Hello my friends, welcome to my video. Today me and my friend Dari Step, hello hello! we will discuss Russian cities and traveling
in Russia in general. And first we want to note the context when
this video is being filmed. Today is February of 2023, and it's almost one year
of the war with Ukraine that Russia started. And of course we understand that in such an
environment it would be really strange to like invite people to travel to Russia or
speak about Russia ignoring all these things. So ye
ah, why we want to make this video is
to kind of celebrate our memories from Russia because neither me nor Dasha can go to Russia
because we're basically scared. Exactly, all we want is just to share our
background and our history, our kind of childhood and teenager memories with you so you have
a better idea what life was like in Russia before everything what's happening now. As you know now I reside in Georgia, as for
Dasha, she has more plans... Yeah, just traveling from one place to another.
Yes and recently we went to Batumi in Georgia,
and this is where we got the inspiration for this video because we were comparing Batumi
to different cities that we saw before and I was surprised to see that me and Dasha have
different impressions and comparisons. Butumi, what it was like for you and what
you remembered when you look at the city? Actually it reminds me of Sochi, and by the
way it's located not that far away from Batumi, so it was kind of obvious for me. Well, Sochi is the city i
n Russia or I would say better
a region of Russia where Olympic Games were held. So now there is a big ski resort there which
was very different from Batumi because it doesn't have it. But the sea coast, quite similar, and the
towns and etc. I've never been to Sochi and in the South
part of Russia. That's why I compared Batumi to Vladivostok
because I'm from The Far East, I was born in Primorsky Krai, it is a region on the very
east south of Russia, Vladivostok is the capital. It is a port city,
also you can see seagulls,
of course ships, but it's interesting how different our impressions were. Actually, the far east I got in Russia it
was Siberia where there is the Baikal Lake, and also Altai region. So I've never been to the far east and I don't
have an idea what it's really like there. And now let's name all the cities where we
both were. I visited of course Spassk, my hometown in
Primorsky Krai, Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Veliky Novgorod, Vladimir
and Nizhny
Novgorod, what about you? Okay, I've been in actually many places, I've
been in Moscow, Saint Petersburg, Kazan in Tatarstan, I've been in Siberia in Irkutsk
and Ulan Ude, I've been in few cities in Altai region, also I've been in Murmansk, it is
the northwest city in Russia, I also visited Karelia region next to Finland and some small
towns surrounding, and I've been in many cities around the Golden Circle of Moscow, and some
other towns which... like I've been to so many places there, so
to b
e honest, I already forgot all the names. You forgot the Caucasus. Ah yes okay and then Caucasus, I've been in
all regions of Caucasus, Dagestan, Chechnya, also Kabardino-Balkaria and others, so I traveled
quite a lot. Wow, I'm really impressed because yeah, my
cities are like three cities, I think that I traveled in the United States more than
in Russia, actually, but this is for another story. And there are some cities that I visited,
and you too, for example, Vladimir. Oh yeah. Is it in the G
olden Ring of Russia? Yeah, I think so, and my relatives are living
there so I spent all my childhood in the city. Did you like Vladimir? Well, when I was a kid, so basically I was
just going to the house of my relatives, and I didn't really explore the city but few years
ago I decided, okay it's time to change it. And it was actually when I started YouTube
because I wanted to show the city to people, and I was surprised that there was almost
nothing to see, basically there is just one street wi
th few attractions and you can finish
everything in two hours. And actually that's what I told Natasha about
the city, and she didn't believe me. Yes so when I was going to Vladimir, I asked
Dasha about her impressions, and she said there's just one street, I was like 'no, probably
this is a joke, there can't be just one street in this city that is worth seeing' but actually
yeah, it's truth, there's this famous gate of some... knyaz, and yeah, there is a historical
part of the city that goes al
ong the street but nothing more. And I even went to a district with khruschovkas,
where people live, where my relatives live, yes, and also I was sad that there is a nice
small river in Vladimir, really old one, and they don't even have an embankment and it's
because there's a railroad just next to the river, so they blocked the river from the
city. Maybe there are some possibilities to change
it but of course the Russian government will not do this. And you know what else I was surprised about?
