Me and my girlfriend (we are a lesbian couple) traveled from Moscow to Ekaterinburg, and on to Volgograd. The trip was amazing. We were a bit worried about traveling without male company, but I must say Russia is one of the friendliest and untouristy places I've ever been.

It is a big advantage to know some Russian. Outside of Moscow we met nobody who spoke English. I found Moscow very stressful and expensive. It was the least pleasant city we visited. Our next stop was Kazan, the capital of the Republic of Tatarstan. I highly recommend Kazan. It's an old, beautiful and exotic city with a mix of Tatars and Russes living there. The atmosphere was far more relaxed than in Moscow.

Kazan offers great mosques, and is the Muslim centre of Russia. It's a great place to relax and stroll about. This city has some stunning sights, including the UNESCO listed Kreml.

Our next stop was Ekaterinburg. We were told that it was situated in the Ural mountains, but we never saw a glimpse of them. Nevertheless; Ekaterinburg is a very pleasant and chilled city. It has a very western feeling to it. It's easy to find western food, as there's plenty of Irish pubs there. I recommend going to the Altay building. There you can take a lift and see the city from the rooftop. It's quite stunning. There's plenty of theatres all around the city, and even though you don't understand Russian, don't miss the opportunity to catch local theatre-troops.

A great place (although hard to find) to stay is the guesthouse called Academy of Geology. It's peaceful and has beautiful rooms.

From Ekaterinburg we went south to Ufa. Ufa is the capital of the Republic of Bashkortostan. Ufa was quite hard to get around, but it is still worth a visit. You can visit one of Lenin's homes and spot some unique architecture. The atmosphere in Ufa is, like in Kazan, very different from the Russian cities. I highly recommend the Azimut hotel (Bus stop Gore Moskva). It's a business hotel with great standards and a friendly staff.

On to Volgograd. Volgograd is probably one of the most beautiful cities I've been to. Situated on the banks of the Volga river with an almost tropical climate, it almost feels like you're in Greece. This is a city of history. The name Stalingrad might ring a bell. The most stunning thing to see in Volgograd is the huge Mother Russia statue. It's the highest statue in the world (72 m). It's an unbelievable sight when you compare it to a church that stands beside it. It looks more like a doll's church.

I also recommend the Stalingrad Battle museum, and the Volga river cruises. There are plenty of offers. Volgograd was really easy to get around in. The city centre is quite small, and it's easy to navigate because of the river. The Volgograd Hotel is cheap and amazing.

We had a wonderful time in Russia. My girlfriend knows some Russian and that came in extremely handy. We got quite used to people looking at us, but we never felt threatened or harassed. The most common comment we got from other women was that we were brave to travel by ourselves.

One thing that is difficult however, is buying train tickets. You will need to write down the information for the train you are going on, how many tickets you need, and what kind of cupee you want. And prepare for long lines. It might take hours to get your tickets. We always went in a 4-people compartment. It was a great way to travel. We shared compartments with so many different people, and it was a great way to get to know Russians. It's important to bring some food or beverage to share.

Girls; go to Russia. It is a fascinating place....

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The mardi gras festival in Sydney lasts for 3-4 weeks culminating in a parade on the evening of the 1st Saturday in March.

Go for as long as you can and make the most of the art exhibitions, theatre, film, cabaret, club nights, fair day. Make sure that you arrive early for the parade as estimates put the crowd at between 350,000 and 500,000!

www.mardigras.com.au

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We were met as planned at Delhi airport by Maya – one of our hosts – smiling brightly and welcoming us to Delhi.

A short taxi ride later (once Maya finally found our taxi, but that’s another story) we met our other host Betu. Together they run the guesthouse which to the eye is small, modest and comfortable. But Maya and Betu make it so much more than that with their help, advice, good food, ginger tea and warmth.

They arranged taxis for us, helped us to work out what to see and do in Delhi, answered our questions about India and made us laugh until our sides hurt.

