"I'll take 'Creepy things I read in my Moscow guidebook' for a $1000, Alex"

Health Although Moscow's tap water is considered safe to drink, locals regard it with deep suspicion and usually boil it first.

Even the locals won't drink the water. They let it sit overnight after boiling so that any heavy-metals will settle out.

Shiver.

Medical Services Several foreign-run health services are available in Moscow. They offer Western standards of treatment, are very expensive, and can be fiscally ruinous without valid insurance coverage.

Isn't that more or less true for medical services in the US?!

Responsible Tourism Prostitution is widespread in Moscow as it is not illegal. Prostitutes make rounds of the hotels, nightclubs, and streets. The Russian age of consent is 16, and there are large numbers of teenage prostitutes.

The next paragraph proceeds to talk about art objects. Wow. No "don't go there" warning. No judgment at all. Just the facts. That's creepy enough, but then some of my friends upon hearing this and my travel plans responded with "Oh, then you should wait [to hire a teenage prostitute] until you get to Amsterdam since the prostitutes there are better regulated and probably get regularly tested for HIV."

Thanks for the vote of confidence in my moral stance, guys.

Regulated and legal sex industry is IMO safer than one where the women are brutalized and abused with no recourse, but I'm not really a fan of a one-time 15 minute or less quicky either...


In any case, should be an educational trip and a unique travel experience. Seoul was probably really tame in comparison.