Korean Job Discussion Forums

[Bronski]

This thread is for any question that you feel is too silly to deserve its own thread. So, I'll start.

My girlfriend and I will be doing the Trans-Siberian from China to London soon. During this time, I'd like to not shave. I wouldn't call myself a hippy, but I enjoy growing a travel beard. It will hardly be grown when I get to China, but after that there's Mongolia, Russia, Lithuania, Latvia, Estonia, Poland, the Netherlands and maybe Austria or Czech, and England. My hair is also pretty shaggy, though not super long.

Will this beard be a problem for me when going through customs at various countries? Should I just play it safe and shave before I pass through a border?

[OculisOrbis]

Shouldn't be a problem unless you have something or did something you werent supposed to and customs catches you...

[ajgeddes]

I had a funny experience with beards and Russia. Last year, a bunch of us went to Russia to play hockey. We thought it would be fun to grow beards before we went up there. Anyways, while we were there people kept telling us to shave. Russians are all clean shaven. Some might have a mustache, but everything else is always cleanly shaved.

[AllisonL]

has anyone been to nepal?

[AllisonL]

and if so whats the best way to get there

[runthegauntlet]

[soviet_man]

Russian and Siberia winter is not kind to beard wearers in general. So depends how late in the season you travel, it may not be practical.

Secondly if you wear a beard in Russia you may be mistaken for a Uzbek, Tajik, Azeri, Chechen or some other similar ethnic group. Generally this is not a good idea - as these peoples are treated as 2nd class citizens by white slavic Russians and the militsia will pull them aside to check their papers and harrass them.

Best to blend in. For men: brown or black leather jacket, dark blue jeans and a dark color hat. For women: tight long pants, tight top and lots of make up.

[Bronski]

Thanks for the response, Soviet Man. Someone told me once that he was often mistaken for Chechen when he was in Russia. I'll probably just play it safe and shave then.

[Fork]

I was wondering if you could give more info on your trip? This is something I really want to do after my contract ends and most of the websites I've seen look very shady.