totally useful shit

so i thought i'd write a little "lessons learned" post.

the proposed route was/is to fly from new york to tokyo, make my way to yakushima in the south of japan, hang out there for a while, then go back up to the kyoto/osaka area and take a ferry to russia. in russia, take the train to lake baikal, then train down to mongolia, kick around there for a while, train down again to beijing/shanghai in china.

VISA

russian: the russian visa is expensive and a pain in the ass. even for the 30 day tourist visa, you need a letter of invitation (from a hotel, tour agency, etc). you can google about it and theres various ways to get the visa, but frankly, by far the best way is to go full service (i used russia-visa.com). They will charge ~40 bucks over the price of the visa to get you the invitation and go to the consulate for you. you only have to mail it to them and wait ~2 weeks (10 business days). best money you will ever spend.

chinese: if you are in a city that has consulate, its a pretty straight forward process of getting your picture, filling out the form. the only part in the form you have to think about is where they ask where you are going to stay -- just pick a big hotel. the visa is expensive, 130 bucks for americans, oh well. i got this visa myself, but if the consulate is a hard to get to for you, just go with a service for chrissakes.

GETTING AROUND IN JAPAN

the trains in japan are convenient, fast, and comfortable although a little bit expensive. if you plan on taking the trains i suggest getting the rail pass (which you have to buy outside of japan before you come) ... the 7-day rail pass is ~400 buck right now. if you plan on traveling via train at all, get this pass.

i've taken the trains a bunch before, so this time i though i would try using the buses for fun and profit. its a bit more annoying, requires some japanese ability. i took the JR bus from tokyo to kyoto -- the easiest way is to go to the "green window" (midori no madoguchi) offices that exist in every major station. the bus itself was really nice and comfy, way better than the peter pan/greyhound bullshit, but slow as shit. 7 hrs to get to kyoto vs 2 hrs on the shinkansen. i think you can just get a ticket at the bus station too, i have this feeling that buses are rarely full (except during national holidays).

for the bus to kagoshima i had to call to make a reservation. conversing in japanese on the phone is kind of rough and made me realise how much i rely on the non-verbal aspects of face to face conversation. the bus is takes 12 hours overnight, and again, very comfortable. actually worked out really really well. i was out drinking with friends right next to the bus station, got several beers in me, got on, took a klonopin and passed the fuck out. the bus took me directly to the ferry station (you need mention when you reserve that you want to go to the ferry), and i was on the boat within 15 minutes.

FERRY TO RUSSIA

If you google the ferry from Japan to Russia, the first hits you get are about a ferry which leaves from Fushiki to Vladivostok. Theres a lot of websites which refer to this ferry service (http://www.bisintour.com/), and in fact, up till last year, this was the ferry. so i am going to write in caps now that THIS FERRY IS NO LONGER OPERATING. after emailing them, i found out that the ferry has been sold and is now operating in the baltics.

THE FERRY THAT IS CURRENTLY OPERATING is called the "Eastern Dream" and is the one run by the DBS Cruise Ferry company, which runs from Sakaiminato in Tottori-ken (this is like 3 hours northwest of kyoto) to Vladivostok. The website is in Korean, Russian or Japanese and its kind of really annoying to use. So here is all the relavent facts

tickets: call 81-859-30-2332 for reservation from japan. more info

prices: 22,000 yen for a 8 bunk room. theres all kind of other options, like the presidential room. full price schedule

schedule: leaves every sunday at 7pm. arrives in Vladivostok at noon on Tuesday. On monday it makes a quick stop in Korea (place called Donghae) more info

again you will need some japanese to make the reservation, but, i also think you can just show up and buy the ticket at the port the day of -- at worst they put you up in the engine room or something.