Do keep dreaming teenagers!
Dreaming plants a seed which only grows and nurtures with time. I know because I was a teenager once. I used to dream of visiting St. Petersburg and soaking up all the history. Last year, I finally got to go! After all these years, the interest remained inside of me. Guess what? It didn’t cost me $5000. My ticket was $752 round trip and that was only because I wanted a specific open-jaw itinerary (JFK>HEL>TLL>LED>DME>EWR). Otherwise, right now, I’m seeing round trip fares from NYC to Moscow for under $450 in September (kayak.com). I remember back in June they were under $400! That was because several airlines were launching their Moscow routes and dropping fares to compete with each other, but moral of the story is that deals can definitely be found. I’m talking NYC specifically, but you get the idea.
All this talk about hassles with a migration card is silly. It’s the card you’re given when you enter Russia. You just fill out your personal information and keep it for your entire journey. It’s in both English and Cyrillic. You turn it over to the officials when you leave the country. No big deal. A letter of invitation is easy to get, and the only wait will be for your visa. That has to be done through a service, and it’s more bothersome than frightening. I’m lucky, I did it all on my own and got my visa back in less than a week. This was one week before they changed the rules and started making people go through the service. (
http://www.waytorussia.net/RussianVisa/Info.html). Make sure to check the Russian consulate in your area and follow all their rules.
For accommodations, you can stay in hostels. I did and they were super cheap and I met tons of friendly people (
http://www.hostelworld.com/countries/russiahostels.html).
In Russia, especially in the hostels, you will meet many young people heading to their journey on the Trans-Siberian railway. Trains in Russia are cheap and safe. I took one from St. Petersburg to Moscow and it was great. Almost all the travelers I met didn’t know any Russian and did just fine. I managed with just knowing the Cyrillic alphabet (very important!) and a few words. Yes, you can do it alone. I know because I most certainly did and I met tons of others who were by themselves too!!! No group tours for me, thank you very much. I did it all independently. I don’t recommend this to a teenager. I’m talking about when you’re a bit older.
As for money, this idea that you will be resorting to sneaky black market funds is preposterous! There are major banks all over and you can complete all cash machine transactions in English!! Once you arrive in Russia, at the airport, just head for the ATM and get your rubles. If you’re a student, everything will be discounted; the Hermitage is free for students. There is a two-tier system at Russian tourist sites, but it's not done in a sneaky way. They tell you outright that Russians pay less. All prices at major tourist sites will be in English and will spell out the difference in prices - one price for Russians, the other for tourists. Again, if you're a student, you will pay much less for entrance fees.
I could go on an on, but my travel experience speaks for itself. You just need to research, jump on airline deals, and make sure your visa and registration is in order. If you want someplace to start, I suggest
http://www.waytorussia.net. This will help you with the basics. From there, you can check out travel guides and search the Internet. By the way, Yekaterinburg is about a day’s train travel from Moscow. The train is an experience you shouldn’t pass up.
Someday, when you are a little older, you will visit Russia, and you’ll have a laugh at the people who passed off incorrect information so it would look like it couldn’t happen!!
