Back from the USSR (or whats left of it)

Feb 22, 2005 8 Replies
A

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.


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R

Hi Sasha, welcome back. Yes Russian people drinks a lot of tea. Please tell us more about Russian tea culture. I am planning to meet some Russian tea people here in Mozambique. They are construction engineers. I am not surprised to know that you paid $.40/min for internet and $10/min for calls, in many countries this two services are expensive.

BTW, when you talk about Michael Plant or DogMa, you better say- you met with NY tea Guru Michael Plant and DogMa-:) They are wonderful guys, I miss them a lot.

Ripon Maputo, Mozambique

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D

Molodets! Glad you made it back safely.

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A

This has nothing to do with the "countries". You can call for pennies using the IP card from any number, but American hotels block local numbers that provide such service. I think it is outrageous, since as a hotel customer I already pay for the access to local phones. As I was told nobody does it but the US-owned hotels. Flagships of freedom and the free exchange of information, so to speak.

Sasha.

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D

Who says you pay for access as a hotel customer? The last time I made local calls from a hotel in the U.S., I was charged PER CALL for local numbers.

Needless to say, the fact that they did this was clearly indicated... on a slip of paper, in the back of the "hotel manual" that nobody actually reads.

But just because you're staying there doesn't mean you've paid to use the phone.

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A

I do not object to pay per call for local numbers. I object when certain local numbers are blocked because the hotel does not want me to use their services.

Sasha.

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D

Understood.

However, I think your characterization of hotels as "flagships of freedom and the free exchange of information" is a bit off.

They are flagships of capitalism, not freedom. They're in the business to make money not to facilitate the exchange of ideas.

Perhaps the objection is valid. I'm just not all that surprised by their blocking IP telephony. It cuts into their business.

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S

That's the reason they call it an expense report. Oh the good ole days when the corporation paid for everything.

Jim

Alex Chaihorsky wrote:

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