Greetings everyone! Last Songkran, I had the opportunity to travel around Russia. It happened to be during a period when the currency was depreciating, so the whole country felt like it was having a 40% off sale. It was amazing! So, I'd like to share my experience and some tips for surviving in this "tough on the outside, soft on the inside" country.

Before I begin, let me give you a little background on how this trip came about. It all started around New Year's when a friend of mine sent me a link to a flight ticket from Bangkok to Moscow for less than 20,000 baht. The travel dates were April 11-19, which coincided with the Songkran holiday. Before I knew it, my credit card had been charged and the trip was booked. In total, there were 5 of us who joined the adventure, ready to brave the sun, rain, and snow together. We spent 5 days in St. Petersburg and another day and a half in Moscow (including travel time). The total cost for the entire trip, including everything, was around 35,000 baht. **At the time of my trip, the exchange rate was 0.58 THB = 1 RUB.**

Part 1 : Moscow - St.Petersburg - Palace Square & The Hermitage

Part 2 : Highlight รอบกรุง St.Petersburg - Catherine Palace - Peterhof

Part 3: The Moscow Kremlin - Red Square - Cathedral of Christ the Saviour

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Day 1 : Bangkok-Novosibirsk-Moscow-St. Petersburg

According to the plan, we will take S7 Siberian Airlines from Suvarnabhumi to Novosibirsk (OVB), Russia, and then transfer to Moscow (DME) and take the Night Train to St. Petersburg. It may seem a bit tough, but we think we can rest on the plane because the total flight time and transfer time is almost 14 hours.

Our trip started at Suvarnabhumi Airport. The five of us met at the S7 check-in counter, which is located on the far right corner. At first, it looked empty, but it actually took a long time even though it was just for luggage drop (maybe because the person doing it was an airport staff, but the person checking in was Russian, so communication was slow). It took about an hour. We passed through immigration using the automated gates by scanning our passports, fingerprints, and taking a photo. We then arrived at the gate. The first flight was 7 hours and 25 minutes on the plane, and we transferred to Novosibirsk (OVB), where the staff told us we had to pick up our luggage and check in again.

You will see that most people in Gate are Russian.

On the plane, the Russians were very large. Their heads almost touched the ceiling of the plane. Some of them could speak English, but they had a serious expression and rarely smiled. I noticed that the Russians who boarded the plane were constantly moving around, opening and closing their belongings. Russian children would run and play in the aisles, and at one point, they even sat down to play jigsaw puzzles. At first, the plane was very hot, and some of the Russian men even took off their shirts (haha).

After a while, the food was served. It came in two boxes: a lunch box and a dessert box with a beautiful S7 design. The non-English speaking flight attendant asked simply, "Fish or Chicken?" I chose the latter and got chicken stir-fried in tomato sauce. The other box contained two slices of bread, two slices of ham, two slices of cheese, one slice of sliced sausage, and vegetables for making a sandwich. For dessert, there was a banana cake. It was a very satisfying meal.

The first 3-4 hours of the journey offered no views, but then the desert landscape began to unfold, presumably in the Mongolian region. Gradually, the scenery transitioned to snow-capped mountains, lakes, and, as we approached Novosibirsk, a snowy plateau. Novosibirsk appeared to be an industrial city with a gray and brown color scheme. Houses were densely packed, with few high-rise buildings. Coal-fired power plants and sand quarries were scattered throughout the city. Some sections of the lake were still frozen, suggesting that the temperature was colder than in Moscow.

The first picture in Russia. I finally made it here.

The plane landed on time at 5:35 PM. We had to rush to get our luggage, go through immigration, and walk to the Domestic Terminal to check in again. We only had 1.5 hours, which was a bit scary, but it seemed like the immigration officers knew we were in a hurry and they helped us as much as they could (even though the lady still had a stern face). In the end, we checked in just before the baggage check-in closed. We boarded the plane at 7:00 PM, just 15 minutes before takeoff. I can tell you that on that day, the Russians must have seen a dozen Thai people running a marathon across the terminal. 555+

If I accidentally captured anyone in the photo, I apologize. I can assure you that we were all gasping for air that day. 555+

This flight is a small domestic plane that will arrive in Moscow at 20:40. The flight time is approximately 4.5 hours. Most passengers will be sleeping because it is very late in Thailand (Novosibirsk is 1 hour behind Thailand, while Moscow/St. Petersburg is 4 hours behind Thailand). There is food on the plane, including fish with macaroni, bread, cheese, and chocolate-covered sweets. This flight is not full, and most of the passengers are Thai.

