Comtourist RSS Feed http://www.comtourist.com en-us Copyright (C) 2011 comtourist.com Thu, 23 Feb 2012 07:05:29 +0100 Nowhere did Stalin’s hero status last longer than in his Georgian birth town Gori. His statue was only removed from the Central Town Square (still named after him) in June 2010 and his museum is still in full operation today. Comtourist visited the Stalin Museum in August 2011 and we were pleased to find out that nothing seems to have changed for the last 50 years here. The museum is a Soviet Time Capsule where even the guides seem to be imported from the USSR. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/stalin-museum/http://www.comtourist.com/history/stalin-museum/History19-Jan-2012 Parliamentary elections were held in Kazakhstan on January 16. The Nur Otan Party from President Nursultan Nazarbayev held all the seats in parliament but now has to share Parliament with two other parties. Nur Otan still managed to clinch more than 80% of the votes. Nazarbayev has been President since 1990 and brought stability and growth but also corruption and suppression of the opposition to Kazakhstan. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/kazakhstan-elections-2012/http://www.comtourist.com/news/kazakhstan-elections-2012/News16-Jan-2012 Pioneer One is a web Drama Series that revolves around a Soviet era space capsule with a Cosmonaut that crashes in present day America spreading radioactivity over a large area in Montana and Canada. The government team investigating the crash starts to believe that the capsule actually travelled to Earth from Mars. Pioneer One is free downloadable and funded trough donations by fans and distributed via BitTorrent. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/media/pioneer-one/http://www.comtourist.com/media/pioneer-one/Media15-Jan-2012 The Mikoyan brothers are probably the most famous Soviet Armenians. Anastas Mikoyan was a revolutionary from the first hour who rose to the position of Chairman of the Presidium of the Supreme Soviet. Artem Mikoyan was one of the most famous aircraft designers of the USSR responsible for designing many famous MiG aircraft together with Mikhail Gurevich. The Mikoyan brothers were born in Sanahin Armenia and a small Soviet era museum is dedicated to their lives. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/mikoyan-brothers-museum/http://www.comtourist.com/history/mikoyan-brothers-museum/History13-Jan-2012 Images of the funeral of Kim Jong Il were carefully scrutinized by bloggers and news papers around the world. One image caught the attention of some alert people, a giant was standing between a column of soldiers saluting Kim on his last journey. Speculation on who or what this man could be went wild with explanation varying from a trick photo, a genetically modified super soldier to some kind of dummy. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/giant-at-kim-jong-il-funeral/http://www.comtourist.com/news/giant-at-kim-jong-il-funeral/News02-Jan-2012 Decorating the Christmas tree is the start of the holiday season for many people. Comtourist found a nice object to use as the tree topper. The hammer and sickle proofed to be a trough crowd pleaser and will top the Christmas tree for years to come (don’t tell the girlfriend). ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/christmas-tree-topper/http://www.comtourist.com/news/christmas-tree-topper/News25-Dec-2011 The North Korean dictator Kim Jong Il died Saturday the 17th of December. The news broke two days later in the West where speculation on the future of the DPRK started directly. Familiar images of citizens crying in the Pyongyang streets started to pop up the following days. There were also images and video’s of Kim Jong Il lying at state in Kumsusan Memorial Palace where his father is also on display. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/kim-jong-il-dead/http://www.comtourist.com/news/kim-jong-il-dead/News24-Dec-2011 The French National Assembly passed a bill criminalizing public denial of the Armenian Genocide on December 22 2011. The Turkish government is outraged by this bills and threatens that the relation between the countries is at stake. Over 1.5 million Armenians were murdered in a planned and centrally coordinated operation by the Ottoman Turks in 1915. