....whoops, wrong kind of story.
Sorry to burst your bubble, but it wasn't my story. I've never been to China, although I have dived within spitting distance of North Korea.
What story to share? How about a story of three Americans in the Soviet Union traveling with the Neptune Dive Club of Novosibirsk/Academgorodok?
One week after the failed coup, we arrived in the USSR. After a day and a half in Leningrad and three days in Novosibirsk we began our journey to the dive "resort." A large flatbed truck pulled up to us in the airport parking lot, We hopped aboard and rode out to the chartered Areoflot liner. After parking under the plane, two guys boarded and soon opened a hatch for us to pass up luggage and supplies (mostly food). After we completed loading the plane, we boarded and watched the crew discussing our route over a chart. Not being fluent in Russian, I wondered why they seemed to be disagreeing and pointing to different parts of the chart. I later learned they needed to refuel somewhere between Novosibirsk and Vladivostok and were discussing the best location for the fuel stop. Our stop was in Irkutsk.
The following morning, the Vladivostok airport was fogged in. We
sat on the ground in Chabarovsk for a few hours until we were cleared to continue.
At this point in time, Vladivostok was a closed city. A closed city in the Soviet Union was one in which foreigners (us) were not allowed. Vladivostok had this status because it was the headquarters of the Far Eastern Fleet. We had to get special permission (and the notations on our visas) to allow us in Vladivostok. Our exemption allowed us to land at the airport, take the most direct ground transportation to the dock, board our boat and depart immediately. It also allowed us to reverse this process five days later. We were informed that under no circumstances were we allowed to tour the city.
Our late arrival caused us to miss our boat, so we were stuck at the dock with nothing to do for about five hours. Not wanting to run afoul of the KGB, we did not leave the dock. To kill time I took pictures of the fleet. OK, so I know that wasn't exactly what they had in mind when they gave us the exemption, but............
Eventually, out boat arrived and off we went. It was a slow boat. We arrived in Slav'anka about 9:30 PM where we waited. Do you see a pattern? Eventually, an army surplus truck pulled up. It was OD with the canvas cover on the bed. We piled in and off we went. We traveled for two hours over some of the worst roads I've ever seen. At midnight we came to a stop and crawled out.
We were parked next to a large house with light pouring out of the door. Standing in the door, was a large woman, who recognizing my companions from their trip the previous year, ran out and lifted them from the ground in a hug. Next out of the door was another woman who ran out to give hugs to Jack and Sue. At that point, I leaned over and picked my jaw up off the ground.
It's getting late, I'll continue the story after I get back from diving this weekend.
