Just returned from Yoshkar-Ola, and thought I'd pass on some interesting information.
Up until a few weeks before my trip, we'd been corresponding through fiance.com. The agency on her side was a little outfit called Russian Princess. She'd go into their office daily, read and respond to my letters.
2 weeks before my visit she stopped sending letters, and I stopped getting "...has read your letter" messages. To further confuse the issue I had copied her phone number down wrong and was getting a "not in service" error when I tried to call. Needless to say I got a little panicky, but eventually got that part sorted out.
Anyway, when I got to Y-O she told me the agency had a sign on the door saying they were "temporarily closed." We both went to the agency together to verify that indeed they were still closed after close to 3 weeks.
The kicker is that when I got back to the states, I had a letter waiting for me on fiance.com, supposedly from my lady. The letter was a short little note saying she was sorry for not replying sooner but that she had been out of town for a few weeks. This was too funny because at about the time I got that letter, I was actually *with* the lady.
So if you're writing to a lady in Y-O through fiance.com, you might want to check with them who the local agency is. If it's Russian Princess, it's very likely that you're not corresponding with a real person anymore. My own theory is that Russian Princess has turned to being a scam outfit, but who knows. All I know is the letter I got did not come from my lady.
I've notified fiance.com, but haven't received a response yet. Hope this helps someone.
Been to YO four times. Even was engaged to a lady from there, applied for her visa, but on the last trip, realized she would never come to the US. Never went in, but saw the location of Russian Princess. VERY small agency. Frankly my feeling about YO is it is not as "desirable" as it used to be. Economy is improving, new buildings all the time, and it has been "shopped" for a dozen years now. Probably some sincere, honest ladies there, but not my first choice of where to go anymore.
Just curious jon (and anybody else who wants to answer). If you were GOING to start fresh right now - where would you go for the best prospects.
Except for the fact that they have no Romance Socials there (which I generally like to attend) - I would go to Minsk, Belarus. Its definitely not a place that has been "shopped out" and certain European FSU.
If I were starting out fresh, I'd have no problem with going to Y-O again. Yes, many scams have originated there, but I'm not so sure it's any worse than anywhere else in the world these days. Heck, many bad outfits are being run right from the United States.
During my stay in Yoshkar-Ola, I ran into one other Westerner, a Brit. (And if the guy I met at Pharoh's is here, drop in and say howdy, it was nice meeting you! You were the guy sitting behind me with 2 nice ladies, and I was the one with the drop-dead gorgious brunette. :) ) Y-O is definitely not "shopped out" and there are some incredible beauties there. In fact, I didn't see a woman under 30 who I didn't consider at least attractive.
At Pharoh's, the local night club, many times when some lady heard my Western accent she'd stop and practice some English on me. The ladies were incredibly curious, and if it weren't for the fact that I was already with the most beautiful lady in the joint I'm sure it would have been no problem picking up any number of them. (which is not to say Y-O women are easy--they're not!) You can get a cab to/from anywhere in Y-O for 50 rubles (about US$2) although most places are within walking distance of anywhere else. I found the people to be very friendly and very open to Westerners. I simply wouldn't hesitate to go again.
As with anywhere else in the world, you do your homework up front and you won't run into problems. Get to know the lady first, talk with her on the phone, don't send her money, and you'll be fine.
Just an update: My lady reported that Russian Princess contacted her yesterday and said they had been "on holiday" but that they are back now. She of course dropped them like a hot potato anyway, but we got a good laugh out of that. As I said before, they forged a letter to me from her, so as far as I'm concerned they're crooks and possibly identity thieves.
To anyone writing to a woman in Yoshkar-Ola, please check to see if she's using Russian Princess on her end. If she is, you may not actually be corresponding with the same person anymore. If you have the lady's personal email or phone number, you should consider telling her not to use them anymore.
Just like many people have pointed out, it is very important to get them on the phone. I think it has been also written that some of these women may be agency employees who get compensated for each letter they write. I suspect this personally, because a few times when I asked for a number to call them, the question was ignored, at the same time they said they were glad to have met me.