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Russian Information Guide |Rus-a| Russian customs and traditions | Interesting facts about Russia
Yuri Gagarine - first man in space
He truly went where no man had been before, the first man in space, we are very proud of him. There are monuments, streets and squares named in honor of him. Let's check some interesting facts about him and his life.
Yuri Gagarine was a Soviet air force pilot, when he went to space he was only 27 years old. Firstly another one pilot was carefully prepared, but at the last time he fall in, so a substitute pilot Gagarine was taken. Altogether there were 20 pilots.
The village where his was born - Klushino, later was renamed in his honor. In Gagarin’s family were 4 children, he was the third one.
His spaceship was named Vostok (the West in English), his total mission lasted just 108 minutes.
He died in a training plane accident some time before his second flight to space. Gagarine is Russian national hero. April 12 is officially declared as the International Day of Human Space Flight in his dedication.
Russians like gaze at stars dream and believe that once we will be among the first who will leave our galaxy and start amazing space journey to other planets where is life.
Mobile communication in Russia
There are 4 mobile operators in Russia - MTS, Megafon, Beeline and Tele2. Actually there is no big difference between them.
Roaming is very expensive so if you are going to live in Russia it is better to buy Sim card here. All operators have good Internet LTE rather fast even to watch films through cell phone. Mobile Internet offers good GPS connection, but there are some areas even 5 km away from big cities where there is no Internet coverage. So if you are going to travel across country it is better to have classical GPS navigator.
Monthly price for sim card with Internet is about 15-20 dollars. For this some you may also call and send SMS. In official stores stuff will help adapt Sim card to your phone, cut it if it will be necessary. You can charge your phone via credit card or by special terminals, located in official mobile operators store, supermarkets, restaurants etc.
The longest railway in the world is here
In Russia is located the longest railway in the world. It is called Trasns-Siberian Railway. Its length is over 9000 km. It will take you one week to travel from Moscow to final point Vladivostok city on the train. In Russian culture there are many funny stories about peoples' adventures during this long journey across the country. Even today you can buy special touristic tour for such kind of travelling.
Billionaires in Moscow
In Moscow live the majority of world billionaires. Officially in the capital live about 80 residents. In Capital Russians buy cars 100000$ up for one car and wait months for delivery because only top kitting is valuable. There are night clubs where people spend 50000$ for one night and such locations are always overcrowded.
The most popular fastfood in Russia is Macdonalds
Russians love fastfood and most Macdonalds. In Moscow is located the second one biggest world Macdonalds and across the country there are over 500 restaurants, that daily serve 1 million visitors.
Time zones in Russia
Since 2010 we have 9 time zones, more than any other country. When it is morning in Moscow it is night at Vladivostok. Before 2010 we had even 11 time zones. Some time there are difficulties with communication between cities because oftime differences.