Breakfast

Mushrooms in sour cream. It's quite a challenge ordering food food without a common language but the results have been good so far...

Only 8134km to go

... And that's only to moscow!

And off we go!

This is my bed for the next three night, which is the longest I'll sleep in any bed while I'm on holiday!

looks like we made it...

... unfortunately Chris's suitcase didn't. It is currently in Amsterdam we believe, and Chris hopes to make contact with it again in a few days when we get to Irkutsk. Still, she has all her camera equipment, and Fiona has packed enough clothes for all of us, so we'll manage till then!

The journey here took about 24 hours, from leaving the hotel at Heathrow to arriving at our hotel in Vladivostok. I have to say for all the things people say about Aeroflot, my experience of flying with them was certainly no worse than the majority of long haul flyers I've travelled with. Though I'm not sure I want to know the precise contents of the non-specific fish mousse thing we had for lunch...

Sheremetyevo Airport in Moscow is lovely, all glass and space and polished surfaces. The airport at Vladivostok, by contrast, makes Glasgow look cosmopolitan. The footpad toilets took me back to holidays in France as a teenager (and my mother assuring us it was really much healthier to 'go' that way - we chose to queue for hours for the real toilet) and it's the only airport where I've ever seen a fresh fish counter.

Driving through the Primorsky region to Vladivostok itself was an eye-opener. The whole area looks run down and neglected, potholes littering the road. Even in the city (which is described in the guide book as "one of Russia's more attractive cities") most of the buildings look like they are still standing through sheer stubborness. It has an air of faded glory, except that the glory passed it by.

We were all pretty wiped when we arrived, what with not sleeping on the overnight flight, and various shenanigans tracking down lost luggage etc, so we hung around the hotel for the rest of the day. On arrival, the lounge is rather swish, but the bedrooms do not disappoint if you are looking for an authentic soviet experience - everything is decorated in brown floral patterns that don't match, from circa 1970 (in honor of my birth year, obviously). The toilet suite is pale turquoise, the toilet seat comes off, as does the door handle. Still it is all clean (or at least as clean as it's ever going to get) and comfortable. The only irritation being the club downstiars, that went on very noisily till 1.30am. AAaarghh!!!

We dined in the hotel restaurant, which was as good a chinese meal as I've had - the aubergine in oyster sauce was particularly fine. And the waitress seemed genuinely impressed when I ordered red wine in russian. Which was particularly kind of her as her english was significantly better than my russian! Then a brief post prandial perambulation in the twilight, and straight to bed. Ok, a wee whiskey, then straight to bed. It was medicinal, obviously.

It is a cold but bright day today, with the sea frozen up into the bay, and after a good night sleep (after the disco ended...) and a three course breakfast, I'm ready to find out what further delights VLadivostok has to offer.

And so it begins...

Setting out from glasgow airport on my epic journey. Quick check - passport, visa, red lipstick - i'm good to go!

how old?

my colleagues at work very graciously didn't rub in the age thing when they gave me my birthday cake today...

Travel treasure box

Spent friday evening in edinburgh with some of my sibs, and they gave me a little gift... it is a box full of useful things for my travels. These include:

travel wallet for my tickets
binoculars (i had been saying just the other day how good it would be to have a wee pair of bins for watching Siberia go by!)
gel hand warmers
baby wipes. so my companions can cope with several days on a train with me without a shower...
calculator for currency transactions
miniature of whisky, just in case I can't find anything to drink in Russia
paracetamol, just in case I can find something to drink in Russia
mini bottles of toiletries
chocolate snacks, for when I get bored of cabbage
notebook and pen, in case I think of anything worth writing down.

There were also a couple of books. One is a collection of writings by Lenin on the international working class. The other is a russian phrase book from c1960. It contains useful phrases such as:

"Can I have an advertisement inserted in a Moscow popular paper?"
"After tea we shall stroll down the street and make a few purchases."
"What fertilizers are used at the collective farm?"

Guess which one of these I may use?

If you have treasures of your own, you may be interested in this writing competition.