Vladivostok
Trans-Siberian Rail Journey: Leg 1 of 3
On 14, Jun 2013 | No Comments | In Russia, Travel | By kanannie
Day 1: Into the Wild
With my heart in my throat, N and I boarded the Rossiya train for the first leg of our journey to Ulan-Ude, the capital of the Buryat Republic smack in the middle of Siberia. The kupé (second class) cabin was surprisingly modern and unlike anything we had seen in photos in guidebooks and on blogs. The toilets I had been nervously anticipating ended up being like an airplane toilet; not the best situation, but at least they weren’t the old lever-style toilets which flushed the contents of the bowl directly onto the tracks below.
Passing the time in our second-class cabin as we chug through Siberia.
Our narrow but modern Rossiya train corridor.
The first few hours passed quietly, with only the two of us in the cabin for four. My fever was back and I crawled up to my top bunk hopped up on aspirin and passed out. I had expected to be constantly jostled around in a loud, screeching train so I was surprised by how quiet it actually was. In the afternoon, we were greeted by “Ni hao!”s as a new cabinmate and her husband boarded the train at one of the small towns that we stopped at. After kisses goodbye, our cabinmate’s husband left and we were off again.
Just Another Manic Monday #7
On 10, Jun 2013 | No Comments | In Manic Mondays | By kanannie
On a ferry to Russia. Thank gawd for seasickness medicine. Don’t ask me why there’s a dinosaur sculpture on the boat. Must be a Korean thing.
Baking an apple pie with our CS host. Mmmmm.
Eastern Dream: A Ferry Tale
On 10, Jun 2013 | One Comment | In Travel | By kanannie
How to get from South Korea to Russia without flying
Sunset over North Korea (We didn’t actually see NK but it’s over there somewhere.)
If you want to get to Russia from South Korea and you don’t want to fly in a rusty old tin can of an airplane or pay a ridiculous amount of money to fly on Korean Airlines I’d recommend the Eastern Dream ferry from Donghae to Vladivostok. It’s operated by a Korean company called DBS Ferry and connects Japan, South Korea and Russia.
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