My Journeys Through Russia - A Kunashir Adventure

My Journeys Through Russia - A Kunashir Adventure

Finally on May 18th, the decision was made by my client that they would like to utilize my services. My company, Far East Development, is a small company specializing in the Russian Far East. My client with whom I have worked for many years, is Zegrahm, a well known specialized eco tourism company offering expedition cruises in the Russian Far East. They wanted to bring some local content to their product by inviting a Russian lecturer and expert on the Kuriles on board and perhaps enable the passengers to meet some of the children of Kunashir (one of the most southern Kurile Islands).

Of course, as I already knew, it would be difficult to get to the island, which limited the opportunities to pull this off, but my confidence in the abilities of my favorite couple, Gela and Lena, on Kunashir to work with me and my previous experience in getting to the island, made me at least give it a everything I got.

Gela, in his late twenties, is one of the many entrepreneurs on the island. He owns two large trucks and carries not only oil to various points on the island, but anything else that is large and difficult to transport. He has a beautiful wife and a small son, of course, named Sacha, who adores his father and travels with him whenever his school permits him to do so and sometimes when it doesn`t.

Gela knows everyone and is clearly enamored with his island. Just like most of the citizens of the island he would not move if they paid him to. He not only earns good money but on Christmas, for example, buys fruit for all the children in the Kindergarten. Fruit is very expensive and hard to buy on the island and the children but occasionally get to eat it.

Of course, Gela also faces the regular problems every other entrepreneur faces in Russia. That is jealousy and therefor lack of support by his own administration. As Gela notices the waste of money or the greed by the bureaucratic entities on his island, where some people barely have their needs fulfilled, he fights against it and sometimes gets his hands slapped in turn. Nevertheless, even they, the powers that run the islands, turn to him when they face finding solutions for a difficult to solve problem.

My Aeroflot flight from San Francisco made an unexpected stop in Seattle to pick up a Russian fishing crew returning home. To my surprise there were quite a few Americans. Some were Northwest pilots who were going fishing in the Khabarovsk Krai. They immediately made acquaintance with the pilots and told me that they were quite comfortable with the way they flew their aircraft. Their method of flying was different but quite competent. We were late, but the flight was excellent, The food tasted great and the meals were delivered very fast and efficiently.

There were no further problems getting to Sakhalin from Khabarovsk. Flights operate relatively frequently. In Yuzhno Sakhalinsk, the capital city on the Island of Sakhalin, Zhenya met me at the airport. Zhenya is a twenty year old student with whom I have worked for the last three years. He has a good sense of humor and has quickly adapted to the needs of foreign tourists. Since we spend a lot of time together, we have frequent conversations in which he tries to convince me and sometimes does, on how to operate in Russia. Of course, his whole family is involved in the venture. His mother frequently tries to feed me whether I am hungry or not. And his sister, who before she obtained a better paying job was working with me, also frequently points out my mistakes and how to do better in the future. And I love them all for it.

Zhenya advised me that there were no places on the flights to Kunashir. Bad weather had pushed the waiting list for any flight at least two weeks away. As is usual in Russia, his mother had already pulled strings in an attempt to get tickets unofficially, but so far she had no luck in getting a positive answer. So we had to come up with an alternative, the ferry which operates between the islands. We just had to get tickets, what a simple thing to say and so difficult to accomplish.

On Monday morning at 9:00 a.m., Zhenya and his mom departed for Korsakov where the ticket office is located. Tickets only go on sale when they know the ship is arriving in town and it was scheduled for that morning. At 12 noon, Zhenya picked up a fellow traveler, Alexander Solovyow, a geologist who was to join the Zegrahm group and myself in Yuzhno. He had left his mother in the ticket line. We arrived at 1:30 p.m. to relieve her. The ship which was supposed to leave at 3:00 p.m. was now scheduled for a 7:00 p.m. departure. While one of us stood in the ticket line, others went out to purchase food for the vessel. At 6:00 p.m we were finally at the ticket window, only to face the next opportunity to test our mettle. I would not be allowed to board the vessel because I did not have either Korsakov, the port in which the ticket office was located, nor any of the destinations to which we were traveling on my visa.

