Hi folks, I am going to fly my bike from SEA to INC in a crate. Because I'm German I can't ride my bike in Korea... Germany did not sign a post WWII treaty (seriously) and therefore Germans cannot drive with German driving licenses in Korea. So the BMW stays in that crate under custom seal all the way to Dong Hae. It's called bonded trucking service. So Wendy Choi will ship my bike to the east coast of Korea where I assemble my bike and go on a ferry to Vlad. Here is my problem: Wendy offers shipment only from Dong Hae to Vlad. I was more interested in Sokcho to Zarubino. Because Zarubino is supposed to be the easier port of entry to Russia. Any thoughts? Has anyone taken the ferry from Sokcho to Zarubino? Any comment is highly appreciated, Harti
Hi again, is there really no one out there who knows if the ferry between Sokcho in Korea and Zarubino in Russia still operates and will continue to work over the summer of 2011? Harti
There is a new operator DBS ferries. Website www.dbsferry.com Problem, it's only in Russian or Korean language! Will ask tomorrow at work what the schedule says
Link for Korean ferry info. Perhaps email them with the question? Why are you shipping to Korea at all? Edit to add: When I arrived at Sokcho and bought my ferry ticket for Russia, the ferry was *only* going to Vladivostok for that run. Like you, I intended to go to Zarubino but ended up going to Vladik instead.
The secretary was so nice to translate the schedule as you can see. It seems the cost for motorcycle goes by weight so you need to inform this to the operator to get a clear price. We send as well a korean message to this DBS ferry to translate their web pages in english and requested discount for ADV riders. Let see whats happens! Note they sail on Vladivostok.
@sean: when I booked my flight from the US to far east asia, i initially wanted to fly from anchorage to magadan. that did not work out. than i switched from saettle to japan or korea with the intention to ride my bike. japan was difficult, because they want to see a carnet, korea seemed the only option. way later i found out, that germans are not allowed to drive in korea with a german drivers license, even if it's an international one. in the meantime i booked my flight already to seoul. and i believed the ferry from sokcho to zarubino would be much easier in the end than entering through vlad. now that doesn't work either. do you know anyone in vlad who can assist me with immigration and customs for my bike? @ flying dutch: that timetable is very helpful. wendy choi offered to help with the bonded transport. will you still be in ulanbataar around mid july? thanx guys for now. harti
Oof, makes sense now. Enjoy your time in Korea. I loved the food! The guy at the Dong Chun ferry office at the sea port helped me out. I forget his name but he looks like the actor Sam Neill from Jurassic Park, etc. He hooked me up with a customs agent and also helped me find a cheap hotel somewhat near the port. I'd arrived on Friday afternoon so customs had ground to a halt by the time I'd disembarked and done the passport thing. So I had a weekend to kill in Vladik. If you're interested, the hotel is called Hotel Muryak, address is Posyetskaya 38. From the terminal, go straight out the front doors, across the street and start walking up hill. Turn at the first right, the street continues up hill, and you will eventually see it on your right after about a hundred meters. Very basic accommodations but for being so close to the port, quite cheap. (Here's a link showing it on a map, with the sea terminal clearly visible once you zoom out a bit). I was able to use the ATMs in the terminal to get roubles using my Visa-branded debit card. I had to use a day to go to the motor vehicle place across town and get a temporary driving permit. Lots of folks entering Vladik with motorcycles have not had to do this, so maybe you won't either. All of the forms were in Russian, but I fortunately had a lady with me to help (from the Dong Chun ferry office). The process was a PITA but there was zero monkey business regarding bribes, etc. HTH Sean
Here you will find the answer on your custom question. http://www.advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=635305&highlight=busan&page=10 Unfortunate I had to delay my trip with another year. My target is July 2012.
Hi Harti Me koreano. Before summer of 2010, there was a Dongchun ferry line between Sokcho and Zarubino. Me(in 2009), Colebatch(Siberian Extreme), and lots of other bikers had taken that line. But sadly after that year, Dongchun got in the financial trouble-it's what I've heard- and had to close their line. And now there is only one option for anybody who wants to ship his bike from Kor to Rus. Using DBS ferry line. As I know DBS departs from DongHae. If you really really like to visit Sokcho, you don't have to worry about what Wendy Choi mentioned. Cause the distance between DongHae & Sokcho is only about 50~60km away. Rather I recommend you to take some time and hit the national road #7 that is along with the coast line from DMZ to Busan(locates at southern part of Kor). You do not miss the scene of road #7 if you come here in Korea with your bike. OK, if you have any Q, then just give me PM without hasitation. I will give any of info as I know. Cheers~ (PS) ONE, I'm not sure whether it's brilliant to contact to Wendy or not. Well, it depends on U. TWO, as far as I know you can ride your bike in Korea although you are a German. Just like other countries, insurance only matters if you have international driver's license & german license. (Even my friend Valerie(Valeka, Ukrane guy http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=604536 ) did ride his bike even though Ukrane is not the member country of 'Convention on Road Traffic'!!) You can purchase it at the seaport customs(Donghae, Sokcho etc.) and they will give you a temporary drive-permit paper for one or two months.
Just as a little warning if you are wanting to take the DBS ferry to/from DongHae/Vladivostok - It is quite a small ferry and this time of year it gets sold out because Koreans come to Vladivostok for vacation and Russians go to Korea because it is warmer. We are in Vladivostok at the moment and there are bikers here having trouble getting tickets for the outward journey to Korea - sold out now until July 6th so book early.
We used Wendy and Dong Chun in July 2009 and had no issues. Too bad Dong Chun is no more (apparently?). Wendy knows what she's doing and was great to work with.
Hi Zzoon, just read your entry. We (1 New Zealand citizen and one German citizen and a Tiger Triumph) want to get off the ferry coming from Vladivostok in Korea. We spent 2 nights in Seoul on our last flight to NZ and loved the country and the food. If we understand you correctly we just need to issue the insurance and get a limited driving permit with it. Have you heard of anyone else than Valerka doing this sucessfully? Thanks, Ina and Chris www.thataway.de TWO, as far as I know you can ride your bike in Korea although you are a German. Just like other countries, insurance only matters if you have international driver's license & german license. (Even my friend Valerie(Valeka, Ukrane guy http://advrider.com/forums/showthread.php?t=604536 ) did ride his bike even though Ukrane is not the member country of 'Convention on Road Traffic'!!) You can purchase it at the seaport customs(Donghae, Sokcho etc.) and they will give you a temporary drive-permit paper for one or two months.[/QUOTE]
The easiest way to go to Russia from South Korea is Donghae-Vladivostok, with DBS cruises. I made it this one, but in the other direction. Iron Tigers in Vladivostok, told me that, and they were right. You can look some links about info you ask in my website: http://topalante.es/28 (more or less in the middle of the page) Saludos desde las Islas Canarias, EspaƱa.