I went to Vladivostok and Khabarovsk (sp?) in Siberia in 1993....some of the things that really caught my eye were the fact that there was a burned-out airplane hull next to every runway, all the buildings appeared to be from 1955 or so and no one would accept wrinkled dollar bills, they only wanted crisp ones. Also, in one store they would not give me change for a purchase and gave me a couple of cans of the most awful beer I've ever had in my life instead.

While flying in from Alaska we stopped in Magadan, which was gulag central during the Stalin days, to re-fuel. I recall deciding that I didn't care about getting out of the plane to stretch my legs, but I changed my mind when I looked over and saw the guy re-fueling the jet smoking a cigarette.

A couple of years after I left I read that the City of Vladivostok had run out of money to collect people who died and there were dead people in the streets as a result. There was a great picture of an old lady looking at a dead homeless guy on the sidewalk.

I got some great Soviet military gear (clothing) and some cool commie propaganda (banners and such) for the jeans and t-shirts I brought over. The people were really nice but everyone was very cynical, a trait I have since come to identify in most Russians I've met. Probably has something to do with the long totallitarian history of the country and the brutal invasions by France and Germany in relatively recent times.

I don't remember seeing any MB's while I was there, just cheap-looking Soviet models that probably worked only slightly better than the military watches, which is to say barely at all.

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Ralph

1985 300D Turbo, CA model
248,650 miles and counting...