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Published: June 10th 2008
(Day 60 on the road)I would not have left Russia and Lake Baikal yet if it wasn't for my visa, which was running out. I could have easily spend a lot more time in the area! So instead I found myself on the early morning train from Irkutsk to Ulaan Baatar. The train left at 5 in the morning (and arrived in Ulaan Baatar some 30 hours later), so I skipped the accommodation for the last night in Irkutsk and rather spent the time debating life with Julie, an Australian girl I had met on Olkhon Island at Lake Baikal. No boundaries, Julie!
There are actually two trains from Irkutsk to Ulaan Baatar. One that leaves Irkutsk in the evening, and one that leaves very early in the morning. As the tracks go right along Lake Baikal for about 200km after Irkutsk, the early morning train was the natural choice to be able to enjoy the view. I made the journey together with Irene, a funny and down-to-earth Swiss girl I had also met on Olkhon Island. We had a whole compartment in the train to ourselves, and it was a great journey! The views of the lake were fantastic,
as was the first impressions of Mongolia. The border crossing itself however was lengthy and tedious: We spent six hours at the Russian border-town of Naushki not doing very much at all; at least we were allowed off the train, so we spent the time in the afternoon sun and taking pictures. On the Mongolian side, the wait was "only" two hours before we got moving again. It was also interesting to watch the Mongolian border guards to salute the train as it passed them - a nice welcome somehow!
Ulaan Baatar is not a beauty in itself, but has a nice feel somehow. It is a functional town with Soviet style architecture and it is THE place to base yourself in and for hooking up with other travelers to explore the vast and beautiful countryside. I spent a few days in the city and a nice afternoon and evening with Irene, who was heading off the next day for a trip across the country. Most memorable about this was me ordering a weird mineral water, which tasted and smelled like rotten eggs, much to the amsusement of Irene.
Before I headed out though for a trip, I
tried for two days to sort out my Chinese visa. As China has recently made the visa application process much more difficult, this is not so easy! They now require hotel-bookings for every single night of your time in China and a valid airline-ticket out of the country. This is very inconvenient for me: I have no idea when I will leave Mongolia for China and where I will go once I am there (so making hostel-bookings nearly impossible). Also, I want to continue traveling overland and not fly if I can avoid it (so booking a flight would spoil this).
In the end, I booked some accommodation in Beijing for a few nights and made a reservation for a ferry to Japan for which I can change the dates for a small fee. As I am planning to go from China to Japan anyway at the end of August to meet up with my friend Ann, this seemed like the sensible option.
Anyway, the guy at the Chinese embassy was not satisfied, and when I went there they told me I also needed to provide a ticket into the country (why on earth?) and a recent bank statement. As
I was leaving for a week-long trip to the Gobi Desert the very next morning, I was thus unable to get my visa this time.
So now I can only hope it works out somehow when I come back from Gobi. If I am refused the visa again, I will not be able to finish the Transsib to Beijing, which would be very regrettable. It would also mean that I am stuck in Mongolia (apparently there is no way to get a Russian visa here), so I would have to take an expensive flight to a country for which I don't require a visa (i.e. South Korea, Japan, Hong Kong etc). I guess I will find out once I am back from my excursion.
Next stop: Gobi Desert (Mongolia).
To view my photos, have a look at
pictures.beiske.com. And to read the full account of my journey, have a look at the complete
book about my trip at Amazon (and most other online book shops).
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Roman
non-member comment
chinese visa
that is inconvenient indeed ! i'm planning a similar trip and that is why i came across this website. but i guess i will change my mind at the end ! i wish to travel more independently ... "hotel-bookings" and "a valid airline-ticket" as the requirements for chinese visa .. too much hassle :( I wish you good luck !