2003 Moscow Reports

[Doctor_Skank]

Arbat,

Looks like we had similar experiences at Cabana...the mamachka there also offered to pay me... so I guess both our little ego boosts will have to take a raincheck... and I was sure she loved me for my personality!

Her name is Raila or something similar, I posted her mobile number a long time ago and also posted a clothed picture of one of her girls in the photo gallery section.

I have scored at Cabana on a couple of occassions in the last few years and was usually satisfied. In particular the girls from the Asian mamachka were top quality and in the 18-20 age range.

Did you try any of the girls? How'd it go?

The club itself ain't bad (hip hop and black music) and Ca_T is right on in saying Tuesday is the day to go, it is ladies night with some sort of male strip show which can pack in the dyevs on an otherwise slow night.

Here is my quicklist of expat-appreciative places to go if you don't know where else to go and want to be sure something is happening:

Sunday: CF is usually good

Monday: nowhere...never found a disco or club with any real Monday action...does Moscow have a day off after all?

Tuesday: Cabana and its strip show

Wednesday: CF is packed on Wednesdays

Thursday: Propaganda...if you don't mind waiting to get in and aren't claustrophobic

Friday: Karma Bar or anywhere else

Saturday: anywhere and everywhere will be uncomfortably packed

Anybody been to the disco "Slava"? Normal chicks despise it but hos seem to love it... I always ask the girls which clubs they like and the working kind often mention this place and Hippopotam.

It is not Elitny and might be worth a look-see, especially on a freebie-hunt.

[Cymru T]

Hi guys,

First post from me. I'm heading out to Moscow this weekend. I've been rapt by all your reports. Sterling stuff!

I will be staying at The Rossiya Hotel and wondered if anyone can give me some info on the girls at the hotel. What are they like? (Rating?) How much do they charge? etc

I'll be heading to Doug & Marty's (CF) and wanted to know what are the chances of me being able to take someone back to the hotel. I've read on here that the hotel security is difficult to say the least.

Here's hoping for a highly enjoyable weekend!

[CA Traveler]

doc... good advice. Sexton is a huge club with two big dance areas in different buildings which open on busy nights. They play the Euro techno beat rather than the music you hear at CF/Karma/etc.

I would definitely agree that you should go with friends to all of the more obscure locations. Of course, that doesn't guarantee that you won't get slammed if you hit on the wrong dyvushka.

I've only been to Cabana only once and it was too early to get much of an idea of it's potential. I've heard that it's the place to be on a Tuesday.

arbat... interesting. Have you thought about placing an order for a specific type of girl, i.e. tall, blonde, 19, etc.?

[Arbat]

About hos at Cabana:

There is always a asian woman (40-50 years old) who stops me and try to sell some of her girls. When I refuse, she ask me to buy her. When I refuse again, she offers me money to sleep with her. She did this already 3 times and it's now become almost a sketch. Moreover she claims now to be my friend, gave me her "private" telephone and said to call her anytime. But I think she does this with every potential fool. Has any of you regulars had the same/similar experience?

[Doctor_Skank]

JB2000:

Resize to 640 x 480 and make sure the pic isn't larger than 400kb and it should work. Am curious to see if it is her... please try to post it!

Ca_T:

Wow, you've done very well at CF!

Bells is a "normal" disco, but like many other "normal" discos such as Cabana or Papa John's there are usually a few hos working. Generally they will be in groups and have a mamachka watching over things. It isn't a great place, but a nice change of pace if you get into a CF rut. Cabana is kind of my secret place to go as an alternative to CF. Prices run higher, but are negotiable to CF levels if you are willing to settle for a couple of hours vs. all night.

Haven't heard of Sexton. The "out of town" discos seem to have great potential to score freebies at, but I recommend anyone trying that to go with a friend. I've been to a few, but almost always with a GF. There was always plenty of eye contact with other girls though and they are still impressed to meet Westerners. I suggest a little caution though, as the local matadors can be protective of their local clam. I have almost never encountered too much flak of this kind, but as everywhere the loal boys keep an eye on strangers. In larger discos this is no problem as everyone is a stranger, but I have found that in the local smaller places there is a local crowd where everybody knows everybody.

Actually, we really ought to organize a WSG disco trolling adventure!

As for dancing, you are right on, it definitely ups your appeal to the dyevs.

[Jimbehr2000]

Doc Skank, I believe we're talking about the same girl. I know I had two Uzbekistan Asian girls so I get them mixed up. I have a pic of one of them but I can't seem to get it posted here. I use the Paint program and when I resize to 640X640 pixels the girl in the pic disappears from view. I am curious if that is Marina but we'll never know unless I figure out how to use the Paint program.

This girl was not into DFK and I enjoy that as much as you. However her personality and enthusiam keeps her on my A list.

