Moscow is often unfairly overlooked by tourists. Time and time again I see itineraries that are heavily weighted in favour of St Petersburg, allowing only a couple of days for Moscow. After all, what is there to see besides Red Square and the Kremlin? The answer is that there's a hell of a lot. In fact, I doubt I'll ever have the chance to see everything I want to in this city. The problem is that Moscow's treasures aren't located in one area that is easily traversed by foot and aren't as well publicised. Here are some examples of what I mean.

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I did an interview with Igor Kurinnoy recently. Kurinnoy (pictured below) is a three time world champion in the Russian martial art of sambo. I have to admit that I had no real idea what sambo was until just before the interview. As he explained it, sambo is a mix of all the martial arts that were practised by the different nationalities of the Soviet Union. It was created as a way to make a universal style of fighting so that all people in the Soviet Union could compete against each other. So it incorporates elements, for example, of kurash from Uzbekistan, chidaoba from Georgia, barilda from the Far East and trinta from Moldova among other styles. According to Kurinnoy, this mixture of styles and the fact that sambo takes its basis more from the modern world than other forms of martial arts makes it the most useful and realistic form of fighting.

Kurinnoy himself was an affable chap, but sitting opposite him made me wonder about all the different ways he could beat the shit out of me. An irrational desire to start a fight just to see what would happen entered the back of my mind. In addition to being a sambo guru he also holds a black belt in judo and is a three time European champion in sumo wrestling, believe it or not. For anyone interested in learning sambo, his multimedia CDs would probably be a good place to start. You can order them here. He also does regular seminars in the US and Europe so you could always check him out if he's in your area.

I was also surprised to find out that the 'o' in sambo isn't stressed, making the martial art indistinguishable in pronunciation from the Brazilian form of music. Kind of takes some of the hardness out of the sport.

It's nearly impossible to walk anywhere around the city centre in Moscow without seeing/hearing street musicians, aka buskers. Their favourite spots are plazas/malls and pedestrian walkways, and they're usually accompanied by over-zealous friends who almost chase after you, begging for contributions to be placed in disturbingly dirty hats. It's possible to be harrassed for your cash even when there is no music forthcoming, so I decided to write a song about these characters. Here it is:

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Kazan is a lovely city. It might not be one of the main tourist destinations in Russia, but it should be. A manageable distance from Moscow, it would be a worthy addition on any tourist's itinerary. And the new Way to Russia guide to Kazan has all the information you need for such a visit with plenty of reviews of hotels, nightlife, restaurants and information about sightseeing as well as all the practical information you need to make your journey an easy one.

Click here to see the guide.

And click here to see my blog: "If You Are Not There... Memories of Kazan".

In true Russian fashion Way to Russia is increasing its sphere of influence to include Riga. The idea behind our new mini-guide to Riga is that many people coming to Russia will transit through the Baltic capitals or other nearby countries. It's also meant to act as a guide for expats living in Russia who need to do a visa run. We have information about obtaining Russian visas in Riga in the guide. Please leave some comments on whether you think it's a good to have mini-guides to destinations in the near abroad and what other destinations would be the best ones to include (besides the other Baltic capitals and Helsinki).

As for Riga, it's a nice, peaceful, pretty city. It's a two or maximum three day destination but is a charming place for a short visit. See my blog "Riga and Registration" for more impresssions of the city.

And, most importantly, click here to see the guide.

It’s easy to fall in love with Kazan. It’s exotic, it’s friendly and the centre of the city is beautiful. The capital of the Republic of Tatarstan, one of the first things that strikes you in Kazan is that it’s a bilingual city. All signs are written both in Russian and Tatar and there are as many Tatar flags flying as there are Russian. An incredibly proud people, the Tatars love to show off their city and their cultural heritage, even if their ethnic group is the minority in the republic. I came to Kazan without any expectations and found it to be the nicest mid-sized Russian city I have been to.

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This photo's from a few years back but remains one of my favourites. The guy pictured was truly massive - he must have been close to two metres tall. I literally had to run after him to get this picture due to his huge stride. Why did I bother? Because this man-monolith is carrying a purse in his hand. The Russian man-bag fashion has always been a source of amusement to foreigners in Russia. And it's an accessory that shows no sign of dying out. The Exile recently did a photo essay on the subject and found that maybe there's something to the 'murse' after all. See the article here.

A new version of Way to Russia is available in French. It features a mini-version of the guide with the most relevant practical, transport, and visa info, as well as guides to Moscow and St. Petersburg.

The Italian, Russian and German versions are to follow soon.

