Chapter 14

Planning a Trip

In This Chapter

Selecting a destination

Working with a travel agency

Getting your passport and visa

Knowing what to pack

Do you like to путешествовать (poo-tee-shehs-tvah-vuht’) (to travel)? If so, then this chapter is for you! In this chapter, you discover how to express where you want to travel, how to speak to a travel agent, and how to secure a passport and a visa. We also give you packing tips for a путешествие (pooh-tee-shehs-tvee-ee) (trip) to Russia. And now, as Russians often say, Поехали! (pah-yeh-khuh-lee!) (Let’s go! or Let’s roll!)

Where Do You Want to Go? Picking a Place for Your Trip

The first question to consider when you’re planning a trip is this:

Куда ты хочешь поехать? (kooh-dah ti khoh-cheesh’ pah-yeh-khuht’?) (Where do you want to go?)

In the following sections, you find out how to talk about different countries in Russian. We also give you some pointers for places in Russia to visit.

Checking out continents and countries

You may want to know the name of each континент (kahn-tee-nyehnt) (continent) in Russian. The seven континенты (kuhn-tee-nyen-ti) (continents) appear in the following list:

Австралия (uhf-strah-lee-yeh) (Australia)

Азия (ah-zee-yeh) (Asia)

Антарктика (uhn-tahrk-tee-kuh) (Antarctica)

Африка (ahf-ree-kuh) (Africa)

Европа (eev-roh-puh) (Europe)

Северная Америка (syeh-veer-nuh-yeh uh-myeh-ree-kuh) (North America)

Южная Америка (yoohzh-nuh-yeh uh-myeh-ree-kuh) (South America)

Here we list some страны (strah-ni) (countries) that tourists often visit:

Австрия (ahv-stree-yeh) (Austria)

Англия (ahn-glee-yeh) (England)

Франция (frahn-tsi-yeh) (France)

Германия (geer-mah-nee-yeh) (Germany)

Голландия (gah-lahnd-dee-yeh) (Holland)

Италия (ee-tah-lee-yeh) (Italy)

Испания (ees-pah-nee-yeh) (Spain)

Америка (uh-myeh-ree-kuh) (the United States)

Канада (kuh-nah-duh) (Canada)

Мексика (myehk-see-kuh) (Mexico)

Аргентина (uhr-geen-tee-nuh) (Argentina)

Бразилия (bruh-zee-lee-yeh) (Brazil)

Египет (ee-gee-peet) (Egypt)

Израиль (eez-rah-eel’) (Israel)

Морокко (mah-roh-kah) (Morocco)

Турция (toohr-tsi-yeh) (Turkey)

Китай (kee-tahy) (China)

Индия (een-dee-yeh) (India)

Япония (ee-poh-nee-yeh) (Japan)

Новая Зеландия (noh-vuh-yeh zee-lahn-dee-yeh) (New Zealand)

Visiting Russia

If you’re reading this book, you may be considering a trip to Россия (rah-see-yeh) (Russia). Great idea! You won’t regret it. Where would you like to go first? We recommend that you begin with Москва (mahs-kvah) (Moscow), Russia’s bustling столица (stah-lee-tsuh) (capital), and Санкт-Петербург (sahnkt-pee-teer-boohrk) (St. Petersburg).

You’ll find quite a few things to see in Moscow, including the following:

Кремль (kryehml’) (Kremlin), the walled-in old town and the seat of the Russian government

Красная площадь (krahs-nuh-yeh ploh-sh’uht’) (Red Square), the main square in Moscow just outside the Kremlin where all the military parades take place during national holidays

Третьяковская галерея (tree-t’ee-kohf-skuh-yeh guh-lee-ryeh-yeh) (Tretyakoff art gallery)

Пушкинский музей (poosh-keen-skeey mooh-zyehy) (Pushkin art museum)

Коломенское (kah-loh-meen-skah-ee), the former tsars’ estate

Новодевичье кладбище (noh-vah-dyeh-veech-ee klaht-bee-sh’ee) (Novodevich’ye cemetery), the burial place of many famous Russian people

If you have a particular interest in staring at dead bodies, go to the Мавзолей (muhv-zah-lyehy) (mausoleum). Vladimir Lenin’s mummy is still there on display.

