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Broadcast on Prime Time Russia (RT), 24/12/09 – click here for archive.

A Traveler’s Road to Enlightenment

Hitching rides became a way of life for Jack Kerouac’s Beat Generation. Decades later, Anton Krotov is leading a movement of Russia’s globetrotting “free travelers.”

With over 30 years of travel experience and 17 books under his belt, Anton Krotov doesn’t lack in tales from the road.

“One of my favorite stories comes from a journey on the Trans-Siberian Railroad, from Magadan back to Moscow,” said Anton Krotov, founder of the Moscow Academy of Free Travel. “My friend and I were detained by guards at a station for trying to negotiate with the train’s engineer. We went willingly, telling them about our trip, and they gave us food before handing us over to local police. We made friends with them, too, had dinner and a bath, and stayed at the chief policeman’s home before being given a special escort the next day.”

Krotov is Russia’s international guru of free travel. Regular congregations take place in his tiny Moscow apartment, which is filled with memorabilia from around the globe. This isn’t Europe on $20 per day: Krotov explores the limitless possibilities of our planet without paying. He describes foreign ministry blacklists as “the best countries to visit.” He gives lectures and sells his books all over Russia, teaching people how to discover freedom. Even in English, Krotov’s words project the authority of a seasoned public speaker. Animatedly narrating adventures from across Asia, Africa and the vastness of Russia, he frequently refers to his mountain of photo albums.

This man, some kind of wanderlust folk hero for post-Soviet Russia, really does come from another world. And this world is increasingly accessible. Whereas in Soviet times, internal passports were often needed to leave home cities, Russians now enjoy relative liberty to visit other countries and see more of their own. Domestic and international travel has boomed. Visa bureaucracy remains a common barrier, but today’s situation is still a far cry from the pre-1991 regime.

The term free travel invites obvious conclusions about low-budget fiscal efficiency. But, according to Krotov, his concept represents a lot more than trying to get around on minimal expenditure. “Somebody travels and lives with people, but these people do not get work from it. We sit in villages and experience different types of life, but these people are not our guides. We look at the normal life of the world.”

Krotov’s inherently optimistic soul is clearly the guiding light. “We believe in friendship. All people are one family, living in one house; the world is one big house with different rooms. And people are friendly everywhere. When I travel, I don’t take a tent because I know everybody will invite me in. I lived four months in Indonesia and 100 different people invited me in on 100 different days. All the world is one. No enemies. No dangerous places. Nowhere.”

“I went to Afghanistan, where Russia made war 20 years ago. Now Russians are afraid to go there, as well as Americans and the British. They think it’s a dangerous country of narcotics and terrorism. I did not see this: People would give me lifts, in every village I found a place to sleep and eat. Some of them were veterans of war, but they had no problems with me. Nobody sold me drugs, showed me guns or tried to kill me. I’ve been there many times; it is a very friendly, happy, beautiful country.”

Krotov’s pocket handbook, “134 Questions – 134 Answers,” aims to address popular fears and myths. He goes into detail about how to prepare, emphasizing that free travel doesn’t always mean a zero budget. It’s vital to keep family and friends informed. As for the question of women on the road, he claims to know several who, “despising old prejudices, travel alone for thousands of kilometers,” with the only exception being in strongly Islamic countries.

Krotov’s mission is encouraging people to liberate themselves from old ways of thinking. Travel is a metaphor, a journey toward an independent life and an open heart. “I want to teach. Sometimes, after hearing my lectures... they will come to Moscow, to live here with me and learn more,” he explained.

“Of course, there are many who want to change but do nothing, especially in the former U.S.S.R. They think the government shows people everything — how to work, study, eat, sleep and that’s it. They are afraid of change. They do not understand that if you want to do something, you should do it. You are free, people, free!


Published in Russia Now, December 2009, with The Washington Post (USA).

Olympic challenge for Sochi games

Officially the Winter Olympics are non-politicised – but the reality is that wherever Russia goes, politics will follow.

