Surprisingly we smoothly passed out of the airport with all our luggage intact without any customs or other hassle. More or less numb from the Aeroflot flight I drag myself to the waiting car to get treated to a fine wild ride to the city centre.
The road is draped with a layer of fine dust and we swirl between a cavalvade of potholes. On the way we pass a number of shady boots or trucks selling a variety of fresh country products. The city itself is covered in a greenish smog which appears to be a cloud of chinese desert sand brought over by a strong southern wind. No doubt that some of the chimneys I notice take part in the colourful as well.
Halfway the ride mr. Gorodny offers me a fine welcome present. I'll be carrying it in my pocket for the rest of my stay as a safekeeper. As a matter of fact mr. Gorodny is our safekeeper in the next couple of days.
Quite soon I'm dropped of at my hotel. Hotel Moriak is located across 'Tiger Mountain' in the city centre. It is frequented by Russians (of course) and Koreans, which means I don't understand a word of anything people try to tell me, and nobody will understand me if I would want to say anything. My room is a fair 2.00 by 3.50m, and that includes a bathroom with toilet and shower.

While I arrange my stuff in my room and take a short walk in the nearby streets, Christine is taken to a number of apartments to pick one where she'll stay for the time being. It turns out to be a 3-room place on the sixth floor of a large emplacement of huge brickhouses. The place is nicely decorated as well!
Less convenient is that her feet are swollen and painful, and she can hardly walk. But in a conveniently close supermarket I go get a selection of russian cuisine with mr. Garodny and we manage to put together a fine evening meal.

Me and Gorodny leave the premises and i'm taken on a short introductory walk near the ocean front while the sun goes down. After a bit more wandering around I crawl back to the fancy lit Hotel Moriak, hoping to get a fine night of rest after about 40 hours of non-stop travel.