Arriving at the station with plenty of time after allowing for the Ulan Bator traffic jams, there was not a lot to do other than chat with new friends. One had a close encounter with a thief that tried stealing a bag. The quick noticing by some one else put the intending thief on the back foot and he was prevented from doing the deed! When the time came to board there was a wrong booking made for a berth, and it happened to be mine!
Although what had happened was clear to most of us, the non english speaking staff did not understand and it caused a problem for them. They kept insisting my berth was in this cabin,when clearly it wasn’t, having three people and loaded with baggage on the empty bunk! The kindness of two australian ladies gave me a berth for the night, although they had actually paid for the whole cabin. I will be following up with the firm to hopefully have the girls reimbursed as they should not have been expected to do that, but there was little option for me otherwise , as the train had already left the station!
However things settled for the night, but the night turned into a long one with stops, starts and whistles. So none of us slept very well. Then of course the officials came aboard early for passport control, customs and departure card , the toilets are locked half an hour before arrival and half an hour after departure. That was the mongolian officials done and dusted after 2-3 hours,then it was on to the russian border at Irkutsk. The time between less than the half hour allowed for the toilets, so they didn’t get opened so it was a long wait then to add insult to injury, we were allowed off the train to use the platform toilets at a charge of 8 roubles a head. The principle behind it astounds me. They shut the toilets and then expect the passenger to pay for the privilege.
The Russians came on board complete with a dog and uniformed men, apparently really taking one of the cabins apart, what they were looking for was anyones guess. I await with interest my leaving Russia date as I leave and return before officially going for good which is the date I put on the departure card. It was a tight fit in the cabin, and so a spare berth was asked for, and later in the day after passenger comings and goings were finished, a spare lower bunk became available so I moved into that, for the remainder of the journey into Irkutsk. We spent many hours just waiting at the station . unable to leave the train which was incredible frustrating as it was a lovely day despite being fairly cool. The scenery changed quite quickly once we were on the move again, and made for an interesting if somewhat slow trip. Up to that point it had taken us 20 hours to cover 300kms. Then we started to see the frozen rivers, the lakes with locals fishing through a hole in the ice. As it was coming up to sunset Sarah and I had cameras at the ready for the sunset shot of the century! It was getting near 9pm ,so it wasn’t long after playing at photography I headed for another night on the train. My companion this time had been asleep since four and remained so until the morning, oh to be young again. Certainly a better night than previously, sleeping right through until about 15 mins before arrival into Irkutsk! It was a hurried get out of bed move and collect thoughts and bags ready to go!
After getting every thing packed and ready for an early start to Ulan Bator, I ran in to the problem of getting a taxi driver, according to the hotel staff no one wanted to do it because the trip was too short! The thought crossed my mind, bribery and corruption, so with out saying any thing I asked the staff to change a ¥50, which they did and strangely, there was a taxi outside with in minutes. He then put the meter on and we headed to the station. Watching the meter, I noticed it read ¥12, but the next minute it had an error message and the driver is asking for ¥20! Taxi drivers it seems are the same the world over, a law unto themselves. In actual fact it was only $NZ 4 so no big deal and it got me there. Trundling across the busy square in front of the huge Beijing Station I was looking forward to The Train Trip that everyone knows about, but few do. After a coffee and a small ,breakfast , down to the waiting room for the K23 Beijing-Ulan Bator Train , for the first leg of the trip that would take me Through Mongolia on into Russia, before turning left at Novosibirsk and heading down through Central Asia before heading back to Russia. A Chinese staff member was very helpful and came to collect me as the train started to board. Everyone goes through an airport style security inspection so by the time you reach the train every one has been vetted and hopefully approved. This time at least, the station had escalators to use instead of so many flights of stairs to negotiate.