In addition to the guesthouse they run a voluntary organization which provides a helpline, counselling and support to women across India who are questioning their sexuality or identify as lesbian. If you consider the usual issues faced by any woman coming out and add to them the cultural expectations faced by women in India you can imagine how important this work is.

Unfortunately it is not currently funded and so by staying at Naari guesthouse you are contributing towards the running costs. Another good reason to visit!

950 INR (approx 11 pounds) per person gets you and en-suite A/C room.

Tel: 0091 – 11 – 26138316 or 26899262
www.sanginii.org
The contact email of Naari is

(naari_india@hotmail.com)

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Chueca is recognised as a gay neighbourhood in Madrid city centre, popular for its bars and discos of the same description. During the daytime there's a very tranquil, liberal vibe to the area. Then at night, especially on the weekends, it comes alive and everybody, gay or otherwise, mix together and have a great time. A perfect place for gay couples, free of prejudice.

Metro: Chueca

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The first two are more laid-back women's bars in Shinjuku 2. Fuji is great to go to if you have male mates; stuck in the early 70s. Good if/when Kinswomyn is too high on the energy scale. The Tokyo "out" women's scene is quite small, so people do tend to know each other well and are very friendly. There’s also a high butch rate.

Shinjuku 2-7-2 2F
homepage2.nifty.com/mars21/
Moonshiner:
Shinjuku 3-8-5 Kanagawa Bldg B1 03-3355-6938
Fuji is in the basement of an obscure building; ask around

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Club packed with gorgous lezzas. Mixture of music - dance, disco, pop, and friendly, happy ambiance. Blokes can go too with their female mates. Top night out. Just wish there was a club like this in the UK!

25 Boulevard Poissonniere, nearest Metro: Grands Boulevards. www.pulp-paris.com/ or see Paris map on: www.gaymap.info/download.html

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For the best food at knock-down prices (and for colourful, mainly gay, San Fran locals) head for Chow's in Castro where they are queuing down the street every night of the week; but never mind, the waiting staff will direct you to an adjacent bookshop from which they will call you when your table is free. The food is great, the portions are gargantuan, the service is brilliant and the bill is miniscule.

215 Church St; tel: 415-552-2469;
Directions: Take the bus from the centre of San Fran and get off at Castro - turn left and it's a couple of hundred yards down on the left. Or, Take the K,L,M or J Church Underground Muni Metro and get off at Church (Street) Station. Chow is on the south side of Market Street.

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Tavern on Camac is a gay bar and nightclub in Center City that serves great cocktails, and transforms into a live piano bar several nights a week. The pianist always takes requests and has a huge selection of sheet music to choose from, plus mikes for anyone intrepid enough to join him - it starts slow, but by the end of the night everyone's up and singing! This is where we drowned our sorrows the night GW won again, despite our best efforts. As I wrote at the time: "We let it all out at one of Philadelphia's wonderful piano bars, with a pianist who was slightly surprised when fifteen drunken tearful Brits and their American friends settled in for a night of Cosmopolitans and howling along with country music." lclgrelectiontrip.blogspot.com/2004/11/back-from-philadelphia.html

www.tavernoncamac.com/ 243 Camac Street, Philadelphia, 19107

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Bump is a gay/mixed bar and restaurant in Center City. Go for happy hour (5-7pm) when all cocktails are $3, or go later for dinner. I recommend the crab cakes with remoulade, rice and wilted spinach.

1234 Locust Street Philadelphia 19107;
www.bumplounge.com

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Giovanni's Room is a three-floor extravaganza of lesbian and gay literature, spread over three floors in the heart of Philadelphia's Center City "gaybourhood".

345 South 12th Street;
www.giovannisroom.com

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Women-only bar in the heart of Shinjuku Ni-chome (left-of-centre gay district). Free entry, drinks start at Y700 - laugh with the friendly regulars and Tara, the R&B-loving owner. One of the finest women's bars you're likely to visit!

www.tokyo.to/kinswomyn/

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