The next day (Tuesday 24th May) commenced with breakfast (of course, they didn't have the orange juice on the menu).
Our guide met us and took us to a landing on the harbour. We boarded our boat - just the two of us and our guide - for a tour of the harbour. It is a big, bustling, port, There are Russian navy boats (only a few) and lots of commercial shipping, ferries and coast guard. There is also a very large ice-breaker.
Commercial shipping includes containers (mainly handled by modern handing facilities) and smaller ships being loaded by cranes (including coal and scrap metal). Import of used Japanese cars seems well established - so much so that you don't see any Russian cars on the streets. This means that, while Russia drives on the right (US and European style), most of the drivers are sitting on the right-hand side of the car.
The cruise, of about 90 minutes, gave us a good view of the harbour, though it was foggy and quite cold on the boat. We could see the two new bridges under construction - the one between Vladivostok and Rossiya Island will be an impressive span. Rossiya Island was an off-limits military area (it's now a leisure destination, with about 200 inhabitants, serviced by ferry). It's a big bridge to let APEC meet on Rossiya Island.
We had lunch in a Georgian restaurant. In spite of Georgia's reputation for wine, the best we could find was a South African Colombard Chablis (which, of course, wasn't on the menu). Locals were sensibly drinking vodka! The meal was good, even if most of the menu wasn't available. One of the locals introduced himself - Viktor was apparently a local seaman (a Chief Radio Officer), but conversation was a little difficult (our dubious Russian, his limited English and possibly the vodka he had taken on board).
Following a bit of a walk, we had a look at the Fortress Museum. Vladivostok was heavily fortified in the 20th century, particularly in WWII and this Museum was at one of these fortifications. Unsuprisingly, the museum was mainly cannons of all sorts and other military paraprenalia.
At 8:55, Natalia collected us, took us to a supermarket to stock up on provisions and saw us to the train. The train station is in the centre of town and is an interesting and attractive structure (pitched roof, arches, columns and other ornamentation, inside and out), designed to highlight the importance of the railway.
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| Russian navy in Vladivostok harbour |
Commercial shipping includes containers (mainly handled by modern handing facilities) and smaller ships being loaded by cranes (including coal and scrap metal). Import of used Japanese cars seems well established - so much so that you don't see any Russian cars on the streets. This means that, while Russia drives on the right (US and European style), most of the drivers are sitting on the right-hand side of the car.
We had lunch in a Georgian restaurant. In spite of Georgia's reputation for wine, the best we could find was a South African Colombard Chablis (which, of course, wasn't on the menu). Locals were sensibly drinking vodka! The meal was good, even if most of the menu wasn't available. One of the locals introduced himself - Viktor was apparently a local seaman (a Chief Radio Officer), but conversation was a little difficult (our dubious Russian, his limited English and possibly the vodka he had taken on board).
Following a bit of a walk, we had a look at the Fortress Museum. Vladivostok was heavily fortified in the 20th century, particularly in WWII and this Museum was at one of these fortifications. Unsuprisingly, the museum was mainly cannons of all sorts and other military paraprenalia.
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| Trans-Sib marker at Vladivostok Station |
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