There's a hilarious scene in Travels in Siberia where the author takes a trip to the Russian far east with a retired couple from California with extremely exact

There's a hilarious scene in Travels in Siberia where the author takes a trip to the Russian far east with a retired couple from California with extremely exacting dietary restrictions. At one point the old man is complaining loudly about all the money he spent on food and lodging—what did it go to? The author replies calmly: bribes. When they finally pass through Russian customs at the end of the trip, he complains to the Russian customs agent, saying the author told him most of the money for their trip went to bribes. The customs agent replies calmly: yes, probably.