RUSSIA GROUP TRIP.

Following is going to be the most beautiful 24 hours of your recent months. We start with a visit to the husky farm. We will be playing with them & go for a short ride in a husky sledge. We have professional local guides who keep a close look on the upcoming nights for several weeks, this increases our chances to get much better views. Tonight, after an evening quick-nap, we will head out for the Northern Lights (Aurora Borealis) hunting.

It's the last point after which the Arctic Ocean starts, so basically the end of mainland as we know it. It takes about 8 hours to go and come back. Note that the weather in this region is too harsh and the possibility of this visit lies entirely on whether there is high wind / a storm or not. The day is extremely windy. Carry your best gears today.

Witnessing the aurora is a matter of luck and timing. Hence we keep 1 more buffer day to increase our possibility to see this. The local guides will decide which day out of our 4 nights in Murmansk we will head out for the Northern Lights hunt. Did you know? Aurora also has a sound. Aurora also happens on other planets. It is possible to predict geomagnetic activity and aurora a day or so in advance by detecting solar Coronal Mass Ejections (CME) near the sun.

People opting for the shorter leg of the trip land in St. Petersburg late in the evening, and OJ picks them up at the airport. The batch from Murmansk heads to the hotel after arriving at St. Petersburg airport. Let's start St. Petersburg with a walk in the Christmas streets. If you have read enough of my posts, you know how we give importance to simple things like going out for a night walk. We will also be seeing Saviour on Spilled Blood from outside.

We will take a walking tour of the town by 11 a.m. – 1 p.m. After lunch, let's head to the world's second-largest museum: home to over 3 million art pieces, which means you will stay there for nearly six years if you spend 1 minute by each piece of artwork, not to mention that you'd cover the distance of about 24 km (15 mi) walking from one exhibit to the other. Moreover, there are 117 staircases in the Hermitage & more than 18,800 doors. Yes, you will get lost, multiple times. But you will know where to find me Since it is a long day, we will relax sometime, watching a street performance as we wait for others to join us at the Palace Square. Find the orange jacket folks. From there, we walk through the Christmas streets to see Saviour on Spilled Blood from outside. Today we will do a cookout session with others if you are game.

Here is a place to learn how a Soviet submarine actually worked. You will see torpedoes, old communication instruments and even the living quarters of the submarine staff. Built at St. Petersburg's Baltic Factory and launched in 1954, the C-189 is a 613-class diesel-electric submarine that saw 35 years of service in the Soviet fleet. The guide will be one of the people who actually worked in one of these submarines. After lunch, we will head to the St. Isaac's Cathedral Colonnade. The colonnade of St. Isaac's Cathedral in St. Petersburg offers a spectacular panoramic view for watching the sunset, providing an aerial perspective of the city as the light changes. Visitors can climb the approximately 300 steps to the colonnade to see the city from above and experience stunning views, especially during twilight.

By evening we will head out to a nuclear bunker, 65 metres under the earth. It is so well hidden that even when you are standing in front of it, you won't realise the grand scale of it. We will reach back to Red Square at night, for it's a place to be as they light up the whole area.

We will head out from Moscow. Only carry a couple of pairs of clothes as we will only spend a night in Suzdal. We will be commuting by public transport to Suzdal from Vladimir, and back. Out of the entire Russia trip, you will remember Suzdal the most. Suzdal is so perfect, in fact, that I sensed a touch of design behind it, Soviet design, to be specific. It turns out that the Soviet Union decided to avoid building any modern buildings in Suzdal in order to preserve its tourist appeal, banning buildings over two stories high, except for cathedrals, of course. So today Suzdal has none of the tall apartment blocks that characterize other former Soviet towns and cities, but is instead filled with beautiful churches and wooden houses.

We will be back to the city by evening. Let's do a crazy banya bath: a banya typically includes a steam room with wooden benches, leafy branches that are used for massages, and buckets or pools of cold water. We will either do this today or post New Year's heavy drinking and techno party. We will take a call according to the group.

Since it's the day before New Year's Eve, let's start with a BANG :D. Post that we will be doing one of the most memorable activities of the trip: banya bath. Both of the activities need pre-booking, so please let us know when you book the trip. Men and women have separate buildings.

The vibe of Moscow for New Year is something else. The fireworks are vibrant and you will see 1000s of joyful folks out here counting down for the New Year night. After the countdown, we will head to a techno club that was built in 1991. This night will remain one of the most memorable New Year nights you will ever have.

Book any flight today after noon. Our Russia group trip ends here, we bid adieu to meet in some other country.