See Way To Russia en Francais

The Way to Russia guide to Ekaterinburg is now online. Make sure you read it in detail here. It's the most comprehensive guide you'll find to Ekaterinburg in English anywhere, except for on the official Ekaterinburg tourism website (yes, there is one - I was shocked as well), but obviously their only intention is to glorify their city so their information can't be trusted. The Way to Russia guide features plenty of reviews and information about hotels, sights, clubs, bars, restaurants as well as all the practical information you need for a visit to the capital of the Urals. And now that the guide is online, it seems like a good time to write about my experiences in the city.

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I took a trip down to Gorki Leninskie recently, the place where Lenin started taking retreats after the first assassination attempt on him, and where he spent the last eight months of his life. To be honest, it's not all that interesting unless you have a particular fascination with the man, and the estate isn't the most impressive you can find in Moscow. That said, you do get to see quite a few of his personal effects, the spot where he died and his death mask. You also get to see the personal "Biblioteka Lenina". But probably the highlight is Lenin's car. Tailor-made by Rolls Royce it features some cool snow tyres, reinforced steel for added security and was apparently converted to run on alcohol which was a lot more common than petrol during the Civil War. It seems a flouting of principles to have paid the huge sum of 350000 pounds (I think, the guide was talking rapid-fire Russian and I wasn't paying enough attention) to Rolls Royce for the car, especially when the British were aiding the opposing side in the Civil War.

Another day, another political rally. This one's from the opposite side of the political spectrum... I think... Russian politics can be hard to work out. It must have been around September last year when I went along to have a look at a rally in support of Mikhail Khodorkovsky. It was hilarious. Only 50-70 people showed up in support of him. Meanwhile across a barricade a bunch of kids from the Nashi youth movement were there to shout abuse at the supporters. The Khodorkovsky team was fairly disorganised and any chants they started were quickly drowned out by the children armed with their high-powered whistles. Meanwhile, the kids had cool t-shirts and banners and were a much greater spectacle.

But some of them were no more than 13 years old. Did they really want to be there or have any strong beliefs about the issue? The information circulating was that they were getting paid to be there. Why?? Did anyone really think the completely disorganised Khodorkovsky supporters posed any sort of threat to the status quo? No one would even have noticed them if the kids weren't causing such a ruckus. A journalist also told me that there were security personnel there taking covert photos of Khodorkovsky supporters.

But complaints, rumours and rationalisation aside, all in all it was a fun day out for all involved: the supporters, the idle spectators, and especially for the children. And that's the most important thing.

Here's one from the archives. May Day 2005: I was taken along to some political rally by an acquaintance of mine at the time. It was something about Alexandr Dugin's Evrazia movement. I don't really know or care what it's about but if anyone's interested you can read about it in seven languages here. But it must be something a bit odd since the people I met there all seemed to be virulent racists or other assorted nuts. There was a young American lad there who gave a speech, warning about the danger of the Orange Revolution spreading to Russia and how terrible McDonald's is among other things. Later he came to join us for a meal at that very same eatery. Overall, the people were unimpressive, disorganised and generally uninspiring. If this is the calibre of people involved in Russia's radical fringe groups then there isn't a whole lot to be concerned about (or excited about, depending on your own views). And now I'm not sure if I had a point to make when I started writing this. At any rate, the photo of the little girl with the flag and the armband is quite cute, in a disturbing sort of way.

It's not often you see a traditionally dressed Aborigine walking out the front door of the Radisson Slavyanskaya Hotel. To say it looks out of place in a symbol of modern, chic and prosperous Moscow would be an understatement. Though in modern, chic and prosperous Moscow it is also hard to believe that armed militia used to roam this hotel less than 10 years ago. That was until the dispute between the owners was resolved when the American owner was shot dead in the street outside. That story is one of many anecdotes from the book Absurdistan, by Eric Campbell, which is apparently due to be released in the USA and UK on September 29th. Campbell was a foreign correspondent in Russia in the late '90s, and later worked in China. The book covers both postings and is well worth reading for anyone interested in either country.

The picture below is from a photo-essay on abandoned cities (towns that dried up after the fall of the Soviet Union) on www.englishrussia.com. Truth be told, you don't need to journey out to distant places to find cool, abandoned buildings like this one. Just head out into podmoskoviye and you can find plenty of abandoned factories and warehouses that you can explore and vandalise to your heart's content. Sure, it might not have the same eerie feeling, but all abandoned industrial buildings are fun to explore.

Working from home gives you a lot of time to stare out your window, so you want to have a good view. Mine isn't too bad - I can see a couple of 19th Century church towers where upbeat bell melodies are played in the mornings - always a nice way to start the day. I can make out a few of the buildings on Tverskaya and one of the seven sisters stands in the distance. One day I might check a map and work out which one it is. But the view is largely blocked on either side by apartment buildings leaving only a small space that allows a long-distance view. And a small, dingy courtyard below my window is the only place where I can see other people. Luckily, though, this is Moscow and interesting events are provided regardless. In the past six months I have witnessed two fires and the aftermath of a rape and murder from the confines of my room.

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