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Published: August 15th 2010
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On the train
Nigel and Sid on the road... or train.... 6th August 2010
Russia- 1st Stop; Ulan Ude
The train stopped at the Mongolian / Russian boarder at 7.45am and again we were asked to fill out copious amounts of paperwork. Our lovely Russian lady attendant gestured that the train would be at the station for the next 4 hours- so we got off for another adventure walk. We walked along the road for a while and checked out the supermarket. All of the buildings around were old Siberian wooden structures and were quaint in a run down sort of way. The supermarket had a long counter spanning the whole shop and everything was on the shelves behind, so you had to ask / point at what you needed. We stocked up on some interesting looking sausage meat and cheese for sandwiches….. and there is always our peanut butter / jam as back up.
Along the road we made an amazing discovery- about 60 army tanks were being worked on at the side of the road. In the beginning the army guys just ignored us, but then a couple took an interest in Sid and lifted him up on top. He got to wear the helmet with the earphones inside,
and even jump into the tank and look through the binoculars. One guy even gave him the metal emblems off his collar- so we wiled away a few hours playing soldiers. Our train arrived in Ulan Ude at 10.30pm and Andre our guide collected us and dropped us off at our home-stay. We had a huge room with a double sofabed and a single bed. The nice lady showed us the bathroom etc and we went to bed.
7th August 2010
Ulan Ude
Our host informed us that we were not staying in a typical Russian house- it was ‘big’. She inherited it from her Grandad who was given the house by the Government back in the day. It was overlooking ‘Victory Monument’ in the centre of town. We had a really relaxing breakfast before Andre picked us up to go to the Ivolginsky Datsun- the centre of Buddhism in Russia. It’s a pity that the rain started just when we arrived but that didn’t deter us. It was a charming Tibetan Monastery, not unlike the hundreds that we’d seen in Tibet, the only difference being the surrounding wooden houses and the fact it wasn’t on the top
Sid in a tank!
Oh boys and their toys! of a great big hill! We walked around the grounds and followed a Wedding party that had arrived for photos.
Lunch was in an old village of traditional Siberian wooden buildings and four ladies dressed in Buryat costumes met us at the door. The district has been named a UNESCO heritage site and they walked us round a typical house telling us about life in the good ole days and explaining where they used to sleep and about various objects on display. Then, we ate! There was loads of food and a bottle of poison (vodka) that we were guilted into drinking. The shots were flying and it really wasn’t a nice drop! After lunch they announced “Now we will have The Wedding”. Apparently to fully appreciate the local customs, it is better to role play- so Nigel and I were dressed in traditional costumes while the ladies sang and explained the whole courtship to marriage process. It was a great laugh and once again, Nigel and I were married without any family / friends present- sorry!
After all that excitement, it was time to visit an old Russian orthodox church and a private collection of old items
that the priest collected in a shed next door. Sid really enjoyed playing with the giant weighing scales!
Our host and her 5 year old daughter, Dasha who was on the shy and reluctant side, joined us for dinner. Dasha warmed up after a while and played with Sid before bed time.
8th August 2010
The day the boys lost their teeth!
Well, we are now the proud owner of a gummy bear- Sid’s second front tooth fell out while Nigel chased him around the playground downstairs after breakfast. Andre came to pick us up at 10.30am as usual, but he informed us of a change of plan! Instead of leaving on the 9pm overnight train tonight, we would be leaving on the 3.15pm train, so our tour was cut short, but on the flip side- it will be great to see Lake Baikal during the day- and sleep in a real bed when we arrive in Lake Baikal tonight, so we were happy enough with the changes. We packed our rucksacks in the back of the car- said goodbye to our lovely hosts who gave Nigel a pot of her finest home made jam, and set
Our huge room in Ulan Ude
Our host gave us breakfast and dinner..... great food too! off to the Old believer’s village. Again, it was old wooden buildings surrounded by beautiful countryside. We went for a walk around the village and up to a view point before being brought to a Yurt- which is the same as a Mongolian ‘Ger’. We were shown how to make dumplings and ate the delicious ‘Irish like stew’ while the dumplings were being steamed. It was now 1pm, so with only a few hours to go before boarding the train, Nigel bit into a dumpling and an unidentified hard object cracked his back two in half. We all heard the crack and then Nigel pulled half of his tooth out - nearly exactly the same size as the one that fell out of Sid’s mouth this morning. Unfortunately Nigel could fell the nerve, so we jumped into the car and set off to find a dentist.
Andre’s wife was on the case and within half an hour Nigel was in the dentist’s chair. The clinic was small and very basic, not really the type of establishment you want to have major tooth surgery, so Nigel nearly pooed his pants when they started discussing removing the root and blah blah
The Datsun
Centre of Buddism in Russia blah, but as luck would have it, we didn’t have time for any of that- so they patched up the tooth by filling the gaping hole with a white cement type mixture. They sent him on his way saying it was a temporary measure and it might last a week, or a year. We were shocked when they also said the work was on the house- no fee- Russia Rocks!
With 45 mins to go, we asked if we could stop at a supermarket to buy snacks for the train journey. Sid decided to stay in the car with Andre. Five mins later a pale faced Andre comes rushing in to get us saying Sid had trapped his hand in the car door…… so we rushed out to find Sid’s fingers slowly growing in size. He could still wiggle his fingers so we were pretty sure he hadn’t broken anything. Poor Andre told us we it happened he was sure Sid had cut off his fingers and told us he’d just aged another 10 years…. Andre’s two kids are now in their twenties, so it’s been a while since the last kiddie drama in his life. We got some
What a big one you have!
Sid messes about outside the temple! frozen berries in a bag to chill Sid’s fingers from Andre’s freezer and he got us on the train in time- He must have been delighted to see the back of us- in fact, I think I saw him sprinting off the platform once we’d boarded…….
We sat on the train and it started moving- Sid’s had had stopped throbbing, Nigel’s tooth was stable, we had snacks….. phew- a sigh of relief and we all sat back to enjoy the views of Russia passing by our window. Lake Baikal is HUGE…. It went by for hours on the train. Lena was waiting for us when we arrived at 10.45pm. We were shown to the waiting taxi and driven an hour to our homestay by the lake. It was now midnight and we fell into bed forgetting to put the teeth under the pillows ☺
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mum
non-member comment
Oh!
OMG. What an adventure. Poor Nigel - I could feel it as I was reading. I hope he gets home before it starts acting up. And Sid what can I say, he's a little soldier. Your wedding photos look a laugh. What a life they lead. Love you all. Mumxxxx