Roads and traveling through Russia have always been a curse -- and they're pretty bad even today.
Several centuries ago only the most devoted travelers and pilgrims took the risk of a long voyage across Russia or abroad.
The present exhibition in the Peter and Paul Fortress takes visitors through the nightmare of the first travelers' treks across Russia and the exciting adventures they encountered along the way to their destinations.
The various means of transport people used can be seen along with models, photos, travel equipment and the luggage that a Russian traveler would need during his trips in 18th, 19th and early 20th centuries.
The coaches are impressive with examples on both wheels and sledges. Also interesting are the kind of horse-drawn transport which characters in Alexander Pushkin's novels could find themselves using.
The fact that such journeys were not without their perils is illustrated by the tools of the highwayman's trade, like the "kisten" -- a heavy metal ball on a rope or chain.
The travelers' way of life, their routes, early guide books, souvenirs and pictures of places of interest from all over the world are also on display.
Though the exhibits do not include the standard bear's fur coat, which was needed by passengers on the first Russian trains to keep them warm, some artifacts are quite unusual -- like an enormous coach ticket.
Measuring about 20 x 30 centimeters, half of it is taken up with the rules and regulations of carriage for the passenger written in Russian and German. One rule was the strict "ban on taking any letters, parcels or money," to protect the state post's monopoly!
In the rules, passengers were warned that in order to leave their city they had to obtain special permission from their local police station.
The exhibition does not focus on any particular group of travelers since a coachman, the middle class gentleman, the businessman or a pilgrim would use the same equipment and see the same views wherever they went.
Different exhibition rooms are devoted to different times and destinations -- Russia before Peter the Great, old St Petersburg and Moscow, the rest of Europe and Far Eastern cities.
It is interesting to see the triumphal arches in St Petersburg -- the Moscow and Narva arches. Now of course, they are mere monuments and seem somewhat out of place but in former times they were fenced off and used as border guard and document check points.