(2003.06.04-2003.06.07)   |
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| 'Twas the night before departure and we were by no means ready to go. Preparations
went on late until the night, and we still didn't get going on time. We left our respective homes in Tokyo at about 7 a.m. on June 4, 2003. Two hours later we met in Kawagoe outside of Tokyo to make our way to Toyama prefecture. Later in the afternoon we took a dip in a hot spring at Kusatsu before seting up camp at Shiga Highlands. The temperature took a big dip after we left Kusatsu. A warm 20 degrees centigrade at Kusatsu fell to close to zero by the time we went to sleep at the ski resort (no snow left) where we camped. We got the proof we needed that our sleeping bags would keep us warm at night on most of the anticipated climates we will travel through. The next morning we stopped by the Goshiki Spa for (another) bath. The outdoor bath there is quite popular, but Daisuke was more impressed with the water properties of their indoor bath. Our next stop was the city of Nagano where the winter olympics were held in 1998. There Daisuke canceled his mobile phone service. From there it was straight to Itoigawa on the sea of Japan. There we discovered that Chris had a burnt-out tail lamp. A BMW car dealer on Route 8 sold Chris a new bulb (and a spare) for his tail lamp and were back on track. We proceded to Takaoka city in Toyama prefecture. Just outside of town we camped at a site that overlooks the port of Fushiki. There was nobody else at the campsite, so we didn't have to pay to use the facilities. Chris suspened his moible phone service in Takaoka the next morning. After that, we filled up the bikes with gas, bought some last-minute supplies and some Japanese sake as a gift for Russian bikers. We found the ship easilly, but the customs house was a bit of a challange to find. All our pre-boarding formalities were finished by 2:30 p.m. and we headed for the Mikhail Sholokhov. The representitive from FKK Air Service eventually arrived to get us on the boat. Accompanying him was another rider, Kenji Nakayama from Nara who is riding his BMW GS to Europe. The front desk manager for the ship came to get our papers and assign our rooms. She informed us of meal times and other formalities. Meals are free, but drinks are separte. They can be paid for in Rubles, Dollars, or Yen. The immigration procedures were supposed to be right after boarding, but the immigation official was late. It seems a ship docked without permission, and the officals were busy with that. The procedure itself was simple, and took almost no time。We just had to wait for an offical to get around to our ship. Almost all the passengers on the ship are Russian. It was almost like we were already in Russia before the ship left Japan. Russian announcements, Russian food, Russian beer... We had a private cabin, so it was not like the second-class cabins on the Hokkaido ferries where everyone is packed together. The cabins have four bunks, a shower, and a toilet. All three of us riders were put up in a single cabin. The rooms even have electricity (Russian-style plugs) so we could charges up our electronics and work on updating the website. At just past 8 p.m. the ship finally departed for Vladivostok and the real start of our adventure. |
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出発前日、半分徹夜状態で出発準備をするものの、あまり実感がないというのが正直なところだった。 平成15年6月6日 午前7時をまわった頃、それぞれの東京の自宅を出発。 川越市内の国道256号線にて合流し、一路富山へ。 高崎を経由し、草津温泉「白旗の湯」に入湯した後、志賀高原にて初日は野宿することにした。 草津を出たあたりからそれまで20℃以上あった気温が10℃を下回り、勝手に入り込んだスキー場では、零下には至らなかったもののそれに近い寒さで閉口した。 とはいえ、シベリアでは夏と言えども10℃を下回ることは有り得ることを考えると、今回の装備でそれなりの寒冷地も問題ないことが確認できたというものだ。 翌日は五色温泉で古くからの湯治場の雰囲気を残す五色温泉（露天風呂が人気だが、横江としては内湯の評価を高くつけたいところ）に入湯し、長野市内で横江の携帯電話を解約した後、白馬を越えて糸魚川に出た。 ところが糸魚川に向かう途中、クリスのテールランプがどうも点灯していない。街の手前で確認したところ、やはりバルブが切れていた。 日本海に出てからは国道8号を西へ向かい、一気に富山県高岡市に出た。高岡の手前でクリスは無事バルブの交換を行うことができ、伏木港近くの高台である二上山キャンプ場で泊まることにした。（誰もいなかったので、使用料はかからなかった。本当は有料なんだと思う。少々場所は分かりにくいがツーリングマップルには出ている。） 6日、出発当日は高岡市内でクリスが携帯を解約し、土産の日本酒やその他最後の買出し等をして午前中を過ごす。伏木合同庁舎にある税関で申告書（バイク１台を持って出国する旨）を記入し、船が着岸している伏木万葉港には14時30分に到着した。 今回は船の手配を高岡のFKKエアサービスを通じて行ったので、ここでそこの担当者と待ち合わせたうえで乗船した。（このときに我々以外に奈良から着て欧州まで大陸を横断予定の中山さんと一緒になる。）乗船するとフロントマネージャのおばちゃんが出てきてパスポートとインビテーションのコピーを確認。乗船のチケットや食事のクーポン（バウチャー）のようなものはないらしい。食事は時間に食堂に行くと、自動的に食わされる。ただし飲み物だけは別料金をその場で支払う必要がある（日本円、米ドル、ロシアループルどれでも使えるようだ。） 乗船後に出国審査があるのだが、今回は近くで外国船が無断で着港するというトラブルがあったようで1時間以上待たされる羽目になった。審査自体は手間はかからなかった。 船の中はほとんどがロシア人。船内放送も食事もなにもかもが、出航を前にしてロシア一色になった。ビールもロシアのものだった。それでも部屋は個室で、北海道行きのフェリーのようにたこ部屋状態ではないのは楽ちん。個室は4人用でシャワーもトイレもついている。ここにクリス、横江、中山さんの3人で入った。 電源も使えるので、充電やデータ整理、更新作業がゆっくりできる。 午後8時過ぎだっただろうか、ようやく船が伏木港から出航した。 |
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