Russia is beautiful, magical and mysterious - from its architecture to its culture, the former Soviet Union is an enchanting place to visit.

      Many people speak English, yet it has not been Westenized like the rest of the world, or Americanized like Eastern Europe.

      Visiting Russia on a budget can be a real challenge. It's a lot more chaotic than I thought - like the U.S. in the 1930s - and I found that you need to plan way in advance to visit the country affordably.

      That means studying the websites and budget guidebooks so you can write and reserve your hotels three months ahead in order to get your visa in place. If you don't, you'll be forced to stay at high-priced tourist hotels, instead of the cheap hostels or private homestays.

      Once there, if you eat where the locals eat and the locals shop, prices are inexpensive. The food is excellent, much different in taste and presentation than we're used to. And unlike what you may have heard 10 years ago, I found no shortage of goods for sale - at least if you have dollars to spend.

      It was sad to me that people are so very educated and yet make so little money. Only foreigners and a small elite group of locals can afford to buy what they finally have on their shelves after all these years.

      I was also amazed at the lack of foreign investment in Russia - unlike China and other industrialized nations - which hurts Russian development and tourism. And in the big cities you get a feel that you are not always safe. Everywhere you seem to be going through metal detectors, especially in Moscow when you enter some of the 5-star hotels.

Russian Changes

      Russia has changed dramatically over the last ten years. In 1991 the USSR jettisoned communism, dissolved from a single country with 15 states into 15 different countries, and implemented its own form of a market economy.

      In August of 1998 an overnight financial crisis altered the ruble's exchange rate from 6 to the U.S. dollar, to 28 to the U.S. dollar. Most Russian citizens lost two thirds of their savings, and any hope of badly needed foreign investment was stalled.

      Despite partially founded rumors of a country near collapse with serious safety problems, my two-week trip to Moscow and St. Petersburg was filled with excitement, fun and challenge. I look forward to returning again in the near future, for continued exploration of the largest geographical country in the world, which spans 11 time zones and offers ripening opportunities for the travel adventurer, businessman and romanticist.

Magical Moscow

      Blessed with one of the world's most beautiful and inexpensive systems in the world (ten rides for 28 rubles, US$1), the Moscow Metro is the preferred method for navigating the city. Many of the stations are reminiscent of the halls of a European castle. Within a day or two, experienced travelers can conquer the complex metro maps and recognize station signs despite the 32-letter Cyrillic Russian alphabet. With trains arriving every minute, a missed connection will only delay a trip by minutes. This Russian engineering marvel covers 125 miles of track and carries over 8 million passengers each day - more than the daily payload of the New York and London subways combined. It's always crowded, but clean and reasonably safe.

      Passengers arriving at Tverskaya, the Fifth Avenue of Moscow with upscale shopping and dining establishments, may take a quick walk past the 5-star National and 3-star Intourist Hotels for a magical view of Red Square and the Kremlin - which means Fortress. The large Kremlin complex is protected by a tall Italian-design red brick wall, and houses government buildings, cathedrals and museums. The famous onion-shaped spires glint golden in the sunlight.

      The Kremlin should be toured with one of the English-speaking guides available at the entrance for a fee of US$5-$10. Highlights include the Armory Museum and the Diamond Fund, with diamonds, gold nuggets, and precious and semi-precious stones that are mind boggling.

      Red Square is similar to Beijing's Tiananmen Square in layout, and also home to St. Basil's Cathedral - Russia's best-known icon built by Ivan the Terrible. Nearby are museums, the Bolshoi Theater for opera and ballet, and just a short metro ride away are the Puskin Museum of Fine Arts and the Tretyakov Art Gallery.

      Evening entertainment can include the Moscow Circus, where for under US$2 visitors can marvel at the antics of bears and monkeys, and the miraculous performances of acrobats. Late-night snacks may include black and red caviar and vodka, which are inexpensive at non-tourist establishments.

Shopping in Moscow

      The GUM, a huge department store, is located right in Red Square, and nearby is the supermodern underground Manezh Shopping Center with American-style food courts and working ATM machines. Gorky Park is populated with street vendors and has a delightful old amusement park.

      The old Arbat section of the city and the Izmailovsky Park weekend flea market offer great shopping values, but be prepared to bargain as low as 10 to 20 percent of the vendor's asking price. Popular items include Russian hats in rabbit, mink, sable and synthetic material, various art pieces, and Matryoshka Dolls - multi-shelled wooden dolls with different hand-painted designs on each exterior. Also available are knockoff audio CD's, computer CD's, military night-vision systems and superspy telescopes, all at a small fraction of U.S. prices. But be warned that many of these items may not be brought into the United States legally.

      If time permits, check the local paper for events at the Expocenter. I attended a giant travel show, the MITT given twice yearly for travel agents, and picked up a lot of good ideas for travel in the Commonwealth of Independent States, Eastern Europe and the Baltics.

