Quora question - life in russia

So, I am a part of the quora community , albeit a very inactive one. I happened to answer this question and  with 108.5k Views and 2761 Upvoters, I did not expect the answer to become so popular.. I was pleasantly surprised. So here it is, the question and the answer i gave, unedited.

p.s so much happened, but this is just a copy paste from quora 


Q. What is it like for an Indian to live in Russia?

A-

I was in Russia for my internship, and let's just say, you don't know what's culture shock till you're living there. Your notions of life as you know it, is about to change.

Initially, when you first land in Russia (I was living in Moscow), you're not going to be able to stop smiling. Finally, you're in Russia. The country you've only heard so much about. Then, you'll notice, people shooting you strange looks. Yes, that is because you were smiling like an idiot at strangers. You'll soon grow to realise, smile there is a privilege. Russians don't smile much in general as a rule. But once you get to know Russians personally you'll find them to be warm and quite friendly. 
Next, you have a Russian image of them being alcoholics who just LOVE their vodka. Haha, nope. They're more in love with their tea. (Green tea, not Indian milk tea, which they find very strange in taste) You're sure to be offered tea in every house you visit. A lot like india, that way. In case, you do have vodka with a bunch of Russians , DON'T EMBARRASS YOURSELF BY MIXING IT WITH COKE OR SPRITE OR WHATEVER(wish I knew that then!)  Russians often sip their vodka neat. That's because they're used to cold weather and vodka warms you up wonderfully.
Generally, the pace of life in Moscow is very fast. People walk with determination and they always look busy. And, they are always impeccably dressed. Smartly, suited and booted.
Being a vegetarian, yesss. It's very difficult, but not altogether impossible. Check out "glow subs" that's a lot like subway only much cheaper and another joint is kartoshka (it means potato) which is jacket potatoes with lots of fillings. Try varenikki as well (like, indian momos)
I can not stress this enough, please carry your own spices from India because spices in Russia are either very expensive or not very easily available. We had quite a tough time even to locate basic spices and , eating out everyday might prove to be very expensive. That's right, Moscow is incredibly expensive whereas St. Petersburg is much more tourist-y and therefore, easier on your pockets. Another thing, there's no free water in russia. Yep, you'll have to pay for water when eating out. And water there, is of many kinds. Still, sparkling, fruit flavored.
Oh, you'll have to pay for ketchup in McDonald's. No free ketchup there too.

Next thing, which is a huge cultural shock is the PDA. Russians are all over the place! As an Indian, where all forms of physical love is meant only for bedrooms (not counting all the couples making out behind gardens, of course) you'll find Russians very okay with hugging, kissing and much more in public. Try not to gawk, its very rude. Another aspect of living in Russia is the warmth people with exude towards Indians. They simply love Indians, if put simply. They love our complexion and they love Bollywood. The most famous Russian song (dont be surprised if you hear a Russian hum this song) is Jimmy Jimmy from Disco Dancer movie. Another hit favorite movie there is Seeta and Geeta. They're were numerous times, when my best friend and I were stopped on the street , while Russians exclaimed "ooh, you too Seeta Geeta!"'

English is not very widely spoken there, barely people there know or can converse in the language. In Moscow. Even the metro stations have ONLY Russian names. St. Petersburg is better, they have lots of English signs. But, like us soon enough you will start understanding Cyrillic(Russian alphabets) .

For all your souvenir shopping , check out Ismailovsky market (end of dark blue metro line). It's cheap and the prices are highly negotiable. Avoid shopping near Kremlin.

Have a great time in Russia! You've successfully made me reminisce all my Russian memories. :')
You're gonna be fine there. Have fun :)






Here is the link to my other blog posts about Russia - http://tanushreelahoti.blogspot.sg/2014/05/faqs-frequently-asked-questions.html

Dont worry, be HAMPI!

After a killer graduation trip to kerala (Yes, blogpost due! i know, i know) , travel ants were biting my pants again. So , Next up was a killer trip with my cousins. There is no better thing to  happen to you than having cousins your age, well maybe having a talking dog would win but that is not going happen so which leads us to.. yes, having cousins your age. Isn't it the best? 

I am lucky enough to have two cousins of my age, and now that we are old enough , planning a road trip with just the three of us wasnt such a hassle. Respective parents were more than just glad to send us off on a trip together! Thanks family, you guys are pretty cool.

Then began a search for an ideal place where we could travel. Here is where the moral dilemma crept upon me! I am such a budgeted backpacking traveler, and that is not really everyone's cup of tea or rather what they would be very comfortable with. I mean, who wouldn't love a nice, resort holiday? Hence, i zeroed in on the perfect plan! Destination of choice was, Hampi and dandeli . Hampi for all the backpacking, hippie adventures and Dandeli for an adrenaline filled, adventure resort experience. One of the best parts of this trip was the fact that it followed such a flexible itinerary! We had the luxury of travelling whenever and stay at a place for how many ever days that we wished to. Plus, we were carry with us an icebox so no worries about drinking warm beer on the road trip. Woohoo! Living the life, eh?

