Post 118: Seoul, South Korea

Aboard a bus, … the likes of which I have never ridden before, it took just three short hours to reach the capital of South Korea, Seoul. The journey from Sok Cho followed the only possible passage, a river valley sandwiched between mountains to the north and to the south where the views were spectacular. Beyond the tall forested peaks to the North are the 38th Parallel and the DMZ that still separate the North and South of this peninsula. Along the route I see that a new ‘Super-Highway’ is under construction, a highway that is elevated and will pass between the mountain peaks, a highway that when finished will surely be one of most spectacular roads in Asia. I pray the very fact that this road is under construction reflects the growing confidence that the government of South Korea have in the future stability of relations with it’s isolated neighbour just several kilometres to the North, … I can all only hope.

As we drive past fields of rice and fruit groves, it reminds me of Thailand but without the buffalo. Here in South Korea everything that possibly can be mechanised, … is mechanised. Almost without exception, all vehicles here are home produced, .. Hyundai and Kia, …. I see no building that looks older than myself, .. South Korea appears in every respect to be a ‘New Nation’. It is clean, everything works, .. it has function yet still maintains a degree of style that is only found in South-East Asia. Seoul is fast but not furious, .. its high-rise buildings fit perfectly into its landscape and fill every available inch of the flat plains along the Han-Gang River. Reminders of the Seoul Olympics are all around, …… Seoul is proud of this recent heritage but has seemingly divorced itself form more distant history.

In the street I meet a ‘Courier’, I ask to take his picture and for a brief moment he wonders why. Explaining that I’m also a courier in London would take too long, … so I just smile and raise an eyebrow, … he’s happy to oblige. I notice that the couriers here are a slightly different breed, .. their bikes are smaller but better equipped to carry larger loads, … loads that would have riders in London screaming ‘Health & Safety’, …. Myself included. (See Picture on Right Column)

I’ll be around for a few days, … I’ll steal a map from the foyer of an expensive hotel, … I’ll explore and discover, .. perhaps my first impressions are wrong, … perhaps I need to dig deeper beneath the shiny surface of this amazing city.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 117: Sok Cho, South Korea

Korea, North or South, was never on the Poor Circulation agenda, .. but here I am. It's beautiful, .. the people are friendly, the streets are clean and at night, .. Wow. It's kind of 'Tokyo-Lite', ... if there is a world shortage of neon, I now know why.

Sok Cho is a small port city standing on what in Korea they call the East Sea, and in Japan, The Sea of Japan. With nowhere to camp we're holed-up in a cheap motel where everything works, where passports are not confiscated and where you can actually take responsibility for your own key, ..... welcome back to the world of 'grown-ups'. It's such a shame that the Triumph is now down in Busan, .. riding here would have been a dream come true. OK, .. the signs are all in ㅏㅒㄲㄸ무, (Korean), but in any language,..... East is East and I'd find my own way to Seoul eventually. I know that Seoul will be more expensive then Sok Cho, .... but It's a place that I've always wanted to visit and if it's a larger and funkier version of here, ..... then I know that I'll quickly fall in love with the place.

I've decided to stay here for one more night and then take a bus to Seoul on Thursday morning. Wendy Choi of Areo International has been amazing, she is taking responsibility for moving the bikes to Seattle, ...... if only Wendy had a Russian sister then no doubt Poor Circulation would be already enjoying the wilds of Alaska.

For some strange reason here in Korea they use a different system for mobile phones,.. not GSM. For that reason no western mobiles will work here. On the ferry from Zarubino I also discovered why my Russian mobile phone had mysteriously stopped working. Apparently I had to 'Register' the phone on the network after a given number of days. Unfortunately once again, .... a rule written in Russian has found me wanting, .. bugger.

