I appear to be in Russia again. Getting here was both deceptively easy and a massive pain in the ass. Low expectations were the key. After reviewing the administrative obstacles in my path, I just assumed I would never get round to moving here. An example: in order to get a work visa, you first need to receive an invitation from the Ministry of Internal Affairs. So far, so reasonable. To get that, you need to list the address where you will be living in Russia. Less easy, considering this address would need to be decided a month or two before you set off, and the Moscow rental market tends to move much faster than that. I dare you to join a Facebook page for lettings (the most common way of finding a flat in Moscow) and inform the community that you’re hoping to move into a Moscow flat in two months’ time. You’ll be laughed off the scene. Either that or your post will be pinned to the top of the page as a light-hearted introduction for those searching for entertainment as well as a pla...
‘Bet you anything you’ll arrive, spend twenty minutes there, and then get on the first train back to Krasnoyarsk.’ I was discussing my upcoming trip to the little Siberian town of Kansk with Kirill, who was revelling in the prospect of my imminent discomfort. ‘Come on Kirill, it can’t be that bad.’ ‘Oh it really is. You know Cheryomushkin, the really dodgy district of Krasnoyarsk?’ ‘The one where you saw two break-ins and a car theft in one afternoon?’ ‘Yeah that’s the one. Well Kansk is like a whole town made up of just Cheryomushkins.’ Kirill is not alone in holding Kansk in such low esteem. In fact, I couldn’t find anyone with a kind word to say about the place. The common responses when I told people I was going there for the weekend were either hysterical laughter or ‘don’t take anything valuable.’ Renowned Soviet author Arkady Strugatsky spent a few years there, and concluded that it was thoroughly depressing and full of criminals (this isn’t an actual quote beca...