Vacationing in a Communist country

[jsteele]

Anonymous wrote:
16:37 here again -- Noooo, I'm not a fed with TS clearance. Guess you must be! Congratulations on that!

And yes, it is easier to interact with average Russians now than it was in the 80s.
And given that it was typical of some people who were able to interact with foreign tourists to report it to the authorities back then, my guess is that nowadays there are a lot fewer informants out and about.

But then I'm not a fed with TS clearance so I could be wrong.

My guess is that TS clearance complicates things for the Americans, not the Russians. The irony is that while the Russian government may be paying less attention, the American government is paying more.

[Anonymous]

jsteele wrote:

Anonymous wrote:
16:37 here again -- Noooo, I'm not a fed with TS clearance. Guess you must be! Congratulations on that!

And yes, it is easier to interact with average Russians now than it was in the 80s.
And given that it was typical of some people who were able to interact with foreign tourists to report it to the authorities back then, my guess is that nowadays there are a lot fewer informants out and about.

But then I'm not a fed with TS clearance so I could be wrong.

My guess is that TS clearance complicates things for the Americans, not the Russians. The irony is that while the Russian government may be paying less attention, the American government is paying more.

This is true! We love to spend money tracking Russians. Mostly on the ones that are here.

[Anonymous]

I have to say that I have had some very interesting experiences in Russia, more than any other country. This is an aside and has nothing to do with the original post. So, apropos of nothing, I've traveled to Russia for work and for vacation, while it was the USSR and very recently. One instance that I thought was extremely interesting was when I was recently in Moscow for work (fed gov) and traveling an Armenian coworker whose family lived in Russia. We headed over to her sister's apartment for dinner; lots of her relatives joined us there to see her. The apartment sizes in Moscow are controlled by how large your family is. If you have one child, you get a two room apartment (not a two bedroom, just two rooms plus kitchen). I guess it makes sense b/c of the space issue in the city itself. Anyhoo, during the dinner, my coworkers' family (many of whom spoke pretty decent English) accused us of being spies and spying on them and spying on the Russian people. We aren't spies. We may be Feds but work for a very non-spy agency. No matter what we said, we could not convince them that (a) we weren't spies; and (b) not every single American visiting Russia is a spy. They were insistent that the U.S. was constantly out to get them. I was a little disheartened. While there probably is more truth to what they were saying that I know, it probably isn't as bad as they think it is. There are a large number of legit American tourists and business people in Russia. It struck me as government propaganda. Don't look at the man behind the curtain type stuff.

[Anonymous]

I actually have a TS clearance and all you have to do is report your trip to your security officer. No biggie unless you're trip is suspicious (like going for one day, no bags, etc...but then TSA would probably stop you for being suspicious anyway).

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She just sounds ignorant and yes, probably not the best candidate for travel outside of the major US tourist destinations.


And I doubt the government is paying as much attention to foreign tourists as it used to -- and I'm sure you can more easily interact with average Russians.

Guess none of you are feds with TS clearance.

OP here:
I didn't mean to create a firestorm. I wrote the word "communist" in my title simply b/c I tend to associate communist countries for being a little shady and unfriendly - bribes to officials, taxi drivers, handing over your passport, paying X amount of $ for a visa, etc. Maybe I'm watching too may Hollywood movies. I don't know anyone that's ever visited abroad (except friendly EU nations) so I thought I would ask here...good thing it's anonymous. Thanks for the ones with helpful replies.

[Anonymous]

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:

She just sounds ignorant and yes, probably not the best candidate for travel outside of the major US tourist destinations.


And I doubt the government is paying as much attention to foreign tourists as it used to -- and I'm sure you can more easily interact with average Russians.

Guess none of you are feds with TS clearance.

OP here:
I didn't mean to create a firestorm. I wrote the word "communist" in my title simply b/c I tend to associate communist countries for being a little shady and unfriendly - bribes to officials, taxi drivers, handing over your passport, paying X amount of $ for a visa, etc. Maybe I'm watching too may Hollywood movies. I don't know anyone that's ever visited abroad (except friendly EU nations) so I thought I would ask here...good thing it's anonymous. Thanks for the ones with helpful replies.

What exactly are you looking for in your trip? There are plenty of "former" communist countries that are fascinating to visit. Not sure what current communist countries are like. www.state.gov can give you some basic informaiton on what its liek to travel to many of the countries you are interested in.

