Post-proletarian Tourism 237the right channel—toward learning about historical places, like places con-
nected with the victory over fascist Germany.” At the same time, tourism of-
fi cials attempted to provide appropriate services for this burgeoning segment
of the vacationing public. In addition to roads, of course, automobile tour-
ists needed places to stay that could offer the necessary amenities: parking
spaces, gasoline stations, and repair shops. The Ministry of Trade proposed
in 1955 to build a whole network of pansions dedicated to automobile tour-
ists, and the TEU also recognized the need to cater to this population, but
as always, facilities lagged behind demand. As one pioneering auto tourist
wrote to the newspaper Trud in 1959, there were hundreds of travelers like
him, who wished to just “pick up and go,” but auto tourists lacked maps and
guides that could point out where to buy gasoline or food in the towns along
their way; if they managed to fi nd a room for the night in a hotel, there was
no place to leave the car. Many ended up just sleeping overnight in their au-
tomobiles. The hospitable roadside motor lodge depicted in the 1957 fi lm To
the Black Sea , with its clean and plentiful rooms and a bright, well-stocked
restaurant, found few real life exemplars. The 1959 tourist guide’s chapter
on automobile tourism explicitly advised making the six-day journey from
Moscow to the Caucasus in caravans of at least six cars, preferably all of the
same make so that spare parts could be stockpiled and shared. Never, ever
drive alone, warned the handbook.^76
By necessity and by choice, automobile tourists tended to be more in-
dependent and unorganized than their comrades choosing to book packageTable 6.3. Comparative costs per day of tourist packages, 1968Type of tour Length in daysTotal cost in
rubles Cost per day
Black Sea cruise deluxe, peak season 18 230 12.78
Black Sea cruise, third class, peak
season18 110 6.11Volga cruise, fi rst class 20 170 8.50
Volga cruise, fourth class 20 95 4.75
Tourist train Moscow-Caucasus 20 150 7.50
Around the Caucasus, bus 20 110 5.50
Western Caucasus, on foot 20 60 3.00
Yalta, radial 20 65 3.25
Source: Turistskie marshruty na 1968 god, comp. P. Rakhmanov (Moscow, 1968), 49, 118, 138, 48, 33, 50.- TsAGM, f. 28, op. 3, d. 6, l. 32 (quote); A. I. Burov, ed. Spravochnik-putevoditel'
po pansionatom i kurorttorgov (Moscow, 1955), an automobilist’s guide to tourist facilities;
GARF, f. 9520, op. 1, d. 1272, l. 11; Trud , 16 October 1959; B. Ia. Gartenberg, “Avtomobil'nyi
turizm,” in Sputnik turista , 302–303.