Back from the Gulag – just

Vladivostok has got a lot going for it. But out in the ‘Gulag’ – the concrete monstrosity that the Russians have plonked on Russky Island – it wasn’t so hot.

It wasn’t the shoddy building standards (lifts stopping mid-floor; toilet doors too large for their frames) but the E-coli bug that did in several NZ delegates there for the prestigious APEC CEOs Summit.They could handle the $US797 a night the Russians stiffed them for a basic university dorm bed – but infected food? Some are still recovering.

This is not uncommon at APEC.

At the Lima meeting in 2008, a couple of MFAT officials became seriously sick requiring hospitalization for drugs to combat the infection and a mass infusion of fluids to deal with dehydration. The press corps also came down with a mystery viral attack which resulted in some having to take time off work.

No, it wasn’t the Pisco sours.