We didn't arrive into Sochi until the afternoon..... A wet, miserable afternoon. The clouds had come down to meet the hills and we saw very little of them through the mist.
The thing about Russia is that you can't get off the ship unless you have a visa. Some people can arrange a visa independently, but most of us rely on the arrangement Russia has with cruise companies, that is, we can get off the ship as long as we are on tour. If you don't have a tour ticket, then you don't have a visa - so to speak.
So, like every other passenger, we were on tour. Peter was to escort the Agura Waterfalls tour, and as usual, I was escorting him. We've been to St Petersburg, and we remember the nightmare of immigration process from then, so we got off the ship well early for our tour.
It was a good job too, the queues were extensive. I remembered to tell Peter to remove his seaman's book from his passport as we went through. It would only cause problems as the customs people would not understand why he had it. It was a good job I did as well! One of thip's staff wasn't able to get through, because of a problem with his seaman's book. He was due to escort one the tour coaches, and because he didn't make it, an escort reshuffle ensued. So now I was escorting one bus to the waterfalls, and Peter the other.
Well, it was one wet walk! It rained the whole time we were out, and we got thoroughly drenched. It's about 1.5 km each way, and took us around 30-40 minutes. The waterfalls were at their best though.
The longer of the Agura Waterfalls on the right. >>>>
Back on board, we stripped off and spent another leisurely evening on the ship. A wonderful meal as usual, and an after dinner speech by an ex foreign diplomat whose name I forget (shameful) and bed. It really has been a busy few days with all the ports. Tomorrow is a sea day, which is almost a day of rest, except for Peter's class. Let's hope the weather is better!
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