We arrived at the airport at 9:50 PM, picked up our luggage and walked out as we had already passed immigration at OVB. It took us about 30 minutes to get out. We will take the express train to Metro station. Follow the AeroExpress sign to board the train to the city. Our team member booked online and printed the tickets for us (450 Rub per person). Just scan the barcode and you can enter. The train is empty, maybe because it is late at night. There is Wifi on the train, but it is not very strong. It comes and goes.

Domodedovo Airport, if you take Aeroflot, I understand that it will land at another place, but AeroExpress runs the same way.

Run, run, run, run into it

AeroExpress is similar to our Airport Link.

The train ride takes about 50 minutes to reach Metro Paveletskaya (Павелецкая) station. Follow the M sign to go down to the Metro. Here we need to buy tickets to go to Komsomolskaya (Комсомо́льская) station, which is connected to Leningrad (Ленингра́дский вокза́л) railway station, where we will take the Night Train across the city. There are two types of ticket booths: vending machines and ticket booths (some vending machines do not have English). I chose to buy at the ticket booth first, planning to buy 5 tickets at once for 5 people, but the seller didn't understand English, so I had to use sign language to tell him how many tickets I wanted. The tickets are paper cards that cost 50 Rub per round. You can go to any station. Scan the card to enter and then throw it away.

The metro is magnificent, as the name suggests. The floor, ceiling, and pillars are all very ornate, but we didn't have much time to look around because we had to hurry to catch the train at 23:50. After getting off the metro, it was already past 10 pm. We took the brown line for one station and arrived at Komsomolskaya (Комсомо́льская). The corridors inside are very long, and it took us a long time to walk through them. The main thing to look for in the metro here is the signs on the floor. There are arrows pointing the way to different places. If you look at the signs above, they will all be for sub-stations, and there is no English. Haha.

Upon exiting the station, we encountered a problem: we couldn't find the way to board the Night Train. As this area resembled a junction with numerous boarding points, we wandered around in confusion. We ended up asking people nearby for directions using sign language. After asking two people, we finally found the correct platform. The train station we were looking for, which served Long Distance Trains, was located in a large building with a clock tower on top, situated behind the Metro exit.

The building we're looking for. There are 4 Karen shadows attached to it.

Picture of the opposite side

Once you enter the station, there will be ticket machines. When I was researching, some people said that the machines were in Russian. I can confirm that they now have English, which makes them very convenient to use. We took the printed paper ticket and exchanged it for a real ticket for peace of mind (we booked in advance from the website http://pass.rzd.ru/, which is the official website of the Russian Railways. It's not difficult to book, and it has English, although it might be a bit confusing). Then we went out to find something to eat before boarding the train. If you go back the way you came, there are a few shops selling food scattered around.

We went into a Kebab shop that said 24 hours on the sign. Inside, it was like a pub and restaurant. They had food like stuffed bread and pizza on display in a cabinet. The seller didn't speak English again (I'm starting to get used to it). We pointed at the sausage bread, thinking we'd get one piece, and then find another piece of bread, but the lady gave us two. We were confused, but it didn't matter because we were going to order another piece anyway. The sausage was delicious, but the bread was hard, maybe because of the cold weather. This meal cost 140 Rub, and we bought a small bottle of water to take on the train for another 60 Rub.

Just a heads-up, trains here arrive early and depart on time (looking back at the SRT, #crying heavily). I emphasize that almost everything in this country is on time. If the train departs at 23:50, it means that as soon as it's 23:49, the staff will be ready to step on the accelerator. The moment the second hand hits 12, the wheels will start turning (imagine the train has an accelerator). If you're late, you'll definitely be sleeping at the station.

The train we were on was called the Red Arrow. It was the first train to connect the two main cities of Moscow and St. Petersburg. It leaves Moscow at 23:55 every night. It only stopped running once during the Siege of Leningrad in World War II. The Red Arrow is the pride of the Russian Railways. When it stops at the platform, the song "The Hymn to the Great City" is always played. And it is the only train that has a VIP sleeping car that is like sleeping in a real bed (or so they say).

"The Hymn to the Great City" song >>> https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=I3IQvhJGcE4

The cheapest sleeper train I could find was 3,192 rubles, while other trains were priced between 800-1,000 rubles. However, the latest train available for booking at that time was this one. Later, I found out that there was a train after midnight, but I had to wait until closer to the travel date to book it. I recommend taking that train instead.

