And Then....... Something Happened !

Day 95 Tuesday 5^th July 2011 

Svetlana was on time and so were we having got up at the crack of dawn to make sure that we did not oversleep. We drove down to the port and went to the Transfes offices where we waited whilst Svetlana went from desk to desk with bits of paper then back again to get a stamp with us only there really to shop ourselves and our passports. To our surprise we were then off to meet Yuri at the customs office – things were really moving and we had little idea just what was happening as we just went from place to place as told.

We waited for Yuri by the customs office in the shade of a tree as it was not very warm and the sun was beating down. Yuri eventually surfaced an hour or so later with an young english guy, Matthew Mountain, who had travelled through Europe and Russia on a BMW Paris Dakar bike having left the UK in February. He was dressed quite unfashionably in a t-shirt, shorts and motorcycle boots and he explained that this was because his flip flops had been stolen somewhere along his journey.

We all went into the customs office which we found was staffed by some of the most beautiful women in Vladivostok all in uniform and Yuri disappeared with our papers, reappeared then disappeared whilst we waited in the corridors. He came back and said that as it was now lunchtime we would have to come back at 1pm – he had to dash off but would be back in time to carry on whatever he was doing. We went to a local canteen with Svetlana and Matthew for a light lunch and made our way back at the appointed hour and then got called into the offices to show our passports and then ushered out again.

After customs inspections we can have our bikes maybe tomorrow or the day after but they are busy and transport has to be arranged so we are still none the wiser but at least we have moved forward today (we think).

Back at the hotel we got talking to a very pleasant lady named Margot, a dutch lass who has lived in Brisbane for 40 years or so. She was going off to catch the Trans Siberian Express to Irktusk at 9.30pm so we sat with her, had a drink then had our dinner together before her taxi arrived to take her to the station.

Me and Margot in the hotel "courtyard"

Yuri rang to ask us to meet him tomorrow morning at the Transfes offices at 8am. Our bikes had been inspected and all was OK. We went to bed very happy in the knowledge that our bikes would be with us soon.