Travel Russia Today

Upon arrival in Moscow, we loaded our stuff into our minibus and headed out to the Golden Ring. The day was gorgeous, beautiful weather with snow on the ground… I couldn’t wait to start exploring this amazing area. I must admit the one thing I was looking forward to the most was the infamous Russian Banya.

The hotel we were staying at in the Golden Ring is known for their banyas. So after a long day and finally getting to our hotel, we prepared ourselves for the experience. A Russian banya is an unique ritual--it consists of sitting in a HOT sauna, while getting beaten with birch branches then finishing it off with a jump into a FREEZING pool-sounds fun, right?

A few of my colleagues and I headed over to our private banya for what ended up being one of the nights I will never forget. Once there, the whole process was a little intimidating but we figured while in Russia—do as the Russians. We all entered the sauna after changing into our bathing suits (some choose to go in with only a towel wrapped around them but no-one in our group did!), and determined our Moscow Manager, Constantin, was going to do the honors of being the “beater”. It is a surreal feeling sitting in 100+ degrees while being hit with branches.

When it was my turn to go, I opted to take the chicken route and stood under a bucket of cold water that was poured on me rather than voluntarily jumping into the freezing pool. Nevertheless….I got the drift.

I’m definitely glad I took the plunge and experienced a true Russian Banya. It is something that I think everyone should try out when they visit. Like I mentioned before, while in Russia—do as the Russians!