I will officially be homeless in few days. So please don’t send me a snail mail, I don’t have a physical address for now. 🙂
I sublet my apartment, packed my stuff in 7 boxes, dropped them off at friends places and now I am ready to travel. After working long hours, I quit my job, took a term off from school and arranged for this little 12 week holiday. Perhaps it was a bad move in these days of recession, but who cares, time to worry about it will only be in 2009.
Like the title says, I am headed for Russia first (3.2 weeks).
I have a sketchy itinerary for now which covers – European Russia (Moscow, St. Petersburg, Golden Ring) and Caucasian Russia (Sochi, Black Sea). It’s a big country and I am spending very little time there. Which only means that I have to visit again!
And I learnt an important lesson from my Peru trip. Learning the local language is very very important, otherwise you are left in the middle of nowhere (not that it’s bad.) So I spent last two months learning Russian. So many new sounds!
I will, unfortunately, miss reading many lovely blogs and I will try to catch up later. While I am carrying my laptop, I do not foresee blogging from Russia.
After Russia, I’ll visit India (7 weeks) and Bhutan (2 weeks) before returning back home (Toronto) early next year.
Any advice and tips welcome. My email address is ‘mail-at-priyank-dot-com’, I’ll be happy to hear from you 🙂
cheers,
Priyank.
This is called planning. When had you think first time of doing this trip ?
All the best for your journey !
Have a safe trip!!
O.Ok. “Learning the local language is imp” and u learned anothr language, pl try not to forget to keep a sketchy record of wht u went thru while doing tht – do cme back and write abt tht experience, if pssble in my space. Whn u r actually there, n using it u wd knw how it is wth language – the sound, exprssns and grammr – in wht way each part cntributes to wht u want out of ur interactions. Hv a great trip, Puku. Hv u visited the IVC site in Guj bef?
I can give you an advice for Bhutan. When you apply for your travel permit make sure you mention every town you want to visit on it because if you get a permit issued for one or two places and the others are not mentioned you will have a tough time getting it in Thimphu. Be patient with Bhutanese bureaucracy and dress well, show respect. Very important. When the guide book says “Torn Jeans or shorts” are not an option they are RIGHT! They do check these permits very carefully and in the middle of the route at highways, if you do not have the permit for the area you are heading you will be sent right back. Indians do need permits by the way. Good luck for your trip and I do hope that we hear from you wherever you may be.
Wow
Russia in winter – unimaginable for us from tropics. May be you have got used to Canadian winters.
Have a great trip and take care of yourself.
When in Mumbai – do drop a line and hope to meet.
Cheers!!!:-)
I am envious!
You are living the life of my dreams. 🙁
Wishing you a safe and filled with pleasures trip.
awesome planning…i wonder how you do it..we still cant plan our madras trip from here this week 🙂
take care and hv a good holiday
Great… thats a life!!!
Ooo….I envy u loads fr travelling so much while I sit at home and schhooollll LOL!
have fun 😛
Hey, That sounds interesting. Have a lovely and safe trip. I am sure you will enjoy it in your own way 😀
Take care,
Bon voyage and keep in touch whenever you can.
I’d also be careful getting online at Internet cafes or from your laptop in Russia.
If I were you I’d download Hotspot Shield and Tor. I’ve written somethings about them and other ways to keep your laptop safe, just let me know if you are curious.
Hey Priyank… I finally am convinced that you weren’t kidding the other day 😉 Great planning buddy… I’m pretty sure u’ll have loads of fun in St. Petersburg n Moscow 🙂 Heard Lake Baikal is nice as well… Have a safe trip… You got any friends there?
Wow Russia, is there any place you haven’t been? Are you going to be anywhere near the Sikhote Alin mountain range,lol, if so don’t forget to look for meteorites,lol.
Have fun… see you in India. (That’s our home not Canada)
Can’t wait to read about what you have seen and experienced.
Now, if I only had the same guts to quit my day job and travel.
Cuckoo:
Ah, thanks. I started planning in June, right after I came back from Peru.
Kiran
Thanks!
Trisha:
Thanks, I will remember to post about this language learning experience 🙂
Odzer:
Thanks man, those were some useful tips! Bhutan will be so much fun, I am excited just by reading about that place!
Mavin:
Sure, I will contact you when I am in Mumbai.
I am going in Oct-Nov, winters are just starting and temperature will be around 0 C in St. Petersburg. That is not bad time to travel 🙂
Amit:
Thanks very much!
Lakshmi:
Isn’t is always true? Short trips are impossible to plan 😛 Plus when there is more than one person, it takes time naturally.
Swapneel:
haha, thanks!
