Traveling

Traveling
What to bring, what not to bring:
Bring
v An extra change of clothes in your carry-on

v Ziploc bags (for the trip when you'll have the baby to dispose of various baby leavings).

v Medicines for child--see the paragraph on medicines to bring for the child.

v Diaper rash cream

v A few diapers and wipes

v Clothes that fit the climate, raincoats or umbrellas. Check a weather website for specific information (try http://www.wunderground.com/).

v Gifts
o Personal gifts can be sticky. On the one hand, most agencies suggest you bring gifts for people who help you, and indeed, gift-giving is very common among friends in Russia. In actual practice, however, since you are not exactly close friends with the random agency representatives you meet, it can be awkward. Also, since anyone connected with adoption in Russia is in a very exposed and public position, they are very sensitive about anything that might be seen as a bribe. Our advice: give gifts only to

v those you really feel went out of their way to help you or

v those that you have developed a close relationship with, and

v anyone else your agency representative tells you to, provided you feel good about it.

o Gifts for the orphanage, on the other hand, were a good thing. Clothes and toys are especially good. If the orphanage can tell you what they need on the first trip, you can bring it on the second. American vitamins and medicines are not so good--they tend to not get used because of the language problem.

o Most things you might want to give as gifts (except touristy things from America) are easily available in Russia, so you needn't carry it all with you from home.

Don't Bring
v A lot of diapers, wipes, or baby food--you can buy them there, unless you want antibacterial wipes, which we didn't find.

v A lot of bottled water--you can buy it there, and you may have to pay for extra weight.

v Big diamond wedding rings (just a band might be better). Crime is not as bad as you might have heard--like most big cities in the US--but it is not especially wise (nor nice) to go flaunting your extreme wealth (see the section on money).


Plane
Flights from the US to Moscow and back
v Frequent flier miles are the best, of course.

v Northwest's adoption fare is 35% of their normal fare, and the dates are completely flexible. See their website at http://www.nwa.com/features/adopt.shtml. The main drawback to Northwest/KLM is that they seem to have a high rate of lost luggage in Amsterdam.

v British Airways also has an adoption fare.

v Lost luggage is common. Apparently it is especially bad in flights connecting through Amsterdam or Paris, so don't put important documents in checked bags. Bringing an extra change of clothes in a carry-on is a good idea, too.

v Be aware that on your return trip (with your child or children) your child(ren) will have Russian passports. This means that if you must stay overnight in another country on your way back you have to get a transit visa for your child to be allowed into that country. Amsterdam is very accommodating about this, and just has you fill out a simple form at the airport. France is supposedly much more difficult. Ask the airline when you book your flights about this issue.


Airlines within Russia:
You probably will have no choice about which airline you fly on in Russia.



A few things to be aware of, however:

v Bring plane snacks--most of the food they serve is not on the travel okay list see the section on what not to eat.

v The planes are very old. This can be disconcerting at first, but depending on the airline, the can be pretty well kept-up. The FAA has determined that their Russian equivalent does a suitable job of checking and enforcing safety standards. The Federal Aviation Administration gave Russian airlines an acceptable rating (see http://www.faa.gov/avr/iasa). We heard Kras air was a bit seedy, and that Transaero was better than Aeroflot, but this is hearsay.

v Airlines within Russia have strict weight limits (but they seem to be extremely variable). On the same airline and the same itinerary it can range from an allowance of anywhere from 20 to 40 kilos per person (including all carry-ons), with a fee of %1 of the cost of ticket per kilo over the limit.

v Lost and broken luggage is common.


Airports in Russia


v Airports in Russia are very hit and miss.

In Moscow:

o Sheremetyevo II is the main international airport, and is relatively clean and modern.

o Domededovo is a very new, primarily domestic airport.

o Vnukovo is quite run-down.

v Be aware that bathrooms might be unusable (even on the plane), or require payment (so keep some small change handy--the bathroom attendant generally won't have change for 100 roubles).

v Lines are not linear (but big blobs), move very slowly, and are full of people trying to cut in ahead of you. Getting checked in can take over an hour, even in a short line.



Hotels
v The Marriott Hotels in Moscow

o The Marriotts have an adoption rate. It varies, of course, but at the Marriott Tverskaya it should be in the ballpark of $170 per night instead of the regular rate of more than $220. However, be warned that this does not include extensive hidden costs like a 30% VAT, and a sneaky way they exchange the money from dollars to rubles and back again when you're billed (which will add another 10% to your total). The telephone charges are also completely unreasonable--$8.50 per minute to call a toll-free number in the US, and big fees even to use your prepaid phone card. All of this (not including any phone calls) makes your adoption rate actual bill closer to $240 per night.

o Nevertheless, the Marriotts are very nice hotels, the staff speaks English, and the food is great. They also have cribs and high chairs for babies, and it is a comfort to stay here after living in the relatively Spartan conditions of some of the outlying regions.

o The people at the main Marriott 800 number don't always know about the adoption rates, so you may have to call the hotel itself, which isn't a problem because they speak English (but it may cost you a bundle to call Russia if you don't have an international calling plan). You can find the phone numbers on the web at http://www.marriotthotels.com.

v Some Russian hotels in Moscow (all in the $70-100 range--including VAT. And as best we know, they do not do the sneaky Marriott exchange rate trick.):

o Hotel Budapest has received very good reviews.

o The Hotel Ukraina has received mixed reviews. Some really liked it, others complained of the staff's speaking little English.

o Hotel Mir appears to be below most Americans' standards



Please send us your reviews (RussianAdoption AT byu DOT edu) of the hotels you stayed in.



Other Travel Notes
v Passport control can take forever in Moscow. Don't dawdle when getting off your plane--a few minutes at the gate may cost you two hours in line at passport control.

v Bring something to do because you will have lots of free time between orphanage visits.

v Don't exchange more money than you need--it's almost impossible to change Roubles back to Dollars once you leave Russia, but it is easy to change Dollars to Roubles anywhere you need them (in Russia).

v Be careful about prepaid calling cards--they might not work outside of a few big cities in Russia. MCI and ATT cards only work in Moscow and maybe St. Petersburg--even if they tell you otherwise. They may even give you an access number, but check for yourself that the number is really valid for the region that you will be in--the American operator has no idea.

v There are usually no seatbelts in the back seat of cars in Russia--people remove them. Even if seatbelts are there, drivers often tell you don't need to wear them. You don't have to listen to them, of course. In fact, telling the translator that you like having seatbelts might (if you're lucky) get you a car with belt on the next day's trip.

v It costs $110 dollars at this writing to get a Russian visa in 3 days, but your agency may charge you MUCH more than this.

v GPS and other electronic devices are regulated in Russia--be careful and read the US State Department page on this issue http://travel.state.gov/russia.html.

v Customs--Make sure you declare the full amount of money you have with you when you enter and leave Russia.

v Sometimes you have very little warning before your trips, so try to be ready to go on a moment's notice. The shortest notice we have heard of was five days'.

v Make copies of passports and visas and keep one copy with you (separate from the originals) and leave one copy with someone you trust at home.

v Get contact numbers for the people who are supposed to meet you at the airport--just in case.