Excursions before a night train

Morning outing

We leave Vladivostok this evening on the train to Khabarovsk.  We had decided to explore in the morning to return to the hotel for a shower before the midday check-out, and somehow remain cool and not sweaty before the overnight train.

D wanted to go this lighthouse on an island connected to the mainland by a swing bridge.  On the map, it is near Pyat Paltsev.  It looked quite nice but my research suggested it was a bad idea due to conflicting reasons:

• The walk is through difficult terrain,
• Access requires passage through military land which makes it impossible, or
• Access is by stand-up paddle board.

But I went along with his wishes, going by a Yandex car around 0900.  We got dropped off a military barrier and the fence went all the way into the water on both sides of the isthmus.  There was a swimming beach on one side which seemed nice enough for locals.

From there, we ordered another car to Glass Beach.  This is a beach which had lots of coloured “pebbles” which are in fact worn-down glass bottles which had been dumped in the area a long time ago.

Even though both places looked far on the map, and the Glass Beach was in fact remote, we were ready to head back around 1005.

With no signal, we had arranged for the driver to wait for us for the return journey.  He was very straight-forward and asked us to order in on Yandex but as we had no signal, he did a direct deal for an honest price.  He did not think that a direct deal would save his some Yandex commission.

Text continues after this gallery.

Killing time

Back in the city around 1030, we had lunch at the underground restaurant near the hotel before returning to our room at 1100.  It had been a cloudy day that was pleasantly warm and muggy.  I didn’t that I needed a shower but made the most of the facility I had before checking out at 1200.

We decided that we would take turns staying in the lobby of the hotel (more like hostel) to let each other in if one needed to go out.  I killed 4h pretty easily deleting and editing photos and doing some research.

We left around 1600 for the “McDonald’s” just outside the hotel.  Again, the food appeared well-assembled with care and I appreciated being able to swap my fries for a salad FOC.

Around 1715, we left for Vladivostok Station by foot and got there just as the platform number was made available for the 1750 departure.  This would be the first of six train journeys that we will make through historic Manchuria, a region now split between Russia and China.

We boarded a warm carriage and made our way to our second class compartment with 4 bunks.  The train departed like clockwork at 1750.

About 30 mins after departure, we travelled by the river and noticed some people had set up camps to enjoy their summer by the water.  While not exactly Bali, Phuket or Maldives, people were making the most of their summer as winters here are horrendously harsh.

We turned the lights off at 2130, feeling pleased that we had the compartment to ourselves so far.

The lower bunks felt a bit narrow due to the backrests that were mounted on the wall.  I was quite sure the backrests could be folded down and became absolutely sure when I realised the back of the backrests were soft.  I went to the attendant who came and showed me how it was released by pulling a large handle.

Over an hour after lights out, I decided that I needed some assistance to ensure a good night’s sleep.  I took a half a pill and it worked like a dream.