Russia
Earth > Europe > Eastern Europe > Russia
 Russia | |
|---|---|
| Information | |
| Language: | Russian |
| Capital: | Moscow |
| Population: | 145,274,019 |
| Currency: | Ruble (RUB) |
| Hitchability: | from  (average) to  (very good)
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| Meet fellow hitchhikers on Trustroots | |
Russia is the largest country on Earth. There is a large number of active hitchhikers, but compared to the total number of the population it's not that much. It is a great country to hitchhike. Some drivers expect money, but most of them not. Distances like 1000km/day are ok to hitch sticking to major roads (marked M on the map, i.e. M6). Do not expect them to necessary be autobanns! – sometimes even a major road is a narrow lane with a beaten-up pavement. There are real motorways, though, marked with a green sign of an autobann same as in Europe. Officially pedestrians are prohibited in such areas but in most cases you can get a lift even on a 8-lane M4 speedway near Moscow, with cars crossing 4 lines to pick you up. The road police might chase you away (and also check your ID in the meanwhile) but in most cases they just do not care. Count about 5 days from Moscow to Novosibirsk.
Safety
Some consider Russian roads are not among the safest on Earth; this might or might not be true.
Its common knowledge Russians like to drink vodka, but you will unlikely meet a drunken driver unless you go deep into some village area; driving drunk is heavily penalized in Russia so majority of people never wants to run the risk if there is at least a single police checkpoint on the road (on all the major roads, there are many). But, just in case you encounter a car with a drunken driver inside – wave him away and wait for a sober one.
If the area feels unsafe you might want to hitchhike from police post to police post. The police posts situated on all highways with intervals of about 100 km. These posts, commonly called Post DPS, are good places to hitchhike since cars will drive by slowly, and police is always close. You can also ask the police officers to help you get a ride which really might work. Be prepared to be asked for your ID or even run a cell-phone check (verification that your cell is not in the stolen cells database), though.
Also, there is a possibility to get a lift by talking to drivers on gas stations. You will not be misunderstood but since there are almost no highways and you can point your thumb anywhere, wasting time on a gas station waiting for cars is not preferred unless there is heavy raining, or the spot is bad etc. If there are two of you one can hitch on the road and the other one ask people on nearby gas station; that really might bring you a lift faster. But the “default” method of hitchhiking in Russia is still thumbing on the roadside ;)
Do not write places names on cardboards – nobody in this country cares to read them. Or, if you still want to use the paper, write a region number instead of the name (see below for a list of reg numbers).
Especially the southern provinces Dagestan, Chechnya (worldwide most victims), Ingushetia, North Ossetia and Kabardino-Balkaria have problems with land-mines.
Hitchhiking in Russian is “Autostop” (Автостоп). It literally means “stopping cars”, and is basically the only word 100% understood as Hitching (i.e. traveling by getting lifts for free).
Girls and solo-hitching
Many Russian girls do hitch alone, and still scary stories seldom hit the news lines. It does not at all mean that the country is free of perverts, and almost all of the solo-travelers (not necessarily girls) will tell you accounts of some sexual harassment they have encountered while hitching. 99% of such encounters end OK with nothing more serious then words but if you do not want to be asked for sex – or to hold a camera while somebody is masturbating – consider finding a travel buddy. Somehow, Russians are still very amused by foreigners, and many report that solo traveling even extremely long distances, like Central and Eastern Russia, for a foreign girl who speaks some Russian is absolutely safe since she is treated like someone ‘from the outside’ by virtually everyone. Keep in mind that being a foreigner you are somewhat protected from some issues that Russian hitchhikers face on the roads.
Police and formalities
Police in Russia just loves to check IDs and you can get a hell lot of troubles if your papers are not in order (being asked for a bribe is the least). You do have to have your passport with the visa and other papers you get while crossing the border handy. A good idea is to put them in some transparent waterproof bag – the immigration card is absolutely soviet style, and will not survive even the light raining.
