Guys - I am back. Seattle - Moscow - SPB-Moscow - Kyrgyzstan - NY Was an interesting trip. Met some real tea (Taiwan oolong) gurus in Moscow. Tea is an "in" thing there. Expect to spend $100- 200 per person per evening at, say, Club East in Moscow. Less in not-so-fancy places. Tea is good, but too much of a tea theater for my taste. But understandable - one pays more in a church than in a simple tearoom. When I asked for a traditional Kyrgyz tea in Bishkek (the one with milk, salt and pepper, I was offered "Earl Grey" in a teabag. Oh, well - I guess that is the price we pay for tailoring the whole world after ourselves. Hyatt in Bishkek billed me $.40/min for internet access and $10/min for calls to the US. They also illegally filter out any calls that go to the IP telephony, which I am going to make a big stink about with their American owners.
On my way back met with Michael Plant and DogMa in NY - thanks guys, that was fun.
Sasha.