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/armenian-genocide-bill/http://www.comtourist.com/news/armenian-genocide-bill/News23-Dec-2011 In 2009 Comtourist made a one month journey through the Centrals Asian countries Kazakhstan, Kyrgyzstan, Uzbekistan and Turkmenistan. Each of these former Soviet republics that once lay on the famous Silk Road boasts many cultural and historic and natural treasures. These countries were also heavily influenced by the Soviet Union with many leftovers that remind of the Soviet period. Our journey trough Central Asia was probably the most beautiful journey we have made so far. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/travel/central-asia/http://www.comtourist.com/travel/central-asia/Travel27-Jul-2011 Kim Jong Il looking at things was a giant hit with bloggers on the internet. We westerners would think that the North Koreans would not be amused since these blogs did not take the dear leader very serious. The opposite seems to be true since the North Koreans posted many new photos and stories on Kim giving field guidance on the state website Naenara. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/kim-jong-il-field-guidance/http://www.comtourist.com/news/kim-jong-il-field-guidance/News20-Jul-2011 We planned to have a look in North Korea for many years already. We wanted to witness for ourselves what live in a totalitarian communist state is like. In 2004 we decided to book a tour trough he worlds most reclusive country. We drove trough the country, walked through Pyongyang, had to take part in worshipping the Great leader waved to US GI’s at the border and witnessed a mass celebration. The strangest experience however is loosing most of your freedom for a week. We shot a lot of photographs and film that can be seen on many pages about on this website. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/travel/north-korea/http://www.comtourist.com/travel/north-korea/Travel14-Jul-2011 Comtourist visited North Korea in 2004 and saw all the highlights that the government likes to show to foreigners visiting this reclusive country. Tourists are not shown the harsh day to day live of ordinary people far away from the capital Pyongyang. American Journalist Barbara Demick interviewed almost a hundred North Koreans defectors that now live in the South. Nothing to envy gives a good insight in the everyday life of North Koreans dominated by poverty, fear and hunger. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/media/nothing-to-envy/http://www.comtourist.com/media/nothing-to-envy/Media12-Jul-2011 United Russia, the party of Vladimir Putin holding 70% of the Duma seats has launched a website with a poll about the future of the Lenin mausoleum. Visitors can vote "Da" if they want the mausoleum to be removed and "Njet" if they want Lenin to stay on the Red Square. Comtourist advices its readers to go to www.goodbyelenin.ru and vote Njet! ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/lenin-mausoleum-vote/http://www.comtourist.com/news/lenin-mausoleum-vote/News22-May-2011 The Central Air Force Museum has the largest collection of Soviet military aircraft in the world. Most fighters, bombers and helicopters that server in the Soviet Air Force are present at Monino. Many prototypes and very rare aircraft like the Tu-144, Myasischev M-50, Sukhoi T-4 and Mil Mi-12 are on display. Visiting Monino is a fantastic experience for any aviation enthousiast. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/monino-air-force-museum/http://www.comtourist.com/history/monino-air-force-museum/History05-May-2011 The shipping routes near the Dutch Island Terschelling are notoriously dangerous many have ships sunk or ran to ground near the Island for ages. Local divers have salvaged many interning items from the wrecks, now displayed in the Wreck Museum. The museum has a series of exhibits from the islands most famous ship wreck a Soviet coaster named OKA-18. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/oka-18-wreck-terschelling/http://www.comtourist.com/history/oka-18-wreck-terschelling/History01-May-2011 In 2009 Danish filmmaker Mads Brugger took a comedian and a spastic (both adopted Koreans) to North Korea. The Danes have falsely convinced DPRK officials that their goal is cultural exchange; the North Korean authorities on their turn see a good propaganda opportunity. The question after seeing the film that remains with the viewer is: who was playing who here? ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/media/the-red-chapel/http://www.comtourist.com/media/the-red-chapel/Media17-Apr-2011 Nowa Huta is a communist model city near Krakow built as the Soviet response to the US Marshall help. The city and the giant Lenin Steel Mill were constructed near Krakow as a gift from the USSR to Poland. Nowa Huta is only 25 minutes away from Krakow and a prime example of Socialist Realist architecture and city planning. A great way to visit Nowa Huta is with a “communist nostalgia” Tourist organization like Crazy Guides. