This post continues on from those on my last blog. For now, if interested, you can continue to access those at the following website ernieexplores.wordpress.com

Today is the day! Time to pack up and head down to the port to get on our boat to South Korea and then Japan. We are so ready. Last night we went to the supermarket to buy a few supplies to take with us, all of the gourmet options in instant food. Mm mm.

So… as has been a regular occurrence on this trip… it was raining. All of these cities/towns are just sad to see us go, we suppose. So we had to take a taxi down to the port to avoid getting wet and making someone’s cold worse. As a recap, when we originally arrived in Vladivostok we were told to come back today, Wednesday, at noon to buy our tickets. Since the boat is supposed to leave at 2 pm, we thought it would be better to be there a little earlier. We arrive just after 10 am, and there was already a line. No problem, we were told to come at noon there must be loads of tickets. Nope. We waited in the line, entered, and presented our passports. Our names were not on the list of reserved tickets. Turns out there weren’t any tickets on sale. At first they said we could come back and try again at noon, then they told us the next boat was in two weeks (22 August). So… we had to leave with great disappointment. We crossed the bridge to the railway station for internet. We had to figure something out. But first… let’s go look at our Eastern Dream before it leaves us behind.

At the railway station we tried figuring out how to leave Russia for Japan, taking whatever route was available. There was a flight departing this afternoon from Vladivostok to Irkutsk to Tokyo. This was a very long flight, and very, very expensive. Definitely not taking that. Our next option was to take a reasonably priced flight from Vladivostok to Tokyo direct tomorrow. We decided that was our best and only option and so we booked that while sitting in the train station. At this point we didn’t even know what airline we had chosen, S7. Next up, hotel. By this point we had waited in line, walked to the railway station, the port, booked flights, and it was now past noon. Time for a last-ditch effort and we had 24 hours to cancel the flights, so we returned to the port to check if there were any tickets left. Nope. Good thing we got those flights. We then found a hotel that was just around the corner, and went to check in. 

What do you do in a city that you were convinced that you were about to leave? Walk around in the rain, of course! Although we were a bit annoyed, we tried to make the best of it. We didn’t get many photo opportunities as it was raining… and we were not allowed to take pictures of a music video that was being filmed. We did manage to get one after they were done though. Has anyone heard of NGT48? We sure hadn’t. Apparently they are a Japanese idol/super group. 

Apparently this is the same music video that we saw filmed last night! Although we didn’t see anyone from the actual idol group last night, only the break dancers. We were actually able to find the full music video, but it seems as though they either cut just before we got into frame or we were edited out. So close to worldwide fame!

We then continued strolling through downtown showing my partner’s father everywhere we had gone last night. Next stop was a USSR style restaurant. Inside it seems like nothing has changed in a long, long time and it was great. The prices also seemed very low, which is only another bonus.

Although I am not sure what my partner ate or drank… he assures me it was pretty tasty!

Then that was it. We went back to the hotel, rested for a while, before one final stroll through the city at night. We didn’t go anywhere new, just walked by Lenin and the Square of the Fighters for Soviet Power in the Far East again. Trying to take in our last bit of Soviet history before we leave.

Then it was time for our actual last night in Vladivostok. Good night from Vladivostok!