The last function for us in Vladivostok was to attend the 3rd Birthday party of the Iron Angels Motorcycle Club in Vladivostok (http://www.ironangelsmcc.com/) . Tony and Terry had attended the amazing 2nd birthday party last year, and now it was the turn of Sherri and I. It’s not something that needs too much in the way of words … so I will run with pictures:
Vladivostok is near one of the largest tiger regions in the world, and tigers are the emblem for much that comes from the region:
Posters celebrating the 65th anniversary of the Soviet Union’s victory against the Nazi’s:
The Embankment … in downtown Vladivostok:
I bumped into some legs:
Sherri Jo bumped into some US Naval Officers:
And then we all bumped into an endless stream of wedding parties:
Vladivostok – Part 2
We returned to the bike club, where the guys were preparing for this weekends big feast and drink-a-thon, the 3rd birthday of the Iron Angels bike club. Sherri spoke to the mechanic who had been working on her bike, trying to communicate how much she owed him for changing and balancing her tyres and changing her oil. He however was having none of it. No charge. Just pay the club boss for the oil we used. That was her introduction to the friendliness of Russian bikers.
While she was sorting out Andrei, the club boss, for the oil, I had a Russian biker-ess trying out my bike. “A bit taller than my chopper” was all she said. I wondered to myself did she actually ride her bike with the hot pants and high heels?
A call came in, from one of the shipping agents regarding Magadan. One of the ships was in a day early and needed to be loaded tonight for a tomorrow morning departure. This was good news. The bikes would probably be in Magadan on Tuesday, same as us. We threw stuff onto our bikes and rode them down to the port, stopping briefly for the obligatory Vladivostok foto … in front of the submarine.
The young shipping agent met us there in his new Range Rover and told us we had to wait. We couldn’t ride the bikes onto the dock because its technically a border zone – we needed a Russian citizen … so a biker friend of the agent was coming down to help out. The friend turned up in a souped up Porsche Cayenne. He was about 28. SJ and I looked at each other and raised our eyebrows. Business is booming in Vladivostok I see.
The bikes were ridden away to be loaded on to the boat. We had secured a really good deal. It was unofficial.
A mere 4000 rubles each to ship the bikes to Magadan. Vladivostok to Magadan is a hell of a long way. Its 4 hours in a jet plane. 80 quid to send each bike over 2000 miles (3000km) was a bargain in anyone’s language. Two days earlier we had purchased our air tickets. And as luck would have it, we got an decent deal there too. Tony had paid 24,000 rubles last year from his Magadan to Vlad flight. Sherri and I scored them this year for 16,000 each.
The only thing left on the agenda for Vladivostok is the 3rd Birthday party for the Iron Angels bike club this weekend. Tony and Terry were at the 2nd Birthday party for the club last year … and we all know how that went!
Vladivostok, Russia:
I spoke too soon … for reasons I don’t understand, the boat went to Vladivostok direct, rather than to its usual destination Zarubino. That meant I didn’t get to do any miles yet and Sherri hasn’t yet ridden in Russia. But we are here, in big old Vladivostok. At least we are, but our bikes are not. The bikes you see, are still on the ferry boat. We got in too late for Russian customs to be interested in processing them, and so we have been told to leave the boat, check into a hotel and return tomorrow morning after 9am to unload the bikes.
I called a local biker from the Iron Angels bike club, Ilya, and he met us down at the ferry port, introduced us to his club and then took us to a hotel. It was almost midnight but we were hungry after more than 24 hours on the boat in which we ate none of the onboard food. I took Sherri out to the Gutov Beer House, scene of last years Vladivostok headquarters for the initial Sibirsky Extreme Project, and despite the late hour we had a bang up meal. The first western style meal for Sherri since she left Australia several weeks ago.
We went down to the dock the next day and as promised they were unloading our bikes. But it was a Saturday and despite having the bikes now unloaded, they were destined to sit in customs until the vehicle processing guys returned to work on Monday morning. If we had arrived in Zarubino, the bikes would have been ridden off the boat, been processed by customs as part of the normal arrival procedure and we would be all clear by now.