[Anonymous]

I was in Vietnam in 2008. You did have to give over your passport to the hotel you were staying in. Just get used to it.
Vietnam is lovely, can't wait to go back. I didn't travel on public transportation so I don't know about bribes from police. I was
asked not to take a picture at a certain place (not sure what it was, looked like a building to me). People do not want to
talk politics but are very friendly.

[Anonymous]

I was also in VN in 2008 and did not have to give my passport over to anyone. My travels kept me primarily in Hanoi and regions further north.

[Anonymous]

You sometimes have to hand over your passport on trains in EU countries, too. ANd in the UAE. It's not really limited to communist or developing nations.

[Anonymous]

OP: LOL, yes, you are watching too many movies. The thing is, that the countries you mentioned have all changed so much, they are nothing like you think of anymore. My best friend traveled to China recently, and there are McDonald's and Starbucks everywhere, including in the Forbidden City. Well, China was always different apart from that.
I don't know of any country that would still give you that (movie?) experience that you seem to be looking for (and that you could travel to).
I remember traveling in communist countries during the cold war and it was so different! One of the striking things was how the cityscapes were different due to the complete lack of advertisements of any sort!
There used to be special designated hotels where all the westerners had to stay, and the phones were tapped in some places.

In regards to the things you mentioned:

The turning over of the passport to the hotel reception has nothing to do with communism but is an old school traveling relict, used to have to do that in France, Germany, Italy...

For vaccinations check: cdc.gov (that was never a problem really)

Paying for visas: Again, nothing to do with communist or ex-communist countries in particular. It's very individual. I think we US citizens have to pay for visas for Australia, so there you go...

Never ever try to bribe any officials in any country while traveling, that could end badly!!!

[Anonymous]

Maybe you should try North Korea or Cuba to find more of the "communist experience" you are looking for.

[Anonymous]

Completely brain washed. China is more capitalistic than many of the countries in the world now. Seeing is believing.Go there, been there, and you won't believe what the media says anymore.

[Anonymous]

Definitely Vietnam is an interesting place to go to. Culturally, Russians aren't the warmest people on the planet. China would also be pretty interested, though they can watch western foreigners like hawks.

Now, I've also been to Cuba, and that's interesting, but they try to keep the Americans and Cubans separated, but a very interesting cultural time there if you can get there (spending money there is illegal unless you're there legally for work or otherwise).

Anyway, I'd vote for Vietnam (which I loved) or China (where I haven't been, but where it's changing so fast that it's got the be an interesting place to go). The general Chiniese people are also pretty welcoming to Americans too.

[Anonymous]

China may have skyscrapers now, but it remains a communist country that limits personal freedom, including those of travelers. Last spring/summer, during swine flu, it quarantined many Americans, including children who were separated from their parents. Always check out state.gov travel warnings before you travel anywhere; it was advised at the time that persons traveled to China at their own risk because the embassy was NOT able to help anyone who was held in quarantine, including a NYer held in solitary confinement in a hospital for seven days.

For the poster who said she wouldn't believe what the media is writing about China, I have journalist friends who have been told by American press that they had to "tone it down" on China. Also, it's is a big country and not everyone there is living it up.

You could include North Korea too, as one poster mentioned, but I wouldn't recommend it for kids. North Korea just opened up travel to Americans year-round, whereas before it was limited to just the Mass Games period. The North Koreans are having a very difficult time now with food shortages, so it's a nice way to put some money into their pockets and share a glimpse of the outside world for some very isolated people. Go with: http://www.koryogroup.com/

OP, I think it's great that you're interested in travel and soliciting opinions. I just read on thedailygreen.com that "travel is a responsibility, not a luxury." I like that. Once you narrow in on a country you should read up on it as much as you can, including fiction. Lonely Planet ThornTree is also a good travel forum, with many intrepid travelers there to help out: http://www.lonelyplanet.com/thorntree/index.jspa Have fun!

[Anonymous]

...Also, forgot to mention that my friend was in Beijing right before the Olympics and left her passport in a taxi (don't EVER do this!). Anyhow, in the midst of kicking out all kinds of foreigners who had lived there for years, the authorities couldn't be bothered to help said friend. Actually told her to go to a radio station make a broadcast to taxi drivers offering a reward. After days of visiting police stations, US embassy, etc. she was told it would take 5-7 days to get a visa to leave (she'd already missed her flight days earlier). Anyhow, a special payment was set up for her if you will, and guess what her visa arrived the next day! So, there is a little bit of Hollywood left in some corners of the world...