Port Vladivostok Russia!

Welcome to Port Vladivostok!!

The bikes FINALLY get released from Customs after a completely full day (9 - 5!!) of going from office to office, paperwork after paperwork... fees after fees..  but we have been officially released!

No wonder the girls are grumpy, look at the work load on her desk!!














Walter organizes a guy from the local motorcycle club here, the Iron Angels, to meet us and he leads us back to his club where my bike needs a good service and new tires for the road ahead.

What's that girl riding??  Ohh.. Ka Te EMmma
I think it's that Safari tank that throws people off initially.. ;-)

Also at the club are they guys from Khazakstan,  the Steppe Riders, whom have just come in for a service from their journey.  Will my bike be looking like that soon??   And what's with all the dead hanging fish?

Very busy club.. it's late, so we leave the bikes there and head back into town.

We found cheaper accommodation the day before and moved in.. this wonderful Russian woman, Ira.. is very welcoming!  She rents out her rooms, in this big ol' concrete building that would be the safest place in the world if there is an invasion!

Check out front door(s)!  Double steel doors.. and what's with the padding?  Is it there in case you are behind it when the enemy blasts through with dyno-mite?

The entry door to the building is steel as well.. no signage to mark the entrance, and a passcode you need to enter and wait for somebody to buzz you in..

Good news is, I feel safe here!!  I might pull my funds out of my bank and store them here as well!

Here is lovely Ira..  and her very tiny kitchen.. where she offers us a welcome tea and homemade little pastry things with potatoes and mushrooms inside..

It's all about the tiger here in Vladivostok.. Ira proudly displays hers on the wall..

I also noticed these calendars on the wall at the Customs office.

They do love their tigers, and I do too!!..

Not much sleep the first night at Ira's.. So many people out side the door talking, t.v., etc, all through the night!

2nd night, a bit of the same, and when I walk out in the morning, they are all gone!  I ask Walter, why they come in during the night and leave so early.. He says that Ira also rents rooms by the hour.. CAN YOU BELIEVE IT!!  I am in another LOVE HOTEL and didn't even know it - again!!!  Took me 2 days to work that out this time.. gee whiz I am slow..






Accommodation in Vlad is very expensive... sounds to be the case all through Russia.  We are here for several days and must conserve funds.. but I can't help but to laugh that I have managed to stay in a Love Hotel in every country so far, Japan, Korea and now Russia..  Big business, I'm tellin' ya!

Japan - The Love Hotel....

You wouldn't believe it, but I can't help but laugh at the day I've had again..

We organize to get motorcycle insurance - again!  I go there at 11 AM, by time I found it, and they are closed.  Sign says 10:00 - 20:00.. That's about the 4th shop I have been guided to that has no staff!!

Oh well, I've had enough of Tokyo and want to move on...

I did everything I could to avoid the highway, didn't want to get out there.. but if you stay on the smaller road, the never ending city is all traffic lights, and I would still be down by the Airport if I had not done the highway.

I'm fairly pleased with the traffic here, not all bad.. You get the mad fly by's, but in general it's pretty easy.. excellent road conditions!  As they should be, the road tolls have cleaned me out today!

Anyway, it was getting dark, and after 7 hours on the bike, I need to stop and find a place to sleep.  I can tell I am in a bit of an industrial area, and not expecting much from a cheap hotel..

Well you guessed it from the title!  I am in a Love Hotel.  Granted, I had ABSOLUTELY NO IDEA even at the time I got the room!!

On the outside, it looks like a pleasant nice palace style hotel.  Big glass gates to drive through, and I see the sign "IN".  I walk in, and nobody there.  I call "0", thinking they are like Australia and they close up hotel check in's around 6 pm.

Lady answer, I ask for a room, and she shows me a wall with all the room numbers, with only one that is lit up.  She trys to say, "Only one room left".

Price?  5300 yen.. to compare, my backpackers 2700, so just under double.  However, the Holiday Inn I stayed at the airport last night was 8900 yen.  I didn't see any options here, and I am not in a position to continue on the highway anyway.. she shows me the room, and I am like, "gee whiz, nice room for the price!  It's got large screen tv, tanning machine?? karoke machine, big spa, marble bathroom, great big bed!!!"  Thought I hit the jackpot!  Until I saw funny little things for sale in the room.

Then I worked it out... but it's so nice, and my bike is in a private parking behind a large gated wall.  I'll stay..

Have a look at what a sweaty mess I am from riding today..  out of all the action this room must see, it's only a spa for me tonight.  AND, since South Australia is still in drought, a spa is out of the question at home.. So I am totally excited for my spa, and added the complimentary blue salt and bubbles!!

Then after my spa, I decide to go check my bike - and I'm locked in!!!!  A bit of a panic for sure.  I try to dial the phone out, and it's all in Japanese!  I can't tell what the instructions say!!  I start banging on the door when I heard footsteps, and I heard a lady running up to save me.

She is so nice, and she was here for a while, helping me sort out my plan for navigating tomorrow...

Anyway, I now know the reason I am locked in this room, is you pay by the hour and once you pay, you get to unlock it.

I don't know if this is standard, or even if we have such hotels in America or Australia.

But what a hilarious learning experience!!

I feel very trapped in here, but I have confirmed with her twice, when I pay the money, it will let me out in the morning..

Let's hope I can sleep through this tonight.. it's 12:20 AM already!