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“Thwack” - the sound of a Russian passport stamp !

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But let’s go back a bit. We leave the hotel Nono (I would have preferred to it being called the hotel “ YesYes) but it is as very much a yes and a delightfully Japanese hotel. We have to take off our boots to get past reception.




And it’s off to the ferry terminal where we wait and wait and wait. Eventually after being there for about 4 hours things start to happen. The ramp comes down 



Three bike ride on. We walk back off. Then the ramp goes up again - that’s it !

Eventually we are allowed on board and then we sail 



For two nights we are on the ferry  The trip is a trifle boring to put it mildly.

Some of the other passengers find it boring also. Here Sergei, Igor and Ivan sleep the vodka off. 



The ship could do with a good Cruise Director!  Anyway, after what seems a long time Vladivostok appears.






We walk right over the very very start of the TranSiberian railway terminal 


In the afternoon I am off with our “fixer “ come customs agent - I am not sure which - perhaps  both - to get the insurance fixed up. . I sign about a dozen  pieces of paper in dense Russian. Yuri tells me I have now signed over all my organs to the government. Russian joke he tells me! 

And now today dawns - the day of getting the bike. More customs formalities in the morning. Then in the afternoon it all happens. One by one the bikes are ridden out of the customs gate by a worker ( who is enjoying his job immensely ). The Redhead comes into view 




Now the drama starts. Yuri asks if  I want to be guided up to the hotel. Makes sense I think given the problems with the GPS in Kyoto. I wait for the white van we have been using to come along so I can follow. It comes along. An arm waves to me and I start following the man in the van 

By this time a light rain starts. We weave in and out of streets, change multiple lanes as I follow the van and cope with the rain, wet surfaces  ,left hand drive ,no hand drive, one way streets and a strange city - all at once! The van seems to be getting faster and faster.  And faster and faster. I struggle to keep up.  I find  myself doing a James Bond street  chase reinactment  Fortunatly I guess I have the looks for the part but of course it is all wasted under a bike helmet 

Then the van goes  down a very rough and dubious alley and just disappears. What the .........!   I turn to Elizabethan the GPS lady who responds magnificently and between the two of us we get to the hotel. In the car park is a puzzled Yuri. “Why were you not following me?” he asks. I said I was. So to cut a long story short I was apparently following the wrong vehicle who clearly thought he was being chased by me and who was doing his best to shake me off his tail.

Finally I get to the hotel to find that even Arrowtown has been co- opted to help find me  ! 


And that dear reader was my introduction to riding a bike  in Russia 


But we have the bike, we have a plan and we are now ready to roll west 












Comments

Kerian said…
So so funny. But glad you are ok and ready for your next adventure. Thanks. Wet and a bit cold here
4 June 2019 at 15:15
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