Luckily one of the women at the immigration counter took pity. It is wonderful at times, to be a woman in Russia. Specifically since women are intrinsically powerful, even though it is supposedly a men`s world. So with full speed, through dark alleys and unexpected turns, we drove to the office of local immigration control with our new acquaintance. A uniformed official pointed out to us the lack of the proper cities on my visa. At first I tried to acquaint him with the new rules of the game as they were explained to me at the Russian Consulate in Seattle, but realized soon that this was not the way to his cooperation. So I cried and said that I was meeting a foreign vessel in Kunashir and how was I going to do that without his cooperation. First there was a display of surprise on his face, than I showed him the paperwork and the ladies in the office started to get on his case. He finally gave in, after asking for copies of all relative documents. Time was getting short. The copy machine ran out of paper. The ladies were frantic. So we just gave him some originals of whatever I had in hand and off we went to board the Frigate.

So we finally planted our feet on the ship. All of us. Including a team of Sakhalin TV reporters who were going off to Kunashir in search of the Fish Owl, the Japanese crane and other rare species of bird and wildlife, and who were friends of Alexander. The three of us had a comfortable cabin with two lower, and one upper bed, a bathroom with hot water (a luxury in this part of the world), sufficient storage space and a couch and table for day time activities.

A lady furnished us with linen and we were advised that meals took place in the dining room just around the corner and were to be paid separately on each day, right before mealtime. The first night at 8:00 p.m. we entered the dining room for our dinner. I must say it wasn`t the most appetizing meal I have had in Russia. Some thin soup and mashed potatoes with unidentifiable meat accompanied by some weak tea. Needless to say we were extremely happy to have scoured the stores in Korsakov prior to our departure. However, fairly soon after our departure, food barely seemed to matter as the ship plodded its way toward, we thought, Kunashir.

The Frigate is a cargo and passenger carrying vessel. It operates only during the summer from April to mid September. It is in fact the only way to get large cargo, including fuel, coal, trucks, etc. to the various islands. Passengers embark and disembark in various destinations. We found that on our vessel there were many Russian business men accompanying cargo, families delivering children to their grand parents in Sakhalin for the summer and others visiting their relatives in the Kuriles. One old man who apparently did not have sufficient money for a cabin, spent the night on the couch in the reception area.

There are two, three and four berth cabins but really no other public space. The dining rooms were only open at specific times. It was interesting to note that our dining rooms were not as nice as that of the crew and staff, something totally Russian. No client orientation. Due to the weather many passengers kept to their cabins, while others more relying on fresh air to retain their composure, could be found on the outside deck. As usual the bar and disco occupied the best place on the vessel. In the afternoon videos were offered to the passengers while in the evening every one exercised their rights to be a singer on the Karaoke systems.

My cabin mates, those two strong men, were evidently under the weather during the next twenty four hours it took for us to reach the shore. But what shore, I wondered. No matter how often I asked the official lady dispensing information, the answer was always... we do not know where we arrive or when. And when we know we will announce it over the loud speaker. And so they did at 5:00 p.m. announcing that the ship would be anchoring in Iturup late that evening. Next port we were assured was Kunashir. There seemed to be no point to disembark in the dark so goodbye Iturup without touching the ground.

Another night with heavy waves and not too many passengers joining lunch, dinner or whatever. And a morning arrival in Shikotan, a smaller, less visited island. This time I have made this journey more leisurely. Twice in the past, we were arriving at the pier. That alone should have given me the clue that this was going to be a much longer stay than originally anticipated. We watched the ship come alongside, where various naval authorities were heavily involved in giving directions, while shoddily dressed sailors tried to do things right, apparently without having a clue as to what they had to do.

Another journey to our cruise director and a loaded question: "How long are we going to stay here?" The answer: "As long as it takes to transfer fuel to the nearby situated tanker, at least umtil early the evening." By now I was frantic and decided the first thing we needed was a telephone. So off we went exploring the town which consisted of one street displaying the usual container type stores.

We were lucky. The weather changed as we disembarked and the sun bathed our little group in its warm light. Our first order was to find the post office which in turn would probably give us access to a telephone. Guess what? No electricity on the island. Back to the ship to try their telephone system... no luck as phone calls were only allowed from 8:00 p.m. in the evening.

By this time Alexander had found an old friend who fortunatly had a truck which could hold our group of six. So off we went on the island. A little known fact which I discovered is that Shikotan suffered a lot during the last earthquake which also hit Iturup. Many of the buildings were destroyed, although luckily no people were actually killed. The island is exceptionally beautiful and offers some of the best views in the Kuriles. It is covered by low forest and scrubs which tend to bend due to major wind forces. There are various Japanese grave sights on the island and the latest group of Japanese tourists to arrive on the island were part of a cultural exchange.

