Day 16 : the End of the Trans-Siberian - Vladivostok
We wake up overlooking the Pacific Ocean and are fast approaching Vladivostok, the end of our Trans-Siberian Railway adventure.
Luckily we are able to get early check-in and indulge in a rich breakfast at the hotel restaurant. It is here that we notice for the first time how many Asians visit or live in Vladivostok.
'3 Days on the Train' Look
When I was younger, I used to be able to distinguish the Chinese from the Japanese, but with age I have lost this ability…
On asking we are informed that most of the other hotel guests are South Korean and a few are Japanese. Our walks around town later in the day will confirm this is a prime destination for South Korean tourists. North Korea is round the corner, but I suspect there’s not too many tourists visiting from Pyongyang!
Vladivostok was founded in 1860 as the governor of Siberia, Count Murayev-Amurskiy wisely chose this spot on a peninsula as the location for a new port, completing his mission of extending Russian influence in the Far East as far as the Pacific Ocean.
The waters of Vladivostok (which, by the way, means ‘Rule the East’) are deep and allow the port to be used most of the year (there are only about 70 days a year when the port becomes inaccessible due to the water freezing over).
The city grew rapidly becoming a major trading and commercial centre in the region and attracting merchants, speculators and foreign labour. The early city was built by Chinese and Korean labour and many Chinese settled in an area called ‘Millonka’ roughly corresponding to the centre of Vladivostok today. It numbered about 50,000 Chinese by the beginning of the 20thcentury, soon becoming a city within a city where Russian authorities did not dare enter. Characterised by unsalubrious, crowded dwellings, criminality, prostitution, gambling, opium dens, many Russian and foreign criminals took shelter and hid in Millonka. Once the Soviets had taken over they decided to put an end to Millonka, the zone was evacuated in the 1930s and its inhabitants moved elsewhere, expelled or executed under suspicion of being ‘foreign spies’.
Between 1918 and 1920 the port became a destination for soldiers from the UK, France, Japan and Italy on their way to support the cause of the White Russians against the Bolsheviks. With the death of Admiral Kolchak it became clear that the Soviets would eventually prevail and most foreigners left in 1920. The Soviets took over Vladivostok in 1922.
The city turns out to be a very pleasant surprise. It is located on a very wide bay, called the Golden Horn, due to its similarity with the original in Turkey on the Bosphorus. Under the Soviets the city developed into Russia’s main naval base. The city was not accessible to foreigners between the 50s and 1992.
Vladivostok is a colourful, sprawling town on hilly terrain. It is very lively and dynamic and comes across as a laid back, liberal, cosmopolitan city with flair.
We have now taken our ‘very long’ showers, after 3 days of ‘splash wash’ on the train and are ready to explore the city.
The Azimut hotel is a renovated large, Soviet-style hotel, low-key yet stylish. It is perched on a hilltop overlooking the Sportivnaya harbour and its promenade of laid-back, family-friendly lounge bars and restaurants. The walk down affords great views across the sea to mainland Russia and its green hills. The object of many a photo!
Vladivostok Views - Russian Mainland Across the Sea
Sportivnaya Yacht Harbour
Pacific Swimmers
We walk along Ulitsa Svetlanskaya which, together with Ulitsa Aleutskaya, is one of the main thoroughfares of the city, an avenue hosting many a Russian and foreign cuisine cafes, the Arsenev Museum, the Admistration of the Primorsky Oblast, a towering late Soviet-era construction, and opposite it the tsarist era building of the Vladivostok City Administration.
Busking in Vladivostok
Ul Admirala Fokina
Primorsky Oblast Administration Building
On the right hand side of Ulitsa Svetlanskaya is Bortsov Revolyutsii Square with Soviet era monuments glorifying the patriotism of past Soviet heroes. At the end of the square we see the ‘work in progress’ skeleton of a new cathedral being built, with the golden cupolas lying at the foot of the building under construction, waiting to be lifted to ‘crown’ the cathedral.
We carry on along Svetlanskaya Ulitsa stopping at other squares in honour of past heroes, to take in the panorama of the very busy harbour, as well as admiring the architectural wonder of the gigantic Golden Horn bridge.
We are on the lookout for a tour agency called Locos Co, as we are hoping to arrange an outing to Russky island the day after. The address is elusive and after knocking on about 3 different doors in 3 different buidings, alas to no avail… , we give up, having wasted about 2 hours… We’ll have to find another way to get to Russky Island…
Bortsov Revolyutsii Square
Cathedral Under Construction
Vladivostok Opera
The Golden Horn Bridge
Harbour
Reaching for the Moon and... for the Bridge
The Golden Horn
Vladivostok Snaps
We take the quaint funicular railway up to the Eagle’s Nest view point. The view is incredible… Now I understand why they have dubbed the bay ‘the Bosphorus’. To the left the commercial harbour, ahead the Golden Horn bridge and bay, and to the right beyond the railway station the view across the sea to Russia’s hilly coastal mainland. We take it all in and then decide to head back to the hotel… Silvia runs off to her Chinese massage session and I, alas, have some work to do as the end of the holiday nears…
Up the Hill...
Views from the 'Eagle's Nest'
'Shy' Pushkin
Along the Harbour...
Mariinsky Ballet Theatre in Vladivostok
Heroes Seen from the Harbour Promenade
Deep Blue and the Bridge
War Memorial
Pacific Sunset
Time to party;-) We have read that this week Vladivostok is hosting an annual rock festival
(V-Rox), introduced some years ago by Ilya Lagutenko, of a band called Momiy Troll, who also opened a music venue under the band’s name. We look into Momiy Troll, realise we are too late for the live band, but are enticed in by the notes of ‘Lady’ by Mojo, one of my favourite dance songs. We liven up the dance floor for a little while as we sip our Vladivostok daiquiris, but there’s only so much ‘hard’ techno we can take…
By 1.30 we’re back at the hotel and ready to drop into bed.
(V-Rox), introduced some years ago by Ilya Lagutenko, of a band called Momiy Troll, who also opened a music venue under the band’s name. We look into Momiy Troll, realise we are too late for the live band, but are enticed in by the notes of ‘Lady’ by Mojo, one of my favourite dance songs. We liven up the dance floor for a little while as we sip our Vladivostok daiquiris, but there’s only so much ‘hard’ techno we can take…
By 1.30 we’re back at the hotel and ready to drop into bed.
Techno at Momiy Troll
Tania, your blog was a pleasure to read....and we loved all the photos, making the trip come alive for us....keep travelling!
ReplyDeleteWhat a fascinating trip. Thanks for sharing, Tania.
ReplyDelete