Ok so the shower is permanently locked and the video screens don’t seem to do anything – but it is still a pleasure. Customs and passport control at both borders was without hassle but we were not allowed off the train so could not change the last of our Mongolian money (will have to write the £20 off).

Since the Russian/Mongolian track guage is bigger than the rest of the world our train was rolled into a massive workshop and the carriages split. From inside we could barely feel it as the jacks lifted all the carriages about 1.5m off their bogies (wheels). The wheels were then all pulled out from under us and replaced. Efficient and very cool. After much clunking and re-attachment of carriages we were on our way again (the border crossing took a total of 4 hours – departing around 1am).

[Pictures: V’s Phone. Love the network operator tag top left]

– Posted from my iPhone

After an early start with no shower we’re on the train. Train number 24 to Beijing. Compared to Russian trains this one is first class. New, clean and fresh with complimentary slippers, cups and tea/coffee, hot and cold drinking water, shower room, aircon and personal video screens. Excellent.
It’s almost entirely full of trans-sib tourists and for the first time we have an English speaking couple (from Poland) in our cabin. Should be an easy 31 hour train ride.

Mongolia has been an interesting break in the journey. Our cabin mates have spent a month there on tours around the country (independant travel is not yet an option). The country is pushing tourism but I think they have a lot of work to do to make it sustainable. In retrospect we think we should have looked into spending a bit more time in Mongolia and gotten further out into the wilderness. That’s the problem with meeting other travellers and hearing what they have been up to, it makes you want to do more stuff.

Most of the tourists we have met so far all seem to be about our age or older ( lots of retirees on the train). Quite a few doing the ‘career break’ thing and following a similar route to ours.

Some Mongolian Notes:
– Ger huts with satellite dishes and Toyota Land Cruisers
– Pedestrians have no rights
– Litter (unfortunately)
– Hero worship (Mr Khan)
– Mutton and more mutton
– Erratic plumbing
– Smiling faces
– Two humped camels (V thinks camels are the coolest)
– Woolly cows that grunt instead of mooing (yaks)

[Picture: The Number 24 train]

– Posted from my iPhone

Unfortunately we only got back to UB late so our plans of getting around the Winter Palace and the Grand Temple were scratched. Another dodge hostel – “Mr Gomez Hostel” No hot water but at least it is just across the road from the train station so no taxi and traffic hassles in the morning. The room did have a Tv though we would have gladdly swapped it for hot water.

We took a walk through downtown UB in search of supplies for the train and a resturant for an early dinner. We found a small delapidated temple museum (Choijin Lama Temple) in the centre of town that was interesting to walk around. Its really a cool little spot. Completely overgrown gardens and falling apart but a quiet little island in the middle of the city.

My misbehaving stomach sent us across the road to Millies Espresso. A resturant recommended in the LP guide as a mix of Med, Cuban and South African cusine. It was full of ex-pats and the steak roll was excellent. The best meal we have had since leaving the UK. The coffee was on a par with Ian’s! Stunned. Everything about the place (except the look) was amazing.

Their Wifi point allowed us to upload a couple posts and check email. Hope to be able to call everyone from Beijing on Friday.

Suitably stuffed we headed back to the hostel to get ready for the morning and the last leg of the Trans-sib. More adventure awaits in China. BRING IT ON !

[Pictures: Mr Gomez Hostel and Millies menu]

– Posted from my iPhone

It was a quick whip around the sights and tourist traps outside UB today. Heading for Terelj National Park we stopped off at a couple of holy sites with attached curio shops. Not too intersting but V did finally find something to use as a wallet. Our drivers – really cool guys – were both off duty policemen. So no hold-ups at toll roads etc. Very smart of the tour company, guaranteing hassle free operations.

V elected (to my relief) not to take a ride on the twin humped camels – we did enough camel jockeying in Oman. The scenery in the valley leading to the park is stunning, we should have found a Ger camp there. Interesting rocks like the ‘Turtle’ provided a chance to put our rusty climbing motor engrams to work – always fun.

