Going to the Russian Far East

Flying to Vladivostok

Today, I’m bound for Vladivostok with D on different flights, separated by 1h50.  We left by car for Beijing Capital Airport at 0830 and got there about 0900.

The combined check-in queue for all international flights was quiet and we got our boarding passes easily even though my flight wasn’t for nearly another 4 hours.

There was only a brief question about my name on my Malaysian passport not in the same order as my ticket, but it matched my Russian visa perfectly.  Reason was that Malaysian passports don’t separate the surname and it can be found anywhere in the name.  Most ground handlers that have processed Malaysian flights will know.

It took about 40 mins to get airside fully, including security, the slow train to international departures and then immigration.

I went to the lounge for a couple of hours while D had only 30 mins left before his flight departure.  At the lounge, I suddenly noticed a sharp edge on my lower right canine, from either a lost filling or a crack.  I’ll have to get it attended to when I’m back in China.

As with D’s flight, my flight on the very new A321neo was delayed by a total of about 1h due to air traffic.  After the late pushback, we were in a queue of 6 planes before we took off.

Even though the flight scheduled duration is 2h20, the airborne time is less and the time that the crew area allowed to serve is even less.  The sit down for a long time after climb and start preparing for arrival 45 mins before landing.  Despite that, they served a choice of two hot meals and a full bar service.

Manchuria

My trip in the Russian Far East and nearby China region aims to do two things:

• Travel part of the Trans-Siberian Railway that was too hard to access when I did a larger part of the ride 21 years ago, and
• To explore the historic region of Manchuria, which is now divided between Russia and China.

Manchus are an East Asian ethnic group distinct from Han Chinese. They conquered China and formed the final imperial dynasty there. While this appears to be a “win,” the Manchu language is nearly extinct and their culture is largely assimilated into Han Chinese. That’s despite over 10 million people identifying as Manchu.

Arriving in Vladivostok

I touched down less than an hour late, around 1800.  In the long check-in queue I attended to the verification to enable my roaming to work.  I had read that there is a 24h delay but it worked immediately after the simple Captcha.  I had expected name, passport details etc.  This trip I’m roaming on my Malaysian SIM as it is much better value than an e-SIM.

Immigration took 20 mins and the officer was mildly pleasant as I greeted her in Russian.  That’s more than I had expected as they can be pretty grim in expression.

After having my bags scanned, I was out about 1940.  D was there waiting for me.  I had asked him to change some money (the rate at the airport was bad) and scout out the train departure location.  He had done both and we both walked briskly to the train and caught it a few minutes before the final departure of the day at around 1850.

The conductor selling tickets on board superb.  She was convivial and full of expression handling foreigners with larger notes, despite having limited change and probably doing this day-in and day-out.  We paid with cash but realised that I could have paid with my Yoooney card (Russian debit card) afterwards.

Losing the art of travel

Once moving, I my sense of apprehension eased.  It had been a while since I had been in Russia.  And now, with sanctions, everything seems a little more difficult with no foreign cards being accepted and being totally reliant on cash (except for my Yoomoney card which I had acquired for the purpose of making train and circus bookings at local price, but it involved a bad exchange rate, which ended up better than the airport rate).

I felt that over the years, travel had become so easy with online transport information, hotel bookings and electronic payments that all the art (or skills) of travel from 30 years ago have been all but lost.

Across the aisle from us were a Chinese family that had arrive with nearly no money, no hotel bookings and no internet.  They are hoping to go to a Chinese restaurant, transfer some CNY to the operators by WeChat in exchange for RUB.  Very brave.

Meltdown at the hotel

Arriving at Vladivostok station around 1940, it was a 20 min walk in the cloudy and muggy weather to the White Place Hotel.  D, travelling with 2 wheelie bags naturally found the two sets of underpasses an inconvenience.

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Up to flights of stairs to the hotel, we found the door locked with a phone number on it.  We had difficulty making calls on VOIP apps but fortunately, someone let us in.

We continued to struggle with the VOIP apps once inside and D had a minor melt down.  Even though he’s a longhaul flight attendant, real travel is new to him.

It seemed to have escaped him that we are at an extremely central, well-rated property with private double rooms for a little more than a dorm bed in the suburbs.

He said that he would have gladly paid three times more to avoid this kind of hassle.  “What kind of hotel is this?  I’ve never stayed in this kind of place”.  I explained that historically, online B&Bs often have access issues before data roaming had become mainstream.

That’s when I said, “I guess you joined the wrong trip”.

Fortunately, a guest was able to help ring the owner for us and we were finally let in.

Pedestrian Mall

After a brief rest, it was about 2100 when we headed out to the pedestrian mall to look for dinner.  Many places seemed a bit fancy and we had to make our money last till we were able to find a bank or exchange.

We ended up eating at Vkusno i Tochka, which once operated McDonald’s in Russia.  The food seemed to have been assembled with care (maybe even with a touch of love) rather than slapped together haphazardly as in some countries.

Back in the room, I had trouble sleeping and took a pill around 0200.  It was partially due to the 2h time difference which made it only midnight Beijing time.  But I could have been still reeling from the day’s happenings.

Vladivostok’s pedestrian mall.