I hope that once in America I'll be better able to communicate, ..... though perhaps I'm overestimating America's leap into the world of WiFi. It's good to see that while I've been enjoying the warmth and friendliness of Russian Customs Bureaucracy, some more money has been donated to my chosen charity via 'JustGiving'. I'm still a long way short of my target, ... but with a little help and a lot more begging, .... I hope I can make it. The names of those donating are all on the bike,.. I've managed to keep that up to date so far,..... but there is plenty of room for more. Every $2 donated will get your name on there and the eternal gratitude of myself and those who rely upon the services of St Teresa's hospice at their most vulnerable times. Many Thanks, ... Geoff

Post 116: Leaving Russia 'Official'

(Posts 110 to 116 are being added here at the same time. It’s been six days away from the Internet but I’ve finally arrived in South Korea, .. where no Western Mobile phone will work)

A single headlight appears at the crest of the hill,.. the unmistakable rumble of a single cylinder motorcycle. For the very first time I meet Dan Honciuc, the mysterious man behind countless text messages and emails that I’d received whilst in Vladivostok. His arm is broken but his ex-army KTM 400 is well on the way to recovery. As he arrives on the dock at Zarabino and before his engine is killed, ….. he points out the inaccuracies in my earlier Blog entries. His KTM was only broken when it landed in the back of the truck, …. it wasn’t damaged in the accident, ‘KTM’s are great bikes’. I can only smile and stroke the Tiger’s mane, …. I’m sure I just saw it preen its whiskers. We haven’t been formally introduced but here on the road you just know exactly who everybody else is.

As experts in the Russian customs procedures we point Dan in the right direction whilst we enter the customs masters office in order to receive a severe spanking for inadvertently allowing our Triumphs to overstay their visas.. The atmosphere is formal and I’ll spare you the details, .. but three hours later and 1,500Rr lighter we were free to leave Russia, ….. albeit now each with a criminal record.

The ferry is good, … it’s empty, … a 200 Car Ferry containing just 3 motorcycles and no more than forty passengers. We leave the Triumphs looking lost and out of place alone on the massive car deck as we seek out and find our ‘floor space’ on the ‘Economy B Deck’ above. It’s basically the same as the ‘Economy A Deck’, … but without the karaoke rooms. The food is good, the floor is spacious and the voyage unlike all of our others, …… is uneventful. I’d like to be in a position to report disasters, calamities and mishaps, … or even alighting from the ferry in the wrong country as we did when leaving Albania, ….. but on this crossing, nothing of any consequence happened.

We’ve arrived in Sok Cho, …. It was painless and the town is beautiful. The bikes are now onboard a truck and making there way to the port of Busan and onwards by ship to Seattle. We’ll take a bus to Seoul tomorrow, .. or maybe the next day. Dan has headed off with his bike on a truck to Inchon, … he’s light enough to fly, .. we’re not, .. too many pies.

On the dock here we met a German guy with a camper van who we’d last seen in Zarubino on Saturday. Unlike ourselves, he’d been allowed to sail and landed in Sok Cho on Sunday morning, … but he and his camper were still parked on the dock. Unfortunately he’d overlooked one minor detail in his planning. Germany for some strange reason never signed up to the ‘International Convention on Road Traffic’ in 1949 and to this day German nationals are not allowed to drive in Korea. (Yes, … that was news to me too). Fortunately for Poor Circulation, …. Great Britain did sign the convention.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 115: Killing More Time in Zarabino

The problem can be fixed, .. maybe today,.. maybe Monday, .. nobody is sure. The lady with the smile tells us not to worry, .. we will make today’s crossing,.. the officer with the oversized cap is not so sure, …. the lady without a smile is certain that we wont. We must wait,… a decision will be made. I sit back and enjoy taking time to observe the life and bustle around me. Three months earlier I would have been fretting and shouting at every official in sight, but today I’m relaxed, I’m surprised about how mellow I’ve become, .. perhaps it’s ‘age’, perhaps it’s just ‘travelling’. It would be nice to share a few beers on the ferry to Sok Cho with our new friends Hans, Volker and Heaven, .. but it would also be good to put some serious distance between Rodrigo, and ourselves ….. each solution has its benefits and drawbacks.

I watch on as Alan turns from boy to man. Since his experience at the small church on the Amur Highway he’s grown from the timid guy that he'd been into the man that he always could be. Without any prompting from myself he's working the official’s like an old expert traveller, …. he’s smiling and laughing with them, bringing them around to his point of view with a gentle and caressing manner .. he’s found a new degree of confidence to act on his own,.. he has at last found the initiative he needed.

If I was forced to place my own pin in the world map of religion, ….. it would probably sit somewhere to the east of Paganism. I fully respect everybody’s choices and beliefs and if Alan finding God on this journey adds value to his life, ... then this journey has been of much greater benefit to him than even he perhaps realises. I smile to myself as I watch, ….. I’m confident that he’ll conquer Route66.