Vladimir is the part of the Golden Ring of
Russia, and it is considered like the Russian history that you have to visit. And I lived in the far east, it is a region
where everything is deteriorating, people are escaping from the far east, either to
Moscow or abroad because, well, I saw only despair and sadness... In my comments people often accuse me of showing
only the worst side of Russia for purpose, but no it was literally what I saw around
me, and that's why I had this assumption that mayb
e a city closer to Moscow will be richer
than my region? But I was really unpleasantly surprised to
see that Vladimir, it's like two hours by train from Moscow, yeah it's quite close,
it's really close, and it is so poor. Yeah I'm so sad, exactly, the poverty. That's what I remember, because I also saw
how people live there, how my relatives are living there, and I'm so sad because they
work so hard, but because of the local salaries they can't afford anything, they even go to Moscow
once a year
because it's so expensive for them. So when you see this, I'm looking at Russian
cities differently. For you guys, from other countries you might
find this quite fascinating, like authentic, 'wow, all these shabby soviet houses' exactly,
but from my side, I see poverty in this. So for me it's quite difficult to travel to
such cities. What is the average salary in Vladimir? Okay so it actually was 200 bucks, it is very
low. One of my cousins earns 30,000 rubles which
is 400 USD, and it's conside
red to be a very good a very good salary in Vladimir. Well, in my hometown Spassk, average, I think,
is about 25,000 rubles (300 USD), but our food prices are more expensive than in the
European part of Russia, which means that... well, basically it means that people in Russia
live poorly. What about Moscow, what is the average salary? Okay, so Moscow, it's so different, for example,
one of my closest friends, you know her, she works in a vet clinic, and she earns 36,000
rubles which is 430 USD,
she workes five days per week for 12 hours non-stop in the clinic,
it's very low, I mean, only to get there she spends 150 dollars just for transportation
per month, and they don't give her food or anything. And by the way, interesting thing that she
has a new colleague now, who came from a small town Tula, and she was surprised how low salaries
in Moscow were, because she was like 'Well, I approximately earned the same in Tula, yeah,
a little bit less but I don't spend money for transportation
, it's like 20 minutes to come
to the clinic, and also I have a house there'. So even in Tula, if you compare all the prices
and etc, she will earn more than actually in Moscow. But on the other hand, salary in Moscow can
be different, maybe 2,000 dollars, around 150,000 rubles, but it's a very very high
salary. It's probably only the IT workers (and people
in the government) who earn this, but now all the IT workers left Russia because of
mobilization, because of their political position and so
on. Yeah, I agree, I think, right now the average
salary in Moscow, is 50-60,000 rubles which is like 730 USD approximately. For Moscow it's really small. Oh yeah exactly, for example, if you would
like to rent an apartment there, you will pay approximately a 40,000 rubles for one
bedroom, so if your salary is 60,000 and you pay 40,000 for your accommodation, I mean,
you only have money for food and transportation, that's it. That's why actually many Russians don't save
money, they don't have a
ny money for the 'black day', we call it like that. This is something to consider. Let's discuss other towns of the Golden Ring. I actually really liked Kolomna, it's a very
small town, when I was walking there, it felt like I was in the past actually, so it was
very atmospheric, for half a day, I think, it's perfect. Another town which I like was Tula because
actually they did some renovations for its embankment, it was very enjoyable to walk
there, also they made a wall with some historical fi
gures, so it was very interesting for me
to take a look at this. But to be honest, Natasha, overall when I
was traveling in the towns of Russia, they all seem more or less the same for me, because
obviously there is a church, probably Kremlin, all the houses are approximately the same. The only city which I actually like was in
Tatarsan, it's Kazan, oh my God guys, it was such a great combination of churches and also
mosques, there is a gorgeous mosque just in the middle of the city right next t
o its Kremlin. I really liked it because it was finally something
new and interesting for me. And another city which I really liked was
Ulan Ude because I'm actually a very big fan of Buddhism, and in Ulan Ude there you could
see some Buddhist temples which is also very different from what I'm used to, and that's
why I also like it. And another fun thing about Ulan Ude which
actually makes the city so unique is a huge giant head of Lenin in the main square of
the city. When I saw this, I'm like
'oh my gosh what
is this?' I also saw a statue of Lenin in Veliky Novgorod,
in that great historical city, they placed it there... and okay, this is the part of
Soviet history, but... Yeah, not a fan. So you mentioned Kremlin and you said that
in every city they have Kremlin, and we actually discussed it before, and Dasha was surprised
to learn that in Khabarovsk and Vladivostok we don't have a Kremlin. Oh my God, it's like total shame on me guys,
because I am honestly so used to kremlins that I
was thinking they are in all around
Russia, which is actually wrong. And on the contrary for me it was so funny
to even think about a possibility to have Kremlin in Khabarovsk, because what is 'kremlin',
it is a word for an old fortress that was surrounding ancient Russian cities, like in
medieval times, and as a child, I thought that there's only one Kremlin, in Moscow,
but now I know that there are kremlins in Tula, also in Tobolsk and etc. Probably the last one was built in Kazan,
it dates b
ack to the Russian history, when Ivan the Terrible was conquering territories
to the East and he achieved Kazan. But it's interesting that when they started
to conquer Siberia, there were fortresses and maybe some of them did not remain to our
days. When I was a kid, we had some tours to Kremlin
and everywhere, so since my childhood I've seen kremlins everywhere, but it's not, you
live you learn every day. Yeah and also it's unusual that our cities
in the far east are so young. That's why that's
another reason why we would
not have a Kremlin because, well, I remember that Spassk was founded in the year of Coca-Cola
drink foundation, oh my God, yes, it is a very young city compared to the other part
of Russia. And actually, discussing age of the cities
is a big issue because in Russia we even have a holiday which is called the 'City Day' or
the 'Birthday of the city' and normally it is celebrated every year, so when I was a
child, in Spassk we basically had only two celebrations that ga
thered all the people
and that the city administration gave money for. So it was the City Day and the 9th of May,
of course, but that's another story, yeah we will not discuss, yeah we will not discuss
it. And also Komsomolsk-on-Amur is even younger,
it was built in the 30s of the 20th century, so we have young cities. That's crazy to think about that because Moscow
was founded in 1147 by Yuri Dolgorukiy, and it's almost a thousand years, and most cities
in my region that old and even older, so
when Natasha is telling me that the cities are
like 100 years old or something, I'm like 'oh really, wow' One more city that we both visited is Nizhny
Novgorod. What do you think about it? Yes I think I like this city a little bit
more than some other cities in the Golden Circle, but again I'm not a fan, like there
is just nothing so special for me there, of course history about all Russian cities in
this region, they're very historical, so again churches, Kremlin, like one walking street
there.