When we arrived at the platform, the Red Arrow was already waiting. It was a whole red train with a Russian symbol on it. It was quite beautiful. Each carriage had an officer standing at every entrance to check tickets and tell us where our beds were. Our bed was number 1 in the first room. There were 4 beds in one room. When I went in, I found a Russian aunt sitting there first. We had booked 3 beds in our room, so there was 1 bed empty. The aunt was very kind. She taught me how to open the seat. There was a compartment for storing luggage. Pull down the chair back and you will find a bed with a mattress and blanket. There was a food box on the table. She explained everything to me (but her face was very serious). After a while, the officer came to explain how to use the things in the room. There was a button to adjust the temperature and a light to indicate whether the bathroom was free or not. This train was very well-equipped.

The walkway on the left will be rooms with bunk beds and a table inside.

In addition to the many toys and beautiful room decorations such as curtains, tablecloths, reading lights, and power outlets (very important), this train also offers breakfast. There are three options to choose from: Oat Milk/Curd Pie/Cake. Two friends chose Oat Milk and I chose Curd Pie. We had to guess what it would look like.

Condition before bed

After the officers left, we went to wash our faces and brush our teeth in the bathroom. It was about the same size as an airplane bathroom, and you couldn't take a shower. When we were done, we folded the bed down to sleep. The train had the heater on, so it started to get cold at night. The bed was soft and very comfortable. Finally, the first day of the journey was over. It felt like a really long day.

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Day 2 Palace Square & The Hermitage

Today's plan is to check into our accommodation and spend the whole day at Palace Square & The Hermitage. If we have time in the evening, we will take a walk around our accommodation.

Around 7 am, the staff brought the lunch boxes we had chosen the night before. The Curd Pie was a sour dough with prunes on top. It was so sour that I couldn't eat it. The Oat Milk was just oats mixed with milk, which wasn't very appealing and had no taste. I knew I wouldn't be able to eat it, so I had the dinner box they had given us instead. It had bread with butter and cheese, fruit cake, yogurt, and canned tuna (which seemed to have something else mixed in, like a pudding, but it was quite tasty).

The problematic Curd Pie

7.55 The train stopped at Moskovskaya Station in St. Petersburg. Tears were about to fall. Did we really arrive? Getting off the train, there was loud music playing. The morning sun was gentle, the air was a little cold. It was really cool, man.

The atmosphere around the platform

The front of the Red Arrow.

Inside Moskovskaya station, the inscription on the wall is the word "St. Petersburg" in Russian.

We walked along the platform to the end and found a sign pointing to the Metro, which corresponds to Mayakovskaya station. This mainly uses Token coins. We can buy them from vendors or ticket machines. The train fare is 31 Rub per ride. If you buy a multi-trip ticket (10 trips for 295 Rub), it will be slightly cheaper. When buying a ticket, I tried to tell the seller that I wanted to buy 10 trips, but it didn't work out. I ended up with 5 tokens at the regular price. I was confused again.

The way down to the station is a long escalator that goes down about 15 meters. It takes a long time to go down. Once you reach the underground, there will be signs indicating the way. There are two types of signs. The signs on the floor will indicate the way to the platforms for different lines, as well as the exits. The signs above will indicate the station that the train on that platform will take you to. There are English signs here, but in Moscow, they are all in Russian. If it is a junction station, we may have to walk up and down and pass more than one platform to board the train. This can be several hundred meters long.

When asked where I find the time to write my travelogue, I'll tell you that I write it while I'm on the escalator. It takes a long time.

On the Metro, the station signs for each train are not the same. Some have flashing lights to indicate the station we are at, some have scrolling lights to indicate the station, and some only have paper signs, so we have to count the stations ourselves. Actually, there is an announcement for each station on every train, but it is a bit difficult to hear. Our accommodation is located at Nevsky Prospekt station. There are 2 exits from the station. I didn't know which exit to take, so I chose randomly. It turned out to be the exit that was far from our accommodation. Orz So I took the opportunity to walk along Nevsky Prospekt Street. This street is the main tourist street in the city. There are restaurants and souvenir shops along the way, and there are small churches and temples to be seen from time to time.

Nevsky Prospekt is a wide and very clean street.

A small chapel along the way.

This church has paintings for sale in front of it in the late morning. Anyone interested can stop by. It's not far from the Metro.

Crossing the road here follows the standard system. If there is a pedestrian light, wait for the green light. If there is no light, you can cross at any time. Vehicles coming (should) stop and give way.

Our accommodation is called Friend Hostel. I booked it from Booking.com. Looking at the location from Google Street View, the accommodation is on a street by the river, opposite the Kazan Cathedral. From here, you can see the Church of the Savior of the Spilled Blood in the distance. From my observation, most of the buildings in Russia that are on the street front are shops or offices. There are arches at intervals that allow you to walk through the first floor of the building. Inside, there are gardens and several small buildings. The hostels are located here, which makes it quite difficult to walk in because there are hardly any signs.

