have any problems. Walked around the main areas at night. In most cases I was with a local. I was shocked at how expensive things can be in that city though. A good meal at most restraunts was double what it would cost in Dallas.
 
Were you guys drinking or coming out of nightclubs?

I emailed a friend in Moscow this week. She says she feels safer now, especially since the police are cracking down on all the drunk youths that used to hang out in every square.

Her advice for Moscow is to put a sour look on your face and look straight forward as you walk...you will blend right in and no one will hassle you.
 
Damn things have changed since I was there in the winter of 1984/85. Even soldiers did not carry guns in public then. Generally the KGB only followed us for our own good (i.e. to ensure no one messed with us or to steer us away from a bad area).

Still saw some strange stuff though.
 
I went for a month in 1993 and I thought it was cool. Of course I was 16 and I liked the Wild West mentality of it. Communism had only recently fallen then, and it seemed like there was absolutely no laws to speak of. Hookers on the street. Soldiers, however, were everywhere.

I never felt it to be too dangerous, but like I said, I was only 16, so I wasn't exactly cautious. Only time I was scared was when the son of the family I was staying with and his friend tried to rob an apartment while I was waiting outside. I didn't know they were doing that beforehand. He said it was his friends house. A massive dog chased them out and we sprinted across the courtyard area.

Another time he took money from this AWOL soldier to hide him from other soldiers. I mean like hiding behind newstands and **** while soldiers were passing. Not fun at all.

Usually I was hanging around other Americans who were part of the exchange program though.

Other than that, there are a lot of beautiful Russian women and a lot of alcohol no matter what age you are.
 
Are you sure they were hookers? That's pretty much the way all young Russian women dress in the summer.
 
I went in January of 2003 and while it was a huge culture shock, I never felt in any danger and was never harassed by any policemen.

We were almost the victims of some petty theft in St. Petersburg, but both places seemed pretty safe.

Definitely one of my favorite trips. Crazy place.
 
I would like to go back. The last time I was in Moscow, the Pope was visiting Warsaw and there was a real posibility of the Solidarity leaders being arrested and shot. The Warsaw Pact and NATO were both on alert.
 
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