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Eastern Europe and Russia's a big area to cover. Where to start? How about at an eastern extreme, the mysterious long-closed city of Vladivostok.
Vladivostok is an extreme of Russia most tourists don't make it to, which of course is part of the charm. Before beginning a Trans-Siberian rail journey, I arrived in Vladivostok on a flight from Japan and was collected for the relatively long drive to the city by Eujen, a university student working for a tour company as a summer job. According to Eujen, the majority of tourists visiting Vladivostok were Chinese, taking advantage of the more than twenty casinos conveniently offered for them, followed by Japanese and Koreans. But if gambling's not your holiday goal, there are still plenty of reasons to stop by Vladivostok. Vladivostok was first established as late as 1860, starting as a naval base and developing when the Trans-Siberian connection opened in 1891. During the Soviet era, Vladivostok, a high security naval base, was closed not only to foreigners but also to Russians - Eujen's mother needed official permission to leave to visit her sister just a couple of hours away, and receiving visitors was an even more elongated process. But from 1992 everything began to change, and evidence of a foreign influence is as close as a quick glance to the streets. Eujen told me about ninety percent of the cars on the road now are Japanese imports: unfortunately, therefore, right-hand drive cars driven on the right, perhaps contributing to the nightly news containing at least ten minutes devoted to car accidents. The main attractions celebrate Vladivostok's history as a naval base, and spending a morning at the Vladivostok Fortress Museum can only be finished by waiting for the firing of the noon gun. While recovering from temporary deafness, the next logical step is the Submarine Museum, where you can clamber through an S-56 which did serious damage during the second world war. Like most Russian towns, there's also a big Lenin, a station full of Soviet-style murals and a GUM department store in an opulent building. A warning, though: unless you're particularly tough, travelling through Vladivostok in winter isn't really advised. Temperatures of minus 30 C are commonplace, and even now, losses of electricity and hot water are an all-too-regular reality. Or you can just take Eujen's attitude: "Minus 30? That's not really so cold."
The copyright of the article Very East: Vladivostok in Russia Travel is owned by Amanda Kendle. Permission to republish Very East: Vladivostok in print or online must be granted by the author in writing.
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