While down at the docks we saw three bikes waiting to go onto the ferry, and sure enough, we soon met the owners. A trio of guys from Montenegro were on their way around the world (www.theridearound2010.me). They had just come down from Magadan and were making their way to Korea and onwards to North America. They were BIG guys … all about 190cm tall and had big bikes. One on a 1200 GSA and one on an Africa Twin – the other bike was a more sensible F650 Dakar. They asked us what we were riding and we told them we were on a pair of 650s. They nodded – “sensible choices” they said. Even these very big guys said their bikes were too big for the likes of Mongolia and Siberia. We swapped information, part of which was them giving us the address of a nice cheap homestay type place to stay. Then they clicked – “Oh so you are the Sibirsky Extreme guy !!… we have visited your site many times. We already have a link to your site on ours”
“Yes, I am back in Siberia” I replied. I wished them well for their travels ahead. They seemed like nice guys.
We found a café with wi-fi internet and camped there for the afternoon, with laptop keyboards clicking away furiously. Sherri Jo reckons she is a long way behind schedule with her blog. I still like to do my blogging on a daily basis … at least I like to update my draft blog daily. By the time we emerged from the café, the Dong Chun ferry had sailed … they 3 Montenegrins were on their way to Korea.
It was a rainy weekend in Vladivostok and the city was fog bound for most of the time. Humidity accordingly was between 95 and 100%. A walk up the street turned into a sweaty, sticky hike. I never liked humidity. I was always more of a dry air kinda guy.
We got a local sim card for Sherri sorted out, so her Australian iPhone is now fully functional here in Russia. I had told her to make sure it was unlocked (in terms of networks) before she got here, so I am pleased to know foreign iPhones can work perfectly well in Russia with a local sim card – if you ensure your home network unlocks it before you arrive here. I, ironically, struck a problem with my new smartphone. Despite making sure Sherri unlocked her phone, I bought a new locked phone in London a month ago, and forgot to get it unlocked. Now I have a wait of 2-3 weeks to get the unlock code, rendering that phone useless here unless I use my UK sim card. The idea of 50 quid a day on phone bills doesn’t turn me on, and I have two spare unlocked telephones, so they will have to do for now.
Monday began well, after a weekend of solid rain, there was sunshine and patches of blue sky. We hoped to get the bikes out of customs today. We went down to the port and the agents who handle the Dong Chun ferry helped us get the paperwork together. By the time we had the paperwork together, and had driven up to the Customs building that handled vehicle imports (not at the port) they had just about closed for lunch.
I wandered around to get some pictures of the location. By now the cloud had totally cleared and we had a fine hot muggy Vladivostok day.
I spotted some customs girls also taking in the view on their lunch break and wandered over for a chat. They were very friendly and with them onside, the customs documents for the bikes, with “as long as we wanted” timescale (we kept it at 3 months since that was the limit of Sherri Jo’s visa) came soon after lunch. It confirmed my view that it’s always good to make friends with the right people.
Armed with our approved Customs declarations we headed back to the port to get our bikes released. But it wasn’t so simple. Because it was Vladivostok and not Zarubino, there was also a port charge for handling the vehicular cargo, of 2600 rubles (about 55 quid). I made a mental note (and now a written note) … when taking the Dong Chun ferry, avoid the runs to Vladivostok like the plague. Going to Vladivostok by the ferry will cost you in port charges and will be a bit of a pain to get the customs stuff done (nice customs girls excluded). Unloading at Zarubino is a “ride the bike off the boat and straight to customs where you will be fully processed in under 2 hours.” So it’s got to be Zarubino!
By the time all of this was done, it was almost 4pm. Ilya the biker met us again and led us to the clubhouse and workshop of the Iron Angels. Sherri Jo needed an oil change, and the Iron Angels guys had that rarest of lubes, 10w60. We might as well use the guys to change her tyres, since they have a moto wheel balancer too. Sherri Jo had the finest French shoes fitted –a Michelin Desert rear and Michelin T63 front..
As soon as we got to the club, we met a quartet of bikers from Kazakhstan who had just come to Vladivostok and were getting some servicing done.
