Travel Notes

Visa Squeeze

Prime Minister Viktor Zubkov signed a decree this fall that changed both the length of stay and the application process for visas. Yet the new rules are causing confusion.

Visitors to Russia holding multi-entry business and commercial visas can no longer stay in Russia more than 90 days during a 180-day period. For longer-term stays, one must hold a work visa, be a family member of a work visa holder, have a student visa, or have temporary or permanent residence in Russia. All multi-entry business, commercial and humanitarian visas issued on or after October 18th will be subject to these rules.

In addition, Russian visas will only be issued in the visa applicant’s home country. Exceptions to this rule are countries that allow Russians to renew their visas in third countries, and countries where the visa applicant has the right to remain for more than 90 days without a visa.

The closest country to Russia where Americans can remain for more than 90 days without a visa is Great Britain, according to the Consulate General Kurt E. Amend. However, the Consulate General cautioned current visa holders to check with their visa sponsors regularly, as the application of these rules is still being ironed out and may be implemented unevenly.

According to Alexander Aksyonov, head of the migration service’s visa and registration department, as reported by the Moscow Times, the reason for implementing new legislation was to align Russian visa practices with those of Europe and the United States,

Paris, Vitebsk Oblast

An Eiffel tower may soon appear in the Belarusan village of Novodrutsk. Smaller in scale at just 30 meters, the tower is the brainchild of Catholic Priest Joseph Bulka, who plans to top it with an illuminated cross, Belta news agency reported. It is being built by engineers of the local electrical company. The village, home to 400, was called Paris until 1967, whence it was renamed Novodrutsk. Naming it Paris was either the result of a landowner’s whimsy, or nostalgia of passing French troops in 1812. Aside from the faux Eiffel tower, Bulka, who is 82 years old, is also reconstructing the village roads and the Catholic Church.

Non-stop Moscow

American Airlines will offer non-stop flights to Russia starting this summer. Flights between Chicago and Moscow’s Domodedovo airport will commence on June 2nd. Currently there are only two airlines, Delta and Aeroflot, which offer non-stop service between Russia and the United States, both of them using Sheremetyevo airport in Moscow.  The airline is planning to fly Boeing 767-300 jets, departing for Moscow at 4:55 pm daily except Sundays, and arriving at 12:15 pm the next day. Currently, non-stop flights from the U.S. to Moscow originate from New York, Atlanta, Washington, and Los Angeles. Several routes were cancelled after September 11th, 2001, such as Aeroflot’s flights to Seattle and San Francisco.

Cracking Isaac

Saint Isaac’s Cathedral, a main tourist attraction in St. Petersburg, is in an “emergency state of disrepair,” experts said. The last time the building had a thorough evaluation was 1984. Since then, 10 of the 35 frescoes have deteriorated and cracks have covered the pillars, the walls and the foundation, some of them so wide you can put a finger in them, wrote Novaya Gazeta.

Empty but Expensive

Moscow hotels have the lowest occupancy rate in Europe, according to a study done by TRI Hospitality. The study compared statistics from ten European cities in September 2007. Average occupancy in Moscow hotels was 79.5 percent, or 3.5 percent lower than one year ago. On the other hand, the average price of a stay in a Moscow hotels was €230  – 20.6 percent more than one year ago, making Moscow’s rooms the second most expensive in the study.

Amsterdam hotels had the highest occupancy in Europe, and Paris had the most expensive rooms. Other cities surveyed included London, Vienna, Prague, Munich, Berlin, Hamburg, and Budapest.

Russialand

A recreated Russian village in China has been attracting Chinese tourists and Russians who come to live in recreated izbas for three-week periods.

Two years ago, Chinese entrepreneurs fixed up a small, deserted village near Harbin, a city that had a large Russian émigré population after the Bolshevik and until the Chinese revolution. The “Russian Village” project cost about $4.8 million to build, and pays about 80 Russians – most from Vladivostok region – to live and work in the simulated village.