As departure time approaches and passes, …… the solution to our visa issue is still not clear. The door to the ferry rises, .. the passengers line the balconies and wave back to the shore. The white water rising from the rear of the ship and the thick ropes sliding silently up towards her decks are not good signs for the immediate progress of Poor Circulation. The lady with the smile apologises, .. the officer in the oversized cap is nonchalant and the lady without the smile now looks like the cat that took the cream. We will return on Monday, … the visa problem will vanish with the payment of 2,000Rr each.

We ride back to our previous nights hotel on the opposite side of the bay. We follow the ferry as it sails out to sea, … from the balconies we can make out Hans, Volker and Heaven, ….. each with a bottle of chilled beer in one hand,.. waving with the other. Looking towards the ships bridge, …. I’m sure that the I can see a familiar dark and diminutive figure offering navigational advice to the captain, …… Brazil has overtaken England, …. but for me, this was never a race but an adventure. I’ve got two days to kill in Zarabino and I know the whereabouts of an amazing ‘Shashlique Café’, …. time to eat and drink, South Korea is only a bribe away.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 114: Kiling Time in Zarabino

I knew that at some point in time I would leave Russia, I knew that at some time money would change hands and that the visa problems would suddenly disappear, …… I just didn’t know ‘when’ or ‘how much’. If I didn’t make this ferry crossing, then I would make the next, …. or even the next, but looking on the bright side, ….. I’ve been stranded in far worse places than Zarabino.

For the past three weeks I’d been aware of two German bikers following several days behind us along the Amur Highway. Hans and Volker had contacted us on the Internet forum ‘Horizons Unlimited’. I’d passed information onto them about road conditions and exit strategies and they had reciprocated with information of their own. Through the motorcycle grapevine In Vladivostok I’d heard that one of the pair had suffered injuries in an accident, …. but I had no more information than that.

Whilst waiting at the port of Zarabino, two BMW F650 GS Dakar’s arrived, … on board were Hans and Volker, … the German pair had caught and were now about to overtake Poor Circulation. Hans had been caught in a storm at the end of the Amur Highway, a branch from a tree had been broken by the wind, … the branch had crashed down onto his helmet piercing the shell and knocking him out, … Hans had spent several days in hospital. The Amur Highway had claimed another victim but thankfully this time both bike and rider were still in pain, but back on the road to recovery. They gave us news of Dan, a rider who’d been catching us along the road before crashing his KTM Adventure. Dan was now in plaster and resting in Vladivostok, .. his bike ‘Damaged-Repairable’. We told them of Charlie’s progress, an Australian BMW rider heading west towards London who we’d met at the Amur’s most northerly point. Charlie had fallen several times and had torn knee ligaments but he’d now passed through Chita and onwards to the safety and beauty of lake Baikal. Volker mentioned the ‘Brazilian’ who’d also crashed on the Amur, … we smiled and told of our encounters with ‘Arroganto’ at Vlad Moto Workshops and how his Yamaha was now in need of serious surgery, .. though Rodrigo himself was in the rudest of health. Judging from the adventures and mishaps of other riders, it seems that the Amur Highway is a little tougher than I’d thought. Or maybe it’s just the Triumph Tiger that is even tougher and more capable, …. perhaps it’s time that I showed it a little more respect.

Hand and Volker were great company, we killed time together while we waited for a resolution to our visa challenges, we shared stories, we laughed and we joked. We watched as the much-discussed Brazilian rider arrived with his entourage, … no doubt wondering why no red carpet had been laid in preparation for his departure. I introduced Hans and Volker to ‘Heaven’, a girl travelling from Glasgow back to her native Korea on the Trans Siberian Railway. A girl so beautiful and so full of life that we all just wanted to pick her up and take her with us. Heaven would be travelling in Korea and offered us free and unrestricted use of her apartment in Busan while she was away. We’d known Heaven for less than five minutes and had been offered open access to her home, ….. welcome to ‘Travelling’.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 113: Dosvidanya Russia

Zarabino is a small town in the far south east of Russia and the port of exit for journeys to South Korea. From here I would take the overnight crossing to Sok Cho. I had my ‘Passenger Ticket’ purchased in Vladivostok for $200 but the ticket for the bike would need to be purchased at, on or after the ferry, … though nobody knew quite how, when, where or for how much.