[Balabon38]

OGMAN

if you are staying at the Hotel you do not need to go and register at OVIR (Section for Visas and Permition of Militia). If you are in the private apartment - yes you have to. And it is terrible experience. Try to avoid it by all means-long lines, waiting, bribes...

[CA Traveler]

many people have asked questions about the rules for declaring currency going in and out of russia.

here's an article from today's moscow times that summarizes everything pretty well.

customs can't touch your $10,000

by ben hooson
special to the moscow times

this year russians and foreigners can go abroad with more foreign currency cash than fits comfortably in the average wallet, and no risk of confirep001ion at customs. new rules, which are the most liberal in soviet and post-soviet history, have been applied at customs checkpoints since march, when an amendment to the law on currency regulation and control came into force.

cash sums of up to $10,000 can now be carried out of russia by writing the sum into a simple declaration, which is handed to customs at the airport or border crossing. sums of up to $3,000 do not even have to be declared. sergei amelchenko, deputy head of the press office at the state customs committee, said that declaration of sums from $3,000 to $10,000 is purely for statistical records, and forgetful travelers who are caught with no customs declaration could expect indulgence.

"if someone is found to be carrying up to $10,000 without a declaration, he can simply agree with the customs officer what the sum is and fill out a declaration accordingly," amelchenko said.

however, margarita petrova, a lawyer with the moscow legal firm vash peverenny pointed out that the law permits a fine of 50 percent to 200 percent of the value of whatever should have been declared and/or its confirep001ion. applied to cash, that is a maximum loss of $30,000, which could be avoided by spending 30 seconds filling out a customs form.

people who regularly come and go from russia should also know the rules for carrying rubles across the border. a 1996 central bank letter with legal status sets a limit for cash ruble export by individuals at 500 times the average minimum monthly wage, which is currently calculated as 100 rubles.

the new rules for travelers with hard currency cash ended a particularly dark period for foreigners. from 1999 to 2003, nonresidents could not take out any foreign currency cash unless they had a stamped declaration to prove they brought it in themselves or a form to prove that it was transferred from abroad and paid out to them at a russian bank.

"i used to go out with zero money, and i couldn't even make a phone call till i got to an atm abroad, so it was part of my planning when i got to amsterdam or new york either to find a machine at the airport or find a cab driver who would trust me for the ride to town," said gerald gaige, real estate partner at ernst & young in moscow.

atms made the old cash-carrying rules absurd as a means of currency control, since money held on hard currency bank accounts in russia could be freely withdrawn abroad using a plastic card without even breaking russian law.

"legislation on the issue and use of bank cards sets no limits on cash sums that can be withdrawn using such cards," petrova said.

nevertheless, customs officers were serious about enforcement. gaige, who has been based in russia for 10 years, said that he was asked to show the content of his wallet and pockets at customs on three occasions in that time, leaving the country about eight times a year.

the previous system was also discriminatory, since russians were allowed to take out $500 and then later $1,500 without any documentation to justify ownership of the sum. that inequality is now a thing of the past.

"residents and nonresident individuals now have absolutely equal rights as regards import and export of foreign currency cash," scc's amelchenko said.

travelers who need to carry more than $10,000 in cash should beware: the only acceptable justification is a stamped customs declaration showing that the money was previously carried into russia in cash. however, the stamped declaration is only needed to account for any sum in excess of the $10,000 threshold.

according to the deputy chairman of the state duma budget committee mikhail zadornov, interviewed by ekho moskvy in october, central bank statistics show that sums under $3,000 represent about 80 percent of all cash currency being carried out of russia.

the old system encouraged travelers to tempt fate by sneaking a few hundred extra dollars past customs. a law school graduate, who asked not to be named, was stopped at sheremetyevo customs last year with a friend who was carrying $2,500 and lacked necessary documentation. (the limit then was $1,500.)

"we offered 10 percent of the total sum to the officer and nothing more said, but he wanted a third, which was greedy, so we refused and they confirep001ed the whole lot, saying that we had to pay a 100 percent fine for the excess," she said.

the graduate badgered sheremetyevo customs until they provided paperwork to justify the confirep001ion, and then used her legal training to find fault with the papers in court, eventually getting the whole $2,500 back.

"they tangled with the wrong girl," she said.

[CA Traveler]

doc... I've never been to Bells. Lots of working girls there? Is it similar to CF????

Have you ever been to Sexton? It's way out of town and I went with three girls that work at one of the TV stations, but the night we were there it was dead because it was way too early. Looked like it had potential though.

Just an aside... I think that if you are a reasonably decent dancer, I think you can get laid at almost any bar/disco with dancing. I'm constantly amazed by what happens when a Western male starts dancing alone, I've dubbed it as trolling. At CF, I find that, even at my advancing age, on Mondays/Wednesdays/Thursdays I will typically draw 4 or 5 new girls to the dance floor AND grouped around me by just getting out there and shaking up a little. From that point, it's up to you, but I think it can be a real opportunity. I don't know if it works the same at some of the other dance places, but I've gotten laid several times from regular girls at CF just by dancing a little.

