Quite possibly, Russia has the worst food in the world! It is a strange country. They seem somehow poorer than lots of third world nations because you can see they once had money and were a super power. Now everything is decidedly threadbare.

The lifts don’t work, people defacate in the hallways, grass grows in the cracks at all the major monuments and everything has a faded, past its’ use by date air.

That is what happens when the system breaks down, and when we live beyond our means.

Everybody drinks on the streets, all the time. Beer seems to be a soft drink and you wonder if everyone just a little tipsy to escape the reality of it all.

We stayed in homestays across the country and felt that we had a closer look inside the life of the ordinary Russian person. But it is such a huge country it would be hard to generalise and one month leaves you with the feeling there is a lot more to explore.

The world's largest bell. We also visited the world's second largest bell in Mingun, Myanmar.

Copyright Ariana Svenson, 2005 - Comments and enquiries, please email us.