I chatted to them about where they had been and they had actually ridden part of the BAM road … from Bratsk to Chara. From Chara onwards they had taken the train, but their stretch did include the mighty Vitim River Bridge. Respect. Even more so as they had actually RIDDEN over the bridge. They told me they had taken the train from Chara as there were no bridges on the road further. I told them “it is not quite true. There were some bridges! And the road is rideable to Tynda.”
Sherri tried some Kvas, a traditional Russian drink, while I checked out the bikes from Kazakhstan.
Sokcho, Korea:
Now that I had found my bike, I set about finding Sherri, my co-rider for the challenging Sibirsky Extreme 2010 journey from Magadan to Irkutsk. As recently as 6 weeks ago I had 5 people coming along on the trip – 4 guys and 1 girl. Slowly but surely, all the guys pulled out citing a variety of reasons, leaving me with a single female co-rider. Tiffany Coates had suggested to me last year I should lead an all girl ride on the Road of Bones and that guys couldn’t be relied upon! As it turns out, that’s what I have now. I found Sherri at the hotel / hostel place near Sokcho port where we had agreed to meet. She is on a kitted out KTM 690R.
Sherri has recently departed from Australia to ride solo around the world. Leading up to this point, she has crossed Australia, then Japan and now Korea. So it’s still early days for her. She was bold enough to want to take on the Road of Bones, so I am happy to help her get a grip with how things are done in Russia.
We had half a day to kill while waiting for the Dong Chun ferry that runs regularly in the summer between Sokcho and Zarubino in Russia, (Zarubino is the most southerly port on Russia’s Pacific coast, and lies 100 km southwest of Vladivostok) so there was time to wander the streets of Sokcho where we saw some curious sights and store names.
Grilled and Skewered Octopus’s Balls anyone?
Or perhaps giant bulls balls?
Tired of fast food? Here’s the antidote:
What kind of sport are you into?
On a girls T-Shirt … not 100% sure what kind of leakage “fairy sweat” might be referring to for a girl, but my mind was being quite creative at that point.
Funny Love ? … That’s one way to put it … If it involves “Kolon Sport” and “Fairy Sweat Leakage”, it indeed sounds rather funny.
A lingerie store “Yes” had this promotional literature on the wall … a conversation between a girl and her boyfriend – it was enough to convince me to buy some. I was inspired. I stocked up on brassieres for myself.
Sick of being ugly and uncomfortable? You need to go to this store:
But our educational exploration of Sokcho’s stores had to finish sometime. That time was when the ferry came into view …
And before long we were Russia bound!
The ferry pulled out of Sokcho harbour 4 hours late … but better late than never. I realised while on board that I couldn’t remember seeing my heated vest and heated gloves while rummaging through my luggage earlier that day. I went down to the vehicle deck and searched again … and nope, my heated gear was not with me.
It was no problem in the short term … it was 30 degrees and humid. But Magadan was a long way north of here, and I was going to be in Russia a few months. Damn. I was sure I took it to the shippers, but I had taken a lot of loose plastic bags that were to be thrown into the packing crate when it was built up around the bike. It must have been missed, and I assume sitting somewhere in the James Cargo warehouse.
The Dong Chun ferry was air-conditioned, but it was a bizarre form of air-con that seemed to cool the air without taking any moisture out of it. If you cool air without removing moisture, it just becomes more wet and sticky – humidity increases. It was a sticky wet evening on board the boat that night.
I see why Terry was so restless when Tony and I met him in Vladivostok last year. After a flight to Korea, a few days in Korea and a boat to Russia … you feel there is not a whole lot of riding being done. Is does make you pretty restless. It’s two weeks since I sent the bike away from London and began this journey, but I have ridden just a few hundred metres in Korea so far.
And the reliance on other modes of transport is not over yet. Despite being on a plane from London to Seoul, a bus from Seoul to Sokcho and now a ferry from Sokcho to Zarubino … there is still a 5-6 day boat ride ahead from Vladivostok to Magadan. The only saving grace is a short ride from Zarubino to Vladivostok. It will still be another week (at least) before we are in position to start riding properly.