Svobodny Sakhalin Vladimir Nesin — and his feet — are on a mission. On June 30, the Sakhalin native set out from the port of Kholmsk en route to Australia on yet another barefoot walking tour, accompanied by six Yuzhno-Sakhalinsk residents, including four middle-aged adults and two 15-year-old children. Nesin said that the group will travel to Primorye, then will attempt to hop a Philippines-bound ship. They will then proceed to New Guinea, and finally Australia. If no ships are available in Vlaidvostok, Nesin said, he and his fellow-travelers will first go to China and there look for a ship to sail to Manila. Nesin said that “in Australia, we want to test our abilities first by reaching the center of the continent by hitch-hiking and then by walking across the Great Sandy Desert to the western coast.” “If time and money permit, we’ll visit New Zealand,” he added. From New Zealand, the travelers plan to sail back to Sakhalin. If they can’t get to New Zealand, the group will travel through India to Tibet and China. Altogether, the trip should take a year, Nesin said. The group is well equipped for the trip, thanks to public and private donations, said Nesin. Sakhalin sanitary services have provided the group with antidotes for snake bites, as well as first-aid books. Local military units donated water disinfectant chemicals and area businesses have donated money, radios, orientation devices and international medical insurance. Nesin’s original plan to guide the group the length of the Japanese islands was stymied by bureaucratic hassles and the need for the group to obtain tourist visas for the 60-day trip along the islands. According to a spokesman for Russian Internal Affairs Ministry, Sergei Kastornov, two months of negotiations with his Japanese counterparts proved fruitless. Japanese visa officials, who have dealt with trans-Japanese hitch-hikers, have never encountered a walking group like this before, said Kastornov. “To resolve all these [visa] questions will take half a year at least, they say,” Kastornov reported. Kastornov added that an invitation to Australia has been extended to the group by Russians there. © copyright 1998 the Vladivostok News. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed in any form. [Back to Sakhalin page]  [Back to Front page]  [Write to us]