Transportation communication and clothing!
Ok, so you made it into Russia, it is your first day and you are at your hotel or flat and are wondering how to get around!... Well don't panic, the public transport in Russia is efficient to my experience, I only rode the bus a couple of times while in Moscow and Nabereznhye Chelny, the rest of the time I took the Metro which is like being in a museum every time you step into a station in moscow or St. Petersburgh, and my favorite means of transportation was Yandex Taxi which is similar to Uber in the west, you can choose economy or luxury service and fares are reasonably cheap especially in smaller cities, you can download the app for both Android and Apple from their respective stores, register, select your method of payment and boom, you got wheels! I recommend inputing a credit card as method of payment as drivers feel more confident picking up people whose payment is thru credit card, it gets deducted the moment the driver picks you up so he feels secure that he will be paid, unfortunately there are dishonest people everywhere and a few drivers told me that sometimes people would just take off running or be too drunk to find money to pay so I completely understand and I also feet better paying with my card, thus I always get an invoice for every ride. In many cities they also have the tram or трамвай which costs 22 roubles which is like 25 cents of a euro.
Once you start to venture to other cities instead of getting on a plane I recommend you ride the trains, they are soo cool, I rode the transsiberian from Agryz to Ulan ude and hiked all around Lake Baikal, that was a childhood dream that finally became reality, anyway, the trains have different classes, if you want to ride like if you were sittin on your couch then go first class, but that will be just as expensive or maybe more than a plane ticket, I rode on platskart which is where you want to ride if you want babushkas or grandmas to feed you delicious home made food, I swear, I got fed so much food from Agryz to Ulan Ude that I think I gained 2 pounds by the time I arrived, you get to pretty much live with these cool people from the many different regions of Russia, depending on where you are going, your ride can be from a few hours to a few days, you will learn a lot about Russian culture and the Russian mentality, You can buy your tickets online thru TUTU travel trains Russia the site is multilingual and you can also pay safely with your credit card, once you book your ticket you receive an email confirmation with your boarding pass which you can print or just show the electronic form on your phone upon boarding along with your passport, you even get sms reminders about yout trip and all to make sure you dont miss your train, not all stations have signs in English so if you have questions just go to the information booth or find a younger person to ask as more than likely they will speak at least basic English, my level of Russian is fairly decent so I can navigate with ease, but don't get frustrated, just ask... Google translate does wonders and learning basic sentences and questions before you arrive is a wise idea.
You might want to get a local SIM card so that you have good internet service at a cheap rate, I pay 6 euros a month for my plan, I get 6 Gb of internet and unlimited minutes and SMS monthly. Just ask in your hotel or a friend to help you with that, I recommend the company Beeline, it works best for me and I am sure it will for you too. You can stick with the old roaming but rarely anyone does that anymore as it is very expensive, easier and simple to just get a local sim card. And super important if you are coming nearing winter time, make sure you bring the appropriate winter attire especially if you are the adventurer type and want to do a lot of ourdoor exploring, a scarf, beannie, a good jacket for sub zero temperatures, gloves, and a good pair of rugged terrain boots will keep you warm and on your feet, you can buy it here but good quality brand stuff is quite expensive so keep in in mind.
Sooo, grab your backpack and enjoy the ride!