We drove on a small unpaved road to the Dimotrovaya Bay, a beautiful bay surrounded by low, lush green hills covered with wild flowers affording spectacular views. On the way we visited some of the Japanese graves. While at the bay we took a long walk to where we could observe the entrance of the bay, which is dotted with three rocks called The Three Brothers. Boarding our truck, it was very close quarters, we than transferred to Krabozavodskoya settlement, which was known for its large fish processing plant, but which did not seem to be operating at the time. A lot of people left the island after the earthquake. Of course, we could not leave until we had tea with our host family who lived in a comfortable house in the settlement.

Our host had lived his whole life on the island, and was formerly fully employed by the fish processing plant and now only temporarily. He lived with his wife and about twenty year old daughter, who was home from attending school on Sakhalin island. There is primary school on the island but not secondary education. So most children go to the Island of Sakahlin to continue their education and live mostly with relatives.

Again, we found the same passion for the island. The same sentiments as on Kunashir "We know every one and we are at ease with our economic circumstances." They would not want to live in a big city. In fact, some of the people who moved away from the island returned because they did not feel comfortable any where else.

Because there is seldom electricity, most homes use butane gas for cooking purposes and small generators for light and television. Whomever, manufactured the butane gas stoves and the small generators is probably making a fortune. Our tea, as is usual, consisted of many dishes and was accompanied by a video by our host`s wife about Shikotan. The video was exemplary. It showed most of the bays on the island and the various summer and winter activities in which the inhabitants partake. We would have loved a copy but were not able to obtain one due to the short time limit of our visit. After many toasts and promises to come back, we returned to the vessel.

While we were happy and content with a day well spent, it did not end my continuous quest for information. Where, what and when? The little bits of information coming our way, were not very encouraging. Not tonight, maybe tomorrow or even another night in Shikotan. In any case, I loaded up Zhenya with money and messages for Kunashir and with the request not to come back until he had accomplished his purpose. Since shipboard life can be a bit boring if your are not a fan of disco music, which goes on in the bar until very early in the morning, I went to bed at about 10:00 p.m. leaving Zhenya to his duties. The next thing I knew he was standing at my bedside with a grin a mile wide, a bit of slurred speech indicating task accomplished. I looked at my watch and it was 8:00 a.m. in the morning. "Did you sleep?" I asked, but there is no real answer. And he disappeared again, only to come back around 10:00 a.m. to get in his bed and immediately fall asleep. Later on I surmised that he had been fraternizing with the local sailors. He just recently finished military duty and who knows what kind of frivolities occurred. The call went through after two hours of trying, through Kholmsk, the telephone office in Kunashir and finally to Gela. What the results would be was anyone`s guess at this time.

While the passengers are getting on the ship, there is no movement in the vessel itself. Speculations are high and they range from late afternoon to one more day. I have finally decided to just go with the flow even though internally I am choking on my emotions. At around 2:00 p.m. I notice that there are signs of departure. I am as excited as a small child at Christmas time. At 3:00 p.m. we are moving away from the pier and are now, I am told with a smile, on our way to Kunashir.

It is 7:00 p.m. and the winds are hitting us harder and harder, the waves are extremely high and I am now beginning to think that we are fated to never arrive. But we do, however there is no way to get off the vessel and communications with the shore are impossible. Some people board a small fishing boat which comes alongside the Frigate. There is temptation to board it, but we quickly withdraw, when a man trying to cross over to the vessel, almost gets lost in the water. I am told there will be disembarkation early in the morning. To celebrate our arrival we spend our first evening in the bar, as they say, dancing the night away.

I am up at 6:00 a.m. and the weather seems to have cleared. Yet, no news on disembarkation. By now I have made my acquaintance with the captain and have gotten permission to use their radio to contact the shore. No luck, however. At 9:00 a.m. while standing on the bridge I see the World Discoverer slowly maneuvering through the fog into the Bay. Excitement surrounds us. We keep trying to get in touch with the vessel. At around 10:00 a.m. we finally raise the attention of our ship`s agent, and Alexander is able to board the World Discoverer. I, in turn, leave for the shore to find out if under the circumstances we were able to still invite the children. I am advised, no luck with the children, they have exams and the teacher won`t let them go. I sigh. Then I have to let go. After all, the journey exposed me to so many wonderful new people, reacquainted me with new things to share with others and taught me a few things as well. How lucky I was to have been able to undertake this journey.

Final notes: The vessel cleared into Russia at Kunashir and proceeded to the Taytya River in the Kunashir Nature Preserve. The passengers were elated not only by its nature but also the abundance and species of birds. It continued its journey through the middle Kuriles for another week or so with similar such experiences.

We spend another three days on Kunashir. During the time we were there, there was occasionally electricity and no hot water. We did enjoy beautiful weather, hiked all over the island which was another great experience. But that is another story.