The Russian Federation (Prague, Czech Republic)

Passport Photos..........150 Czech Koruna ($8.75)

Metro Passes..............180 Czech Koruna ($10.50)

Tourist Invitation.........1600 Czech Koruna ($92.75)

Visa to Russia.............3360Czech Koruna ($194.75)

Entrance into Russia....NOT PRICELESS 5,290 Czech Koruna ($306.75)



This entire week or at least that's how it feels I have been hiking all the way to the Russian Embassy. Let me go back and just say a week prior to leaving the country I unfortunately found out that Russians are not to fond of visitors. This makes it incredibly difficult to enter the country. You must obtain a Russian visa before hand. All of this I was told a little late. With three available days a U.S. citizen can mail off there passport to a for-profit organization who will take care of all the details for the outrageous price of 300 dollars. Wow, I thought to myself. How about when I am in Prague I just pick one up at the Russian Embassy that would be easy. Wrong. And then you think about the whole situation in more detail, laying out the facts. The first of which is that Russia is brutally cold all the time. How about a high of 25, sounds about like Michigan. The second is that they have pretty much isolated themselves from the rest of the world, its appears to be in the middle of nowhere. The last is its cold and living in the south has dropped my cold tolerance making me weaker. Most of you are probably thinking like me why not just skip that country and check out Spain? Well that is really where the issue starts. I already have an airline ticket to Russia and one out of Russia. I decided during one of my many trips back and forth that forfeiting the money already invested simply was not an option.

Alright then, I am in Prague trying to get a Russian Visa, which was certainly a frustrating endeavor filled with inappropriate words. Let me lay out every step I took. The first in my mind was to visit the United States Embassy hoping that the kind Americans there could tell me if my idea was a realistic one. We actually did not meet a single American, funny right and a little scary. They did inform me that I should visit the Russian embassy which was our next step. This was on Tuesday. Everything was locked up. Over an intercom all one Russian could tell me was "tomorrow 9am", "tomorrow 9am". The following day Wednesday we realize we need a passport size photo which of course I did not have. After we spend an hour or two trying to find a place to have my picture taken we finally arrive back at the embassy at about 11:30. I enter the embassy and asked the friendly security officer about visas and he points me into line. After waiting in that line for about 15 minutes he finally hands me an application seeing that I am about to apply for a visa without the necessary forms. This is where it becomes frustrating. As I am siting at a desk the apparent "visa specialist" whom I would like to refer as an A****** tells me that the embassy is now closed. All I needed to do was sign the piece of paper. I pleaded to no avail. He sent me out of the building crying (not really but that sounded more dramatic) to come back tomorrow. You would think once you were in the building you would be good. This ended up not having much of an overall effect. On Thursday, we headed back arriving with plenty of time. The office is sadly only open from 9am to noon. On this day we walked up to the door with confidence only to find out that you need four items to even be considered. The application, a copy of your passport, a copy of your insurance which thankfully I have, and invitation from a for-profit company that says basically that they are inviting you to come visit. Which is ridiculous and I still don't fully understand. For my 90 dollars all I received was a piece of paper that I could not even read. Again the same person told me not so kindly that I needed this invitation. He was a real jerk. Not only that he rejected me but more because he did it with no compassion. I hope his lack of friendliness was because of our language barrier. I hope Russia is not filled with similar men. We walked up the street to find an agency conveniently located, who provided the invitation. Then for the fourth time my application was accepted after dropping more money. He asked "when would you like to pick the visa up" and I said "today" and he said "NO" and I said "why not today" and he said "against federation policy" and I said "tomorrow?" and he said "9 to 12" and I said "OK".

Four days, five trips, and a few extra miles walked. I do think now that the whole ordeal is pretty funny and has a pretty good parallel to the rest of my life. Anyways if you plan on visiting the frozen tundra far east please let me know so we can talk about the process. And I firmly believe the verdict is still out on Russia...maybe the experience will end up a priceless one?