With the introduction made by LaoTie(LT), this is my supplement to the account of our trip to Far East Russia, from the ErZi's (EZ) persepctive.
EZ recently found himself unemployed and probably unemployable due the current economic conditions and therefore decided with all the time in his hands, might as well take an adventure. The topic of venturing to Russia has been previously proposed by GT during GT's trip to the south sometime early this year.
I thought that the following information on the application process for Russian Visa may be useful for some.
EZ volunteered to take care of the Russian Visa requirements. Firstly, in SG, there is only 1 authorised agent situated in PPC. Just google it and you should be able to get the address quite easily. The procedure is, you need to get an Invitation Letter from either any hotel or travel agent in Russia first. With the Invitation Letter, then you can apply for Russian Visa. The travel agent can do both the Invitation Letter and Visa. The Invitation Letter takes only about 3 working days and costs SGD 110. We need to accurately list down the exact names of the town (up to 5) that we will be visiting in the Invitation Letter. LT decided that we need to be exact and not anyhow list any places as there are a few sensitive areas like naval bases in Far East Russia.
Interestingly, there was a slight hiccup and EZ reconfirmed with the agent that we will be going to Blagoveshchensk and Khabarovsk. The agent offered to put in Moscow but I firmly declined knowing very well we are definitely very very very very far away from Moscow and chances of dropping by is remote. One of the Russian managers working in the travel agency gave me that "look" of - "What the hell is this guy going to some kampong place in Russia?"
Travellers are actually required to carry a copy of this Invitation Letter together with the Visa and passport. The Visa will take about 5-7 working days, costs SGD 126.
One more thing to add is, based on my experience with the Russia Customs, at least for Blagoveshchensk and Khabarovsk, I personally think I am the first person holding a Singaporean passport to pass through via land/sea port route because the Custom Officers spent a hell lot of a time checking the authenticity of my passport. Or maybe they have not seen a Singaporean PP before and therefore decided to take some time studying it. The Custom Officer asked me a few other questions like what's my occupation and what am I doing there... etc.
Similarly from the China side in Heihe (黑河) and Fuyuan (扶远), the Chinese Custom Officer took great interest and caution in the immgration checks, especially that the Custom chop will state the entry point, which for me would have been entry via Macau / Zhuhai. The Custom Officer in FY even commented that I enter from almost the most southern part of China and exiting into Russian from the most northern part of China...
My overall comment about these 2 Russian town would be, I kinda like Blago.... better, even tho I find it quite a mouthful to pronouce it, and a hassle to even spell it properly. Khabarovsk gives me the feeling that it doesn't quite welcome tourist. Finally, I have verified for myself the rumours about Russians not fond of smiling and personally, I believe it is true.
Other than the hot summer nights drinking the cold kbac (I believe it is pronounced as "krass"), I can't imagine anything else interesting here.
Quote:
Originally Posted by Huzige
It has been a long while since I posted anything in SBF, but I thought the info from my present trip maybe of some use to other cheongsters who may be planning a trip to this part of the world. This is a trip by the “Gang of Four” – with LaoTie (LT) & ErZi (EZ) of the infamous ADF (for those who are “old” enough to know us). Unfortunately “Uncle” and “God-son” were not able to make it to the trip, and LT’s two cheonging friends from Beijing made up the Gang of Four. This is more of a travelogue – just skip the boring parts if you are looking for cheonging info only.
... to be continued
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