Hey Everyone,

Dan and I really appreciate all the work Wendy put into helping us get our bikes to North America. As far as we heard and can tell from the quotes, she is doing all this at cost.

Dan and I are going to put together $100 each to get her a gift certificate to a nice restaurant or spa. If any of you want to contribute as well, let us know. We'll put up the $$ now and get payment from you later. The more of us there are saying thank you on the card, the better. Also, if you have any specific ideas for the gift certificate, let us know.

Cheers, Mike

There are some bikers coming behind us that asked for detailed info so I sent this. Thought I'd post in case anyone else could use it.

hey Kurtis, you're probably on the road to Khabarosk right now so no point in me talking about the bad road not being so bad and the plentiful petrol stations and kafes. Here's what you need to know for the next step.

When you arrive in Vladivostok, track down just about any biker on the street and ask them about the "Iron Tigers Motorcycle Club". This club is amazing and they'll let you stay at their repair shop for free. Say hi to MadMax and the Architect for me.

When in Vlad, go down to the marine terminal (by the train station) and find the Dong Chung ferry office on the 2nd floor. Bring your passport of course. You can buy your personal tickets there by credit card for about $260 each. If you bring your bike documents as well you can get the customs process started by fax there. Remember the ferries leave on Mon, Wed and Sat.
D-Day. Drive the 200km to Zarubino. Mixed road of paved and gravel. Doesn't take long. We arrived really early but there was no point because the port doesn't open until 1pm.

At 1pm, go into the building and there's a ticket desk on your left. Pay 200 rubles each. This is just the price of being admitted to the port. Make sure the woman knows you are riding bikes.

Show your ticket to the gate guy and ride your bikes into the port. Go left and ride as far as you can past the big parking lot and past the big building. Hang a right when you pass the big building and see the ramp at the back end of the ferry. Park you bikes and walk toward the ferry. The door you want to the building is the last one on the right. There's a little office with two dour women in it. The one named Nada will take your documents, photocopy them and them begins a flurry on ridiculous typing. After she's typed "War and Peace" into the computer she will present you with a bill. She tried to bill us for $150 and we queried why and offered a $100 instead. She immediately reprinted the bill for $100 (bloddy Russia). As far as we can tell this is the fee her office (part of the ferry company) charges to sort the bill of lading for shipping and to take care of customs.

We couldn't get her below $100 but maybe try offering $50 to start. Can't hurt. Some poor Korean guy (who you should see coming the other way on a new looking BMW R1150RS loaded to the gills with gear) paid the $150 then saw us knock it down to $100 and he wasn't happy.

After you pay Nada, she will run off to sort customs for you. In the mean time you walk to the massive waiting room where the food shop is and go to the cash counter. There, Natasha will charge you 460 Rubles after which you proceed to the next desk where they convert your ticket to a boarding pass.

At this point you're sorted. Sit for a few hours, buy a snack or a . Nada or a minion will find you and give you a single piece of paper that is your bill of lading. This piece of paper will be used to charge you for transport of the bike once you arrive in Sokcho. When the ferry is ready, ride you bike onto the ferry. A soldier will ask you to open and show your stuff. Then park the bike, walk off the ferry back to the waiting room. Proceed through passport control (this is super smooth and friendly, didn't even look at anything but passport and immigration card) and sail off.

Sleep a lot on the ferry (you be exhausted from Iron Tiger partying). Arrive in Sokcho. Walk off, pass through passport control. You'll be met by a ferry employee who will take you to an office and ask you to pay $275 for the bike transport. Walk back onto the ferry and ride your bike 100m to a storage warehouse. Eventually, you're trucker will arrive, load the bike and then you ride off to Seoul for the crating company and eventually the airport.

Sokcho is beautiful. If you have time, drink a little Sujo and sing a lot of kareoke.

Hope this helps. Fire away if you have any other questions.

Cheers and safe riding, Mike

MikeD,
Thanks for posting the ferry info. I will be there in a week or so and its helpful to know whats going on.
Good on you for the gift to Wendy as well. She has been a star with me and i will think of another way to say thanks for her hard work.
Rene

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