Boarding was easy; finding myself in a carriage with it seems mostly tourists by design or accident who knows. Thankfully, not in a carriage along from us where the cigarette smoke is really bad. Sharing a four-berth cabin with two pleasant young Austrian guys. So at least it’s not overcrowded. It does not take long to discover everyone else is very friendly and enjoying the experience. I got started on “The picture of Dorian Gray” and couldn’t put it down so now I have finished it, the Ipad is running out of power! I am thankful for the power pack I had bought in Beijing
The train on leaving Beijing went through a series of tunnels, frustrating to say the least as you would get a glimpse of the amazing mountains that I so love to see. The time between varied between 10 and about thirty seconds as we went in and out of tunnels at speed, leaving no time to get any pictures. It seems there is little variation in the buildings, be they the huge high-rise apartments or the small homes that people have lived in for what must be generations from the look of them. The overwhelming gray color of the soil, the buildings, and the inevitable smog /mist does make China appear so depressing.
The small gardens that are so common in the south have given way to larger farming entities, I wonder if they were or are part of a collective farming system. The blossoming trees still very much part of the landscape, which makes me wonder if they are self sown and growing wild. Either way they are very beautiful to see. As we travel north the housing becomes less and the landscape changing to the sparseness of the Gobi. The horrendous presence of plastic makes me feel both sick and sorry to see it happening to a stunning part of the world. The efforts to keep the encroaching sand evident by plastic/netting along the train tracks. The wind obvious as it blew the plastic and sand around.
There was a wind farm out in the desert, what a great place to have it, nobody to annoy, but it was a surprise to see it in that location. There have been other things like coal mining, possibly oil drilling from the size of some holding tanks and all these out in the desert area!
Thank goodness for the samovar and its continuous supply of hot water. Lunch consisted of a cup of soup I brought from home, as nothing on the menu appealed. However, coffee was plentiful with the packets bought in Beijing. I was pleased to be able to get them. Down to the dining car for tea, again to try something on the menu, but all that was left was a dish of egg and tomatoes! There were a few not too happy about that. Sitting at the table with an Australian couple, we had no choice but tomatoes; I had a bowl of rice to go with it!
After tea socializing with new friends until the border crossing into Mongolia, when they changed the wheel bogeys from the Chinese gauge to that of the Mongolian trains. Fascinating to watch, as each carriage was lifted, wheels or bearings changed, and then gently returned to the tracks. If you were not watching from a window you really would not know. All the while, the toilets are closed until half an hour after leaving the station. Some three and half hours later at midnight we pull out for the onward journey into Ulan Bator, the capital city of Mongolia. Watching the dry desert change into gentle hills, and still frozen ponds, looking very much like a hillside glacier, were some streams that had frozen.
I was fascinated by the ability of stock to survive out in this desert area. While certainly their condition was not what I was used to, they were on very short rations! Even a couple of Galloway cattle gained my respect amongst the other cattle of mixed breeds. Unfortunately, the presence of bones along the tracks was evidence of those that didn’t make it. The gers, or houses of the Mongolian people started to appear on the landscape, usually with fences and a truck parked alongside. It was interesting watching some of the herdsmen tending their flocks or herds which ever it turned out to be.
As we drew nearer to Ulan Bator, there were the Mongolian ponies renowned for their hardiness, and of course sheep, goats and the occasional camel. All the way along the track, was the rubbish, plastic everywhere, some undoubtedly from the train, but some that had blown across the desert, being caught in the stock fences? Interestingly the train did a wide circular sweep as it turned towards the first of the villages not far from Ulan Bator. A mixture of houses and gers in the villages we passed made for a strange mix. As we slowly arrived into Ulan Bator the edges of the city were mostly of this mix, then to see the high rise buildings of the city put a different perspective altogether. The city is home to around 750,000 people mostly Mongolians, with a small percentage of Kazaks” I was met off the train by a young Kazakh girl who spoke excellent English; it was a pleasure to speak with her and hear some history of Mongolia. The hotel proved to be very well located and complete with Wifi!
Ulan Bator
The restaurant in the hotel had very tasty meals that I very much enjoyed.
Very much a third world destination, but the vibes from being there suggest it is growing very rapidly and heading towards becoming a wonderful tourist destination.