If you like Russian history, literature, and culture, Санкт-Петербург is a must. Our advice: Visit St. Petersburg at the end of May and the beginning of June, during the белые ночи (byeh-li-ee noh-chee) (white nights). That’s what Russians call the short period in early summer when it almost never gets dark in the north. Санкт-Петербург is the city where, as петербуржцы (pee-teer-boohrzh-tsi) (people born and living in St. Petersburg) say, Каждый дом музей (kahzh-diy dohm mooh-zyehy) (Every building is a museum). Here’s a list of a few of the places we recommend you see in Санкт-Петербург:

Эрмитаж (ehr-mee-tahsh) (the Hermitage museum)

Русский музей (roohs-keey mooh-zyehy) (Russian Museum)

Пушкин (poohsh-keen) (the town of Pushkin)

Царское Село (tsahr-skuh-ee see-loh) (the tsars’ village, a former summer residence of the Russian tsars)

Павловск (pahv-lahvsk) (Pavlovsk, another former residence of the Russian tsars)

Петродворец (pyeht-rah-dvah-ryehts) (Russian Versailles, founded by Peter the Great)

Петропавловская крепость (peet-rah-pahv-luhf-skuh-yeh kryeh-pahst’) (Peter and Paul’s Fortress, the burial place of the Russian tsars and a former political prison)

Исаакиевский собор (ee-suh-ah-kee-eef-skeey sah-bohr) (St. Isaak’s Cathedral, the world’s third largest one-cupola cathedral)

Пискарёвское кладбище (pees-kuh-ryohf-skah-ee klaht-bee-sh’ee) (Piskarev memorial cemetery, a museum of the Leningrad 900-day siege)

Those of you with a more adventurous nature, may want to go to the Asiatic part of Russia, which is the part of Russia lying beyond the Уральские горы (ooh-rahl’-skee-ee goh-ri) (Ural Mountains). How about going to Сибирь (see-beer’) (Siberia)? Сибирь is a beautiful region, and contrary to popular belief, it’s not always cold there. In fact, the summers are quite hot.

How Do We Get There? Booking a Trip

After you decide where you want to go, you need to book your trip. Of course, you can make plans online, but another option is to call a бюро путешествий (byooh-roh pooh-tee-shehs-tveey) (travel agency) and talk to an агент (uh-gyehnt) (agent). If you’re planning a trip, you may want to say something like the following:

Я хотел/хотела бы поехать в Россию в мае. (ya khah-tyehl/khah-tyeh-luh bi pah-yeh-khuht’ v rah-see-yooh v mah-ee.) (I would like to go to Russia in May.)

Use the first verb option if you’re a man and the second option if you’re a woman. Place the month in which you want to travel in the prepositional case (see Chapter 3 for more info).

While you’re talking to the travel agent, be sure to add:

Что вы можете предложить? (shtoh vi moh-zhi-tee preed-lah-zhit’?) (What can you offer? or What do you have available?)

In response, you’ll most likely hear:

А куда именно вы хотите поехать? (uh kooh-dah ee-mee-nah vi khah-tee-tee pah-yeh-khuht’?) (And where exactly would you like to travel?)

To answer this question, use the expression Я хотел/хотела бы поехать в (ya khah-tyehl/khah-tyeh-luh bi pah-yeh-khuht’ v) (I’d like to go to), followed by the name of the city you want to see in the accusative case. Here’s an example:

Я хотел/хотела бы поехать в Москву и в Петербург. (ya khah-tyehl/ khah-tyeh-luh bi pah-yeh-khuht’ v mahs-kvooh ee f pee-teer-boohrk.) (I would like to go to Moscow and St. Petersburg.)

Use the first verb option if you’re a man and the second option if you’re a woman.

Now listen carefully as the travel agent lists available туры (tooh-ri) (tours). If anything sounds appealing to you, your next question may be about what the package includes:

Что это включает? (shtoh eh-tah fklyooh-chah-eet?) (What does it include?)

