Meeting in September

[phantom]

I will be meeting the lady in Kazan in Sept.  The first part of the month.  I have my visa application, looking at plane tickets.  We will begin discussing our plans for meeting this weekend.  I seen one flight, Delta, round trip totals $850, is that a good price?  I also will be able to only go for a week.  I'm hoping to be able to extend it, but right now, it's only a week.

What's allowed to take and not to take?  For my laptop, I have a wireless card, and my phone, for the phone, get one there or get a sim card there, which is better?

[MatryoshkaMan]

Thats a really good price! You must be flying somewhere from the east coast to moscow then connecting to kazan? So 2 flights? I am looking at about $1500 from Vancouver to Moscow or $1800 to Novosibirsk in September, depending upon which one I choose. So I would be all over that airfare like white on rice. For that price don't worry its only a week. You are saving enough time and money to be able to soon go back a 2nd time if you like the lady.

I believe you can just take your US cell phone as is and your lady can take you to a shop there and they will hack it/unlock it and give you a kazan sim card with kazan phone #. That's what I am going to do when I get there myself.

Your computere should work as is but be sure to take a plug adapter as they have different oulets over there. And plug adapters can be hard to find there.

[kryten41]

I think you are going to want a voltage adaptor too--you can fry your electronics if you just use a plug adaptor.

[Sculpto]

great price on the flight.

phone may or may not work over there.  make sure before you go.. I don't know what the tech language is for phones but the US system is not always compatible.  I just bought a cheap nokia on my first trip to Ukraine, in Ukraine, and bring that with me though its not very stylish, but I don't care because it works fine.. i still have a sim card for Ukraine should i ever go back and one for Russia.

[JR]

Prior to going make sure your phone will work there. I just bought a new Blackberry Storm Global Smart Phone specifically because it will. Won't do you any good to get there, buy a sim card only to find you can't access their network.

[Fogged]

Your phone will work if it is a GSM phone and you can use the local SIM cards if it's unlocked. To unlock it, you can Google unlock "model of your phone".

As for your battery charger, look on your existing charger and check if it says "Input:100 - 240V". If it does, all you need to buy is a plug adaptor.

[Simoni]

I think you are going to want a voltage adaptor too--you can fry your electronics if you just use a plug adaptor.

Nah, just about all electronics built today are world ready.  Just check the voltage on the computer; it should say (110-240).  If so, you just need a simple plug adaptor.

[phantom]

Thanks for the replies here.  I'll go ahead with the plane tickets, checked with at&t, they said the phone should work there, so, just get a sim card, adaptor.  So, get my visa, book the flight, and find out from the RW in Kazan, if she wants to find me an apartment, of just stay with her for the week.  As she has an apartment.  Never discussed it with her. 

[Simoni]

Your phone *will* work there but you will be charged international rates.  Better to unlock it before you go so you can just pick up a local simm card for it when you get there.  Or, just buy a cheap phone there.

[phantom]

Good call on that Simoni, it would be $2.50 a minute.  Think I'll unlock my phone and get the simm card.  Be staying with her, so no need to worry about hotel/apartment.  She's open for relations.  She said after I said, well, don't worry, I wouldn't try anything. 

I got my visa application, but probably best to have a travel agency handle that.  Is it?

[Simoni]

Good call on that Simoni, it would be $2.50 a minute.  Think I'll unlock my phone and get the simm card.  Be staying with her, so no need to worry about hotel/apartment.  She's open for relations.  She said after I said, well, don't worry, I wouldn't try anything. 

I got my visa application, but probably best to have a travel agency handle that.  Is it?

I believe in doing things the easy way, so I always used these people to get my visa processed for Russia:

   212-741-0033
        Travel Panarara
   156 fifth ave suite 1019
        Ny Ny 10010

They walk it over to the embassy and handle everything perfectly for you.  Yeah, a few extra bucks is involved, but well worth it, IMO.

[Daveman]

Your phone *will* work there but you will be charged international rates.  Better to unlock it before you go so you can just pick up a local simm card for it when you get there.  Or, just buy a cheap phone there.

Either option will work. I chose the latter. Got a good Nokia for less than $40, don't have to worry about it being lost or stolen, and picked up sim cards for both Ukraine and Russia (though for Russia, you will need to give them your passport and let them record information about you and your number at the point of sale).. 

I've used the same sim card in Ukraine for over three years now, but haven't returned to Russia as of yet. Does anyone know if these cards expire after a certain period?

[Simoni]

Either option will work. I chose the latter. Got a good Nokia for less than $40, don't have to worry about it being lost or stolen, and picked up sim cards for both Ukraine and Russia (though for Russia, you will need to give them your passport and let them record information about you and your number at the point of sale).. 

I've used the same sim card in Ukraine for over three years now, but haven't returned to Russia as of yet. Does anyone know if these cards expire after a certain period?

yeah, the number / card expires after 12 months of inactivity. Just add money and make one call once a year to keep it alive.  I have a kwel number so I keep it. Otherwise, just get a new SIMM card next visit.

