Vladivostok, Russia

Monday, April 21, 2019      Vladivostok, Russia

The ship came into port in Russia at 6:00am so that the immigration process could start early enough to allow guests to leave the ship by 8:00am on their tours. To leave the ship on your own, you had to have a Russian Visa. Our Russian Visa had expired and we did not want to renew it for the $700.00 fee required so we decided that we would take a Holland America Westerdam Excursion that would allow us to visit without a visa under the supervision of a Russian guard/tour guide.

                                                           Port View from the ship

We decided to take a train ride on the longest railway in the world, the Trans-Siberian Railway. Vladivostok is the last milestone of the Trans-Siberian Railway.

 The railway is 6000 miles long from Moscow to Vladivostok….we were told that it takes two weeks to go from one end to the other; this is certainly no bullet train. Three planes fly daily to Moscow from the area arriving in 8-9 hours.   Conclusion: This is a BIG country running east to west.

                   Today we traveled 50 minutes outside of the city passing by the Sea of Japan. 

Our train (below) was shiny and new looking compared to the other rusty old looking trains (above) that passed through the station.

Russian Battleships were present in the port.

                                      Happy folks going for  a Trans-Siberian train ride in Russia!

                                There were extremely nice homes as well as poor dwellings.

 To quote our guide “corruption is not a fairy tale in Russia…it is very real.” Living in Vladivostok was costly. We were told that 2/3 of your salary went for the roof over your head. 

                                      We spotted lots of graffiti  along the train tracks.

Children went to school through the 11^th grade. If you did not qualify for college, you were sent to the armed services. Having a chance to go to college meant scoring high on your final test. Corruption allowed those with money to buy the tests and study the same test administered to students. Trash was dumped over numerous hill tops. Sidewalks were crumbling. Our guide painted a very sad picture of life in the Soviet Union.

From the train depot we boarded buses that took us to an Auto Museum. 

Here someone who had some power and influence had collected and put together quite a collection of vehicles dating back to the 1920’s including World War II tanks and other military vehicles. 

 

            The museum served a sample of an army bulgur, hot tea and vodka to all the visitors. 

We walked through a museum that had Bhrezniv's Russian limo, a Zigler. Sort of reminded us the Kennedy era of limos.

We enjoyed seeing the old cars and motorcycles but wondered…who had the power/money to gather such an extensive collection of army war vehicles? Was this an example of Russian corruption?

        We stopped for a visit at the Square of the Fighters taking pictures of the East Soviet heroes. 

                      This local church with the golden Russian spires was being renovated.

We boarded the bus to cross over the Golden Bridge. Interestingly we heard that Vladicostok thinks of itself as the San Francisco of Russia with the Golden Bridge (like the Golden Gate) and rolling hillsides.

The last stop of the day took us to Eagle’s Nest Mount, the highest point of the city. 

It left us with terrific views of the Golden Horn Bay, Golden Bridge and our ship, the Westerdam, in the harbor.

When asking about wifi in the area….the tour guide offered her phone.  Wifi in this area is just a dream.

We enjoyed the wonderful weather while visiting Vladivostok. We were told that 64 degrees that we had today was an unusual treasure for this time of year. The guides thanked us for bringing the nice golden sunshine today.

               Upon returning to the port, the freedom that our ship affords us looked mighty fine!

                                                              Cruising out of Vladivostok...Putin and the south Korean leader will meet here in a few days.