S i b e r i a n D e a l / r e p o r t p a g e

FIRST DEAL

Our overnight Aeroflot flight from St. Petersburg took eight hours, and crossed five time zones. We paid our first *bribe* at the St. Petersburg airport - $20 each for *excess baggage*. We were told that *it would be difficult* to have a receipt for this sum, and were handed a travel brochure by the spokesperson for four women agents, all with the same fuchsia shade of lipstick. Then, she told us -- *return this to me, later, for your bags*.

We sat in the waiting room for awhile, knowing that we had not checked in 30 kilos each, and suddenly recognized the direct request for money. One of the younger agents looked up at us shyly when we returned the brochure, now containing about a third of an average monthly salary, and she said *thank you* very sincerely. At that point, we only wanted to see our bags upon arrival in Irkutsk. They arrived fine.




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