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Travel LogisticsThere are different travel routes to East Russia/Siberia. Through Moscow with direct flights to most East Russian cities on a variety of carriers. These cities include: Vladivostok, Khabarovsk, Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk, Petropavlovsk, Irkutsk, Yakutsk, Krasnoyarsk and others. You may contact Aeroflot over the internet, or you may consult www.airagency.ru for updated information. This is a certified agency in Vladivostok where you can buy both air as well as rail tickets with your credit card. Through Seoul, Korea with direct flights on Korean air to Vladivostok four times a week, Friday, Saturday, Monday and Tuesday, or on Vlad Avia, Sunday, Wednesday and Fridays. Please note that most connections in Seoul require an overnight. Check your luggage in to your end destination and overnight in the Air Garden Hotel within the Seoul Airport. Note that there are two hotels by the same name on each end of the airport. The hotel is comfortable with good service also internet. Asiana Airlines flies to Khabarovsk from Seoul, Korea on the following days, Sundays and Thursdays. Asiana Airlines also flies from Seoul, Korea to Yuzhno Sakhalinsk on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays. Sakhalin Air flies on Wednesdays and Saturdays on an IL62. Through Japan to Vladivostok Through Japan to Khabarovsk Through Anchorage, Magadan Air only in the summer to Petropavlovsk and Magadan. You may go to Vladivostok by boat from Japan see www.euras.co.jp/en/ship.html The FESCO company runs ferries from Vladivostok Saturdays at 18:00 (6pm), arriving in Fushiki on Mondays at 9:00am. It returns on Wednesdays at 18:00, arriving on Friday at 9:30 am in Vladivostok. The fare is about ¥28,000 cheapest to ¥88,000 for the most expensive. I don't have any more detailed information at this time. The same company reportedly runs another ferry from Vladivostok to Niigata city. The Higashi Nihon Kai Ferry company runs ferries from Wakkania, Japan to Korsakov, Sakhalin Island two or three times a week between early May and mid-October. In July and August they run Monday, Wednesday, and Friday from Wakkanai and Tuesday, Thursday, and Saturdays from Korsakov, but the days vary. They leave at 10:00am from both ends, arriving at Korsakov at 17:30 and Wakkanai at 13:30. (There is a 2 hour time difference). The trip takes 7.5 hours. The fare is ¥20,000 in second class; ¥25,000 in first; and ¥30,000 in special class. Round-trip fares are just ¥10,000 more for each class. Invitations and VisasWe issue invitations through our cooperative partners to any one booking their travel arrangements through our Web Site. This may be for individual or group travel. We also handle visa processing for a nominal charge of $20 (excluding visa processing costs) per visa. This is in addition to the charges for the visa itself. The charges depend on the time period required for visa processing. For a visa application and rules and regulations governing Russian visas, please go to www.russia.net/business/obtaining-vias.html Safety and CrimeYour safety is in your own hands as it is in any country of the world, even in the US. Do not attract attention, keep your valuables hidden, and do not go out alone in the evenings in areas which you are not sure about. In general most likely, people will want to be of assistance to you if you look like a foreigner. They want to make a good impression. You do the same and safety will not be a problem. In hotels, it is usual that the hotel staff keeps your passport overnight for registration. This is normal, and in our estimation, no one has ever lost his or her passport under these circumstances. Crime is a domestic issue and has very little to do with you, the traveler. Unless you associate yourself with the wrong people, and you will know who they are, it is highly unlikely that you will find yourself a victim of a local situation.
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