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Caching in Russia


RoyalRed

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Looks like I may be sent to Moscow this Fall for work. Expect to have some down time from work during which I would like to do some caching. Checking the area reveals that there are caches in the area.

 

The major issue appears to be trying to enter Russia with a GPS device. Multiple websites provide warnings that any attempt to carry in a GPS device will result in it being taken away from you. I can not figure out if this applies to handheld units or not, but I would assume that it does.

 

Anyone out there have experience carrying a handheld GPS unit into Russia? Any problems? Any suggestions?

 

Thanks,

 

RoyalRed

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US Department of State advice:

 

"The importation and use of Global Positioning Systems (GPS) and other radio electronic devices are sometimes subject to special rules and regulations in Russia. The Russian Customs Service recently stated that terminal GPS devices can be imported upon their simple declaration on arrival. A special customs permit should be obtained in the case of importation of a GPS to be used as a peripheral device to a separate computer and/or antenna to increase its capability.

 

In general, mapping and natural resource data collection activities associated with normal commercial and scientific collaboration may result in seizure of the associated equipment and/or arrest. The penalty for using a GPS device in a manner which is determined to compromise Russian national security can be a prison term of ten to twenty years"

 

Reference: Link

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I had no problems on my recent trip to Russia.

You won't ever have any problems in Russia using GPS. They are rather common things here, many people use them.. But unfortunately we have a little number of caches, about 250, and mostly in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Yet the work is in progress :)

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I had no problems on my recent trip to Russia.

You won't ever have any problems in Russia using GPS. They are rather common things here, many people use them.. But unfortunately we have a little number of caches, about 250, and mostly in St. Petersburg and Moscow. Yet the work is in progress :)

 

How many are Vacation caches (placed by tourists) versus placed by Russian citizens?

 

Shocking to realize I have placed almost half as many as are in all of Russia. :blink:

(I just placed another one this morning and it was published within 15 minutes of my submission!)

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Entering isn't the problem. Exiting is.

 

I was looking at some possible itineraries for a trip to China I took awhile back and one of them included a layover in Moscow. I did some investigation to see it would be a viable option to spend a day or two there on the way to or from my final destination but the Visa requirements appeared to be a bit daunting (and fairly expensive for a brief visit).

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Cant see why you can't cache. As I understand the Russians recently completed-and made public- the full GLONASS system. Pretty much anther set(24 or so) of GPS satellites, and the president insisted they be made available for public use. I have heard that some new Garmin units that can track both GPS and GLONASS have almost no time searching for satellites. I doubt if Russia was that worried they would make their billion dollar system accessible to anyone who wants it.

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How many are Vacation caches (placed by tourists) versus placed by Russian citizens?

 

I do now have statistics for the whole Russia but for Saint-Petersburg and region we have 57 caches, of which 44 are created by locals.

 

Shocking to realize I have placed almost half as many as are in all of Russia.

 

Now it's more than 270 caches in Russia. Have you really placed 135 of them? :lol:

Edited by Lis_Its
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Oh yeah, look at that. Google translate, making the world smaller one page at a time. From the geocaching.ru site:

 

Is it legal in Russia?

 

This is a FAQ. Geocaching is legal – there are no restrictions in GPS use in Russia. All types of GPS devices – traveler’s GPS (handhelds), car and cell phone GPS, etc. are available for purchase and use here. There are high quality GPS maps for all Russia’s territory, including detailed city maps.

 

Playing geocaching though, avoid attracting attention so as not to declassify the hidden cache or evoke suspicion of the passer’s-by or police – you might be taken for a spy! :-) You can’t make or seek for a cache near military objects/army units!

 

So in other words, use common sense.

 

Crap. We're all in trouble. :)

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Oh yeah, look at that. Google translate, making the world smaller one page at a time. From the geocaching.ru site:

 

Is it legal in Russia?

 

This is a FAQ. Geocaching is legal – there are no restrictions in GPS use in Russia. All types of GPS devices – traveler’s GPS (handhelds), car and cell phone GPS, etc. are available for purchase and use here. There are high quality GPS maps for all Russia’s territory, including detailed city maps.

 

Playing geocaching though, avoid attracting attention so as not to declassify the hidden cache or evoke suspicion of the passer’s-by or police – you might be taken for a spy! :-) You can’t make or seek for a cache near military objects/army units!

 

So in other words, use common sense.

 

Crap. We're all in trouble. :)

 

Amazing isn't it? No matter where you are in the world, you still need to employ common sense. :anibad:

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You can also look this webpage: Russian Geocaching Official Site

 

"Most of Russian cashes are not available at geocaching.com. About 8000 caches are described on this site.

The complete Russian caches list can be found at http://www.geocaching.su/?pn=101"

 

Something interesting I found from that site.

 

1. Every Russian geocache is necessarily tied up with some place of interest. This turns geocaching from "pure" sport to a combination of adventure and sightseeing.

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Moscow has some fun caches! I invested 20 bucks in Garmin's City X-plorer maps series for Moscow for my Oregon. It was great, we took the Subway from our hotel down to the Red Square area, down towards Moscow State University, found some great caches everywhere. Even ended up hiding one near the Moscow Hilton for those who end up in that part of town. (The Hilton is one of Moscow's Seven Sisters so it is fun to see if you're trying to find those buildings while sightseeing)

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