Handy info to know when you travel in Russia

DRIVING IN RUSSIA

Russians drive on the right side of the road. Nevertheless, Russian vehicles can be both right hand drive and left hand drive vehicles. 

We read previously and have also been told by Russian we met in Vladivostok that Russian drivers are crazy. 

Our own encounter - Russian drive really fast and in cities like Ulan-Ude, drivers are less patient.  We usually drive around 60-80km/h and when we do this on the highway, we tend to go off onto the road shoulders whenever there are faster lorries or car.

TIME ZONES

Russia has the highest consecutive time zones - 11 in total.

Remember to adjust the time on your watch as you move along.

Source: Wikipedia

TICKS

Yes, ticks! and not your usual dog ticks...

We first heard of ticks from a local restaurant owner when we first arrived at Vladivostok. He spoke some English and was very keen to share with us some places that we should visit.

He warned us about the ticks and told us that if ever we caught one on us and had symptoms, we should go straight to the clinic / hospital. He also told us to be careful of ticks if we planned to go walking in the woods.

We did not think much of it... and guess what?
Just a couple of days later, I found one on me! and a few days after, dad found one on him!
Best thing is, we weren't even in the woods. We were just walking near low shrubs and vegetations along the road side.

Ticks are no joke, just google and see the kinds of disease they can carry, the worst being Lyme disease.
Here's the article on the Moscow Times on ticks.

Since then, we had on long pants with the pant leg always tucked securely into our socks. We made sure that our arms and head don't brush any twigs and leaves. Everyday, we checked ourselves for ticks.

Later, we found these handy tick sprays in one of the stores and got two bottles (the orange bottles in both the pics below). One was actually enough for us.. we just had to spray them on our shoes and clothes and it last for 15 minutes, enough time to take a photo or two and get out.

If you plan to hike in the woods, or set up camp, then google for better solutions.

Tick sprays can fill up several shelves much like the mosquito repellent we get at home. 

A signboard along R-256 near Kosh Agash.

RUSSIAN LANGUAGE 
Signages are mostly written entirely in Russian. It's good to know the Russian alphabets, you might not be able to understand the entire signboard but you can at least read the names of cities.

Check out my post on Russian numbers and phrases for the Russian Alphabet.