Naturally, you also want to know how much the trip will cost. You may hear the following price-related terms:

гостиница первого/второго/третьего класса (gahs-tee-nee-tsuh pyehr-vah-vah/ftah-roh-vah/tryeht’-ee-vah klah-suh) (one/two/three star hotel)

трёх/двух разовое питание (tryohkh/dvoohkh rah-zah-vah-ee pee-tah-nee-ee) (three/two meals a day)

экскурсии (ehks-koohr-see-ee) (excursions)

самолёт туда и обратно (suh-mah-lyoht tooh-dah ee ahb-raht-nah) (round-trip flight)

Finally, as you book your trip, you may find that these terms come in handy:

билет туда и обратно (bee-lyeht tooh-dah ee ahb-raht-nah) (one-way ticket)

дата прилёта (dah-tuh pree-lyoh-tuh) (arrival date)

время прилёта (vryeh-myeh pree-lyoh-tuh) (arrival time)

дата отлёта (dah-tah aht-lyoh-tuh) (departure date)

время отлёта (vreh-myeh aht-lyoh-tuh) (departure time)

пересадки (pyeh-ree-saht-kee) (flight with stopovers)

прямой рейс (pryeh-mohy rehys) (direct flight)

Don’t Leave Home without Them: Dealing with Passports and Visas

If you’re planning to go to Russia, read this section carefully! Here you find out about the all-important documents without which you aren’t allowed into (or out of!) Russia: a паспорт (pahs-pahrt) (passport) and a виза (vee-zuh) (visa).

If you’re an American citizen who has already been abroad, you know that to travel to other countries, you need a U.S. passport. If this trip isn’t your first путешествие за границу (pooh-tee-shehs-tvee-ee zuh gruh-nee-tsooh) (trip abroad), make sure to have your passport updated. For some countries, though, this document isn’t enough. To go to Russia, you also need a visa that states that you’re allowed to cross the Russian border and return home within the time period indicated on the visa. In other words, if you decide to arrive in Russia a day before the date indicated on your visa, the law-abiding customs officer in the Russian airport has the legal right not to let you enter the country. Likewise, if your visa states that you have to leave Russia on May 1, 2012, don’t even think of leaving on May 15. You may have to pay a fine and spend a lot more time at the airport than you expected, and you may even miss your flight while explaining to the officials why you stayed in Russia longer than your visa permits.

The million-dollar question for anybody wanting to travel to Russia concerns как достать визу (kahk dahs-taht’ vee-zooh) (how to get a visa). You have three options, depending on which of these circumstances best describes your situation:

Your travel agent arranges the trip for you, and you’re officially a турист (tooh-reest) (tourist) who stays in a hotel.

You’re going to Russia в командировку (f kah-muhn-dee-rohf-kooh) (on business) and have an официальное приглашение (ah-fee-tsi-ahl’-nah-ee pree-gluh-sheh-nee-ee) (official invitation) from an organization in Russia approved by the Russian Ministry of Internal Affairs.

You have friends or relatives in Russia who are officially inviting you. These people must be extremely devoted to you and willing to state that you’ll be staying with them at all times until you leave and that they agree to feed you while you’re there. They also have to go to the Department of Visas and Invitations (OVIR) and prove that they have enough space in their apartment/house to host an additional person.

Which of the three situations gives you the easiest chance to get a visa? Certainly, the first one. All you have to do is call your travel agency, and they take care of it for you. Be sure to plan ahead; it can take some time to get a visa, unless you’re willing to pay extra for speedy processing.

Here’s the list of documents you need in order to подать заявление на визу (pah-daht’ zuh-yehv-lyeh-nee-ee nuh vee-zooh) (to apply for a visa):

паспорт (pahs-pahrt) (passport)

две фотографии (dvyeh fah-tah-grah-fee-ee) (two photos)

денежный ордер (dyeh-neezh-niy ohr-deer) (money order)

заявление на визу (zuh-yehv-lyeh-nee-yeh nuh vee-zooh) (visa application)

официальное приглашение (ah-fee-tsi-ahl’-nah-ee pree-gluh-shyeh-nee-ee) (official invitation)

Taking It with You: Packing Tips

When your trip is quickly approaching, it’s time to start packing. No matter when and where you travel, you’ll most likely take the following items with you:

чемодан (chee-mah-dahn) (suitcase)

сумка (soohm-kuh) (bag)

рюкзак (ryoohk-zahk) (backpack)

карта (kahr-tuh) (map)

фотоаппарат (fah-tah-uh-puh-raht) (camera)

видеокамера (vee-dee-ah-kah-mee-ruh) (video camera)

мыло (mi-lah) (soap)

шампунь (shuhm-poohn’) (shampoo)

деодорант (dyeh-ah-dah-rahnt) (deodorant)

зубная щётка (zoohb-nah-yeh sh’yoht-kuh) (toothbrush)

зубная паста (zoohb-nah-yeh pahs-tuh) (toothpaste)

косметика (kahs-myeh-tee-kuh) (makeup)