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 | Saint Petersburg Scams Reviews | Tips 1 - 10 of 10 |  |
 | |  |  | Scams: Never get in one of those... | Tip Rating:    |  |  | |  |
Do not be complacent about your health when visiting Russia. Be prepared for an emergency. Have numbers of English-speaking medical clinics (no matter how good your Russian) with ambulances and carry them with you at all times. After two and a half years of living in St. Petersburg, never having called an ambulance in my life, I came home one day to find that my girlfriend had taken an overdose of sleeping pills. I called the emergency services (03) and the first time they hung up on me because I couldn't remember the name of the tablets and couldn't find what I'd done with the bottle. No matter how good your Russian is, don't even think about relying on this service. They don't care if someone lives or dies - if they have any trouble understanding even just one word, they might put the phone down and you'll have to start again. Or you might be told to call another number, but they won't wait to check that you heard it correctly. The 'ambulance' arrived. The 'paramedics' (two draft dodgers) came in. They asked where the patient was, then what her name was. They asked for a piece of paper to make notes on. They scribbled my girlfriend's name (surname and half of her first name) but not the name of the sleeping tablets. The next question they asked was who I was, what our relationship was, and whether she was 'dear' to me. At this point I was already fed up with questions and wanted to get on the road, but the next question floored me. It was a variant on the last, but this time more like 'how much is she worth to you' or 'how much are you willing to pay to make sure she gets to the hospital in time?' Leave a Comment
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| | | | Scams: It is, of course, already too... | Tip Rating: | | | | |
It is, of course, already too late. The very fact that you have picked up this book means that you are already in St Petersburg, already exposed, already in the field of danger. The next plane out does not leave for at least another few days. It's too late to turn back. They should have warned you. How are you feeling right now? Shaky on the feet? Disorientated? Appetite failing? And you didn't even drink anything last night? I thought so. Well, not to worry: your symptoms are at an early stage; things can only get worse. They really should have warned you. No doubt you read the newspaper stories painting this city as something worse than Chicago in the 30s: mafiosi, gang warfare, street shootings, an array of violence spiced up by that picturesquely Russian touch - the casual or unmotivated killing in a dimly-lit doorway, done for the chance of a few dollars or for no gain at all. Impressive news-material, and some of it is even true. But what the papers neglect to say is that this sort of fun is mostly for the locals; visitors are rarely affected. Go to New York or White Hart Lane on a Saturday afternoon and your chances of becoming the passive element in a piece of violent action will improve dramatically. The real dangers for the visitor to St Petersburg come from other directions. Did anyone tell you that this city is infectious? That it does things to the brain? That it acts degeneratively upon the muscles and loosens the mouth? That it breeds literature and other nonsense faster than London does rats? Was any mention made of the danger of drinking in St Petersburg? Was any microsyllable breathed about the greater danger involved in not drinking here? Did anyone dare inform you that St Petersburg is not really a city after all, but a state of mind? A diseased, unbalanced, potentially highly dangerous state of mind. Leave a Comment
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| | | | Scams: Well....interesting section! ... | Tip Rating: | | | | |
Well....interesting section! I don't want to sound paranoid, or sound like a wimp, but just let me stress.....in St. Petersburg be careful! It's much better there than in the years of 1992-1998, but it is still a dangerous place to visit. I could write a list that would fill up this site with things not to do, but I will list a few of the more obvious. First off, do not drink the water, unless you want to spend your entire trip in the bathroom. Do not keep your wallet and money in your back pocket, your just inviting trouble. Corrupt officials are everywhere, especially the traffic police, called the GAI. I had a bad exeperience going and leaving through customs, so make sure you read up on all of the regulations before going. The Mafia is everywhere, in every business, but it's just a way of life in Russia. Actually, the people the Russians are more concerned about are Banditos, or your everyday criminals. Don't go around flashing large amounts of money, or wearing expensive jewelry, or your just asking for trouble. Try and just blend in as much as possible. Leave a Comment
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