The only thing that I liked, it was embankment. The river was huge, and I think it was built
quite lovely. I was there for a music festival, so I didn't
spend that much time in the city, which was good because I think I would get bored. I would say for one day trip it's fine but
I wouldn't like to stay there longer, what's actually very interesting because many people
from Russia, who are not from Moscow, they really like this city. And they were telling me 'Oh such architecture,
atmosphere' bu
t... Maybe if you would come, who were born in
a completely different environment, and cities and culture, you might find this fascinating. Well as for myself, who were born in Moscow,
I'm like okay... 'Big city girl' Oh yeah, big city girl, you
know these stereotypes. Yeah we have jokes in Russia about Moscovites
that they think too much about themselves, and every other city is bad for them and etc,
and I don't know what else, you tell me. I also had this stereotype, I thought that
people in M
oscow are richer, that they have more money which is maybe true because your
salaries are higher, but it doesn't mean that people in Moscow live better, because also
the prices are higher. And I thought that people there are rich,
they can go abroad, but when I met you and you told me your story, I realized that it
was all stereotypes. For example Dasha told me that her school
was one of the worst in the in the district, while I thought that 'wow, all schools in
Moscow are with good teachers, wi
th good English education" Oh yeah, I think we had absolutely
the same, because we were discussing schools and we realized that problems are absolutely
the same in all parts of Russia. Yeah maybe there are some good schools in
Moscow, but I was going to the simplest one next to my house, and actually by the rates
it was the worst school ever. We had some people taking cocaine in the toilet,
smoking, or sorry, masturb@ting in class, and that's why I think it's all the same in
Russia. We would pro
bably be ready to make another
video about that and discuss our traumas, but let's return to districts of Moscow. Yes, and worth to say that, yes I'm traveling
a lot, but I'm the only one from all my friends circle who travels that much, because I'm
just spending all my money for traveling, without buying much stuff to myself, but it's
not normal for a typical Moscovite to travel that much. Yeah remember you told me about the company
of friends that you had at 17 and that the only thing they wer
e interested in was to
go to dacha, the country house, and just drinking, and they were not even interested to travel,
and they were surprised when they learned that you want to travel. Yeah that was so crazy for me because they
were discussing like 'okay if I had to choose between either going to dacha, to a countryside,
but never go abroad or the opposite, only go broad and never go to dacha, I would choose
dacha'. I was like 'how is it even possible, like
why don't you want to see the world,
like it was crazy for me', and that's why since
18 years of mine when I legally could travel, I started traveling as much as I could to
explore our wonderful country, but again this is not very normal for a typical Moscovite,
usually we don't travel that much. I also wanted to add about Nizhny Novgorod. I went there one year ago and I made a video
about that in my channel. It was interesting for me to learn about this
city, because I'm not a local and I purposely read Wikipedia. And it's interes
ting that at school, you know,
Russia is very centralized, so in history lessons we learned only about Moscow. So all the history of Russia was like taking
place in Moscow, I mean, all the decisions were taken in Moscow. It was interesting to read how events of the
Russian history were reflected not only in Moscow, but in Nizhny Novgorod, which was
considered probably a province city back then in the 19th century in Moscow. Also they have some famous people like Maxim
Gorky, the Russian writer w
ho was born there. In the Soviet times the city was even called
after him, Gorky. You know, the Soviets really like to give
ugly names to cities, what else? Saint Petersburg was named Leningrad, Volgograd
was Stalingrad... And as I said, living in the Far East, I thought
'Okay, I live in poor conditions here in the Far East, nothing is developing, but probably
the closer to Moscow the better? So I was expecting that cities around Moscow,
and Nizhny Novgorod, again, is really close, it's like fou
r hours by fast train from Moscow,
in my measures it is fast, I expected it to be like Moscow but smaller with the same nice
service. But what I realized that Nizhny Novgorod,
is like another Khabarovsk, gray buildings, 80 years old buses, and it is so sad. Yes, I think this is the mistake everybody
from the far east and from Siberia are making: no matter how close the town is to Moscow,
it doesn't improve the living conditions anyhow. I think the cities that are quite developed
and unusual and
unique are Moscow, Saint Petersburg, and I would say Kazan, because it's big cities. they're different between each other, great
service, and also look very interesting, and many things to do there. Yeah I would add about Kazan, it's because
they have their own oil, and they are trying to be more independent because, you know,
Tatarstan was basically conquered by Russia, many years ago, and now they have their own
president, and his title is 'president', even though recently the the Russian gove
rnment,
like the one in Moscow, changed this title from 'president' to 'rais'. By this you can see how Moscow is trying to suppress the
independence of other regions, their self identity. Yes, exactly. Well what about the Far East, the cities there? Well, basically it's like another Nizhny Novgorod
but just surrounded by forests, because you know, Far East is a really huge territory,