Russia will be holding a national referendum to select its mascot for the 2014 Winter Olympics in Sochi. Contenders include a dolphin on skis, a potential revival of the 1980 games’ popular beaming bear, and a giant-eared children’s character known as Cheburashka. With a cast like that, cynics might be reminded of the recent parliamentary elections.

No irony is lost in this faux-democratic gesture from Russia’s PR-obsessed political regime. State-controlled TV and close monitoring of the press give the government an effective monopoly on public opinion. The Sochi Games, a pet project of the prime minister, Vladimir Putin, will become an increasingly prominent weapon in the country's constant image battle with the west.

But the 2014 grand plan is not only fighting a war of words and perceptions.

Sochi is located on the scenic Black Sea coast, just 12 miles from the border with Abkhazia – a rebellious Georgian province Moscow recognises as an independent state. In August last year, Russian forces won a five-day war against Georgia over this disputed enclave and its fellow breakaway, South Ossetia. Nicaragua and Venezuela are so far the only countries to follow the Kremlin's recognition.

Abkhazia looks set to benefit from its proximity to the Olympic development. President Sergei Bagapsh expects at least $300m of investment in construction materials, while the Russian government says it will station 100,000 workers there due to cheaper living costs. As a fragile, war-torn semi-state, Abkhazia is working against the odds. Russia clearly believes it is the overlord, but increasing confidence and funds could see the Abkhaz elite try to take de facto independence one step further, effectively biting the hand that feeds it. Earlier this year, officials met with the Turkish prime minister and received a delegation from Tehran.

The Georgian government, which still regards both Abkhazia and South Ossetia as its sovereign territory, is working against Russian endeavours to foster autonomy. In September, news agencies reported the Georgian navy had intercepted more than 20 supply ships as it tried to assert authority over the renegade province. Meanwhile, American support for Georgia’s controversial president, Mikheil Saakashvili, has remained a sticking point amid the proffered "reset" in US-Russia relations.

Russia’s northern Caucasus is also rumbling uneasily. The conflict-ridden republics of Ingushetia, Chechnya and Dagestan lie due east of Sochi. On Wednesday, Chechen rebels claimed responsibility for last week's bombing that took 26 lives on the busy train route between St Petersburg and Moscow. Security has become a major concern for the Olympic organisers. Despite Russian claims that the region is under control – Chechnya’s anti-terrorism operation was lifted in April – the current situation remains volatile.

And the worst-case scenario could yet materialise. In August 2008, White House foreign policy heavyweight Zbigniew Brzezinski used an article in TIME magazine to tell the west it should consider the option of an Olympic boycott. The 1980 summer games in Moscow suffered such a fate: when the US withdrew its team in protest against the Soviet invasion of Afghanistan, more than 60 other countries followed. Georgia is already lobbying for a repeat of this unqualified PR disaster.

Russia’s flawless domestic propaganda operation is well-documented; Putin's annual TV question time was a perfect example. The vast majority of citizens are happy to surrender democratic rights for the sake of national progress. Ambitious schemes like Sochi 2014 and a bid to host the football World Cup in 2018 or 2022 form a vital element of the country’s wider global publicity campaign. Sport has huge potential to make a nation look good.

Officially the Olympics are non-politicised – and rightly so – but the reality is that wherever Russia goes, politics will follow. Even with these issues aside, the International Olympic Committee has declared Sochi 2014 one of the most complex projects in the history of the Games. They picked a city nowhere near ready for such an event: Russia must construct some 80% of necessary infrastructure. Four years remain.

The IOC may have bitten off more than it can chew with the Sochi gamble. Many unanswered questions are still lurking in the shadows. There is a very realistic prospect that the Olympic brand, with its lofty values of “excellence, respect and friendship,” will be tarnished once again, irrespective of the boycott.

Suddenly, the choice of bear or dolphin seems the least of Putin’s worries. Anyone for Cheburashka?

Published @ guardian.co.uk, 5/12/09 - click here for original.