European Stars and Stripes (Newspaper) - September 15, 1985, Darmstadt, Hesse                                By Louise Branson United press International t hey stand to get their sultans. Tim their Ocean dips to the minute and heed the advice of doctors patrolling the Sand. Forget frying under a layer of Coppertone or strolling the promenade. Beach vacations in the soviet Union Are an annual collective health cure. During their yearly 24-Day vacations which can tall any time Between july and october millions of russians Are soaking in Fulfur Baths lying in bubbling Hydrogen Sultie Springs wallowing in mud or taking grape or Mineral cures As Well As Sun and Sev health improvement is officially what holidays Are about in the soviet Union. A poster in the Black sea resort of Sochi spells it out the health of each is the wealth of  millions take this seriously streaming South and Northwest to indulge their passion for All manner of health cures. Even those whose health programs Are not being rigorously overseen get the message. Glancing along the sardine packed beaches it looks As though Many people Are standing because there is quite literally no room to sit. But closer inspection of the serious looks on their faces As they stand eyes closed and arms Stiel Ched soviet vacationers above stand for a Tan in Yalta. The Bolshoi Bikini right is popular Wear on soviet resort beaches. Towards the Sun. Reveals that they Are obeying soviet doctors health instructions sunbathing should be done standing up because it is More beneficial to health. In Yalta on the crimean coast the Entrance to one Beach carries a list of rules to be followed including the amount of time that should be spent in the sea. The first dip should be no longer than five minutes it says but the time can be gradually extended to 20 minutes on subsequent Days. It also orders people not to swim after meals or when  on special supervised beaches doctors in White Coats stroll among the bathers instructing when each has had enough Sun or prescribing precise amounts of time in the sea. The supervised beaches Are for the Luckiest however. Though article 41 of the soviet Constitution guarantees every citizen the right to rest there Are simply not enough places for everyone. The state can Only provide vacation accommodations for 50 million people and the demand is about three times that amount. All Holiday places in sanitarium hotels or camping grounds Are allocated by Trade unions connected with a person s workplace. So it helps to be & diligent worker communist party member or have Good connections. One journalist at a Moscow newspaper complained that Only to percent of the reporters at his newspaper Are Given places. Because the slate subsidized places Are allocated at work it is almost impossible for husbands and wives to take vacations together but this seems to be the accepted Way of life. Why would i want to go away with my husband i have to see him All the rest of the  said one soviet woman in her Early 40s. Russians report that since so Many people go on vacation singly Holiday romances Are notoriously common. Children generally get packed off to Pioneer Holiday Camps for the summer. The most prize Holiday places Are in luxurious sanitarium Many of them the former estates of the aristocracy which provide cures for All manner of disorders. In theory sanitarium users Are supposed to be suffering from some illness to get a spot but in practice almost anyone who can wangle a place gels in. Russian doctors prescribe sanitarium cures with much the same frequency As Western doctors hand out prescriptions for antibiotics. Leonid s. Hilarov. The chief doctor at the  sanitarium in Sochi showed off sophisticated equipment with which he tests arriving patients. He then prescribes different diets exercise and Sun periods for them. Zinaida Mishiyeva. A steamship Engineer said she was paying $76 for her subsidized four week stay. She had been Given a room to share with a younger woman from Moscow and had left her husband and two children at Home. Her carefully controlled Day of Massage diet exercise sea and Sun began at 7 . And ended at 11 . She said. Down the Road at the Mats Eta Fulfur Springs director Diana f. Balashova said 2,000 patients a Day have Fulfur treatments ranging from Baths to localized cures those who can stand the pungent smell that is. Young and old stood in lines outside doors in the cavernous marbled building but looked rather glum As they waited for cures for rheumatism and a Range of skin diseases. One of the most intriguing cures is reported to be the grape therapy at a Yalta sanitarium which is designed to improve glucose intake and strengthen heart Muscles. Patients begin by eating a Pound of grapes a Day and end up munching their Way through 10 pounds a Day. Even those who Are on less strictly controlled holidays in rest Homes hotels and camping grounds rarely escape without some kind of treatment or medical Check up. Page 16 the stars and stripes sunday september 15, 1985