Well the blog will continue today, I hope you will be pleased to hear. A fascinating day here in Vladivostok. Sunny and warm for a change, too. At 0900 our shipping agent, Yuri’s man, was at the hotel on the dot to take us to the “washing place” where the Land Rover is to have a power wash. Traffic was dreadful, but Dennis wasn’t giving an inch and stuck to the bumper of Yuri’s man’s van. Not an easy feat, but he wasn’t letting an Russian upstarts push in front. It took us over an hour to reach the washing place. The roads were still awash with water from the previous day’s rains.
and he only cleaned it yesterday!!
While the Land Rover was having her bath Yuri and another English guy, Nick turned up with a BMW GS1150 motorbike, also due for washing and which, we discover, will be a companion in the container for our Land Rover. While the vehicles are being cleaned we have a coffee and chat about our various experiences.
Once spick and span and looking brand new, the Land Rover is loaded onto a truck and the motorbike into a van and we head off for the yard where the vehicles will be put into the container.
Sliding into the container, gleaming under and over..:)
Our Land Rover goes in first and is well secured. Another vehicle, a Nissan, is arriving from Magadan this afternoon and will go in next. Then Nick’s bike and another bike will fill the container.
After the loading a Swiss guy, another client of Yuri’s turned up. His bike is being shipped to Uruguay. We all get into Yuri’s van and head off in the direction of his office. He asks if we would like a sightseeing diversion, so we drive to a look out point, where we discover there are 2 suspension bridges, not just the Russky one. There is a great view over the bays and hills and of the shipping of all types which is moored around the bays.
While stuck in the traffic the conversation turned to tigers. To the north, the Amur river valley is home to the Amur Tiger. They have even ventured into the city. So, does this shine a whole new light on the question of what was outside the Land Rover the other evening. Maybe not a hairy brown or black bear, a baby bear or a lost polar bear. Could it have been a tiger 🙂 ??
On the way to Yuri’s office again, we make another stop at a chinese market and buy two bags (with wheels) to carry all our clothes, books etc, which we have removed from the Land Rover. We finally reach Yuri’s office and Lana, his assistant who speaks fantastic English, processes our paperwork. It is really quick and easy. The whole process has been amazingly straightforward.
Part of the Russian Pacific Fleet
Yuri takes us back to our hotel. It is 5pm and we have had no lunch. Fortunately we have some food left over from the Land Rover store, so we have a combined lunch/dinner in our room.
We are expecting the container will be on a ship within a week and arrival in Canada is provisionally the 13th October. Great news!
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Ummm tiger eh? That’s stretching the story a bit far me thinks. XB