The last stop was our first introduction to Buddhist temples. A reasonable climb uphill followed by a rickety bridge out of an Indiana Jones movie (with a sign stating: max 4 people) and 108 (I counted) stairs got us to the oddly decorated temple. Buddhist art is freaky with monsters and trully gruesome scenes on every panel. These guys must have been high. The temple seems to be treated as an attraction and novel entertainment for tourists. How great would it be if every religion and place of worship in the world were treated as tourist attractions or entertainment (preferably comedy).

[Pictures: My V and the view from the temple]

– Posted from my iPhone

We got suckered into acting like the real toursits we are after sups. It had to happen sooner or later and it was a good bit of fun with the gang. We’re on our way in the morning – A tour around a national park and then to UB. Won’t miss the tiny geyser, confusing plumbing and unexpected visitors in the showers but the camp has been a great place to relax and it was good to meet new people (foreign and domestic). Baagii has been great considering the limited facilities but we will be more careful in future when we book an all inclusive tour.

A stunning sunset to top it off (pics to upload when we can). The evening turned cold so we had the fireplace started (with a blow torch). The novelty didn’t last long as it only has 2 settings (Fire breathing dragon and off)

[Pictures: No description needed]

– Posted from my iPhone

Sooner or later V is gonna write something. In the mean while you get me. I promise she is still alive and we are still talking 🙂

Our plan today was to cross the river at the bottom of the valley and hike a few hours down-river along the far side amoungst the trees. After freezing our legs in ice cold water to get across a small section we were faced with no way forward. We tried wading a across but the fingers of the river were just too fast and deep.

We resigned ourselves to walking up-river past free, happy looking horses (without tourists on their backs) and flocks of supper (sheep). Our mood was a bit low – I guess we really wanted to get across the river. The litter strewn everywhere and mismanagement of the water and environment was also irking us. We sat and munched peanuts on a huge open plain and watched the birds until the storm clouds started rolling in adding to the mood and sending us hiking back to camp.

It was dramatic watching the storm approach. Huge black clouds and lightning had dumped most their water by the time they got to us. We sat in our Ger watching more eps of ‘The West Wing’ without any guilt. It seems most Gers (even the remote ones) have satellite dishes, cell phones and flat screen TVs all powered by batteries and solar chargers. BUT no running water or toilet ! Mongolian Tech-no-mads 🙂

[Pictures: Tech-no-mad Ger and the rainbow after the storm].

– Posted from my iPhone

We joined Nick, Andrea and their girls (India and Claudia) for an excursion on horseback out to the Gengis Khan monument. It was very hot and the horses idled along as you would expect. We passed some cool looking Yaks (our first big woolie cows) and a large bird of prey giving a hare a bit of trouble.

The monument is very impressive. A 30m high stainless steel statue of Gengis on a horse and located where mythology says he found the ‘Golden Whip’. The base of the complex is beautifully finished and houses an intersting bronze age museum along with the usual resturant and curio shops. It has only recently opened to the public and there are grand plans to build a theme park (history and culture, not rides) around it. They have installed an elevator in the horses back legs for lazy tourists. A short walk through the stomach and up some staris and you are on the viewpoint on top of the horses head. Great spot. All in polished stainless so hot you could have fried an egg on it. Very well done Mongolia!

On the way back we rode past a section of the great wall – well actually a fake one that was used for a movie set. The horses were twitchy. Nick increased the pace and pulled out ahead of the group that was still following the guides (who where leading the kids). The usual “home-stretch horseplay” ensued. My horse picked up the pace followed by Andrea’s which then broke into a gallop. Not to be outdone (and admitedly with a little encouragement from me) my steed cranked it up to 11 careening past Andrea, ears flat, FULL gallop, flat out and out of control. I have never gone so fast without a helmet or engine and reliable steering and brakes. Apparently it ‘looked’ very cool. All I know is that by the time I got him to stop, by almost yanking his head off, my calves were burning and the adrenalin was flowing fast and furious. Both Andrea and I where shaking. That was an experience I would not want to take the chance of repeating.

Meanwhile back at the ranch, V had somehow managed to keep her horse under control. She’s well practised on me I guess 😉 We hobbled back to our Ger with sore muscles, battle-scars and bruises. A ‘fun’ day on the steppes with a good local beer to top it all off. Perfect.

