Introduction: A Surreal Trip To Mother Russia 🇷🇺

Intro

Hello from Los Angeles, as I have just arrived back from Asia and Russia. Over the past 3 weeks, I have embarked on a whirlwind adventure to one of the least documented countries on the planet, from a Western blogger at the moment: Russia. While I am excited to kick things off on this review trip, I wanted to share an intro post of what to expect from this. 

For reference, I am holding off on the Bolivia trip for now. 

Why I Took This Trip To Russia

When I told people that I would be heading to Russia for a couple of weeks in August, all they asked was “why”. Fair enough, the West portrays a certain image of Russia, one that I’ll let you decide is true or not through my upcoming posts. However, after traveling to most of the level 4s, I often become aware that places may not be as they are made out to be online. 

Anyways, here are the reasons why I decided to visit Russia: 

• Finishing up in-person school, I realized that I had the month of August off completely. It’s not all the time I get a full month off, so I decided to use this time to head to Russia. 

• Originally, my plan had been to go in September, but seeing as I could just cut out the northern part of the routing to Africa from Bali, I said, “Why not?”. 

• Another reason for visiting, although it ended in heartbreak, was to meet a good friend of mine who had just recently moved back to Moscow. It had been a while since we had seen each other, but uh, yeah… 

• Lastly, I was taking an independent study online titled “Leadership through travel”. I figured that this would be the perfect way forward for me. 

People will have their own opinions, but to me, Russia is the most beautiful country in the world.

Outside of those reasons, Russia has always been on my bucket list, and high up. My mum loved it (she witnessed in person the stock market crash in Mockba in 2007 as she was closing a deal), my grandmother loved it, and my sister has been dying to go. Guess it’s part of my family genetics…

What To Expect

Getting To Russia

American Airlines Flagship Lounge LAX 

Japan Airlines A350-1000 Review 

Lounge Review HND Domestic 

Japan Airlines 767 Domestic J HND-ITM 

Getting from ITM-KIX

Japan Airlines 787 Business Class KIX-BKK

Getting pulled over at immigration in Bangkok: war speech about Cambodia (Done)

A long sleep in Bangkok 

Moscow 1 Series 

Intro To Russia: Sensational 

Taking Out Cash for Russia 

Review: China Eastern A320Neo BKK-PKX Y

Lounge in Beijing 

I think they tried to pocket an upgrade in Beijing 

China Eastern A330-300 Economy PKX-SVO

Immigration as an American at SVO

Getting to the city from SVO 

Garda: my new favorite restaurant in Moscow 

Night one in Moscow 

Mansillion Hotel Moscow 

Exploring around Moscow, Red Square, St Peter's Basilica, and more 

Night out in Moscow (day 2) 

Hoter Arkavel Review 

Russian hospitality: amazing 

How good is Russian Vodka?

Saint Petersburg 

Review: Rossiya Sukhoi Moscow-STP (Done)

Review: Radisson Blu Sonya 

The beauty of the architecture in STP

Eating at a local KFC (Rostics) 

Enjoying a day out in STP

Visiting the railway museum in STP 

Using Yandex in Russia 

Local bar hopping in STP 

Review: Grand Express Train Business Class STP-Moscow 

Moscow 2

Spending another day in Moscow 

Morning walk to the floating bridge 

A 6 am pint with a woman from Spain… 

Kazan 

Review: Aeroflot A321 Economy Moscow to Kazan 

Review of the airport hotel in Kazan featuring a Yak-42D

Spending a day exploring Kazan 

Delicious pizza in Kazan 

We have some solid cabin pics of Aeroflot!

Krasnojarsk 

Why I went to Siberia (to review the A350 in Business)

Review: Aeroflot A320 Economy Kazan-Moscow 

Review: Aeroflot A321 Economy Moscow-Krasnojarsk

Spending a night out in Krasnojarsk (wild, undercover operatives) 

Visiting a local Burger King in Russia 

Review: Ibis Hotel Krasnojarsk 

Review: Airport Lounge Krasnojarsk

Review: Aeroflot A350 Business Class Krasnojarsk-Moscow 

The Way Back (Moscow 3)

Review: Arbat House Moscow 

Review: Grand de Paris 

Last day in Moscow: exploring Patriarchs Pond and more 

Final night out in Moscow 

Review: Hotel de Paris Moscow 

Review: Airport Lounge Moscow 

Review: Eithad 787-9 Business Class Moscow-Abu Dhabi

Review: Etihad Business Class Lounge Abu Dhabi 

Review: Eithad 777-300ER Business Class Abu Dhabi-Bangkok 

A day in Bangkok (buying a suitcase) 

Review: Cathay Pacific Lounge BKK

Review: Cathay Pacific A321Neo Bangkok-Hong Kong

Review: Airport Hotel Hong Kong 

Review: Chase Sapphire Lounge Hong Kong 

Review: United Polaris 787-9 Hong Kong-Los Angeles 

Review: United Polaris Lounge LAX (Done)

Spending a day in Los Angeles 

Review: United 737 Economy LAX-DEN

Review: United 737 Max 9 Domestic First DEN-EWR

All of that was done in 18 days, but I have the most amazing pictures to share!

Recognize this beauty? The Kremlin!

There’s A Catch

While I am especially excited to review this remarkable trip to Russia, there is something coming up after that which is going to make this even more special. About 8 months ago, I had the privilege to visit Ukraine and spend some time in Kyiv. While I won’t go into the war specifically (as I am not a journalist), I will be sharing my day-to-day interaction with everyone in Russia and Ukraine. Let’s just say, it’s quite striking. I wish I could share more surrounding certain parts, but I would realistically like to go back and visit both places…

Final Thoughts 

This is going to be, frankly, one of the best series I have published on this blog. From having empty cabin shots of almost every single flight, to over 3000 pictures taken in Russia, I am unbelievably excited to share. It was a once-in-a-lifetime trip, and one that I will cherish for eternity. Stay tuned, with the Flagship Lounge Review coming up soon at LAX