Annie:
Thanks for the wishes. I do hope to enjoy Russia as much as I can!
Meghana:
LOL, I finished my part of school and exams. No wait, I am still enrolled at the university 😛
Thanks Anil,
I will be careful while accessing stuff from Russia 😀 For some reasons the spam industry is centered there, or so it seems! I read your blog and found the tips too. cheers
Bob:
LOL, no I am not going that far, I will leave that place for you 😛
Ashutosh:
Thanks! I sure wasn’t kidding. I do have few friends and some online acquaintances there. Baikal is too far, in Siberia, I am going to the Black Sea.
Mandar:
To you too! And Canada is my second home 😉
Gopal (WMWC):
I can’t wait to go!
Jenny:
Just do it, think about the consequences later 🙂
Happy traveling homeless man! 😉
I know how hard it is to keep in touch via blogging when traveling but I wish you all the best and hope to see you around.
Delighted to know about your exciting plans. Russia and Bhutan..wow!
I know I won’t reach Russia in the next few weeks but if I happen to be in India later on, will be in touch. Do email me your India phone number please.
Enjoy your travels and have a great time Priyank. 🙂
Allo,
Btw, I know this Russian phrase:
ti takaya prelesnaya
You might wish to learn it and try it out on someone apt there…lol
your blog is great but too sophisticated for me..)))
kindest
hans
Priyank, try not to be alone, out too far off from the city limits after dark, yeah? And do not drink tap water at hotels or anywhere, but what the heck, am treating u like a baby, I guess u hv acquired frequent travellers’ water habits anyway by now, Maamu says Russia isn’t as safe as it used to be anymore thts all. Luck and good weather.
And by the way the fight is ON in INDIA. You wd b surprised when u enter the country later ! 🙂
Lucky, lucky you. Have a wonderful vacation.
Bon voyage… 😀 Have a gala time..
Awesome! Bhutan and Russia… Eagerly looking forward to your next posts…
Russia huh. I guess you are really living the dreams and fantasies of many of us. Have a great time Priyank and hope all of us bombay bloggers can organise a meet in Bombay. Looking forward…
Cool! Whats the reasons for wanting to see Russia? Just wondering.
Good luck on the travels. looking forward to stories and photos.
Hey Priyank, you are amazing, just like that to travel all over the world. I would love to give you advice, but never been in Russia, may be I can teach you so russian, but only studied for 4 years, and never used once I came to Canada. Well good luck, and will definitely miss you! Anna 🙂
Hi Priyank! 12 week little holiday… I can’t breathe, so jealous I am… ;))
Hope you have a great time and take many pictures for us to see!!!
yo. get some russian condoms for me. ps.. not the ones you used … lolol
Hi,
I was reading ur blog posts and found some of them to be very good.. u write well.. Why don’t you popularize it more.. ur posts on ur blog ‘Final Transit’ took my particular attention as some of them are interesting topics of mine too;
BTW I help out some ex-IIMA guys who with another batch mate run http://www.rambhai.com where you can post links to your most loved blog-posts. Rambhai was the chaiwala at IIMA and it is a site where users can themselves share links to blog posts etc and other can find and vote on them. The best make it to the homepage!
This way you can reach out to rambhai readers some of whom could become your ardent fans.. who knows.. 🙂
Cheers,
Zhu:
Thanks for the wishes 🙂 I’ll visit you soon 🙂
Celine:
hahaha, useful phrase 😛 I used some other interesting phrases too! Lets hope we meet in Mumbai.
Hans:
Oh no, ofcourse not! 🙂
Trisha:
Thanks, for the tips anyway, it is good to be reminded about them. I am looking forward to get surprised!
Mridula:
Thanks! The first part is almost ending, and it was very good!
Shantanu:
🙂 I hope to meet your expectations!
Nita:
I am looking forward too!
Christy:
Hey, welcome to my website!
Ah the reasons were simple. I wanted to go to India and the cheapest flight from Toronto was through Moscow. So I decided to stop here longer!
Matt:
Thanks man, I’ll start blogging soon!
Anna:
Wow, you learnt Russian for 4 years! I spent barely 2 months and though it was sufficient, I wish I knew more. See you soon 🙂
Gill (Trotter):
Yes, I promise that. I have loads of stuff and its very different from your previous experience I bet!
Josh:
Hahaha, unusual request. But ah, well, okay 🙂
Ray:
Welcome to my website and thanks for the comment!
I’ll check the site you mention. Sure looks interesting! Thanks!
Infact if you come to Ahmdbd you can actually visit Rambhai’s kitli here…Radio Mirchi mein bhi he was featured.
Is it time for you to be in India now?
Trish:
Yes it is today! I have sent you an email.