– Posted from my iPhone

The large Korean group have left and we have been joined by an English family who have been living in Korea for the past 7 years and in various other spots all over the world for more than a decade. Some amazing stories to tell. It is such a relief to be able to speak without hand gestures. Being totally ‘Lost in translation’ for the past 3 weeks has been hard work.

Sups was a Mongolian BBQ. Mutton (obviously) and some veg (surprisingly) cooked on hot rocks in a milk vat. Not too shabby. Tomorrow we’ll get taken for a ride by some stocky Mongolian horses. I can feel the pain already.

[Picture: our host ‘Baagii’ had this language learning tape – love some of the titles].

– Posted from my iPhone

We were met by our tour company at the train on a chilly platform. The only clients for the morning run we had the minibus to ourselves for the hour long transfer to the ‘Chinggis Tourist Camp’. Interesting drive out – overtaking in the thick cloud and potholed roads. We passed the enormous Chinggis (Gengis) monument as we headed offroad (smoother than on-road at times).

On arrival at the camp – our first thoughts: Oops ! Obviously the land in the area has been sectioned off to various tour agencies. Basically a field with permanent Ger huts fenced off and flanked by more of the same – some worse with large ugly concrete buildings. The camp is perched on top of a steep cliff dropping to a picturesque river and to the other side flat plains covered in short grass roll on for some distance interrupted by more camps.

A rich omlette breakfast greeted us in the dining area to the tune of cheezy local music and a large contingent of Korean tourists. We were introduced to our Ger (basically a rondawel with two rock hard beds and a fireplace). Ablutions and running water are 100m away. 3 days of this – what have we gotten ourselves into ?

At the invitation of our host V assisted in making traditional dumplings for lunch – a good introduction to the boredom of traditional Mongolian cuisine which consists of mutton and not much else. Totally exhausted from the previous days on the train we dozed the afternoon away.

– Posted from my iPhone

Back on the Trans Sib. Next stop Mongolia !

The strong damp musky smell in the cabin reminded us that this train had an even higher number than the 3 night one to Irkutsk. Now pros at this we settled in quickly and attempted communication with our cabin buddy Victor – very sweet old Russian guy – we liked him immediately. Seems he is heading to Ulaanbataar (UB) for work but has a mountain of luggage and a fishing pole. The rest carriage was full mostly with Dutch and other tourists with our connection from the lake (Henk) in the cabin next to us.

Not long after the train started rolling Victor hauled out tomatoes and salami and began feeding us with enthusiasm. Fantastic ! Neither of us were looking forward to cup-a-noodles again. We tried to offer him some fruit that we had with us but we interpreted his gestures and reply as ‘That fruit will give you gyppo guts. Don’t eat it – rather have tea and tomatoes”.

By the morning the final berth was filled by a younger Russian guy who kept to himself. Not even Victor had much to say to him. My poor V barely got any sleep and was looking worse for wear. Before we could get our breakfast organized, Victor had swooped down from the top bunk and started feeding us again. More salami, tomatoes, cheese and hard boiled eggs with lots of tea. We felt pretty bad that the ‘single’ portion food we had would have been difficult to share – all we could offer was gratitude.

We arrived at the Russian border at 13h00 and started the procedure of detaching carriages that were returning to Russia and changing engines for the short hop through no-mans-land. 4 hours later and now stewing in our cabin without an openable window the Russian immigration and customs procedure started. They tossed the cabin – like a scene from a prison movie – but were not really looking. A Dutch couple were fined €50 each for overstaying their visa but other than that it was uneventful.

Between borders the spikey Russian guy was replaced at first by a Mongolian Lady who spoke English and was very helpful and friendly. She and her husband were just hitching a free ride across the border so they could buy tickets on the Mongolian side. I have to admit I was getting nervous at the piles of luggage being added to our cabin and the possiblity of customs nonsense.

On the Mongolian side (10 mins down the track) we were subjected to another customs and immigration procedure. The customs officer blatently stole (after a heated debate) 10% of the cash held by our Russian and Mongolian cabin mates for no apparent reason (except possibly because they did not declare exactly how much cash they had on them). She had a go at some of the tourists further down the carriage as well for not declaring but they got off with a warning. It was such an obvious fleecing that left us and our cabin mates stunned.

Finally !! 9 hrs after stopping we were in Mongolia and on our way again. Once more with a new friendly Russian guy (Alexander). Food was now flowing from both Victor and Alexander we could not go hungry.