it is like one third of the whole Russian territory and it's not densely populated like
the western parts of Russ
ia. Yeah so Khabarovsk is a city with 600,000
population, Vladivostok is the same, both of them are located on the different sides
of the last segment of the Trans-Siberian Railway, and I made a video about this, how
I was going from Khabarovsk to... well, not Vladivostok but Spassk, but it's close. So the train from Khabarovsk to Vladivostok
will take you 13 hours, and for me it's fast. Wow, we have completely different ideas of
what the fast train is. For example, we've been just flying to Uzb
ekistan,
and it was three hours flight, okay, well not that short but okay, and Natasha was like
'oh my God, that that was so fast' I'm like 'Oh, really?' Yes because when I was flying from Khabarovsk
to Moscow, it took me eight hours by plane. And children in Spassk have only two ways,
well, three, either to marry at the age of 18 and give birth to like 30 children or to go to
Vladivostok or Khabarovsk to study in college. Well, the smartest or the richest ones go
to Moscow to study. It would b
e logical for me to go to Vladivostok
but I went to study to Khabarovsk. Later I regretted that because, in my opinion,
Vladivostok is more developed, it is a port city, and the pace of the city is different because
people are moving faster, and it is a very hilly city. And, well, the drawback is that there are
always traffic jams, many cars, only Japanese cars because Vladivostok is close to Japan,
and yeah it's very unique. Yes Natasha, you're saying so many interesting
things about Vladivosto
k, and I really wanted to visit it, I badly wanted to explore the far
east of Russia and... Not anymore :) Not anymore, like maybe in
10 years, and actually before the war started, last year I was thinking I'm gonna take a
Trans-Siberian train to Vladivostok and we're going to meet there. But I don't know how it would feel for me
because I'm not a huge fan of trains, but I think once in a lifetime you must do that. Actually when I've been studying in England,
I had a teacher who did the Trans-Si
berian, and he said he was shocked, he was like 'I
came there, a there was a Russian group of men who invited him and they'd just been drinking
vodka every day for seven days in a row. He was like 'In three days I already could understand
nothing, where and what I'm doing, with who I am...' But he started to understand Russian because
of vodka... No, he said it was a lifetime experience but
he would never try this again. You should watch our channels and stay with
us for another 10 years to see,
and in 10 years when Russia is free, Natasha and I are
going to take the Trans-Siberian Railway, or maybe we will try one from Moscow and you
will try one from the far east, and we're gonna meet somewhere in the middle. That's gonna be fun. Also when I'm thinking about the Far East,
it's very fascinating for me to imagine that actually China in Japan are so close. Because for people from Moscow these countries
are so far away, and it's uncommon for us to go there. But my mom was a flight attend
ant, and she's
been to China for so many times, and I remember she was bringing so much stuff from there,
because we've been living very poor when I was little girl, and we didn't have money
or anything to buy there in Moscow, so for me China, I don't know, it's so interesting. And when Natasha was telling me that she has
been a few times in China, I'm like 'wow, China, you've been in China, that's so cool!' but you
have absolutely different feelings about that. Yeah, well, the way I went to Chi
na... I don't know, it was not illegal, but... I will tell the story. So for us in Primorsky Krai it was really
easy, it's like eight hours by bus to go to China, and why we go there was basically for
shopping. Because there is a town called Suifenhe, and
in the 90s it was just a village but for 20 years it developed to a very densely populated
city. And basically the whole city looks like a
market for Russians. And it's so funny, it's such a meme, you can
see shop names both in Russian and Chin
ese. But if they are in Russian, oh my God, they are called
like 'Natasha Dasha fur coats' or 'Dima tea'. So basically they take the name of a person
and some item. It is so funny, sometimes they make mistakes... I mean it can seem quite atmospheric, authentic,
you know, all this stuff. And I went there when I was a teen, I was
first 12 and then 14. I went there with my mom for like three days. And we ate all this tasty food, even though
I think it was really adapted for Russians, yes we bought
these cheap clothes, and actually
when we went back, there was some interesting thing. Because we went there as a tourist group,
so basically, because the voucher to go to to China was so cheap or even free for us,
I don't remember... Free? You could go to China for free? You could go to China for free but then on
your way back you have to carry heavy 'bauls', bags with clothes, when you're going back
to Primorsky Krai. And at the customs they would ask you 'What
is that?', and they open all you
r big bags with all the items that you see for the first
time, and you have to say 'Oh, this is for my aunt, this is for my brother, my relatives...' So what we were doing, we were just helping
a merchant who was avoiding taxes that you have to pay when you are transferring goods
through the border. So we were pretending that these were our
big bags, and I remember that each person had to carry about 50 kilograms. 50? Five zero? Five zero kilograms, yes. How could you bring it, like you was tiny
? Well actually what we did, my mom paid for
my voucher, but she still had to carry that, so I helped her a little. This is how we traveled. But then actually in 2014 it became unprofitable for Russians
