Wandering Lizard
Russia

A Trip to Russia - Our Local Guides - Spring

We had guides that stayed with us during the entire trip and others that joined us at specific locations. Our regular guides always deferred to the local guides whenever we were on their turf. Not surprisingly they all knew each other and worked together extremely well so that our various tours always went smoothly. A great deal of organization went into these tours. Buses appeared at the right place and at the right time, local guides appeared and disappeared as needed, admission to museums was negotiated with little more than a quick check of a roster, and very rarely were the guides surprised by any of our questions.

There were about 140 people on the trip. In order to make the group more manageable on board ship we were divided into two groups of roughly equal size for most of our lectures. When we left the ship for a local tour we were divided into smaller groups which usually numbered between twenty to thirty people each. Each of these groups was led by one of our regular guides as well as a local guide. The guide's comments were transmitted through a wireless device to receivers that each of us carried with us. The system worked very well and permitted more mobility on the part of the visitor than is usual with a guided tour. Although I do not like wearing an ear piece I am an enthusiastic supporter of this system. The guide could be talking about something in which I was not particularly interested and I could wander a bit to see things that were of more interest to me. When the guide mentioned something that I wanted to see and learn about I could quickly rejoin the group.

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