Basically our adventure began on May 31st with a four hour long bus ride from Seoul to Sokcho on the eastern coast of South Korea. After some time-killing, and phone calls to both of you from the port city of Sokcho (mom and dad from a cafe at the bus terminal, and April and the kids from the ferry terminal [the photo of Jihye on the phone is actually while she spoke with Tracker] we boarded a massive ferry for a 25 hour ride/float/cruise to Vladivostok, Russia. We got lucky, as the agency that handled Jihye's Russian visa, the owner felt for us and our upcoming journey and asked us to send him images of our ID (passports and ticket info.) and he upgraded our ferry class for free! So we went from sharing a floor mat with 8, 12, 16, or up to 32 others with no privacy whatsoever to having a private 4-berth (two bunk beds) room with an ocean view. And as no one else had booked the other two bunks, we had the room to ourselves for all of the trip.
The ferry and the route was a new one provided by a major shipping company, Stena Daea, a Swedish operation that does both passenger and commercial shipping. So while there were several hundred passengers in plain view, we discovered after arriving in Russia that the bottom of the ship was filled with semi-truck size containers, tractors, packages, etc...of all sizes. The general boat ride was calm and peaceful, we never once felt anything even approaching motion sickness. We were both surprised as the Korean peninsula shrunk away into the horizon and dissipated behind the bank of clouds that we were the only passengers staring off the stern...everyone else was already settling into rooms, generally socializing, or in the case of Korean adjossi's pouring back soju and beer at 4pm in the afternoon. The evening found us exploring the ship, a large restaurant, smaller cafe, a karaoke area, cocktail bar, and several general lounges and a pleasant lobby area. Unfortunately the ferry even offered a children's play area, which happened to be DIRECTLY alongside our room. But never look a gift-horse in the mouth, and traveling from Korea to Russia for $90...you learn to deal with a few multi-lingual squeals.
The night passed well, a HORRENDOUS Filipino lounge-singer belting out Cat Stevens, Eric Clapton, the Beatles (we walked out after a couple songs) and the sleep was sound. The next morning was more of the same...reading The Brothers Karamazov in the cafe with draft beer, chatting with the Korean/Filipino crew and a few passengers. (side note: I was the only non-Korean or non-Russian on the entire ship...a sure sign of things to come for the both of us) We sailed pleasurably until about three in the afternoon when we could spy the silhouette of Russia silently pulling us towards it. Such excitement and nerves as we neared. Everything was so foreign, and every imagination I have ever had of Russia made its way forth in my mind. The bluffs were dotted with tall concrete apartment complexes. To the right of us on the hills was a giant industrial complex that belched out a yellowish-brown cloud that slowly and generally lingered out into the sea and discolored the entire sky for several kilometers. Fishing trawlers passed us on the left, cargo containers on the right, ships full of automobiles flying the North Korean flag, Russian naval destroyers, everything went past. We were kept still for about 45 minutes within sight of Vladivostok as we had to wait for permission to enter the harbor. Finally we sailed forth and incredibly directly under a massive bridge and into port. Vladivostok is host to Russia's eastern naval force and their presence is quite pronounced in the harbor. At least half a dozen destroyers, battleships, and other vessels all flying the Russian naval flags and decorated with full pageantry. It is also a major shipping hub for Russia's trade, imports and exports with China, the Koreas, the US, Canada, etc....so the massive port area is full of all sort of shipping, rail depots, cranes, containers, everything. Our ferry pilot made an impressive 180 degree spin and the tug boats pressed us gently alongside the dock as we could stare at the Russians awaiting family members a mere 25 meters away from us, and even see our own reflections in the glass facade of the Vladivostok ferry terminal. Unfortunately, we would find ourselves stuck on the ferry for the next 2 hours+ waiting for the crew and others to pass through immigration before we could even disembark and have our own adventures passing through Russian immigration. How strict are they? What do you think would happen if you just held up your camera to look through the lens in the waiting line at immigration...
To be continued...