Foreigner Pricing

      Of the 45 countries I've visited, Russia is the only one that required me to prebook every night in advance at an approved hotel before they would issue an entry visa. And Russia is the first country where I found admission costs to tourist sites, to be much higher than for locals.

      My hotel in Moscow was the Cosmos, a relatively new 1,800-room hotel built for the 1980 Olympic Games, with a nightclub, bowling alley, meeting rooms, and CNN and sports TV channels in English. It's located eight metro stops, or ten minutes, from Red Square. The rate was US$120 a night for two. I was unhappy to learn that Russians staying at the hotel were paying one-third of that or less for the same services. At the Kremlin, St. Basil's and most museums, my entrance fee was from six- to 15-times higher than locals were charged.

      In my conversations with other U.S. visitors around town, I learned that inexpensive hostels are listed in the Lonely Planet guidebooks, and homestays are possible through Intourist USA (Tel: 800-556-5306), the Russian Consulate in New York (Tel: 212-348-0926), or can be found by visiting the following websites: www.sptimes.ru, www.russiajournal.com or www.moscowtimes.com.

      Meeting a Russian friend may help travelers avoid steep foreigner prices, and you can help your friend practice English. This is a country of highly educated, underemployed professionals, many of whom earn between US$25-$75 a month. The latter salary does, however, allow a person to live, eat and enjoy basic items. Ten percent of the "New Russians" are wealthy, drive new cars, have large dachas (summer homes), and are able to travel internationally. They can be seen seeking bargains at local shopping areas.

From Russia with Love

      The U.S. popular press has covered the adoption process and Russian bride business, booming industries throughout the country, especially in Moscow. Information can be found at the United States Embassy in Moscow, American Citizens Service Desk, Mondays-Thursdays (Tel: 011-7-{0}95-956-4241).

      The Russian Journal, Where Magazine and Moscow Times, printed in English, carry ads for the services. My understanding is that Russian bride agencies offer catalogs with subjects' photographs, physical descriptions, educational backgrounds and goals. Depending on the agency, a catalog with thousands of pictures of very attractive, highly educated young women, may cost from $10-$70 to view, and each contact with phone number is an additional $10-$100. Memberships with discount services are also available.

      One such firm, A Foreign Affair with offices in Kiev, Moscow and St. Petersburg, has been featured in Time magazine and on ABC news, (Web: www.loveme.com). They offer package tours with parties and fianc‚ visa consulting services. With harsh economic conditions in Russia, the Russian bride business offers incentives to both foreign men and Russian women. Prudence would seem to be in order on both sides of the liaison.

Crime and Punishment

      A word about safety. During the two weeks we spent in Russia, my friend did get pickpocketed. When I went with him to the police station near Tverskaya to get the police report, I was shocked to see how poorly maintained it was - no computers, old typewriters, etc.

      It was necessary to go through a metal detector before entering many of the fine casinos and five-star hotels.

      Three days into the trip, two policemen approached us near the Cosmos Hotel. They asked to inspect our passports, then demanded a bribe which we refused. Fortunately they walked away. Despite heavy police presence, I did - rightly or wrongly - feel relatively safe during the trip.

Venice of the North

      After eight days in Moscow I took a sleeper on the eight-hour overnight train to St. Petersburg. Sometimes referred to as the "Venice of the North," St. Petersburg's major highlights are its architecture and the Hermitage.

      The Hermitage rivals Paris' Louvre, with a collection of over three million of the world's greatest fine art works, including pieces by Da Vinci, Renoir, Monet, Van Gogh, C‚zanne, Gauguin, Matisse and Picasso. The rooms are stunning, with carved and inlaid walls and ceilings of filled gold and semi-precious materials. The architecture of the Hermitage and the city of St. Petersburg is very European and colorful, unlike Moscow.

      Shopping is more limited than in Moscow. The main area, Nevsky Prospect, is a three-mile-long street lined with shops and restaurants. Nearby is the Russian Museum, another must-see stop that houses fine art by Russians only.

      St. Petersburg's metro is much smaller than Moscow's, but offers transportation to most parts of the city. Taxi fares in both cities should be fixed before entering the car. The circus is smaller than its Moscow counterpart, but is also filled with Russian bear and monkey acts, magicians and specialty acts. St. Isaac's Cathedral has over 10 kilograms of gold in its ceiling, and the extra 80-ruple charge for walking to the viewing area to see St. Petersburg is well worth it.

      Russia is in transition. Its nine-year experiment with a market economy, and its new president, Putin, promise surprise and frustration to those who journey into the new Russia. Go with your eyes wide open - and a curiosity and patience deserving of this new enterprising country.

      Those who decide to venture beyond Moscow and St. Petersburg should do so with extra caution - but extra adventure is certain.