samovar Archives - Solotravel

I concluded that it was a grandmother with the little boy, the man, a solo traveler. From the Trans siberian endless steppes became more entertaining when another two Russians who were friends of the men joined us. All of whom proceeded to get very drunk, so by ten o’clock they were well on the way to settling in our bunks, something I objected to, but managed to get rid of them as diplomatically as possible.

While the men had been drinking I noticed grandmother had slipped half a sleeping pill into the wee boy. He slept all night! The other half she had taken to assist her in doing the same. He was such a cutie, but no wonder he was so good, his grandmother appeared to be threatening him with a knife at one point, but with out understanding the language it was hard to decide what the problem was. The endless steppes stretched for kilometers, broken by cemeteries, sad looking villages that were so far from any sort of civilization one wondered how people coped with the isolation. I guess after living for generations in the same environment, that there was nothing to miss.

If you want to go to a city, you just got on the Trans siberian train. So strange seeing this huge train stopping to drop people off and pick others up, There was a couple of stops where the locals greeted the train with local food, crafts and smoked fish, though where the fish came from when you were living in the middle of a desert. Some had set up stalls, others just walked along the train with their wares in baskets. There was white patches like snow, in various places that we passed, I found out from a most helpful and friendly young man, that it was salt. He spoke some English and we passed some the time chatting

The stops were long enough to let passengers off to browse and enjoy the scene. The dining car attached to the train was in name only, there was little food to mention, although it had places to stand and enjoy drinks. The only beauty of the dining car was that it had an open window for taking videos from, where the carriages, had the windows kept closed. The samovar was most useful for the soups and coffee I had with me.

Having the bottom bunk means having safe storage under your bunk. Short of lifting you off, it provided security for my Ipad and backpack. The compartments stow all luggage of the four people allocated the bunks. There is storage above the door as well as under the bottom bunks, some open, some secure.

A peaceful night that soon passed, and it was back to another day of the endless deserts, strangely not in the least boring. The Ipad was a wonderful source of entertainment. I carried extra power packs in case there were no charging facilities. While there were some, they were in the corridor of the train and I was loathe to leave any thing out of sight. So stayed with the packs.

Another night on the train proved an interrupted one, the sleeping pill did not work on the child, who woke about 3am and refused to settle again. They departed the train at 5.30am; I was pleased to see them go, but felt sorry for the wee boy. Woken early there was nothing to do but to watch the scenery as we approached Almaty. After the brown and tedious scenes from the last day and a half it turned into truly stunning morning. The sunrise touching the tops of snow capped mountains in the distance, beyond the soft green tips of spring on the trees. Spring flowers so evident, the standard of homes above what I had seen previously. A truly stunning and beautiful arrival. A couple of hours later the Trans siberian train arrived in Almaty, Kazakhstan.

The young friend I had met, stayed with me until the guide arrived to drop me at the hotel; he was kindly concerned that I would be left alone in a strange country.

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!

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.

Tag: samovar

Novosibirsk to Almaty, Kazakhstan

Beijing to Ulan Bator