[Hub]

yeah, the number / card expires after 12 months of inactivity. Just add money and make one call once a year to keep it alive.  I have a kwel number so I keep it. Otherwise, just get a new SIMM card next visit.

I have had a MTC sim chip for a number of years.  It would expire after 12 months of no money being added to it.

On my last trip I got a BeeLine sim chip.  It has no expiration date.  So BeeLine is the way to go now.

[phantom]

Thanks for the information on the Visa and sim cards, and for letting me know about the Beeline sim chip, that will be worth it.  Once I make my first trip, I'll be making a few more.

If things go well, I'll be returning for visits.  If not, more meetings.  Looking forward to the trip and excited.   

Hoping for the best.

[Fogged]

Unless Beeline have changed recently, the Beeline SIM I used after six months of inactivity could only receive calls but was unable to make calls until I added more money. It was totally frustrating especially knowing that I had money on the phone and could not make any calls. Finally bought another time card, added it, and it was fine thereafter.

I have now switched to Kievstar. Much better coverage and reception, especially in the metros, where Beeline seems to fade.

[phantom]

Thanks.  A lot of questions got answered here.  I'll get the beeline and keep it active.  The other thing I was thinking of, what is the weather there in September?  What clothes should I bring?

[myrddin]

For the second visit and beyond I don't bring clothes at all!!     


http://www.average-temperature.com/temps/638275950/Kazan'

(Be aware of Fahrenheit vs. Sell-see-us)

When it's closer, specific predictions can be found here http://www.weather.com/outlook/events/weddings/monthly/RSXX0043?from=36hr_topnav_wedding

[JR]

Thanks.  A lot of questions got answered here.  I'll get the beeline and keep it active.  The other thing I was thinking of, what is the weather there in September?  What clothes should I bring?

Ask her what the weather will be like

[Faux Pas]

Ask her what the weather will be like

I dunno man. I'm sure that can be helpful to some degree but, my first trip in the dead of winter it didn't help me at all. I really didn't know how 6-8 feet of snow and a Siberian winter would be. I was so wrong but not how you might think. My lady would only say I needed good boots, warm clothes and a new coat (she had seen my winter coat). So I bought some new boots rated to 60 degrees below, a new down coat, some fancy under armour longjohn underwear, extra warm socks and a number of some really nice thick flannel shirts.

The first day the temp was about 5 Fahrenheit for a high. I was burning up and sweating profusely. I found out pretty quickly, I did a case of over kill. It was really starting to bother me as I thought I would/was getting sick being in such a cold environment and sweating so much. From day 2 on, I dropped the longjohns went back to regular socks and shirts. I would have to take my coat off every time we entered a building or the profuse sweating would start. I did need the boots to walk in the snow but, again they were overkill. The down coat was overkill as well and spent the rest of my visit hardly ever zipping it up in the daytime.

I had never been in a place with that extreme cold but my body acted completely differently than I expected. I was never cold once. I was always hot. This scared me because I was sure that it wasn't natural and I must be getting sick, which I never did. After a few days I was fine, but again I never was cold. :noidea:

[phantom]

Faux pas,

That was pretty cold!  Myself, even in the dead of winter (here anyway), I wear a coat, but after awhile unzip it, and sometimes even crack the window in the truck.  I often go without gloves, even on the coldest of days, and my hands stay un-believably warm, people have touched my hands, and commented on it.

I will check the weather and ask her as well.  I'll be booking my flight soon and contacting visa agency.  The dates I have in mind are September 12-19 or 19-26.  I'll be discussing this with her and then deciding on what's best and when I can go, on what date.

[phantom]

Got my flight booked from September 19-26, now to get my visa and prepare more.

Now, what gifts are good to bring to the lady?

[Daveman]

Got my flight booked from September 19-26, now to get my visa and prepare more.

Now, what gifts are good to bring to the lady?

Surely you'll get a variety of suggestions... one thing I like to do is to bring a fresh cut flower from my mother's rose bushes.  Not easy to protect on the long flights, but it always put a huge smile on her face. 

Another thing I've done that went over very well was to bring a single gold coin, and when I gave it to her, I spoke about it representing the two halves which make the whole, different as the head differs from the tail, yet also equal as both are made from the same precious metal, and bound together always as one cannot exist without the other. 

Sappy maybe, but she at least did an excellent job of pretending she really loved it..

perfume is always a hit, especially if it's something new and fashionable (I know Nothing about perfume, so I always relied on the opinion of women friends to make suggestions)..

but the best gifts are the ones you really think about... go back over all your letters and phone conversations and find something buried in there that she really enjoyed talking about, and then find something nice based on that theme... any fool can buy something, but if you give her something that shows you remember something very specific about her, it'll impress her...

[phantom]

Thanks for the suggestions, Daveman.  I'll take a fresh cut flower, as she likes some of the flowers growing in my yard, and I was looking over her emails and got some other ideas to bring.

[phantom]

She'll be meeting me at the airport.  I just have  some  more questions.  What to expect at customs, and also, I want to travel light, it's only a week.  So, what's light in the FSU?  Also, what the length of time to get through customs?