Vladivostok

yo, maybe some people have heard, or havn't but now i'm making it offcial. I hav been panning a trip to russia, anywhere in russia in about a year. Less actually, about 11 months. At first i really wanted to go to moscow, and now im leaining more towards st.petersburg. But really, i want to do some off the beatin path. I don't think i have ever heard of anybody going to vladivostok, and me, being the non conformist that i am, why not ? i think, since i live in washington, it might be a little shorter flight too =P

Anyways, i don't even think i have met anybody on the internet from russia, farther east than Краснаярск, exept one person from petro-pavlavsk, but that was way over a year ago. Is there any russians here from east east russia? It must surely be less expensive than moscow. Does anybody know of anything interesting that the city has or does ? i know absolutley nothing about this city. Facts, advice and such would be cool, cuz i'm seriously thinking about vladivostok. I did a search and didn't find too much, i mostly got distracted by pictures of vladivostok... that looked pretty cool.

Try http://www.in-russia.net/vlad/ if you already haven't. They looked like they had some good stuff.
I'm assuming that you don't want to take an organized tour of the city, with pre-made schedules and guides, but I found a bunch of those that might give you an idea of where to stay, what to look at etc.

i heard theres a very high crime rate, and that the drivers are crazy there. Also, it would most likely be more expensive getting a flight there since its such a random city, than say getting a cheap jet blue ticket to new york, and then a special deal (they had ones to moscow for like 300 one time i checked). Also, find out a way to get a visa if you want to be there more than a couple weeks.

Hmmm. Didn't valdivostok used to be a "closed" soviet city ? what does that mean ? only military people lived there. or it was closed to people that wern't russian or what ?

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Originally Posted by drew881

Also, find out a way to get a visa if you want to be there more than a couple weeks.

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..or if you want to be there for 1 day.

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Originally Posted by Dogboy

Hmmm. Didn't valdivostok used to be a "closed" soviet city ? what does that mean ? only military people lived there. or it was closed to people that wern't russian or what ?

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Yes I've wondered about that a few times too. I've heard about 'closed' cities but also 'secret' cities. For example, I visited Izhevsk, which I think used to be a 'closed' city. I think that means, as you say, foreigners were not allowed to visit. I got the impression secret cities were entirely closed off, even to Russians, at least, you had to present a passport and some documents to get in.. could someone clue us in?

yea, i plan on getting a visa and passport... dur :) .

the whole reason i was looking at vladivostok was because of price. I just thought it would cost more money to fly to new york, then over the ocean, then over 95 % of europe. then arrive. Where i can just go to vladivostok and have to fly over an ocean... i just thought it would be cheaper.

didn't we have this discussion before? my memory's hazy. I seem to remember someone telling us it's very difficult, and expensive to try to fly west coast usa- vladivostok

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Originally Posted by Dogboy182

yea, i plan on getting a visa and passport... dur :) .

the whole reason i was looking at vladivostok was because of price. I just thought it would cost more money to fly to new york, then over the ocean, then over 95 % of europe. then arrive. Where i can just go to vladivostok and have to fly over an ocean... i just thought it would be cheaper.

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If you go by your logic, you are just flying over one ocean, the largest in world....Its easier to fly to large cities, which handle lots of flights and hence are cheaper.

Also, you write it off as dur, but its harder to get a visa to just dick around in russia for a long time without having some sort of purpose to your trip. So you should look in to it.

Him being Dogboy, I'm sure he's looked into the visa process and everything he'll need for it. But, he said in his first post that his trip isn't until next winter, so it's too early for him to begin working on his visa application. If he sent it in now, they'll put it aside (maybe lose it) for months. I think he's not writing it off, simply saying that it's obvious that he needs a visa.

Not just doing the app, but finding an organization should be looked into, find the best way, etc...When i went both times, I was studying, so my school was the host organization, so i didnt have to really search around,

Sure, it's the largest ocean, but, it would only be flying over the northern part of it. It's not that big of a stretch... and not nearly as big as flying over USA and atlantic combined. Anyways, i still don't know where im gunan go. Probly peter most likely, but interier russia sound cool too.
maybe i should be like all the n00bs and go to moscow 8) *joke*

of course as the crow flies (some crow :) ) it's more logical for an American to fly over the Pacific.. but by all accounts it's very expensive/inconvenient/difficult .. there isn't just some simple, reasonably priced route like LA-Vladivostok or whatever. That's what I heard.

I remember reading somewhere how, at a certain time in the past (in the time of the Tsars, before the railroad was built), if you wanted to go to the Russian Far East, it was quicker to go across Europe, take a boat to America, travel across the US and then take a boat across the Pacific, than to try going through Siberia :) dunno if it's true.
Another staggering statistic I read was that the distance from the Urals to Vladivostok is bigger than the distance from Berlin to New York..

How about going through Korea? LA-Seoul isn't very expensive and the Russians stopped shooting down the KAL flights long time ago. :-)

Oh, ok. I just assumed Vladivostok was a big (enough) city to have a major airport/major transportation. I didn't know it wasn't that big of a hub.

