After a relatively strict border control, at which I was asked, "Is this really you?" by the border guard looking at my passport photo (since the two boys became teenagers I've aged a little), we boarded the vessel 'Eastern Dream'. The ferry goes first to Donghae in South Korea, arriving in the morning, before departing in the evening for Sakaiminato in Tottori Province, Japan.
Korean shipping companies have a mixed reputation and this part of our journey was not one that I was looking forward to. However, we were very lucky with the weather and everything went very smoothly. It has to be remembered that we were travelling at the start of the typhoon season and having seen the effects of a typhoon on land I wasn't very keen on seeing them at sea.
Departure from Vladivostok harbour.
The passengers were let onto the bridge of the vessel, something which certainly does not happen in Finland. The chap in the black baseball cap is steering the ship.
Henry in our cabin.
Sunset at sea.
We arrived in Donghae in the morning and had about eight hours to explore the city. We discovered that Koreans speak English just as badly as Russians, which is a surprise as they have a massive English language teaching industry.
When we got off the ferry we found out that the only way into town was by taxi, so by taxi we went. The problem was that we didn't know where we were going and when we asked the driver to take us to the centre we were met with a blank stare. The driver then said, 'bus' and we agreed on that, at least we were going somewhere. We ended up at the long-distance bus station.
We then set off looking for the town centre but the tourist map we had was rather vague. After wandering around for a little we found a place where we could have breakfast, Paris Baguette. While we were there a group of Korean men came in and wondered what we were doing there. They guessed correctly that we were lost tourists and tried to help. Total confusion duly ensued and we all had a good laugh.
Some friendly Korean guys.
Our destination was the Cheon-gok Cave, which was a good place to visit on a very hot day.
Ready to go down into the cave.
Stalactites and stalagmites.
More stalactites and stalacmites.
After visiting the cave and tasting some Korean food, very spicy, we made our way back to the harbour.
The seas around Russia, North and South Korea, and Japan are the site of geopolitical tension so care is needed when taking photos. Mind you, we are not very good at following rules.
Warning sign on board the ferry.
Korean coast guard vessel.
Korean Navy vessel.
And another one.
Night-time on board with the lamps of fishermen fishing for squid on the horizon.
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