Day 12: Vladivostok to Khabarosk

We left Vladivostok in the morning, it was misty and damp, and then it just got worse. And worse. We drove in the rain for hours, and hours and hours... soaked to the bone. This was our first big day riding after leaving Zarubino, and it was a slightly miserable experience.

After a full day of riding, we started looking for a hotel at about 8:00 pm... but we had miscalculated a bit.. which brings me to a litte story about Russia...

The infrastructure in Russia is very different than Canada. There are no "rest stops". The small towns between Vlad and Khabarosk are very, very primitive. Hotels and places catering to tourists are non existant. So we were not having any luck finding a place to stay.















It was getting later and later, when we came around a corner and in the distance were 3 huge stacks, and massive power lines leading off in all directions. It was a monster Soviet-era Nuclear Plant, a huge monolith beside the road. In it's shadow was a small community where the workers lived, so we stopped and asked some locals hanging out if there was a Hotel close by.. they immediately took us on a journey through the community down back roads and alleys, and we all were becoming more and more cautious, as they seemed a bit too eager to help... after a bit, we ended up at some building, where they took us inside to a desk, and yes it did seem to be a place you paid someone to stay at, but there was sadly no security for the bikes, and we had a bad feeling about the whole situation, so we left and got back on the road.

We then did something that we had agreed in advance we would not do, and that was to drive after dark. But we were tired, soaking wet, and had been on the road for over 12 hours. We had made the decision to push on to Khabarosk, still another 250km away, where if we kept going, we would get there at 1:00 to 2:00 am... not the best set of options.

About an hour after we left the Nuclear community, we drove past a building that actually looked like a small "inn" by the road, where lo and behold, they had a couple rooms for rent, including one with three beds (perfect) and a HOT shower, and an area where we could put the bikes securely.

At this point we met Kate, one of our hosts, who had learned English in school, and was very excited to use here basic understanding to try and communicate with us and help us. We very much appreciated the help she provided, and we had a good night, wherever we were.


Kate helping us secure the bikes for the night