With no opportunity to camp, the overnight hotel in Zarabino was cheap, $10 per night with hot running water. Admittedly, the ‘hot running water’ was not in or even close to my hotel room, but for just one night it felt great to be sleeping in a real bed. The ferry would sail at 18:00 hours on Saturday 26th July, customs clearance was at 14:00 hours and boarding would commence at 17:00, …. it all appeared to be very simple and straight forward.

In England you will see many older buildings that have windows in-filled with brick. This was done back in the days when a ‘window tax’ existed, …… the greater the number of windows a building had, the higher the tax that was payable by it’s owner. Here in Russia they also have a ‘Window Tax’ and it exists at all border crossings. Basically, at every ‘window’ that you’re asked to visit with your documentation, a tax is payable, often ‘Official’, sometimes ‘Local’.

At the first window on arrival I paid 200Rr to take the Triumph and myself onto the dock where I found another open window. Through that window I passed the princely sum of 2,600 Rr, … I believe for ‘Customs Tax’, plus an additional fine of 136Rr, I believe for failing to pay the previous tax in US Dollars. I was then directed to a third window where 460Rr was withdrawn from my diminishing wallet for ‘Exit tax’. Thankfully, this time no fine was levied for paying the exit tax in the currency of the worlds’ largest country. Moving onto the fourth open window I waited for my boarding card, …… but as always in Russia, there was a minor problem.

Three hours later I learn that my ‘Visa’ has apparently expired and that Alan has exactly the same problem. It’s now July 26th, I know for certain that our Visas are valid until 28th August, I’m a little confused. The validity dates for the Visa are stamped in my passport. They are the only entries on any of my paperwork that are written in both Russian and English, ….. these dates are therefore the only ‘facts’ of which I’m certain. Finally an English speaker is found and the problem is clearly explained to me. My ‘Business Visa’ clearly states that I will enter Russia on June 1st 2008 at the Western port of Sochi. That I will ride my motorcycle 15,000Km across Russia and exit on or before 28th August 2008 from the Far Eastern port of Zarabino. The ‘problem’ is that the customs officer in Sochi who completed the documentation for both me and the motorcycle, allowed me to enter Russia for 90 days but the motorcycle for only 10 days. All of this information is clearly written on the ‘Customs Declaration Form’ that I have kept dry and in pristine condition on my journey across this vast land. It is I know an important document, … ‘Person’ and ‘Motorcycle’ can not be separated during the period, … both must enter and leave Russia together, this form is confirmation of these facts. Unfortunately this ‘Customs Declaration Form’ is written entirely in Cyrillic, … ‘niyet Anglian’. The ‘Visa’ for my motorcycle had expired on the 11th of June 2008, ……. therefore, It is now impossible for me to leave Russia.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 112: Leaving Vladivostok

It’s 7:40am, Friday 24th of July and we’re waiting. We were due to leave at 7:00 with The Architect escorting us to the docks. Our ferry boards in 20 minutes and we still have to negotiate the dense traffic of Vladivostok’s early morning rush hour. The Brazilian has turned up late, he’s issuing orders to all of those around him as if he himself owned the operation. His motorcycle that has been provided by Yamaha is still sick, it sits on the back of the Vlad Moto flatbed truck. It’s been ridden to death, in 15,000Km of riding he’s failed to add oil to the engine, he’s failed to adjust the tension of the chain or even to coat it with oil. His chain had snapped some 200Km earlier, but the mechanics of Vlad Moto have fixed that for him. They’ve turned him a new rear sprocket for the new chain to run on, .. they’ve welded and braced his broken frame, … they’ve explained the basics of motorcycle maintenance to him, ….. but sadly they cann’t at such short notice replace the broken valves and camshaft that a lack of oil and an abundance of negligence have caused.

Rodrigo Fiuza now wants the Iron Tigers to transport him and his bike the 250Km to Zarabino where he’ll also catch the ferry to Korea, .. but hopefully not the same ferry as ours. Of course they’ll transport him on their truck, ….. because that’s the kind of people they are. His companion, .. the young man who flies ahead of him and arranges everything; hotels, currency, transport, food, visas, …. stands on, .. looking a little embarrassed and out of place, .. perhaps hoping that their journey will soon be at an end.

