As part of a July quick trip around the classic “Gulf of Finland” circuit of Helsinki – St Petersburg – Tallinn – Helsinki, I’m finding it hard to round up the one piece of the required documentation puzzle – the Russian visa. In fact Russia is the only of those countries that Australians require a visa for, and the list of requirements is long.
If you think the toughest requirement is the “introduction to Russia by an authorised representative of the Russian Tourist agency” think again. Actually if you have booked a hotel they will be more than happy to email you the invitation.
And here’s the tough part. Ever tried getting an email from Russia? In this age of spam, scams and viagra, no Australian mail server will allow an email originating from Russia through their firewall – legitimate or otherwise.
Seems the easiest way to get that document is to, well, go and get it yourself, and we all know how that would work out.