"Moscow" Moscow by highlandlaura

In the pic we have our little pillows; another tourist gave them to us so we could sleep on the bus that day, but we could not pass up the tours. We had not slept for 72 hours; the first night on the train from Kiev to Moscow, and the second night we were up all night killing cockroaches in our bed and walls in the Rossia Hotel. Since then, there was an attempt to fumigate the place by throwing a plastic tarp over the whole structure and releasing some kind of pesticide. Oh! There were mice, too, and the management would send up a cat (really!) to stay in your room while you were out for the day. That was their way to rid your room of mice!!

We checked in with our tour group of 40 persons in early evening, all went to our rooms. Then down to the basement dining room for dinner. After 17 hours on an overnight train from Kiev, we were exhausted. My room mate and I opted to skip the evening floor show of music and dance and returned to our room to try to get some rest. We'd been forewarned by friends about the cockroaches at the Rossia. We each turned in to our own twin bed, respectively. We decided to leave the light on in case that would deter the roaches from coming out! As I was trying to get to sleep, I happened to open my eyes, lying on my side, and there, right in front of my face on my pillow was a large cockroach! I gasped and jumped up. My room mate said, "Oh, NO!"... Well, I lifted the shallow mattress and underneath in the wooden bed frame there were many roaches, nesting, different ages, small and large. No way was I getting back into that bed. So, I sat in the chair. My room mate offered to let me get into her twin bed with her! I was against the wall. As we lay there laughing, a roach ran across the wall next to my face! We jumped up and, true to my suspicions, I was in denial, as we lifted HER mattress, there was another nest! So we sat up in the 2 chairs all night. I did not sleep, I was a patrol, watching for roaches on the walls and floors. I held a shoe in my hand all night to go after them and smash them! I killed about 50 during the night. We didn't know how to find our other tour members or the tour captains, since we'd checked in in a hurry, we didn't know where they all were and didn't want to bother the management for some reason. Next day, we complained big time and threatened to leave the country! Risky, that would have been with the mob and crime in the streets. We were given our choice of another room after touring 3 of them. Only saw one baby roach in the bathroom in that room. Finally got some sleep the last night before Zurich.

After 8 days on a boat on the Dniper River in Kiev, we were bussed to the station to board the train for Moscow. It was night, after dark, and the huge engine, noises, bustle reminded us visions of Anna Karenina. Some of the crew and janitorial staff from the small ship were to carry our luggage to the train. We wound our way in the dark inside the station, almost totally dark in some places, through a labyrinth of narrow passages and stairways till we finally came out onto the platform. Earlier that day, we'd made a gift of some $200 to our personal private tour guide, Igor, who'd traveled with us for the week. He was an 18-year old student whom we all came to love. Both parents were doctors. We gave him an envelope with the money in it. Apparently, the other crew found out and demanded money, as well. They threatened they would not carry our luggage. There was a bit of a tussle and shouting at the end of the stairs as we came to the platform. Our captains told them, "we'll carry our OWN luggage". They did not understand what a "tip" was. True, they thought of us as wealthy Americans. The next 17 hours on that train, overnight journey, was scarey. We were warned about unscupulous characters breaking into your rooms and robberies. So we rigged our travel clothesline to tie the door so it could not be opened easliy from the outside. Yes, there WERE unsavory characters walking the halls sometimes thru the night. My room mate did sleep because she was ill and sleep was easier. I did not sleep. Also we were afraid to leave our room for the bathroom. Next night, at the Rossia, she slept a little, I did not. But, the next day, after 2 nights of no sleep, we still went on the tour with the group, we did not want to miss any of Moscow. I learned that I can function on little or no sleep if I want to!

• Pros:Exciting history here, the people are interesting.
• Cons:Some hotels are far from clean, but ignore that and enjoy the culture!