Exploring Khabarovsk

Arrival hassle

The train arrived on-the-dot at 0653 at Khabarovsk station, 13h03 after we had departed from Vladivostok.  Making our way out, we avoided the taxi touts and went to a quiet area to order a car on Yandex.

Neither of us had internet on our phone in the area.  We walked around a little bit to no avail and went to the rebranded KFC to try use wifi but it required a local number.

We reluctantly checked with various drivers who wanted extortionate prices of RUB1000 for the relatively short ride.  We managed to find a more reasonable RUB700 after several attempts but I reckon it should have been around RUB300 based on our rides in Vladivostok.

Exploring the waterfront

At the Khabarovsk City Butique Hotel, we left our bags and went for a wander through the park to the waterfront.  It was only a little after 0800.

The waterfront area went forever and there were a few points of “interest” which didn’t really captivate me.

We located the ferry terminal and immigration facility where there were departures to Fuyuan in China.  This was Plan B for this trip where I would finish in Khabarovsk and cross into China at Fuyuan.  Plan A was to only go to Vladivostok and cross back into China from the nearby area.  The current plan is Plan C where I cross back into China at Blagoveshchensk/ Heihe.

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Exploring inland

We took a car to Lenin Square to see the man himself.  Near the statue, was a branch of the Sberbank.  I tried to deposit some cash into my Yoomoney card at their super-modern ATM (with large touchscreens that aren’t quite as big as McDonald’s self-service screens) and the process was too easy.

This will make cashless travel a reality and save the hassles of small notes and coins.  Yes, Russia is very cashless for locals.

From Lenin Square we walked down the main road (Muravyova Amurskogo St), built on the crest of a ridge.  All the roads intersecting with it, go downhill in both directions.

We found a stolavaya (canteen) to refuel ourselves and kill some time before calling in at the Cathedral and Military Square on the way back to the hotel.

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The rest of the day

Back at the hotel at 1245, we were very pleasantly surprised by how nice the room was.  The 4-star property was excellent value compared to many other options and only a bit more than the hostel I had booked then cancelled.

We rested in the afternoon and I helped D study the timetable and price for his proposed daytrip to Fuyuan.  It concluded with him deciding to stay put for the day because:

• the journey looked longer than expected,
• the price surprisingly expensive, and
• there also appeared to be some inconsistencies in the schedule perhaps due to some errors in timezone corrections.

We had dinner around 1800 in a nearby Vietnamese restaurant which turned out to be somewhat pan-Asian with some Thai and Chinese dishes as well.

Back on the waterfront for an evening walk, we checked out prices for the Amur River cruise for tomorrow.  Afraid that we would run out of things to do tomorrow, we passed on the opportunity to hop on an immediate departure.  Instead, we took a long walk on the waterfront.