This is the second attempt at this report because I got just about ready to post and the internet cafe I was in lost power. Arg! Well, now I'm trying from a different one.

I spent the morning and afternoon siteseeing at the Hermitage. This is an incredible museum and worth the trip to St. Petersburg. However, eventually there is only so much art to enjoy and I was ready to relax.

I left the museum and walked around the corner back toward Nevsky Prospect. I smelled something burning and saw some smoke. At first I thought it was a vendor with a barbecue, but the smoke was a little rancid. As I walked by a giant dumpster I realized that it was radiating an incredible amount of heat and was the source of the fire. Literally there were 200 plus people with 100 meters of the huge dumpster and everyone was ignoring it. I took the hint and did too.

Anyway, I decided that now was the time to check out the sauna scene. I found a taxi driver with old tattoos all over his hands and arms, shaved totally bald. He looked like a hells angel or someone who would probably be in the know. I asked him to take me to a sauna/banya for girls. He requested 350 rubles, a little high, but I paid because I was ready to have someone take me into the scene.

We drove into a bad part of town and he pointed out a courtyard with a sign that said VIP Sauna. I thanked him and got out. Everything looked ok, so I went in. First up a flight of old, dirty stairs and then to a guy who was standing in a small kitchen area. He looked really drugged out with spacy eyes. He showed me a dressing area where a couple of 40 and 50 year old guys were stripping totally naked. There were lockers but no locks. No towels. No sheets, nothing. The guys put on thong sandals and then headed into the sauna. When one grabbed a couple of birch branches I bailed. I'm not into the whole beat yourself and your buddies in 200 degree heat and then throw yourself into cold water pool. I just wanted the girls, and there was no sign of them.

I left and quickly got out to a main road. Eventually I got a pirate taxi to take me back to the hotel. He said that there were street girls past the train station and monument at the other end of Nevsky Prospect.

I had written down the cyrillic words for sauna and went to the yellow pages. I picked the address for three at random and went to get a cab. The first place was in a bad part of town and I told the driver to forget that. The second place turned out to be a Best Western Neptun hotel that was on the outskirts of town, but the sauna was more like a sport club.

Anyway, I finally nixed that and went back to my hotel. I took a walk down by the train station and went onto some of the side streets. I found a few other saunas, but they were closed (for sunday? forever? hard to tell).

Well, I wasn't going to strike out. I decided that I just was looking in the wrong part of town and I needed to get closer to the university. I got some sushi for dinner and got dressed up to go out.

As I walked out of the hotel, there was a cab driver talking to hotel security. I asked them where all the pretty girls were and they said they were just watching them walk by. I asked the cab driver, named Alexander F., if he was going to take me to see the bad girls? Alexander turned out to be a great guy with good english. He also speaks some japanese, korean, french, italian, and passable german. He was a submariner in the russian navy and told me some good stories about the falklands war and other places where they had toured.

It was just after 9:30PM and getting dark. He took me to Alt. Nevsky Prospect, the street just past the monuments that is the older part of the Nevsky Prospect (the main drag). We instantly spotted the street girls. Not too many out, but he said I could pick one up for $50 to 100US for the whole night. I said I would have problems with hotel security, but he said no, they would look the other way for a few hundred rubles.

I told him that I wanted a club girl. He said, much more expensive. I said that you get what you pay for. He laughed and agreed. As we were leaving, we spotted a girl in a fancy red dress that did a pirouete for us. I almost stopped as she was stunning, but Alexander was headed to the clubs.

We went to a club called Tribunal. This club he said the girls would want $200 to 300US, but would be gorgeous and young. It was too early, but the selection I saw was excellent. Alexander then took me to a club called the Plaza on a spit of land in the middle of the river. It is a club owned by a senior member of the mafia. He says it is safe because the mafia guys don't want it messed up. Lots of university girls.

I paid the 100 ruble cover charge and went through the metal detectors that are typical of these places. I sat and watched the people coming in. About midnight the dance floor was full and there were a few opportunities, but most I think were good girls out clubbing. The club also had both male and female dancers out standing on stage. The music was all techno/electronica stuff that gets really annoying after a while. So I left about 12:45AM.

When I left the building, I realized that it was now raining, ... so much for the street girls. I found a cab driver and told him to take me to Tribunal. His name was Alexander also, and he said, "so you want prostitute?" I laughed and said yes. He asked, "how about a public house? less expensive than Tribunal?" I said sure and asked how much?

Alexander made a quick phone call and said $100US for 2 hours. I said, lets go check them out. When we arrived in the old part of St. Petersburg on the other side of the river, I was happy to be stopped. Alexander drives like a maniac on slick roads. A lady came out and led us up some stairs and into a house.

I sat on the couch and in came 4 different girls. The first, Lela, was doable, but the third, Violetta really caught my eye. She was 19 years old, from Ukraine, and about 5'11" tall and slender. I made arrangements for Alexander to pick me up at 3AM and Violetta and I retired to a bedroom. It was a large room with a bed, easy chair, desk, and table.

Photos: Violetta 1 Violetta 2 Violetta 3


She was shy to start, but eventually I got a good covered bj. She was tight and loved to ride on top. These girls have really strong legs and like to ride. Anyway, we had a great session. When we finished it was time to go to the shower. There was no hot water, so she brought in a pan of hot water from the stove and I rinsed off with that.

After that, time for talking and then another cbj and doggie for about a half hour. We ran out of time, but I didn't mind. We cleaned up again and then went out to see the driver drinking coffee with the madam. They offered me some, but I declined. The madam asked for a 10 ruble note, which I gave her. She posted it on the wall and said "first man." I guess this was a brand new public house and I was the very first customer. I guess that might have explained Violetta's quiet ways and cautious start.

Alexander and I left and we started back to the hotel. When he realized that my hotel was on the other side of the river, he gunned the motor and we were flying. Ignoring red lights, slick roads, and racing through town. He said the bridges were set to open in 3 minutes and then it would be a long way back to the hotel. We made it onto the spit and were the last car onto the bridge as the police put the last barricade in place. The police were cussing at Alexander and tried to cut him off, but we were too fast.

Anyway, made it back to the hotel where I crashed for a few hours. I have phone numbers for both Alexanders if anyone is ever in St. Petersburg. There is action, but I never made it to Tribunal. Just definitely not as easy as Moscow.

Photos of Violetta added above