Travel Notes

Fort Ross to Close?

The Russian cultural landmark Fort Ross may suffer from budget cuts in California that would close up to 100 state parks. The fort, built on the Pacific coast in 1812 and used by Russian traders as an agricultural base to supply settlements in Alaska, was sold to Swiss pioneer John Sutter in 1840, and eventually turned over to the State of California in the 1900s to develop a historic park (see Russian Life, Sep/Oct 2007)

The three acre park is visited by 200,000 people per year, yet still loses about $800,000 annually, the San Francisco Chronicle reported. The park’s funding may be axed as part of a plan to close the state’s $24 billion budget deficit.

Russian Ambassador Sergey Kislyak urged Governor Arnold Schwarzenegger to save Fort Ross as “proof that the U.S. and Russia have had a very rich, largely positive shared history,” and Vladimir Vinokurov, consul general in San Francisco said the Russian community would consider creating a public-private partnership to keep the site open if it loses state funding, the AP reported.

Rossiya on Hold

The Moscow government has abandoned plans to recreate the Rossiya Hotel site according to the vision of architect Normann Foster. Construction activity has halted at the giant construction site in historic central Moscow, where the former hotel, once the biggest in Europe, was being gradually dismantled. Activity was stopped by a court order, due to the city’s $500 million accrued debt to the developer, gazeta.ru reported.

Foster’s + Partner’s grandiose project (see fosterandpartners.com) foresees a modern concert hall, several modern style buildings and a large pedestrian area. The city now must find a new investor, and, according to city officials, the complex that eventually replaces the Rossiya will be “less socially oriented,” due to the financial crisis.

Platskart RIP?

The infamous platskart train car could someday be replaced by a new Russian train car developed in Tver. The car would be a cheaper travel alternative to the four-bunk coupé cabin, as each compartment has six bunks, travel.ru reported. The car has yet to be approved by Russian Railways, Russia’s rail transportation monopoly.

Platskart class, the cheapest way of traveling long distance, is a stuffy, 56-bed dorm, offering travelers no privacy or ability to turn off the lights, as the entire car is open, without separate compartments. The new car would be similar to a 2nd class European couchette.

Russian Railways, which is increasingly losing passengers to air travel, is also developing two-story train cars that would be used on routes with stable passenger traffic.

Airline Failure

Russian airline KD Avia could be the first of a new series of air carrier bankruptcies and flying certificate cancellations in Russia. The airline, based in Kaliningrad, stopped operating in September when it was unable to pay for fuel and services, having accrued debt of about R12 billion. KD Avia was simultaneously developing the carrier and the Kaliningrad airport, which it was hoping to make into a hub for transfers between Europe and Russia’s regional cities.

After the airline’s bust, the more lucrative routes went to Aeroflot, which has opened a branch in the Russian exclave. Flying to Kaliningrad is the only way for Russians to access the region without the transit documents required by Lithuania.

Medieval Karelia

Archeaologist found a medieval fortress on Linnasaari (“Fortress Island,” in Finnish), an island in Karelia’s Lake Ladoga. However, Linnasaari is in danger of being overrun by campers and looters. Scientists want the island to receive protected landmark status, Vesti reported.