To get to Vladivostok you have to fly to Korea, hang out for many hours and/or days, then catch a connection to Habarovsk. Then take the train to Vladivostok. This is what I heard from some Russian friends who went there last fall. May they are wrong or things have changed but they said it was way more expensive than flying into Moscow.
Another option is to fly to Moscow then take the train across the country (a week long trip) and you can stop at REALLY out of the way places along the route. But going to the Far East for your first trip to Russia is kind of a scary idea. I've been there with Russian friends and it is very difficult and dangerous there. Also not that much to see unless you're interested in nature and ecology (tiaga and tigers).

So the siberian tigers actually live in sibria ??????????

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Originally Posted by Dogboy182

So the siberian tigers actually live in sibria ??????????

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Nope. They live in the Amur region and they are properly called Amurian, not Siberian, tigers.

Dogboy 182 -
First, thanks for your reply to my angst learning genetive plural - oв works for me but it may affect my grade.

As for travel - the Russian far east has so much history. There are many lasting effects still from Stalin's reign. I spent a week in Magadan - 3000 km north of Vladivostok. There is a wonderful "Grief Memorial" there remembering all the faiths of the people tortured and killed by Stalin. Also, many gulags were built in that area and museums there can give you a very good picture of the reality of that time.

Russia Far East is very russian- there isn't the european influence like in Moscow or St. Petersburg. The people are wonderful and the trip is incredible inexpensive. I've never been to Vladivostok but I've been told that the society there is similar to Magadan.

Have fun - I wish I were going this year.
Talla

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Originally Posted by talla

Dogboy 182 -
First, thanks for your reply to my angst learning genetive plural - oв works for me but it may affect my grade.

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wha ? when did i say this ? and where ? lol... i hope i didn't tell you to JUST learn ов and forget eveything else! that just wont work! ... :oops: now im wondering if i *GASP* Knowingly gave bad advice????????

Anyways, i have pretty much decided on where im gunna go. just a few visa things i'm worried about ... but i wont ask those questions untill it's time to buy the visa.

... Mm, I've been toying with the notion of going to Vladivostok for a few years now, and perhaps even spending a considerable amount of time there. I like the idea of being in a Russian city nearing Japan/China/Korea, of which I will also be frequenting. Of course, this certainly won't be my first stop in Russia... seeing that I haven't even stepped foot in the country as of yet... After Moscow/St. Petersburg, I'll eventually head over to Chelyabinsk in the urals, and Vladivostok on the eastern coast.

I've seen a number of pictures of the city, but don't know too many details about it. How's the weather? How big is it, precisely?

- Stanislav

I lived in Vladivostok for more than 10 years.
Yes, you can see very fresh tigers footprints if you travel 2 hours away from the city.
I do not like Vladivostok for its water and power problems.
If you need an expirienced guide to Vladivostok taiga and islands I know one.

There is no power or water problems in Vladivostok at this time. It is just a muscovites' terrible story about "wild" far east :)

Today about 150 ussurian tigers live in Primorskiy Kray. They often walk near northern villages and kill poultry or cattle. Aggression against men is very rare.

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Originally Posted by AndreyK

I lived in Vladivostok for more than 10 years.
Yes, you can see very fresh tigers footprints if you travel 2 hours away from the city.
I do not like Vladivostok for its water and power problems.
If you need an expirienced guide to Vladivostok taiga and islands I know one.

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Wow My mom, my uncle, my grandma and my grandpa are all from Vladivostok................. Do you know if there's anyway that a person can get to Vladivostok from USA besides the plane and the train?......

hi everybody!
i live in vladivostok and if anybody wants to visit it, i'll help with pleasure :)

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Originally Posted by morek

hi everybody!
i live in vladivostok and if anybody wants to visit it, i'll help with pleasure :)

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I'm assuming that didn't come out like it was supposed to!?!?! :o

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Originally Posted by Бармалей

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Originally Posted by morek

hi everybody!
i live in vladivostok and if anybody wants to visit it, i'll help with pleasure :)

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I'm assuming that didn't come out like it was supposed to!?!?! :o

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Тебя смутило, что Морек будет помогать приезжим знакомиться с городом с удовольствием? Да, вот такие мы гостеприимные: нам гости не в тягость, а в радость. :D

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Originally Posted by morek

hi everybody!
i live in vladivostok and if anybody wants to visit it, i'll help with pleasure :)

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It wasn't you who robbed me during my last visit in Vladivostok? :|

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Originally Posted by kalinka_vinnie

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Originally Posted by morek

hi everybody!
i live in vladivostok and if anybody wants to visit it, i'll help with pleasure :)

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It wasn't you who robbed me during my last visit in Vladivostok? :|

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No, that was his evil twin Zloiek. Drunk people don't really need pants anyway, KV...

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Originally Posted by JB

I've been there with Russian friends and it is very difficult and dangerous there.

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How is it dangerous?

When I was there the Far East was controlled by a lot of very dishonest people (the natives called them government mafia)but that was 7 years ago and things have most likely changed (Putin has been cleaning up the oligarch problem).
Now from what I see on the Moscow news the Far East just looks very unpleasant. All winter the news showed huge snowstorms and temps around -30 to -40. This of course resulted in heat and hot water pipes bursting which I'm sure made the populace very uncomfortable. But some people want extreme tourism so maybe Vladivostok is the place to go.

Okay, I would never have guessed. :?