The Russian with a Filipino Heart
Tick encephalitis , Lyme disease , Hepatitis A , etc.- these are some of the diseases one might acquire when traveling to Siberia , As a doctor I was apprehensive about travelling to this side of the Earth. The Lonely Planet guidebook which I read thoroughly gave these warnings. Should I really go? I think I shouldn't. But, this is a once in a lifetime experience. Good that this book also mentioned a contact person- Petr Ishkin , a well-traveled Russian teacher who is proficient in English. So I tried to email him, expecting he would never answer. He must receive hundreds of these requests, why would we bother to respond to mine? I was requesting him to accompany and guide me through this Siberian rendezvous which brought me from island of Cebu , Philippines to Seoul , Korea , to Ulaanbaatar , Mongolia then to Ulan-ude , Siberia . I was quite surprised when he answered back the next day. After this, we were regula...