Entrance to the accommodation. The sign is really the size of a cat (meaning it's small, haha).

The accommodation here (and most in Russia) is always locked. When you want to enter, you have to press the doorbell and the host will unlock it for you. When we arrived, it was still early and we couldn't check in yet, but we were able to leave our luggage. Friend Hostel is a 4-story townhouse, with a kitchen and recreation zone on the 2nd floor. There is a TV, sofa, kitchen, and foosball table. There are plenty of decorations, even a Spiderman figure on the ceiling in the bathroom.

Our late-night food source

I thought my heart was going to stop when I first saw it.

Once we were ready, we set off. Today's destination was Palace Square & The Hermitage, which includes the Hermitage Museum, the second largest museum after the Louvre, with a collection of over 3 million paintings, the largest collection in the world, the Winter Palace, and Palace Square.

There are two ways to get to The Hermitage. You can take the Metro for one station and then walk a little further, or you can walk the whole way. The walking time is not much different, and we chose to walk from our accommodation. We passed Kazan Cathedral, which is right next to our accommodation (so close that you can see it from the window), and walked along the main street, Nevsky Prospekt. It took about half an hour to walk, enjoying the sights along the way.

Kazan Cathedral

St. Petersburg is a city with rivers running through it. We will encounter bridges at regular intervals.

The Hermitage doesn't open until late 9 am, so I took some photos while waiting at Palace Square. From there, you can also see St. Isaac's Cathedral. Leaving Palace Square, there is a bridge that crosses to Vasilyevsky Island, where I plan to take photos of the sunrise in the next few days.

Palace Square

Looking back, you will see St. Isaac's Cathedral. It is a magnificent structure.

Around 10:30 am, we queued up to buy tickets, and the line stretched all the way outside. The queue was mainly made up of Chinese tour groups and Russian police officers, who I guess were on a field trip (lol). The entrance fee for the museum and the Winter Palace next door was 600 rubles. There were signs prohibiting photography, and we had to leave our coats and large bags at the front desk before entering The Hermitage. There was a well-organized cloakroom for this purpose.

Upon entering, I discovered that cameras were not required to be checked in. Both tourists and Russians were having a great time taking pictures. I understand that the "no photography" rule likely refers to using tripods and flashes. A bit of a bummer, but no worries. I wiped away a tear and took out my iPhone to take pictures instead.

The Hermitage is truly magnificent, adorned with gold throughout. The museum is divided into different zones. The lower floor houses a vast collection of sculptures and ancient Egyptian artifacts, including pharaohs' tombs and mummies.

Very golden

The statues of women here are noticeably not delicate or fragile, but rather appear strong, fierce, and even arrogant.

The Pharaoh's tomb was sent directly from Egypt, but there is no English description. // I bow down and leave.

The second floor is divided into three main sections: the first section showcases various rooms within the palace, each with a distinct style and concept, designed by renowned Russian artists. The second section features art exhibitions categorized by the artists who created them, including many familiar names like Leonardo DaVinci. Finally, the third section displays treasures of the royal family, including carriages, jewelry, portraits of the royal family, carpets, and more.

The paintings are magnificent. There are dozens of rooms like this one.

The belongings of the Romanov dynasty

The third floor will be the smallest. It will house artwork from the Middle East and Asia, including India, China, and Japan. It will also feature post-Picasso works, ranging from Modern Art to contemporary pieces. If you peek out the window, you'll also be treated to a bird's-eye view of Palace Square.

So sad, I really want to bring a big camera.

We walked around from 10:30 am to 2:00 pm and only managed to finish the second floor. We were so tired that we had to come down to the cafe on the first floor to rest and eat. There was a microwaveable lunch box with fried chicken and baked potatoes for 220 Rub + a bottle of coke for 100 Rub. Then I quickly walked around the first and third floors so that I could go see the Winter Palace, which is in another building, on time (the staff said it closes at four o'clock). Finally, at 3:30 pm, I managed to see the whole tour and went out to the Winter Palace. It turned out that it had been closed since 3 pm! I was tricked! Fail all the way.

