TO KHABAROVSK - CHANCE MEETING WITH A FRIENDLY RUSSIAN ACADEMIC
One of the nicest parts of travel for us is meeting friendly and interesting people; many with whom we have kept contact for years. And this trip was no exception.
On the shuttle bus from our quirky Oceanside Hotel to the airport, we met with two Russian passengers, both of whom worked at the Irkutsk National Research Technical University. "So how's Malcolm going?" asked a smiling Dmitry in perfect English. Surprised by his familiar reference to our Australian Prime Minister, we were even more taken aback when he asked after "Lucy", an obvious reference to our PM's wife, a well known Sydney businesswoman. As it happened, Dmitry and his colleague (whose name we did not decipher) had been working in Indonesia and Australia in association with Lucy Turnbull. "And where are you going?" he asked. Looking bit taken aback at our coming Russian destinations, he quipped "Well, you should come to Lake Baikal. It is REALLY worth seeing... And you must visit us at Irkutsk" he enthused. And then he proceeded to show us numerous beautiful photos of the winter blue ice of Lake Baikal.
Oh dear I thought, here we go again. This is just how many of our journeys begin. During our travels we have listened to so many "You really must travel to..." suggestions. The advice has always been very worthwhile and many such conversations have become the bones for our future trips. And after all, I had always wanted to undertake the trip by road from Magadan to Lake Baikal..... Alan was not so sure.
It was a pity our trip to the airport was so short as we would have very much liked to spend more time talking with our engaging friend. We happily swapped contact details before heading in different directions.
FLIGHT TO KHABAROVSK, KHABAROVSKY KRAI, SOUTH-EASTERN RUSSIA
Our ongoing flight on Asiana Airlines took us to Khabarovsk, in south-east Russia and right on the China border. Khabarovsk is a major travel hub in far-eastern Russia. Surprisingly, it is a much better transport point than the very popular destination of Vladivostok, with a greater variety of flight destinations and many more flights.
We had visited Khabarovsk for several days on our 2017 travels and really loved the city. This time however, we were using it only as a stop over for our connecting flight the next morning to Magadan.
As we flew closer to Khabarovsk, the landscape became swathed almost entirely in snow. Gorgeous slate grey and indigo blue rivers carved fantastically exaggerated designs in an otherwise thick white lunar blanket. I cursed ourselves for not allowing an extra day in Khabarovsk. After all, we had not fully explored the city and how wonderful would it be to see it in all its winter splendour? Alan was more pragmatic "Well, we have seen most of the city and anyway, it looks frigg'n cold" he said flatly.
DOUBLE DELIGHT....
Dalgeo Tours who had arranged our Chukotka tour through Kutkh Travel, also obligingly organised our airport transfers and accommodation at the Olympic Hotel in Khabarovsk.
We were unable to purchase Russian currency in Australia, and as we arrived on a Sunday when banks are closed (even at the airport) in Khabarovsk, our travel agents Tatiana and Elena purchased some Russian Rubles for us, kindly agreeing to meet us at our hotel.
We had been in close contact and had established a very friendly "email rapport" with both managers during the organisation of our 2017 travels in Yakutsk and Khabarovsk, but we were yet to meet them in person. It was a meeting we had been looking forward to for some time.
Arthur, our driver picked us up on time at Khabarovsk Airport. A quiet and reserved young man, Arthur claimed he could not speak any English but he could as he said via his translator "understand us perfectly". Our shy young Arthur was we think, just being very modest.... The obliging Arthur also assisted us with our flight allocations for the following day. And once again, my long legged friend was very lucky to obtain a seat with plenty of leg room just behind Business Class.
Later Arthur told us it was his first day working with Dalgeo Tours. We were impressed with his courtesy and attention to detail.
To our absolute delight, Khabarovsk city was blanked by deep, dazzling white snow. It was really very exciting for us not only to be back in Russia, but also to see our first snow in this country we have come to love. It was as we agreed "double delight".... Living in a sub-tropical environment in coastal Australia, we are not used to cold conditions let alone thick snow and ice. In fact, Alan had seen snow for the first time when he was aged 45 years! We had hoped we would see plenty of it but we were indeed blessed for this trip. According to Arthur, snow falls had been exceptionally heavy only days before our arrival.
We had been very impressed with the Olympic Hotel during our stay in Khabarovsk in 2017. And we were not disappointed on this occasion. Our room was once again beautifully appointed, the service friendly and helpful, and the restaurant food was excellent.
It was lovely to meet Tatiana and Elena at long last; almost like meeting up with long lost family. And that's a wonderful side of good travel agents. It is perfectly possible to establish good business relationships as well as long lasting friendships. Amazingly we are still in regular contact with more than twenty previous travel agents and guides from all over the world, some of whom have visited and stayed with us in Australia.
Apart from their convivial conversations, Tatiana and Elena were very careful to advise us about the possible dangers of our coming travels in Chukotka. We both noticed flickers of genuine concern when we talked about our impending journey over the ice road from Bilibino to Pevek. "Just be very, very careful." they warned.
A QUICK WALK AROUND THE SURROUNDS OF OUR HOTEL
We were told it was minus 14 C in Khabarovsk. It sounded unbelievably cold. But what better idea could we have on a late sunny afternoon with the surrounds of our hotel covered in thick snow, other than to take a short walk to see Khabarovsk in a totally different light?
Donning our coats and gloves, we took off for a brisk hike around the local streets, stomping through the snowy footpaths with great glee. Giggling at our ineptitude at walking through thick snow and stumbling down the occasional deep drifts, we found it impossible to believe we had finally made it to Russia in winter. We were in second heaven....
Our walk however lasted only a short time. We had only worn under gloves and just ordinary sneakers, and within fifteen minutes our hands and feet were painfully cold. Hmm, we thought. We had thought before our trip that all these warnings about the dangers of severe cold were probably overkill. Maybe they were right after all?
At a small attractive local church we had walked around not so long ago in the summer months, we decided we had had enough walking for the day. By the time we arrived back at our hotel, we were both shivering and extremely cold. It was a good lesson.
The Olympic Hotel has a modern bar and restaurant which always seems to be full of very sophisticated and fashion conscious young, local patrons. As for our last visits, videos displaying women lovers engaged in some very explicit and promiscuous acts accompanied by some rather wild rap background music, were displayed on large television screens.
Despite it appearing a bit unusual in the midst of the hotel restaurant, no-one appeared to take the slightest bit of notice. This must be the modern Russia of today, we mused.
We thoroughly enjoyed a few welcome drinks before a really excellent seafood pasta dish. Relaxed after a very pleasant meal, everything was looking great.
Now we had actually arrived here in Russia, surely nothing could possibly go wrong with our coming travels - could it?
2025-02-06