I have been to hampi before , but under vastly circumstances. Last time i was there, my roomate ended up breaking her arm on a rented moped, and what followed was utter chaos. Therefore, hampi was as good as not covered. This time, vowing not to repeat any of my last escapades we began this trip! We left gulbarga around 9ish, to comfortably reach bijapur by lunch time.. after visiting the gol gumbaz, we headed over to hampi . Since wanting to eat typical dhaba food , we stopped at National Dhabha to devour some simple food and a grab a few beers.

We reached hampi by evening and we decided to stay in the hampi town and next day drive around to other side of the river called Virapapur gadde (which by the way, is 5min journey in a boat but will take you 55kms to reach in a car! >.<) We had not booked any place prior because it is the off season and also you get great bargains if you book on the spot , as compared to making a prior booking! We stayed at a place called Rocky's guest house. Located very conveniently and also quite a hit with other travellers. After freshening up, we headed to a place called "Chill out in bamboo huts" . I am such a sucker for prettyyyy lights! This place had the most quaint look about it, lit with red fairy lights with stairs leading up to a rooftop restaurant. After the nicest meal and some great conversation, we headed back to our guesthouse. Next morning, we headed to gopi rooftop restaurant for some breakfast. And my, my my. Such a selection of food, i'd never expect in a tiny village like hampi! Which, just goes on to show just how diverse is this hamlet in reality! You have people coming here to "chill" from all over the place and that is accurately reflected in their food menus. They have Indian, italian, isareli, tandoori to english breakfasts on their menus. You are as likely to encounter a white person here as you are to encounter a local and this is just in the off season. One can only just imagine this village during season time :')

We decided to stay at virapapur gadde for the remainder of time in hampi. Virapapur gadde is a small village located just across the hampi river. This place has a very laid-back feel to the whole place and the main reason for this is the backpacker hippie westerners who make this place their home! And, after touring hampi (and virapapur gadde) .. its so easy to see why is this obscure village, about which Indians themselves barely know would grow to be such a hotspot of westerners. Hampi is a backpacker's paradise! With room rates being as low as rs 300/night , with food being as cheap as rs. 230/meal and with being able to rent bikes or mopeds at rs. 350/day and with people being so warm and inviting.. this place is ideal to spend days or weeks at! We met a english school teacher, Amy doing exactly this! She was in hampi for a few weeks during her summer break off from her elementary school which she taught in england.

Inshallah, hum bhi karenge yeh ek din!

Hampi is not just known for its laidback vibe but during olden times, Hampi was one of the richest towns and that is plainly reflected in hampi's  history and a plethora of architectural places to visit!

 There are gigantic boulders that are so perfectly precarious that it makes you wonder how havent they toppled over! 

So between the three of us, we rented two mopeds (yes, thats how my roommate had an accident and I probably should be wary of them but #YOLO!)  and thus we biked our way around. One of the nicest places on this side of the river was the Sanapur Lake (also called hampi lake) There are huge boulders by the lake which are quite easy to climb and climb, we did! Right at the top of a huge boulder with the lake below us and with paddy fields on one side .. what a stunning sight! 

We drove back to our accommodation and the next morning, after a nice breakfast we took ferry to hampi where we met up with this really sweet auto driver named Giri who offeref to show us around hampi for some amount of money, and thus we spent the rest of the day , sightseeing and drinking loads of coconut water and lemon salt soda! We visited beautiful temples, basements of palaces, remains of aquatic structures, ancient market streets, royal pavilions, bastions, royal platforms, treasury buildings.., the list is practically endless!  

Hampi's landscape is dotted with banana plantations and has paddy fields on either sides of the road.

 You go gurrrrl!
# Yolo , Moped riding! :D


After lunch and returning to hippie island, we took our mopeds and drove back to the lake and over there we happened to meet the local boatman, Mr. buddappa who then took us on a nice coracle ride! No pictures of the boat, but it was a tiny little boat which was so low that it almost felt like you were sitting on top of water. Mr. buddappa What a joyful person, utter delight. 

He even requested a polaroid shot of himself with us and i gladly obliged!
He's got some serious swag, yo. 




The place we were staying at, Gopi guest house had a restaurant that over looked the paddy fields so this was our breakfast view : 

SO BLISSFUL! Goodness :') 



Another area of interest is Hampi Bazaar, crammed with shops selling you quirky local jewellery, fucky tee shirts, clothes and restaurants, and it is towered over by the majestic virupaksha temple. Travel tip : Make sure you pick up leather goods! Beautiful, handcrafted items at unbeatable prices! 

In the evening, we came back to our guesthouse and proceeded to hang out at the in-house restaurant. Amidst swapping tales and sharing secrets, I had an amazing but illicit incident occur. Haha, cant post what happened but it involves a hippie who didnt speak english and a classic case of misunderstanding! (DM me if you want details, i will be happy to share!) 

OH HAMPI, you truly were full of surprises! We were supposed to spend a day and half here, ended up staying another two days. Such is the charm of this place! 



Guys, wont post my dandeli trip details. Nothing truly extraordinary! 



Till the next time,

Keep galavanting folks! Much love. 



TANU xx