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/travel/nowa-huta/http://www.comtourist.com/travel/nowa-huta/Travel04-Apr-2011 Lenin’s Mausoleum was the holy shrine of the Lenin cult during the Soviet era. Stalin, and other Soviet leaders have a tomb behind the mausoleum, other important Soviets were buried in the Kremlin wall. Visiting the mausoleum and Kremlin wall necropolis is still a special occasion today, even though many of the buried people are controversial to say the least. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/lenin-mausoleum/http://www.comtourist.com/history/lenin-mausoleum/History17-Mar-2011 One of Kaliningrad’s main attractions is the B-413 a Soviet Foxtrot class submarine, belonging to the Museum of the World Ocean. Foxtrot submarines were deployed as long range patrol vessels by the Baltic fleet until 1995. The B-413 is maintained by former crew members who also provide guided tours trough the diesel submarine. The submarine is in excellent state and all it’s original equipment and weapon systems are still in place. Visitors can also climb in the periscope room and operate the periscope. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/b-413-submarine/http://www.comtourist.com/history/b-413-submarine/History12-Mar-2011 The FIFA choice for Russia to host the 2010 world cup has spawned an avalanche articles bashing Russia in European newspapers. It was no surprise that tabloids like the British Sun expressed their fury with headlines referring to Russia as a mafia state and Putin and Blatter as mafia dons. Incorrect and tendentious reports in "quality" newspapers seems to be a new trend however. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/news/wc-2018-to-russia/http://www.comtourist.com/news/wc-2018-to-russia/News06-Feb-2011 For our 2006 journey we chose the Ukraine as our primary destination. We already wanted to go there for a while and now seemed to be the right time. The Orange revolution was only one and a half year earlier, no more visa were needed to enter the country and Kiev was reviewed as a hot city in many travel reviews. Minsk was also a place high on the to-do list so we decided to add Belarus to the destination list. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/travel/belarus-ukraine/http://www.comtourist.com/travel/belarus-ukraine/Travel28-Jan-2011 The Comtourist crew loves communist era cars from the Soviet Union and Eastern Europe and especially Czechoslovakia. Comtourist owned a Skoda 105 until we sold it since we could not store it indoors and feared for the condition of this classic car. We do have great memories of the Skoda and now we will buy another one in the future. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/skoda-105/http://www.comtourist.com/history/skoda-105/History22-Jan-2011 The association that most people have with Pyongyang is probably an image of endless colons of tanks, mobile rocket installations and soldiers parading for the great leader on a big square, cheered on by thousands of ecstatic people. This image actually gives a good idea about this city, it feels more like a stage for mass rally’s and military parades then an actual living city! Comtourist visited Pyongyang in 2004 and we made a three page city guide showing the highlights of the North Korean capital. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/travel/pyongyang/http://www.comtourist.com/travel/pyongyang/Travel07-Jan-2011 Riga Aviation Museum is located on Riga International Airport and has a large collection of Soviet era military aircraft. Highlights are the giant Mil Mi-4 helicopter, Tu-22 bomber and MiG-25 among many other aircraft. The Aviation museum is an excellent place to kill some time during a stop over when flying Air Baltic via Riga. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/riga-aviation-museum/http://www.comtourist.com/history/riga-aviation-museum/History28-Dec-2010 The Dutch Army Museum is based in the arsenal of Delft and tells the story of the Dutch army throughout the ages. The museum collection includes some interesting exhibits relating to the communist adversaries during the Cold War. Most interesting is a T-55AM tank was partially cut open and used by the East German army to train officers and tank commanders. ]]>http://www.comtourist.com/history/dutch-army-museum/http://www.comtourist.com/history/dutch-army-museum/History25-Dec-2010