[Doctor_Skank]

Fahk you!

No Fahkie 3 has not been a guarantee for success. Actually, when I have the feeling I am definitely gonna score in some fahkie 3 joint, I rarely do. My last "sure thing" left me out past the last metro station on the blue line at 4 am on a lonely street hitching a ride back into town. Very lucky to not have become a statistic I suppose. My success rate in the fahkie 1s and 2s is better. It is always better to have a wingman with you, alone you look as desparately horny as you actually are.

Where I have had the most luck for so-called freebies:

1) work contacts (careful careful)
2) the street
3) expat bars and discos like Karma Bar and Chesterfields
4) the internet
5) prostitute discos like Bells and Cabana
6) employees of cafes, hotels etc.

IMHO if you can get her into a one on one conversation that lasts longer than 10 minutes you will likely score within 2 dates. Often it'll take longer to get rid of them than it did to get them in the first place.

What about you guys? Any recommended angles, besides Pyramid and Karma?

[Hedonist]

I think the fahkie factors reflect the reality only to a certain degree. I guess these clubs are paying Exile to get those high factors. I'm sure there is some sort of an arrangement. Clubs such as Voodoo and Dirty Dancing have three factors for instance, nevertheless in my experience it was much easier to score at Karma which is has only two and strange enough I had never success at Voodoo. So I agree with CA Traveler.

[CA Traveler]

doc... YOU DIDN'T SCORE AT A FAHKIE 3????? Turn in your stripes immediately! Seriously, I think if you score at a F1, it's an F3 in your mind, so I take the fahkie factor with a grain of salt! I have friends that will score every time that they walk into the Pyramid and I've never had the pleasure... likewise at NF, until this past bad experience, I have chosen not to partake... Of course, NF is an F5 if there ever was one and I don't think that Pyramid is even ranked. The moral of the story... you make your own Fahkie Factor where ever you go!

ogman/jb2K... I would agree with you in most countries that a copy of your passport and visa will be adequate. HOWEVER, I must humbly disagree if you are in Moscow/Russia. Most of the time, you will probably be OK with a copy, especially if it is notarized in Russian as an authentic copy, but if you don't speak Russian and you happen to get a jerk like I did on my last trip, I suspect that you are in for a negotiation session with a significant ruble exchange to get out of the situation. I may be wrong, but personally I will not take the chance.

Of course, I would never recommend that you carry your wallet or passport in your back pocket. You must take special steps to ensure it's safety.

[Doctor_Skank]

Thanks RogerM for the map site link!

Does anybody know of a good Palm-based map program for Moscow and/or St.Pete?

What about a Palm translation program?

I've tried some shareware and freeware stuff, but it is pretty lousy.

[Doctor_Skank]

Ca_T,

Sorry to hear about Lena, but you really never know if the girl is going to go cold. I think there are a number of factors that determine whether or not a girl will perform well or not, but it is difficult to tell. Everybody gets a dud now and then. In my experience sometimes it was her fault and sometimes it was mine.
In your case it sounds like she just neede to make another car payment and was punching the timecard. I really hate it when that happens, but I guess it is part of the game.

Your advice about the Exile is right on. It was actually my first introduction to Moscow club culture, luckily I discovered it by accident before my first trip there a few years back. The club guide is a MUST for anyone looking to get around town a bit and try out a few places. I don't always agree on their "fahkie factor" rating though... poor me couldn't score at the fahkie factor 3 Real McCoy!

Thanks for the pics, I'll return the favor as soon as I can.

JB2000:

Marina the Uzbeki looks very Asian, but with a killer "Russian" body. I am kind of into central Asian girls lately, although they seem quite shy and a bit moody. Marina usually stands at the bar, wears tight jeans and wears a top allowing her uppity tits to pop out a bit. Very friendly and nice with good service in my opinion, but doesn't do any passionate DFK. I really "need" kissing to get in the mood, so Marina is on my b-list. Nonetheless, I really enjoyed the evening with her, she is sweet and speaks decent English. If you go to CF, you will most likely see her.

Was this the girl you had? How was your experience with her?

[Jimbehr2000]

Dr. Skank: A question about the Uzbeki Marina you referred to in an earlier post. Does she look Asian? If so I believe I have had the pleasure of her company.

Regarding travel tips: I also highly recommend taking a copy of the passport/Russsian visa page wherever I go. I also like the free yahoo accounts. They allow me to upload a copy of the passport/visa to be kept online. I also keep traveler's check numbers and phone numbers of where to go to replace my Master Card if lost on a trip.