to go to China because the Chinese currency, yuan, before was equal to just 4 rubles,
and after 2014 it was equal to 10 rubles, so that it basically became unprofitable for
us, and what happened back then? Well we all know what happened in 2014. Yeah and it's interesting that when I was
a child,
I didn't even realize it, and it seems that my mom even doesn't realize that
still. She doesn't understand that it's connected
to Crimea and the sanctions. Also if I'm not mistaken, the dollar also
became expensive for Russians? Yes so before 2014, one dollar was equal to
30 rubles, after that it rose to 70, and now it's still there. Yeah, it went very up, then it went down to
60 rubles, and then it was growing year by year, but then approximately it became 70
rubles, which then was for a few ye
ars like that. Well Natasha, I would say that actually Moscovites
also don't really connect the Crimea crisis with the increasing currency. I remember 2014, I was 15 years old, I was
telling 'mama, let's buy dollars, let's buy them!' She was like 'no', it became forty at that
point, she was 'oh, it will return back'. Well mama, I was right at 15 years old. Yeah, so for me China was not the Great Chinese wall, and
I did not see all these big cities, I saw only that part. That was how I traveled t
o China. But it's for Japan and South Korea, people
often think that it is really easy, especially foreigners, they think that I go to Japan
on ferry or to South Korea, and I am so upset and even pissed off because it's not like
this. Our people are so poor, we leave literally
one hour flight from Japan, in Vladivostok, for example, but only probably three percent
of the population of Primorsky Krai travels there. I think even less. Yeah because, well, first, you need a visa
to Japan and South K
orea, and also it is just expensive. That's what I'm always explaining both to
Moscovites and foreigners, that life in Primorsky Krai is like life in another poor Siberian
village or even Vladimir or Nizhny Novgorod. I think if Russia was more democratic and
open to other countries, we would have connections but no, I've never been to Japan and... I mean, I kind of understand this because
Moscow is also located close to some European cities and almost no one is visiting them,
because again it's
expensive. I think for Far East people it's more pricy
to go to Japan or South Korea or China, maybe China not that much, but Japan and South Korea. But for Moscovites it's also very expensive
to go to Europe, again you need visa, it's difficult to apply, it also costs money, so
yeah, I have an idea what's like there. Well, we discussed the cities where we both
visited but I've never been to the South part of Russia and the Caucasus. Can you share it? Okay so this is completely different Russia,
because Chechnya or Dagestan are so different from the Far East or Moscow, and their religion. So it's Muslim countries... Countries? Maybe one day... Well, it's Muslim regions, so you can see
there a lot of mosques, and also if we have kremlins in the part of Russia where Moscow
is located, there they some towers which you can see in the mountains. It's usually one or a few towers, and there
were also built for the protection purposes. But the nature there is so fascinating, the
mountains, foo
d is actually very different, and also the region is not that big comparing
to all Russian regions. But if you travel from one place to another,
the mountains are different, the food is already different, people, and also cultures, because
for example, North Ossetia is mostly not Muslim, while Dagestan and Chechnya are Muslim. So you can see a big combination of cultures,
oh my God, that's so interesting, and many people were telling me that it's dangerous
for women to travel there. I felt okay,
but every time, worth to say, I was with
some guys, so I wasn't a solo female traveler there. But I loved it, Natasha, I think one day in
10 years you should come to visit. The cities, to be honest, nothing so special,
I would say. I didn't spend much time in their cities but
I did explore the region, some mountain places, or lakes, oh my gosh, it was so nice. What you were describing now really reminded
me of Georgia. You said the mountains, not so much space,
great food, and I just realized t
hat Dagestan or some other republics of the Caucasus are
really more like Georgia than the rest of Russia. Exactly, absolutely right, and actually if
you take a look at the map, they're like located quite close to each other, so yeah it's quite
similar to Georgia. And as you said, even though these regions
are so close to each other, they're so different. I don't know how many different peoples and
languages and different foods... And for me, because again, living in the Far
East where there are
big spaces, I thought that countries and regions that are close
to each other, they're basically the same, but you said that like in Kabardino-Balkaria
there are one types of mountains, then in Dagestan they're lower or something like this. Yes, and also about the level of education
and behavior for men. For example, if you're traveling to North
Ossetia, people there are quite educated, you have a very nice conversation and it feels
really like okay, you're in more or less developed place, but
for example when you travel to
Ingushetia, people there are so conservative and close-minded women, there like not people
actually, like it's just 'women', and there is 'men, people'. So there, by the way, I didn't feel so much
comfortable, and some friends of mine told that some of their men just got drunk, Ingush
men, and try to go to Russian girls, like this is crazy, but in the other regions you
won't see it like that. And also speaking about the environment and
the garbage, for example, I'v
e been in Dagestan, I've been traveling in the mountains there,
