It was late afternoon when we rode into Ussurijsk, a town on the M60 approximately 60Km north of Vladivostok. It was hot and the traffic was slow, …… arriving in Vladivostok on a busy Friday evening was not going to give us the time that we required to find the most appropriate accommodation and so it was decided that we stop here for one night.
From the outside the hotel looked expensive, …… but then we were still more accustomed to seeing the shacks and prefabs of the Amur Highways than we were the bright lights of a thriving metropolis. After initial inquiry, … the hotel was cheap, .. with meals and fuel for that day we would still be under budget. Room 419 of a hotel whose name I have either forgotten or never knew, became Poor Circulations resting place for the night of 11th July 2008. Unfortunately the hotel with no name could not offer secure parking but there was a small parking lot to the side of the building, …… so we investigated.
Yuri is Russian, he wears his black clothes as if already mourning his own demise, .. he is a serious young man who speaks good English with a very slow and deliberate cantor giving us ample time to survey the perfection of his full set of gleaming gold teeth. Yuri rides a Honda Super Blackbird, …. but alas it is currently broken. He owns the café and casino in front of which our bikes are parked, …. his security staff will ensure that our bikes remain safe for as long as we remain in his town, … we have no reason at all to doubt this.
In the hotel with no name, we wash our clothes and hang them from the windows to dry in the warm air overnight, …. we sleep soundly in full sized and comfortable beds no doubt dreaming of what adventures Vladivostok will have in store for us.
www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
From the outside the hotel looked expensive, …… but then we were still more accustomed to seeing the shacks and prefabs of the Amur Highways than we were the bright lights of a thriving metropolis. After initial inquiry, … the hotel was cheap, .. with meals and fuel for that day we would still be under budget. Room 419 of a hotel whose name I have either forgotten or never knew, became Poor Circulations resting place for the night of 11th July 2008. Unfortunately the hotel with no name could not offer secure parking but there was a small parking lot to the side of the building, …… so we investigated.
Yuri is Russian, he wears his black clothes as if already mourning his own demise, .. he is a serious young man who speaks good English with a very slow and deliberate cantor giving us ample time to survey the perfection of his full set of gleaming gold teeth. Yuri rides a Honda Super Blackbird, …. but alas it is currently broken. He owns the café and casino in front of which our bikes are parked, …. his security staff will ensure that our bikes remain safe for as long as we remain in his town, … we have no reason at all to doubt this.
In the hotel with no name, we wash our clothes and hang them from the windows to dry in the warm air overnight, …. we sleep soundly in full sized and comfortable beds no doubt dreaming of what adventures Vladivostok will have in store for us.
www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas
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