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Published: August 14th 2007
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Well, they let us in!!! After 7 or 8 hours at the border, first on the Mongolian side at Sukhbaatar and then on the Russian side at Naushki, we were finally accepted (along with the rest of the train) as being worthy of leaving Mongolia and entering Russian territory. Very generous of them ;-) It was a long few hours, waiting in sweltering heat, as the Russian guards told us that we must have our windows closed for the entire process - despite the fact that we had no fan or other means of circulating air in the 30 degree heat - even though it was the middle of the night. We all resorted to using our drinking water (the toilets - and therefore, the bathroom taps - were closed for the duration also) to wet the hand towels they provided us with in order to stay cool… not completely effective, but much better than the alternative without them. The Russian guards were quite scary as expected. Once we handed over our passports to a woman (who needed a little bit of convincing they actually do belong to us, thanks to our changes in hair since our passport photos), we were
ordered to leave our cabin while a big burly Russian man pulled our cabin apart, including taking the ceiling panel off to climb up inside to see whether we were trying to smuggle anything into the Motherland. As it happens, we weren’t hiding anything (thank goodness!!! Hehehehe), so they kindly allowed us to re-enter our incredibly warm room and wait it out.
The day had been incredibly hot. In UB it was hitting almost 40 degrees - quite unbearable even for Queenslanders like us! And our train, despite our best hopes of airconditioning or a fan, provided little relief to the heat as the only opening windows in our carriage were in direct sunlight and therefore let as much heat in as they let out, maintaining oven-like conditions on board. Much to our disappointment, even darkness brought little relief, with temperatures still up around the 30 - 33 degree mark… however, this is not to say that we were ungrateful for the slight drop.
The last few days had been similarly hot when we had been out at Terelj National Park (about 80ks out of UB). There we were thankful to be staying in a traditional Mongolian ger,
which (thanks to the ingenious design of the nomadic herders) are incredibly well-suited to the sweltering conditions and unrelenting sunlight that they must endure year in year out. The felt that the gers are made out of insulates amazingly well against the heat and sun, and provides welcome shade in an otherwise very barren and vegetatively sparse environment. We arrived at the NP at about 11 am, at which time the temperature was soaring above 38 degrees… too hot to do anything really, so we climbed inside our ger and tried to sleep it out with little success - waking up an hour later, drenched in sweat and finding the heat outside even worse than when we closed our eyes an hour before. Still, we looked outside at the beauty of the landscape, mountainous ranges in the distance, herds of cows, goats, yaks and horses and amazing rock formations on the surrounding hills and thought that sleeping the day away would be a waste, so we risked heat stroke and dehydration to climb the steepest and most difficult hill we could find. Victorious, we stood at the top of our hill, after an incredibly hard climb, rewarded with absolutely spectacular
views. We also managed to find a little bit of shade along the way, in the shadow of some of the amazing and massive granite boulders, so that we could really enjoy the fruits of our labour in the relative cool…
Later that afternoon, we set off on horse back with our host to find the river. The riding was interesting… and painful! …especially considering that traditional Mongolian saddles are completely wooden. Mine was covered with only a piece of thin blanket, though Keira’s wasn’t any better… it broke the skin! The ride was beautiful though - for most of the journey the sun was in the process of setting, making the rock formations even more dramatic, with the shapes highlighted by the burnt orange light on the granite’s surface and the accompanying shadow. The river was a welcome relief from the hot dry day that we had endured until we reached it. Once my (Hero’s) feet touched the icy water, I could not help but jump in. The water felt so crisp and clean against my dusty skin, and my legs - which were sore from the ride - felt instantly better as I soaked my muscles and
frolicked in the river’s clear waters. The heat even drove Keira, who is better suited to Whitsunday water temperatures, to brave the icy waters, though admittedly she didn’t venture further than her ankles!
However, our adventures in Mongolia are now over... having just crossed the border into Russia and all...
The train trip from UB to Irkutsk has actually been incredibly beautiful - the transition we are making from Asia to Europe has been making itself clear for the first time this morning as the train moves steadily and rhythmically on and the features of the landscape, architecture and people become distinctly more European. The dry and barren desert has given way to pine covered mountains, green fields, wildflowers and long flowing rivers, and the Mongolian gers (the homes of the nomadic herders) can no longer been seen. Instead, the train tracks are bordered by traditional and permanent timber houses decorated with brightly coloured shutters and window frames.
WOW!! And as I am writing this, in our cabin on the train, we have just seen lake Baikal for the first time… the world’s deepest and most voluminous lake - people have said that it is like an
ocean, because you can’t see from one side to the other, and they are right! All we can see is clear blue water to the horizon. We have just finished listening to the Look Both Ways soundtrack and now we are cruising to Michael Franti, good vibes and excitement have been steadily filling our cabinet all morning ☺. I (Keira) read in the trusty Lonely Planet guide that the continuing movement of the tectonic plates under Lake Baikal mean that the lake will continue to expand until it splits the Asian continent and becomes one of the world’s great oceans. Wow! From our vantage point on the train, where the lake extends as far as we can see, it’s hard to believe that it’s not an ocean already… Our train follows the shores of Lake Baikal for the next couple of hundred kilometres, so we might take a break from the computer to soak it up…
So we'll let you know how it goes!
Please see more photos at our
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jenny binks
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WOW!!
Sounds absolutely amazing....wonderful descriptions...I could feel the icy water after the unbearable heat!! Light and thoughts to you all..