and there was so much garbage that I was so shocked very unpleasantly, but when I was
traveling around Chechnya, it was very clean. Well, I think, that the stricter the regime,
the less there are trash in the streets and the less criminals there are, because maybe
all the crimes are happening somewhere underground or in the government, you know... yeah we
are not going to tell about this, yeah because we really value our lives. And
I think we should note that region of
the North Caucasus are really dependent on Moscow in terms of money. I don't know why maybe to keep them loyal
to the center of Russia, to Moscow. But I wish these regions could be more independent,
could develop tourism and be more for themselves and not for Moscow, but if I say something
more, by the Russian criminal code it would be considered a crime because then I would
'call to separatism'. Because in Russia if you say, for example,
'I wish Primorsky K
rai could be a separate country', you can go to jail because it's
like you are facilitating separatism. Oh my gosh, I didn't know about that, it's
that strict to be honest? But if we already started talking about the
Caucasus, I think if you're traveling there, it's not really about traveling to the cities
itself, because I didn't like it that much, but the nature, ancient villages there, just
oh my gosh, I remember some super ancient village in Chechnya mountains, it was amazing,
and you get th
is vibe as if you are in ancient times. And I remember when we were discussing Kamchatka,
you said that... What is more what is more attractive about
Kamchatka for you? Oh my god, ocean, I would like to surf there,
I never tried it before but I will do it, doesn't matter how cold the water is, I will
do it. Black sand and gorgeous volcanoes, I really
want to take a helicopter trip because it's the only way to explore this region, and to
explore some volcanoes there, and also there are some few d
ays hiking trails to the volcano
on the top of this,, I also want to take it, and, yeah, maybe to eat caviar. Dasha was so inspired about Kamchatka, so
that our camera just died, so now we are filming it with another phone and the color is different,
but yeah. But at the same time you have a huge experience
of traveling in Europe, how many countries, 20, you visited? In Europe, I don't know, maybe more. When you go to Europe, well, not anymore,
I hope you will... I hope, so I hope, so don't tell
me, don't
freak me out. Yeah but when you were in Europe, did you
like only the nature or you like the city more? Actually, 50/50, and if in Russia I like 90% of nature
and then 10% of cities, here it's absolutely 50/50. Because European cities, you know they're
so cozy, comfortable, interesting and unusual, for example even if you take Italy, Milan
and the North part is so different from the South, but in Russia you can't say it that
much because more or less it looks the same, yeah that's why
I like Ulan Ude in Russia, because it
was different, that's why I like Kazan, it was different. And also why I don't like traveling in the
cities in Russia because, again, I see poverty. I want to cry, I'm sad for people, because
I've seen how people live there, but you don't have these feelings when you're traveling
in the European even small towns, because you already can understand that probably level
of life there is way way higher than somewhere in the middle of nowhere in Russia. So that'
s the thing Natasha, when I'm traveling
in Europe, I don't feel so sad for people so that it destroys my impression, like when
I'm traveling in the Russian towns. Yeah I've never been to Europe still, but
I saw videos from European villages, and I was like, wow, village is not always a destroyed
forgotten place with shabby houses, one cow and one drunkard who beats his wife and mother? Maybe for people in Europe, the the Western
world in general, our life in Russia is aesthetic, but if you live
there, in this nine-storey khruschyovka... I hate this, I was born in such place, I'm seeing it from my
nightmares that I will continue living in this when I'm older. It's super hot in summer, and also when it's
raining sometimes water gets into the house. Literally, once I cried when I woke up because I had
a dream that I was growing my family in this place. So yeah, you're right. You guys, when you're traveling to Russian
cities, you find this authentic, very unusual from the place where you l
ive, but everything
I could think of is how actually poor the people are, they're not really smiley, they're
probably not that happy as they could be. Sometimes I get comments, when I speak badly
about all these khruschyovkas, "but at least this is affordable housing that people can
afford". People can afford nothing, I'm so sorry, I'm
getting so emotional after these comments, I can imagine you too, like people live super
poorly in Russia, they can't afford almost anything. These poor apartment
s are being transferred from
mother to daughter, to granddaughter and etc, because people can't afford nothing else. And sometimes people take huge mortgages that
they pay out for 30 years just for one bedroom apartment in khruschyovka. I know that in the United States, let's say,
people also take mortgages but the percentage, the interest is way lower, I think three times
lower, and you actually get a nice house. While in Russia you get this... So what I would like to answer to such people
who
say 'but at least it's affordable and simple': you know that if there was a better
environment and regime in Russia, if people had more money, they would demand houses like
in Europe, like in Scandinavian countries, there they are also building multi-store apartment
buildings but the maximum is like five floors, and they look much better than Russian ones. Yeah, and in Russia what they're doing now