Also, Russia still does not have a freedom of movement. That applies to both natives and foreigners; officially, you have to register in 3 days while staying in any city, village, etc. Practically, villages and towns can be neglected, but please do register once you arrive to a big city (especially Moscow), unless you are planning to stay for less then 3 days. Normally any hostel or hotel you stay in will do it for you; even if you are staying at some friend's you might ask their staff for help too. If you do not plan to stay for a long time just have some strong evidence that you have just arrived. Buy a hamburger and keep the receipt before leaving some nice town or city you pass by (make sure there is the place‘s name on it). The train or bus tickets are the best means to persuade cops you are not hanging around St.Petersburg for half a year already, so you might take a short ride on a local train from time to time to have a set of tickets marking your way.
Cities
- Cheboksary
- Moscow
- Novosibirsk
- Omsk
- Petrozavodsk
- St. Petersburg
- Yekaterinburg
- Voronezh
- Rostov-on-Don
- Irkutsk
- Ulan-Ude
Region Codes
These numbers might be helpful to define origin (or destination) of passing cars; and also to indicate your next point (write it on a cardboard instead of a place name and use while thumbing).
So-called Republics
01 Adygea (Республика Адыгея) 02 Bashkortostan (Республика Башкортостан) 03 Buryatia (Республика Бурятия) 04 Altay (Республика Алтай) 05 Dagestan (Республика Дагестан) 06 Ingushetia (Республика Ингушетия) 07 Kabardino-Balkaria (Кабардино-Балкарская Республика) 08 Kalmykia (Республика Калмыкия) 09 Karachaevo-Cherkessia (Карачаево-Черкесская Республика) 10 Karelia (Республика Карелия) 11 Komi (Республика Коми) 12 Marij El (Республика Марий Эл) 13 Mordovia (Республика Мордовия) 14 Saha/Yakutia (Республика Саха / Якутия) 15 Severnaya Osetia (Республика Северная Осетия) 16 Tatarstan (Республика Татарстан) 17 Tyva/Tuva (Республика Тыва/Тува) 18 Udmurtia (Удмуртская Республика) 19 Hakasia (Республика Хакасия) 20 Chechnia (Чеченская Республика) – this region number is being replaced by 95 21 Chuvashia (Чувашская Республика)
Territories
22 Altay (Алтайский край) 23 Krasnodar (Краснодарский край) – also 93 24 Krasnoyarskij Kraj (Красноярский край) 25 Primorje (Приморский край) 26 Stavropolje (Ставропольский край) 27 Khabarovskij Kraj (Хабаровский край)
Regions (usially means that the car is either from the central city or from any other place of the region). Below are the names of the central cities, to make it simplier.
28 Amur (Амурская область) 29 Arkhangelsk (Архангельская область) 30 Astrakhan (Астраханская область) 31 Belgorod (Белгородская область 32 Bryansk (Брянская область) 33 Vladimir (Владимирская область) 34 Volgograd (Волгоградская область) 35 Vologda (Вологодская область) 36 Voronezh (Воронежская область) 37 Ivanov (Ивановская область) 38 Irkutsk (Иркутская область) 39 Kaliningrad (Калининградская область) 40 Kaluga (Калужская область) 41 Kamchatka (Камчатская область) 42 Kemerov (Кемеровская область) 43 Kirov (Кировская область) 44 Kostroma (Костромская область) 45 Kurgan (Курганская область) 46 Kursk (Курская область) 47 St. Petersburg region (Ленинградская область) − the region is still officially called Lenigradskaya Oblast (Leningrad being the soviet era name of Saint Petersburg). The plate number does not include the city itself. 48 Lipetsk (Липецкая область) 49 Magadan (Магаданская область) 50 Moscow region (Московская область) − also 90 and 150; this plate number includes only vast Moscow suburbs, but not the city itself. 51 Murmansk (Мурманская область) 52 Niznij Novgorod (Нижегородская область) − also 152 53 Novgorod (Новгородская область) 54 Novosibirsk (Новосибирская область) 55 Omsk (Омская область) 56 Orenburg (Оренбургская область) 57 Orel (Орловская область) 58 Penza (Пензенская область) 59 Perm' (Пермская область) 60 Pskov (Псковская область) 61 Rostov-on-Don (Ростовская область) − also 161 62 Ryazan' (Рязанская область) 63 Samara region (Самарская область) − also 163 64 Saratov (Саратовская область) 65 Sakhalin (Сахалинская область) 66 Yekaterinburg region (Свердловская область) − also 96; the region officially bears a soviet era name Sverdlovskaya Oblast. 67 Smolensk (Смоленская область) 68 Tambov (Тамбовская область) 69 Tver' (Тверская область) 70 Tomsk (Томская область) 71 Tula (Тульская область) 72 T'umen' (Тюменская область) 73 Uljanovsk (Ульяновская область) 74 Cheljabinsk (Челябинская область) 75 Chita (Читинская область) 76 Yaroslavl' (Ярославская область) 77 Moscow (Москва) − also 97, 99, 177, 197; this plate number referrers to the city itself. 78 St. Petersburg (Санкт-Петербург) − also 98; this plate number referrers to the city itself.