The kind officer saw that we were disappointed that we couldn't go to the Winter Palace, so he told us that there was another building we could visit. It was across from Palace Square and we could use the same ticket as The Hermitage. So we walked across to see the building. Palace Square was now full of people relaxing, it was Sunday afternoon. There were horse-drawn carriages parked in front of the entrance, and you could take a ride around the city. Around the square, you could see people riding bicycles, rollerblading, or playing strange games. Some people were just sitting or lying around, and there was a group of kindergarten children practicing a play. There were teenagers playing hockey and people taking pre-wedding photos. Palace Square was now full of life and warmth. Whoever said that Russians are fierce and scary is wrong, wrong, wrong.

Giantess

At the tourist attractions, there will be people dressed in period costumes for tourists to take pictures with.

It took almost half an hour to walk to the building across the street because we were busy looking at the surroundings and taking pictures. This building (I don't know the name) is where various objects that Russia occupied are kept (I guess it's overflow from The Hermitage). Most of them are antique utensils, various costumes, and gifts from foreign countries. I searched for Thai items for a long time and found them in the last room. They were gold ornaments with a swan pattern and ivory.

Inside the building, it looks very artistic.

Gift from Siam

We didn't stay here for long, probably because we were already very tired, so we decided to go back to our accommodation to check in and take a shower. My room was a triple room, which was a bit more expensive than the usual dorm. It had a TV, a wardrobe, a sofa, a bunk bed (the bottom bunk was long enough for two people to sleep on), and a separate bathroom. Overall, the bathroom was clean and there were enough of them. The host was very kind, friendly, and helpful, and spoke fluent English. The price for the room for 4 nights was 2,930 Rub + 250 Rub for registration.

The accommodation will take care of the registration. If you stay in Russia for more than 3 days, you must do it. There may be cases where the police ask to see it. However, during the 8 days I was wandering around Russia, they never asked for it.

After taking a shower, I looked out the window. It was drizzling outside. The weather app called it a "shower," which is more like a mist of water in the air than something that would soak us through. It's just a bit humid. We've been experiencing this kind of weather almost every evening in St. Petersburg. This year, the summer has been slow to arrive, and April is still a transitional season. If you want to experience everything the city has to offer, I recommend coming after May. That way, you'll likely avoid the rain and all the attractions will be open. If you come in the winter, many attractions will be closed. During some periods, they even cover the statues with corrugated iron.

After we rested, we went out to find something to eat. Due to the current weather, we couldn't go far, so we decided to find something on Nevsky Prospect. There are restaurants everywhere. We went into Market Place, which is not far from our accommodation. The sign is very prominent. Inside, it is divided into zones. One zone sells steaks, another zone sells stir-fried dishes, and another zone sells home-cooked food, such as baked potatoes and ground beef. The owner is a Russian woman who speaks English. She came over and explained a little about how to order and where to pay.

Ordering food in Russia is quite simple, just point at what you want. Most sellers don't speak English, so you have to take a chance on what the ground meat you ordered is actually made of. And when it's time to pay, they don't usually take money from your hand. Every shop has a tray for money, so they'll ask you to put your money on the tray. When they give you change, they'll put it on the tray too. For this meal, I ordered mashed potatoes of a strange color, ground meat, steamed fish with a strange sauce, and a glass of unsweetened orange juice. It cost me 491 rubles, and I almost cried (lately it's been even more expensive). When I was pointing, I was so focused on what it was that I forgot to look at the price (when I ate it, I found that the mashed potatoes had salmon in them, which was somewhat acceptable).

After finishing my meal, the rain still wouldn't stop, and it even got heavier. So I rushed back to my accommodation. Actually, I brought a tripod today, planning to take pictures of the city at night when the rain stopped, but I gave up. It's been a long day. I just got off the train this morning, and before I went back, I stopped by a convenience store near my accommodation and bought a large bottle of water (60 rubles) and some Russian beer (65 rubles) to sip before bed. Today, I'll finally be able to sleep in a real bed.

The beer here is very cheap.

When talking about the strange culture of the Russians, I forgot to mention one thing. When the plane lands, Russian passengers will clap their hands together when the plane touches the ground, as if to express their congratulations. At first, I was confused about what they were doing, but later I just clapped along. When in Rome, do as the Romans do.

This concludes Part 1. Thank you to all my readers. I hope this review will be helpful for your travels in Russia. I will try to release Part 2 as soon as possible. Good night.

***Most of the photos in this review were taken with a Fuji X-E2 + XF18-55 + XF55-200. There are also a few photos taken with an iPhone.***

Expense Summary for 2 Days

Please note: I have translated the text to English while preserving the original HTML structure.

- Round-trip airfare 17,620 B

- AeroExpress fare 243 B

- Night Train fare 1,683 B

• Accommodation cost for 4 nights 1,701 B
  

- Travel/food expenses 1,302 B

Total 13,739 B