30 September

After a very settled night I woke at 0400 to the rapping of fingers on the cabin door. I thought this peculiar as we were not due in to Vladisvostok until 0648 and I had already set the alarm for just after 0500. I rose to see what was happening and found our provodnitsa motioning that Sharon’s stop was coming up at Ussuriysk and she should get ready to leave the train. Sharon had bought her ticket over the Internet and it was in two sections, one from Moscow to Ussuriysk and one from Ussuriysk to Vladivostok. When our provodnitsa collected the tickets, she only wanted one, so when the second surfaced, it was a surprise. For a time it looked as though there may have been problems, but eventually they were sorted out and Sharon was told she could go back to sleep and stay on until Vladivostok. That, of course, broke the magic of the rest and neither of us could get back to sleep.
I got up about forty minutes before we were due in to find … toilets locked, so no wash this morning!
At 0648 local time, or 2348 Moscow time, the train stopped at the platform – on time after seven and a half days. Everyone was packed and ready to go so we were all out, I said goodbye to our provodnitsas and Sharon and started on down the platform. The hotel is only a block away, so I thought it wouldn’t be much effort to reach there, but … along pops a driver with my name – now this is service! He even carried my suitcase up the steps and to his car, a Subaru Liberty. The luggage went in the back, I went to the right side, only to be told to go to the left. Apparently (and I confirmed this later) about ninety per cent of the cars in Vladivostok are right-hand-drives. They are imported second-hand from Japan and then used here.
Along we went to the hotel. It wasn’t far, but again (this seems common) it was about three times as long by car as it was by foot. Because of the one-way streets, it was around and around until we were finally out the front. Now came the interesting news. My flight leaves at 0825 tomorrow morning so I will be picked up from the hotel at 0530 to get to the airport by 0630. That’s not too bad, but breakfast in the hotel starts at 0700. I though a reasonable suggestion was to have breakfast today and not tomorrow, but the desk staff did not agree. I ended up leaving my luggage at the luggage office and then going for a walk. I should note that the Dawn Princess is in harbour.
At this stage, just after 0700, it was still dark outside but the streets were lively with people going to work. I went looking for a cheap food place that was open and ended up finding a 24 hour supermarket, so got a roll and a drink. Then I walked back along one of the main streets and saw the famous square, but couldn’t find anything else I was looking for. I did notice that my driver’s information was correct. There were very few left-hand-drive cars – even the police and other government workers had right-hand-drives, and a few buses were right-hand-drive too.
As the Funicular Railway was supposed to start at 0700, I walked up to it. How bad can my luck be – it’s out of action, presumably because of a construction site at its upper or northern terminus? As the view promised to be good, I walked up. Now I can see why it is so popular. It’s quite a hike up and it connects parts of the tertiary college here – there were a lot of students doing the trek. The view was worthwhile, as you will see. The only problem is the high humidity may have caused the images to be a little fuzzy. Here I heard an Australian accent to find it was a couple from the Gold Coast who were on the Dawn Princess. After that I walked back down, found a burger joint and went in. There weren’t even photographs to help me out. A security guard saw my bewildered look and got a waitress to give me a menu in English. I made my order, got it (no fries or chips here – just ask for potato) and sat down to eat. The temperature inside here was more bearable than other places – everywhere in Russia (but also other northern hemisphere places), interior temperatures are more akin to firing a furnace than keeping humans comfortable. Even in the train, 30°C is considered normal by the locals. After cooling down and having some sustenance, I went to the C-56 submarine (C in Russian is pronounced S), had a look over that and then went to the ferry terminal to do a ride to Russky Island and see the harbour. I had a wait, so could rest my feet (again, tool long without any real exercise) and observe human nature. Kids especially are the same all over the world, whether they are one or seventeen.
I saw the ferry before leave, so went to the next one that was loading, but no-one seemed to have the same ticket as me. I asked a policeman going on the ferry (so no chance of a high-speed ride here, folks) and he assured me it was the correct one. Just before it went out, along came everyone else with the same tickets. The ride was good except – it was overcast, starting to rain, and at some points there was lightning. So, few photos. When I finished up back at the terminal (25py6 each way, after striking up a conversation with another policeman on his way back) I walked back to the hotel (and got spoken to by an Russian ex-sea captain, who had NEVER docked in Australia, but wants to visit now), checked in (had to leave my passport and train ticket), did some washing and then had a long shower. This is where I ran into an inconsistency on the part of Russians. On the train, strangers, male and female, are thrust together into a locked compartment for periods of up to a week. In the hotel, a babushka on each floor makes sure you, and only you, get into your hotel room.
My advice to fellow travellers – if you’re gong to indulge in hanky-panky, the train is easier than the hotel!
I walked down to the main street to photograph Yul Brunner’s house at Number 15. It’s yellow (that narrow sit down to two) and opposite an art gallery (that narrows it down to none). Following the numbers doesn’t help, as very few buildings have numbers on (numbers 11 and 19 do, but there are six buildings between them). I got a picture of both!
I determined to visit the Vladivostok Fort Museum, so went through the seaside area (yes, it has beaches and even a topless bather, if you can see the photos) and then went too far and had to double back. Having found the museum and bought my ticket, I got no further for the next ten minutes, as one of the tours from the Dawn Princess was there and a passenger outside (and his wife), having espied my book on the TransSiberian in my hand, queried me about it, and then on the luxury rail down to Singapore from Thailand, visiting Australia and New Zealand and going home. Our conversation was cut short by the tour returning and everyone having to board the bus. I looked around the museum (set up in a series of casements with outside exhibits completing the show). Most of the displays were WWII and previous vintage, but a few were nearly current. It has been done by volunteers, and a good job they have done too. The 100 py6 entry fee is very reasonable. I went back to the hotel, getting a drink along the way. I asked at the desk about Internet access (the WiFi isn’t working (I know that already) but I can use a cable with my laptop in the Business Centre. WRONG! The babushka there said, No way! Use their machines as is or not, so I didn’t. Back to my room, write up my blog, discharge the camera batteries (and then hopefully charge them) and process the photos from today. Then, after getting my passport and ticket back, sleep to rise at 0430 for an early morning trip to the airport to arrive in Beijing in the late morning (and hopefully have some breakfast before I leave).