Moscow and St. Petersburg

#Russian travel #Moscow #Saint Petersburg
There are many difficulties in entering and leaving Russia, reserving accommodation and transportation, etc., but the cost-effectiveness of the trip seems very good.

You can see that only Chinese nationals can get air tickets.
Most Koreans are considered to be subject to reexamination for immigration. If you are classified as a reexamination, you have to wait endlessly until the passport details are inspected. You will be passed after an hour or two, but they will not give you any explanation or answer any questions.

You cannot book hotels or trains outside of Russia.
Even Airbnb reservations in Europe within Russia are rejected.

You cannot use credit cards, so you must prepare cash. You cannot purchase rubles in Korea, so prepare euros or dollars and exchange them for rubles at a local bank.
Private currency exchange offices seem to have disappeared. Fortunately, banks are open until 8 p.m.
Exchange tip: If you exchange less than 300 euros, you can exchange without identification. It takes a long time to check your passport when exchanging 500 euros.

SIM card You can buy it in Korea or in the city, but

Buying locally is cheaper and you can use it as currency

Transportation cards are sold in both cities for a flat rate of about 650 rubles for 3 days and can be used for all transportation
The date is based on time, so a 3-day pass is valid for 72 hours from the start time
Because it is a big city, public transportation is well-developed, and the subway runs every minute
Since Google Maps does not provide transportation information, installing Yandex Maps allows you to conveniently call public transportation information and Yandex taxis

Most people do not speak English, and the same goes for hotel and restaurant staff
Maybe because of the gloomy weather, but the buildings are gorgeous, the clothes are neat, and the art and culture seem to be excellent, but I wonder if there is no desire for globalization...

It is difficult to see bright expressions

The prices of marts, restaurants, and tourist attractions are also cheap
Foreigners pay about twice as much, with the Kremlin Palace at 18,000 won, the most expensive palace at 30,000 won, and the Winter Palace at 8,000 won You can see amazing things
Circus 22,000 won, cruise 15,000 won. This is no discrimination against foreigners

There aren't many tourists, so it's easy to go to famous tourist spots, and there are even tourist spots that have gone out of business
They don't seem to know about war, but they do busking and travel, but you can feel that the economy is not good.