This morning at 6:30 we rolled into a cold UB. The outskirts sprawl some distance and look decidedly 3rd world. Mongolia has a population around 2mil, half of which live in UB – many of them still in Gers.

– Posted from my iPhone

Our guide during the transfer back to Irkutsk was brilliant. (Damien from Baikal Complex) With 10 hrs to kill we decided to walk around the city but were not expecting much – it turned into a really pleasant day.

From the station across the bridge all the way down the river to the Alexander III obelisk and eventually stopping at the Regional Museum was excellent. The museum, although small and limited, had English info – what a novelty !

Crossing town we passed a tennis court with a tiny little girl (barely taller than the net) being coached – serving ball after ball I guess she is heading toward tennis fame in 10 years or so. Should have gotten an autograph 🙂

The market area was teaming with students and the shop owners were able to answer my pathetic Russian in English – I was relieved. Peering at our map we were offered assistance in English by a passer by. I’m always skeptical of that kind of offer but in retrospect I think that my concern was unwarranted.

Stocked up at the supermarket for the 2 day train ride (and supplies that we won’t be able to get in China easily) we plonked ourselves down in the main park and watched people and pidgeons go about their days. V was very impressed with the price and condition of the parks public loos – Irkutsk gets a gold star in her book. More and more Mogolian/Asian faces appearing – we must be close now.

Our final destination on the very long hot walk back to the train station was a Soviet WWII memorial and eternal flame. The surrounding park was filled (well I counted 5) with wedding processions and their photographers. We’ve seen flocks of wedding parties out in the parks all around Russia on just about every day of the week. Limos and stretched Hummers are the order of the day here – seems like a good business to be in!

– Posted from my iPhone

Okay – so possibly our posts are getting boring and too diary-like, but its really just so we remember. Also I’m noticing lots of spelling and other errors. I’ll blame the autocorrect on my iPhone and my editor (V). The phone is a great tool but I do miss Word! On with the show….

It appears that there is not much to do here at lake Baikal – no complaint. Yesterday I spotted an observatory marked on the tourist map and after a wander through the market we headed uphill in search of science toys and hopefully a mad scientist or two.

We could sense that we may have been trespassing but there were no locked gates and the rabid looking dogs seemed safely confined – we continued up into the thick forest. Our guide – a crazy looking black dog that had been with us since the market – seemed to know where he was going. It began to feel like an episode of Lost as we rounded a bend to see a towering structure rising from the trees. At the base was a rusted caravan (obviously an old monitoring station) and its relatively new counterpart. We could hear voices inside but from behind a rusted and locked gate could not tell if they were squatters or astronomers. We made our presence known but did not get any response, so no cool Soviet telescope to gawk at.

Back in ‘town’ we watched a brave local take a dip in the lake. Even with all his blubber he only lasted seconds. The entire lake freezes over in winter and the last traces of ice melted a couple of weeks ago. We dipped our hands in to check – yip – freezing cold !

The afternoon was spent turning prawn pink (in my case) and lobster red (for V) on the sundeck at the lodge while listening to a pleasant yet talkative Canadian. He is retired and as a young man spent most of his time as a soldier in Europe keeping an eye on the reds. Now he was travelling first class through Russia, Mongolia and China. Have to admit we were a little jealous of his tales of the number 1 train.

We took an early dinner in the town market. Great, simple and cheap – albeit the staple of fried rice with beef and a pork kebab. The sun, full tums and beer left us sluggish and extremely content. V bought a pile of delicious cherries at a stall and we dawdled back to the lodge.

Today – Day 2 in Baikal
Managed to do almost nothing for the first time in ages. 2 full days in Baikal is too long unless you want to go on the lake looking for the fresh water seals. We had grand plans of a hike up to a viewpoint overlooking Port Baikal but halfway to there we gave in to the strong icy wind. We sat on the pebble beach and watched the world go by. Briefly encountered an English couple who started in South America 7 months ago and travelling in the opposite direction to us are 2 weeks from a flight home.

Travel Tip

– 1 full day at lake Baikal is enough. It may be impressive (7km deep etc) but is just a big pond. At least you won’t feel bad doing nothing.
– Not easy to find Internet but we found an open Wifi point just outside the hotel that is supposed to look like a lighthouse. If you loiter too long you may get a security guard peering at you from the balcony.

