Novosiltsevskaya Battery

Getting started

We have the whole day in Vladivostok today, so we looked at going to Popov or Reyneke Island by boat.  Unfortunately, the boats leave in the evening and it isn’t possible to do a day trip.  So, we decided to go to a battery (fortification) on Russky Island by Yandex car.

But our first priority was to change money at the bank when it opened at 0900.  As expected, the bank exchange rate was better than the XE rate by about 1.5% so we were happy.  However, we did realise later that some banks give less than the XE rates but we just had to bite the bullet when running low.

Novosiltsevskaya Battery

The Vladivostok area is dotted with fortifications to protect its important military port.  The importance of fortification grew after the loss of Dalny and Port Arthur (Dalian and Lushun now in China) to the Japanese.

I chose to go to Novosiltsevskaya Battery as it offered a view of the bridge that linked Russkiy Island to the mainland.  The Yandex car we ordered was all good until we approached a hill in the rural area where it struggled, perhaps due to its CVT gearbox.

After some tense moments the driver managed to get us up the hill after backing down and re-trying.  The lovely driver took us slightly off the road and dropped us right outside the battery ticket office.

Inside the grounds of the battery were a large bank of cannons pointing out towards the sea.  We explored and enjoyed the view of the nature and back towards the city.

I saw on my map that there was a labyrinth.  We found it walking through the bushes and the pattern barely resembled the spiral that I had seen on Yandex Map’s photos.  Plants that made the spiral had perished and others had encroached the area and it had become overgrown.  Curious, I googled and found that this was an art work rather than a military installation.

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We walked back on the road to another battery, which was quite small, before ordering a car.  Wanting to explore the area near here, we made the destination a restaurant in a nearby built-up area.

However, the area turned out to be part of a gated complex, perhaps a university and we couldn’t enter.  We decided to continue back into the city but that ride wasn’t priced on the Yandex app.

Approaching the city, the driver asked for RUB1000 (NZD22) extra.  When we protested, he priced it on the app and it came down to a more reasonable price of RUB600.

Back in the city

We took lunch at an underground restaurant near the hotel.  It had become very busy with Chinese visitors due to social media.  I feel sorry for their regular patrons who have trouble finding seating.  The staff seem to be handling the language barrier with signs and translations though.

After a rest, we went out in the afternoon to explore the market, the pedestrian mall and the beach area at the end of the mall.  It was scorching in the sun.  We took a simple dinner by the beach and called it a day.

During our wanders, we noticed some Chinese people who were making money during their visit.  In some countries, it would be considered working illegally but I’m surprised they’re getting away with it here.  E.g. drawing caricatures, busking.