There is a city about a fifth of the way up the Kamchatka Penninsula, on
its east coast. It is a good sized city, 200,000. Apparently it is
the second largest city on the planet that is not accessible by road.
#debate That if you want. It has a fully protected port. We backed in.
I
chose to walk off the ship so, had to relinquish my passport for review
by Russian authorities. They boarded us early. Took their time,
reviewing each and every passport of those who chose to leave the
vessel. We were warned that some would not get off until early
afternoon and the process could not be rushed. We were given group
numbers two days prior, and had to listen for our group number then we
were permitted to go to a muster station to retrieve our passport and
could only then proceed to the gangway.
Upon
my return, late in the afternoon, I learned that some passengers did
indeed not get off until nearing 14:00, but inexplicably, I was granted
exit at 09:30 and had a great 6 hours romping through #Petropavlovsk. I
walked many kilometers and took many photos. No. It is not a perfect
city, not like the ones I'd seen in Korea and Japan, where nary a
brick is out of place, and litter is never to be seen, but it is well
ahead of any tourist's expectations of a Mexican vacation, and gave me a
sense that this place has been here for a long long time and that the
northern indigenous people live among other Russians whose ancient
heritage might be from other parts of the gigantic country. Probably
like Northern Canada, southerners migrated and still do migrate here for
work.
They have a university. I met young
people. Listened to violent rap muzak in a skateboard store. Saw
beautiful, and seemingly openly sanctioned street art. I found elders
like me, selling socks and imported fashions from street stalls, in a
gully below the main drag. I saw lots of families, many with kids, out
and about. It was the day after May Day. Most cars are right-drive,
but again, inexplicably, they drive on the right side of the road, the
same as us. Lots of the cars need bodywork, so I am thinking they are
not forced to have auto insurance. #NotSure.
Preteens
in bikes rode past the tourists, "Hello, Hello" they would giggle.
Every young shop person spoke virtually perfect English. Every elder,
spoke none, but were welcoming.
For example:
<alert #tooMuchInfo>, I wear mens' underwear. (My reasons will be
posted at length in another blog.) In the open market, I came across a
woman with a table piled underwear. Mens' boxers, womens' thongs,
bikini, jockey. Very well made. Every size, and ridiculously
inexpensive.
I was on a shopping spree, which is against my modern
nature, but I had withdrawn 5000 Rubles from the port ATM not knowing if
I was getting $50 or $500ish, gulp (it was the former <I think>),
so my eyes were scanning. I needed toothpaste, but forgot to get
some. But the underwear was also a practical and justifiable purchase,
so I began to struggle to choose a pair. I like the the jersey fabric
boxers and went to that pile. The merchant a woman nearing my age,
guided me to the womanly stuff and I insisted no. This. To prove my
point, I yanked the wasteband of my stanfields from under my vest and
she laughed and yanked the same from beneath her sweater. We shared the
thumbs up and laughed some more. We both know that mens underwear is
twice as warm, lasts twice as long, fits ten times better, and is often
half the price per unity of fabric.
I had a
fabulous day. I found a beer dispenary. Take-home draft. R1.10 per
litre. Terrifyingly stern seller. Long line-up. I found two shopping
"malls" that were more like office buildings with small unites off
random hallways. Multiple levels. Hard to find your way. I suspected
that the merchants kept their own hours, or by appointment. Most were
open of course, because very few ships dock at Petropavolvsk, and
outside money is #aThing, probably. Baked goods. Produce together, but
15 different sells. A hat store, so well stocked I bought two. Stepped into a
womens' clothing shop and pantomimed, skirt? ...no nothing here but finger wag... "follow me". (rolls
up steel door) More! Imports. Italy, Germany, Austria.
here. This will fit. Canada!
Handshake!
Hug! Keep the hanger! Gold fillings. We have northern landscape and
age in common. Zero language unity, but we bonded in the10 minutes I
knew her.
The gigantic ship had backed into the dock. It was a small harbour.
We
(to my shame) off-loaded trash, but I am sure it was for a fee. Less
cost than Japan, but undoubtedly acceptable to the peninsular
jurisdiction. A happy transaction for both parties. Also, there was
fuel purchased for the Pacific crossing,
 |
| Lenin - in the Square |
Still
at sea. I do not know how many days it has been since I left
Petropavlosk. Their housing architecture is what you would expect in
Russia. The commercial architecture is varied. Some so lovely. On such a
pretentious touristic exploitative excursion, it is hard to generalize
about these Yellowknifers of Russia, but they are modern, with it, and I
felt a connection.
~n Post39Day63/75
No comments:
Post a Comment