still, they're building ant houses, no infrastructure. So what I want to answer to such people is
that actually it's not affordable, it's not simple, blah blah blah, minimalistic, no it's
just poor. Let's talk on maybe how it can be improved? Yeah, I was trying to promote tourism in my country
before the war, obviously right now it's not the time. How the country thanked you for this? Yes, well, let's not think about that. But I noticed that there are not so many names
of streets doubled in English, and I think it can be a big problem for tourists. Worth to say, by the way, in Chechnya, in G
rozny,
the main city, they're actually doubled in English. I was so surprised. But why? It's probably the place where foreign people
are scared to go the most. Yes, but well this is the fact, and if more
and more streets were doubled in English, and also when you're riding a bus, if they also
pronounced streets in English, which they don't do now. Natasha and I really wish that when our country
is free, the government, the new government will start to develop the cities and also
their cultural i
dentity, Natasha, could you please share your impressions about this. Yes, I wanted to say that there is no cultural
code of the city, because for this you need to hire urbanists, architects, to understand what is
so unique about our place, how we can attract foreigners? You know, when I was growing up in a Primorsky Krai, in Spassk,
I was seeing only these gray buildings around me. But once I read some literature about history
of our region and I realized wow, we have such unique nature, animal
s, the Amur Tiger, wow, it
is so interesting, why nobody is talking about this? The only thing I see is Moscow
on the TV, and that's it. And I was so sad, probably that's when I started
to ask questions to the government, like why they're not doing something to improve it? Because they only send money to wars, because
you know, Russia has commodity economy, they just take gold, oil, and gas, they don't care
about improving the so-called human capital. So they don't even care that, us young and s
mart Russian
people leave the country, they don't need such people like us. Well, I think that cities development is not
the most important thing that the Russian government will have to think about when the
Russian government will become democratic, I hope. We don't know when it will happen, in 10 years,
in 20 years but the first thing they will have to do is to pay operations, yeah, pay
reparations to Ukraine, to correct all their mistakes that they did, and only then things
will start change,
I mean, in Russia and in Russian cities, and tourism will flow to Russia, and... Well, I don't know, it's difficult to talk
about tourism right now, I can't really imagine it at the moment but hopefully in 30 years
when everything is going to change... 30 years, oh my God, people in Western countries are
like 'what are they talking about, it's like the whole life!' Exactly, well the level of this poverty will
decrease and more people will have money and at least some normal standard of living.
Yes, well, that's it, we hope that you enjoyed
our conversation because we really enjoyed discussing it to be honest. So subscribe to Dasha's channel, Dari Step,
she makes great videos. So Dasha, now when you are going to your next
destination, what your videos are going to be about? Well first of all, there are going to be more
videos about Georgia, then videos from Uzbekistan, then I will show you a little bit of my life
in Russia, because of family issues I need to come back, hopefully not go
ing to jail
there. I will post this video probably after that. Yeah, so probably you will see this, then
actually there are two two choices, I will try to get the Schengen visa and to move to
one city in Europe which I am actually interested in and I had quite an interesting story there,
or if I'm not getting Schengen visa, I'm gonna move to Asia and travel from country to country. Well that's it, thank you so much for watching. Yes, thank you, goodbye, poka-poka.
Comments
this was so interesting, i was born in a small city in Russia called Kirov (in Kirov Oblast near Tatarstan). I’m too young to remember it but I lived in poverty and in an orphanage and life was very hard. I like the Russian Culture but living there is definitely not easy if you don’t have money or are not in Moscow or Petersburg. Love you guys ❤️ Natasha seems much happier and free in Georgia.
I really appreciate Natasha's friendliness and sharing of her channel with others. Life is about all of us, and when possible it's good to share.
Do more "talk-shows" with other russians about your old life. This was great
Hey Natasha, this is so weird, I've been with you almost from the beginning and because of you I was thinking of learning Russian and visiting Russia. It kind of breaks my heart, to see things fall apart like this. I'm still really happy that you're okay and have the motivation to still do more videos. I remember you visiting the area with all the derelict vehicles and on your jersey there was something like a school bus and you actually found a real school bus that look like it. That was fun. And you were walking in an old neighborhood and saw some boys just hanging out in a little shed that they built for themselves. I find this was so simple and so nice. I I really hope that, in whatever form it takes, things get settled down a bit. So that we all can partake in the surprises and pleasure of visiting other lands. Be well, and keep up the good work, maybe one day we will meet.
It was a big pleasure discussing these subjects with you Natasha ❤ Glad we made this video! Thank you for inviting to your channel 💫
I can't imagine what it is like to lose your home both physically and mentally. You both seem very resilient so hopefully your future will be bright.
