Thursday 18th October 2012 - Day 15 - Ulaan Baatar to Beijing

 

The alarm went off at 5.30am, snoozed until 5.45am then quickly finished packing and went to breakfast at 6am which they had opened early especially for us. We are actually dining where they held a wedding reception last night. We sat at a big round table where the chairs were dressed in white covers with bright pink bows, thankfully the karaoke has now finished. We had toast where you had to hold the button on the toaster down except the handle was broken and it was as sharp as a knife blade.

We were picked up at 6.30 am and went straight to the train station, we were there in no time at all as there was hardly any traffic. It was minus 15 outside and we were happy to jump straight on the train and wait until departure at 7.15am. We are on this train for 31 hours and we were pleased to find out that our cabin was the most modern and  nicest to date, with comfy seats/beds. Our books told us that the track for the first few hundred kilometres is very snaking so there should be good opportunity for photos of our train as we bend round corners as we weave through the hillside. Therefore we stayed up poised with camera for a few hours and the book was correct.

We slept on and off for most of the day trying to catch up on lost sleep from the last few days. We played cards and did puzzles and read books and mostly starred out the window listening to music and watching the vastness of the landscape as we travelled through the Gobi Desert. We saw double humped back camels and tumbleweed fly past the window and not a lot else. We did see an arch in the middle of nowhere which we assumed was the gateway to the Gobi, but really we made that up. The buffet cart man with sunglasses would only give us the tourist menu which was a set menu where each meal was expensive so we opted for drinks only and then another pot noodle for dinner. I also had to have words with two locals who were smoking on the buffet cart which is a no smoking area, and I wasn’t giving in. 

The most exciting thing to happen today was of course the border crossing from Mongolia to China. We arrived at the Mongolia border at 7pm and left there at 9pm. The guards boarded our train and took our passports then finally returned them with no problems. A short ride up the track and we arrived at the China border. Here numerous guards boarded our train followed by a cameraman with a huge camera resting on his shoulder. They were very nice as they took our passports then asked to search one of the main bags and they chose mine. I opened it and she asked me to remove everything. The only thing I was worried about was my dirty laundry being broadcasted across China on TV!

Before the passports came back, our train was split into 3 parts and pushed into a train shed where each carriage was raised and the wheels or bogies that I have now learned they are called were removed and replaced by narrower ones as the Chinese tracks are narrower. This had to be done on the whole train and was quite a unique experience with everyone glued to the windows watching what is going on. By the time our passports were returned and we were rejoined together or smashed together almost knocking us out our beds it was midnight, a 5 hour border crossing.

We were quickly allowed off the train for 15 minutes but it was so cold I only lasted 5 minutes but I needed the fresh air as the train was so stuffy as the windows don’t open and the smokers were smoking us out. Once we were safely on our way in China we were finally allowed to use the loos again since 7pm! Simon was sleeping on the top bunk opposite me and he was spaced out sleeping with his eyes open and snoring. It freaked me out like cooked fish eyes, not nice, I couldn’t wait until the morning. We are in China!