– Posted from my iPhone

[UPDATE] Posts added all the way back to Moscow. You may need a coffee to get through them 🙂

In our haste to leave Moscow we did not update. We are on the Trans-Siberian. Beijing on the 18th. Do not expect decent internet until them. Am posting very quickly using an expensive cell connection at a station in the middle of nowhere ! Thanks for all the comments. Will read them all and post all the updates as soon as possible.

The train has been a great experience so far but more ruski vocab would have helped. It would also have been interesting to stop at more places enroute but I suspect not worth the stress without a guide or the ability to communicate.

Since Moscow we have have travelled more than 4500km on 2 continents and crossing 5 time zones over as many nights, 4 of them on trains. On arrival in Irkutsk we were whisked away to the lakeside resort village of Listvyanka on the shore of lake Baikal. Another dodgy looking road and entrance (too knackered to care) led us to a well appointed pine log lodge and nirvana – our first shower in 5 days. We tried in vane to drain the lake dry through the shower head but since it holds 1/5 of the worlds fresh water that was optimistic.

We slept like Russian bears in winter for the entire afternoon, woke up, consumed an ep or two of Boston Legal on V’s iPhone and went back to sleep. Got to love the little things – hot showers, good sleep and Denny Crane 🙂

– Posted from my iPhone

Okay. I meant snacks. Hehe

Russian trains have numbers. Number 1 (The Red Arrow) is the deluxe top of the line. Even numbers leave Moscow, odd ones go back. I guess 500ish would be a freight train. Most travellers end up on trains in the 10 to 50 range. Our train was number 340! It wasn’t actually too bad, just old and slow, and they stopped a LOT!

We boarded to find a Russian couple sharing our 2m x 1.8m four birth compartment (one step up from the cabinless bunks in 3rd class). Natasha and Yeni were polite and friendly but we all turned in early – a sleepless hot and sweaty night without aircon. The romantic notion of slumbing to the clickity-clack of the lines does not apply to these trains – its more of a jarring clunkity-whack 🙂 By the morning our buddies had been replaced by another polite couple (becomming a trend).

The cabins are clean and basic but unfortunatley no power outlet. With 3 nights onboard I had to ration myself with podcasts and iPhone activity. That was until the powers that be (haha) forgot to turn off the sockets in the corridor after vacuum cleaning, it felt like Eskom had just stopped load shedding! Power to the people, I say.

The toilets are very basic and drop straight to the track – I’ll never walk on a train line again Mom, I promise. The problem with stopping so often at stations is that the drop toilets are locked for obvious reasons so you need to plan ahead. Best to go as soon as the train starts moving… not fun when the train stops for 40mins.

The landscape flashing by was at times almost African but mostly trees and more trees. Into Siberia it changed to trees and marshes. Pulling into a stop at dusk meant jumping to close the window to prevent the plague of mozzies from draining a safa for sups.

Meals on the train were very boring. The dining cars are known for being expensive and bad, but each coach has a samovar so most people (including us) have instant noodles or rice. The rice containers doubled as tea cups creating a hearty brew of rasberry tea with hints of chicken and rice – blaghh! By the second day I was missing my milk and got off the train to find some. Once again I ended up with what I thought was off milk. On further inspection we discovered it was a drinking yogurt, doh ! So no milky tea, but at least some dairy.

The couple in the cabin with us (Boris and Oxanna) kept very much to themselves but it is hard to ignore people that are 50cm from you 24hrs a day. They had purchased some dried fish at one of the stops which made me nervous – if they offered it would be impolite to refuse. Thankfully they offered a pine cone. At least an hour of entertainment figuring out how to eat the seeds! Woolies is easier. Apparently you can get really good food at the stops – but honestly we did not see much that would be pallatable.

It turned out that Boris (a mechanic) and Oxanna (a doctor/student doctor or therapist – hard to understand) were heading for a holiday spot north of our destination which gave us the cabin to ourselves for some of the last night. Good thing too as V was starting to get a little ‘cabin fever’ – she had spent the entire day reading – that would have put me in a ferocious mood 🙂

– Posted from my iPhone