We travelled from Moscow to Vladivostok on the Transiberian train and had a lifetime experience . As Dasha said we loved Kazan and also Ulan Ude for their different cultural heritage
Thank you so much for this conversation with Daria!! You are young, so 10-20 years can seem like a lifetime away, but for me,being almost 80, it is a flash in the pan so to speak. I think it was only yesterday when the Berlin Wall came crashing down. But today, with the advent of Artificial Intelligence and AI apps for phones and tablets, one can only imagine how much change we might see in another 10-20 years. Far more, I think, than you can imagine!! 😊❤
Hello from the UK. I had a Russian girlfriend who lived (and still does) on the Golden Ring. So I have visited 5 of the cities on the Golden Ring. Also Moscow, St Petersburg, Pskov, Novgorod, Volgograd, Sochi and Astrakhan. I was shocked how run down many places were, particularly Pskov and Astrakhan. Sadly they had seen better days. Hopefully in the future the mineral wealth of Russia will be invested in the country, its buildings, housing and roads. And not in the pockets of the leadership and their cronies. Russians deserve better.
One of my favourite lines from the 'V For Ventetta' film, 'People shouldn't be afraid of their governments. Governments should be afraid of their people'.
My RUS story- I was stationed in Yokosuka Japan with the US Navy Band (Seventh Fleet Band). In 1998 the band went to Vladivostok on board the USS Blue Ridge. We performed with the Russian Navy Band located in Vladivostok and we were invited to what we believed to be a mafia club/bar to play/jam with local jazz musicians but it turned out that they only wanted us to play “the jazz”. Regardless, we had a very nice time with our new jazz mafia friends. Other than having to run away from the 10 drunk Russian teenagers because they wanted ribbons off my uniform, I had a great time.
I have travelled in many cities in Russia and still have friends in many cities, especially in the South. I find many cities so similar, with such similar apartment blocks whether old or new construction. I sadly found many cities to be declining so much, especially in the past 25 years. I quite like Sochi but only a short distance inland the villages are also declining. Many years ago I would see family friends in numerous villages around Kaluga and Samara with 100's of people living there. These villages are almost down to less than ten people and sometimes only one or two. I agree with your salary estimates. Some of my friends work in jobs of 60 hours per week and earn only 200 to 300 dollars a month, and everything is increasing price!
Interesting, intelligent conversation. I enjoy learning from you both.
Dasha is so emotional and you can just tell how excited she gets.
Thanks to you, Natasha, and to you, Dari, for giving us a taste of what life might be like in Russia and for bravely sharing your honest opinions and individual views. We, all of us on planet earth, could live more favorably in a more equitable world. I'm sure we all know that on some level. With brave commentaries from solid, intelligent people as you have demonstrated here, maybe some day we will see political and gender equality for all of us. Stay safe. . . 🌺🌹🍀
I was in some Russian cities - Moscow, Sochi, Petropavlovsk-Kamchatsky, Khabarovsk and others. I live in Novosibirsk. We have a very large and interesting country and there are many wonderful places in it. Thank you for this video!
I loved listening to you both. It has always been my dream to learn Russian and visit all over Russia. I wish so much that I can do this in the future someday. I loved hearing about your experiences and memories. I wish the best for Russian people and for both of you ladies. I hope your people get government that is fair and good so you can see your homeland again. I lived in Japan and visited Republic of Korea. Both are lovely, but pick Japan if you get the chance and can only see one. It is magical in every way. I just got to the part about Kamchatka! I’m dying to go there and see the nature and mountains, volcanoes, and bears. It is my dream to see this. I love being outside in nature.
You are both right that the standard of living in Europe or North America is better than in Russia, but even in Europe or America there are areas that are not so great. It would be interesting to know how you liked the various cities you visited and how you judge the people there. Natasha, if cleanliness was related to the strictness of the government, then Switzerland, Sweden or Japan would have to have the strictest governments. I think something is not quite right. 😉
Dear Natasha, this is to your previous video that was about how you as Russian feel in Georgia. You told about experiencing of some misfeelings toward you - as a Russian. A day more, I read an article in a Hungarian weekly with a Russian sociologist, Georgiy Yudin, who described the present Russian political arena in a very sharp-minded and confident manner, it was obvious he knows what he speaks about. The last question however was about the future and, at that point, his persuasive confidence vanished. All he could talk about was hope, but without defining any base for the hope in the same precise manner as up to that point. The impression by his words was loneliness / being lost . Then I discovered that the same impression I had the day before when I was watching your video. I am just writing this to make you know that I am very sorry for the fate of Russia and the Russians who know what they speak about.
What you guys did here is very entertaining and captivating. You spoke about heartfelt experiences, your hardships, Joys and Hopes. I really love your comparisons of standards of living, mentioning of numbers for food prices and salaries. If you make these types of videos, you will gain lots of followers. Thank you so much!!