So-called Autonomous Regions and Districts
79 Jewish AR (Yevreyskaya Avtonomnaya Oblast, Еврейская автономная область) 80 Agatinskij Buriatskij AD (Агинский Бурятский автономный округ) 81 Komi-Permjatskij AD (Коми-Пермяцкий автономный округ) 82 Koryakskij AD (Корякский автономный округ) 83 Nenetski AD (Ненецкий автономный округ) 84 Tajmyrskij AD (Таймырский автономный округ) 85 Ust'-Ordynskij Burjatskij AD (Усть-Ордынский Бурятский автономный округ) 86 Khanty-Mansijskij AD (Ханты-Мансийский автономный округ) 87 Chukotka AD (Чукотский автономный округ) 88 Evenkijskij AD (Эвенкийский автономный округ) 89 Yamalo-Nenetskij AD (Ямало-Ненецкий автономный округ)
Additional plate numbers
90 Moscow region excluding the city itself − also 50, 150 93 Krasnodar − also 23 94 Areas outside Russia controlled by some special forces 95 Chechnya republic − new plate numbers 96 Yekaterinburg region (Sverdlovskaya Oblast') − also 66 97 Moscow − also 77, 99 and 177 98 St. Petersburg − also 78 99 Moscow − also 77, 97, 177 and 197 150 Moscow region − also 50, 90 and 190 152 Niznij Novgorod − also 52 161 Rostov-on-Don − also 61 163 Samara region − also 63 177 Moscow − also 77, 97, 99 and 197 190 Moscow region − also 50, 90 and 150 197 Moscow − also 77, 97, 99 and 177
Border Crossing
Georgia
The border is now closed, and entering the country via territories in question might be extremely dangerous or even fatal (even if the territories themselves, like Abhasia, are safe). The advice is to go to Turkey or to Azerbaijan first and then to Georgia.
Azerbaijan
You will need a special premission to be allowed to cross the border. Don't try to cross the border illegal.
Latvia
It's no problem (at least for EU passport holders) to walk over the checkpoints in Latvia to Russia.
Ukraine
The country is Russia's eternal 'native brother' and, despite all the political mess that constantly happenes between the two states, Ukraine is one of the countries that is very easy to enter from Russia (Russians do not even need a foreign passport to enter it, as well as for Belarus). Make sure that the border crossing is working before attempting to use it. The big gate on the M2/E95 road (Moscow to Kharkiv) can be passed by foot, which is very convenient because you do not have to wait in the line of the cars and you wont make your driver wait for you in case you have any delayes with your passport. You will have to leave the car before all the checkpoints begin, though, or you will be considered a car passenger by the border police.
Getting around
Sleeping
Unfortunately, Russia is still lacking a hostels network. You can find several hostels in Moscow and in St. Perersburg, and they are gradually spreading over the country; but as for now, in almost any city nothing of the kind is available. To find both accomodation and company, you can use Hospitality Club, CouchSurfing and Russian+Ukranian+Belorussian Livejournal community Vpiska. The official language of the latter is Russian but you can use English as well (ask other members to translate your post to Russian in the end of your message if you like). Just post the name of the locations you are planning to stay in, or your route, the dates of your possible arrival, the number of your party, some information about you and your cell# and be waiting.
External links
- Story about hitchhiking from Rotterdam to Vladivostok
- Russian website about hitchhiking in Russia
- Russian Backpacker, Russian hitchhiker's forum, in Russian
- Academy of Free Travel, Moscow based hitchhiking club, in Russian
- Livejournal 'Vpiska' community, mostly in Russian but English speakers are also welcome
- ru_autostop and ua_autostop, Russian+Ukranian+Belarusian and 100% Ukranian Livejournal hitchhiking communities. Again, you can ask questions and get replies in English.
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