I make the decision to leave without our escort, .. The Architect apologises as if the fault is his own, .. I smile and shake his hand firmly. I use a valuable minute of my time to take the confident Brazilian boy to one side and I offer him several chosen words of advice, …. though I guess they’ll have little lasting effect. He is riding around the world on a mission of ‘Peace’ though I suspect that without an adjustment to his attitude, in places of lesser tolerance than this, … it will not be ‘Peace’ that is breaking out around him. As we ride out of the Vald Moto compound for the last time, I’m sure that I can hear Rodrigo calling out behind us, ……. ‘People, People, …. Where’s my latte?’.

We make the ferry and as intended board first, …. ‘first on, first off’. The ferry will take us to Slavyanka from where we will ride the 50Km down to the port of Zarabino and then onwards to Korea. The ferry begins to fill, .. a beaming smile appears from behind a row of densely parked trucks, …. It is The Architect. He apologises for not escorting us here, … we share a knowing smile and he wishes us both well, .. with deep felt meaning.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 111: Goodbye to Vladivostok

Apart from a few incidents with Rodrigo, a Brazilian RTW Biker who began abusing the hospitality shown by our hosts, …. and my subsequent ‘quiet but firm’ intervention, my time here in Vladivostok has been without exception, …. Amazing. Leaving Roman, Slava and their friends in Volgograd had been difficult, .. but leaving Vladivostok will be much harder. Here in Eastern Russia, I feel as if I’ve been adopted by a new and amazing family. Yesterday a couple of members of the Khabarovsk chapter, who I’d met at the ‘Ride to Work’ rally in Usserijsk, had ridden down to the Box to wish me farewell. I’m sure that they had other business down here in Vladivostok, but that’s still a 1,000Km round trip. To these fine people, ….. friendship is everything.

It’s time to add my name and comments to the Iron Tigers Visitors Book, ... but what to write? In the end I decided on the following:

As a stranger in a strange land I came to Russia. A land where the police opened my wallet but the people opened my heart. Here at Vlad Moto in Vladivostok I found Mikhail and the Iron Tigers, …. for your generosity, friendship and support, …… I will always be grateful. Ride Safe, …. Geoff (Blue88)

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Post 110: Vladivostok Speedway

According to legend, no trip to Vladivostok is complete without three things. Firstly a weekend bike rally and secondly a banya with a group of hairy arsed bikers. As a reminder of the former I have a beautiful tee shirt and for the later, simply the memory and a few healing scars. The third element to this triptych of wonders is a visit to the speedway stadium, … preferably on ‘Race Day’.

In the hierarchy of Vladivostok pastimes, speedway comes second only to drinking vodka. The local heroes, ‘Team Vostok’ have until recently been the champions of all Russia. Today, 23rd July 2008, the new champions and pretenders to Vostok’s throne are the visiting team. We buy tickets for our friend Andre and his beautiful wife Ulia, .. centre stand, centre row, .. best seats in the house, $10. It’s a party atmosphere, the alcohol ban is enforced as if it never existed and the girls in the audience outnumber the boys. I look around as the riders are introduced, …. I’ve been to speedway in England but this is different, .. this is more like fashion week in Milan, .. it is as far removed from Ipswich or Manchester on a rainy evening as it is possible to get.

The MC is loud and judging by the reaction of the crowds, … funny and popular too. The riders are heroes, … well, the Vostok riders at least. The team from Ukraine includes the reigning world champion from Sweden, .. Andre suggests that they are in fact ‘the Chelsea of speedway’, … a team lacking neither talent nor finances, .. just history and heritage. The racing begins, I stand, I shout, I cheer along with the masses and become an instant supporter of ‘Komader Vostok’. It’s impossible not to become involved,… in the nicest possible way, Russian people are 100% infectious. (Komander = Team).

To complete an almost perfect evening, Team Vostok win by 60pts to 30pts, .. ‘Komander Vostok’ will once again be national champions, … Vladivostok will party tonight, the party will last until dawn, ….. that is the Vladivostok way. We head back to the ‘Box’ and hope that the resident rat will be sleeping soundly after feasting on our emergency food rations for the previous six days, …. wishful thinking I’m afraid.

www.justgiving.com/geoffgthomas

Message for Daniella Murdoch

Sorry to put this message here, but I've lost Daniella's email address and she isn't writing a blog,.. sensible girl. Daniella, if your reading this then please email us on poorcirculation@hotmail.co.uk.

After posting on my blog I'm getting offers of help and assistance for you through Europe and into London. Anybody else wishing to help,.. then please email me too. Daniella, I'll pass on the information via email if you get in touch. ..... ride safe, Geoff