Irkusk, Russia to Mongolian Border

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This morning we came to Lake Baikal. I think it was morning but somewhere between here and Moscow there is about a 5 hour time difference. With little to do other than sleep, read and play cribbage it’s hard to keep track. Fortunately for us we had Hilda who was constantly jotting notes on a flow chart of where and when we should be. After questioning her, I rightfully guessed she was a math teacher. Lake Baikal is the deepest lake in the world at a maximum depth of 1637 meters. This tranquil lake doted with the odd fisherman is the only thing to break up the monotony. We are about to turn south towards Mongolia and should reach the border in the late evening.
Well we have reached the border of Mongolia. Sam asked the lady who helped with Russia and China visas whether or not Americans needed to apply for visas prior to arriving. Sam said the lady informed her one was not needed and we should have no problem entering Mongolia. What Sam forgot to check, as I was being hauled off the train, was whether or not Canadians needed visas. It would appear that Canadians and Americans different countries and have different rules. I quickly grabbed my shoes and a wad of money as a gruff Mongolian soldier led me out into the night. I was very fortunate that another passenger was also without a visa and she spoke Russian and was able to translate for me. We were led into a back office full of soldiers and made to fill out the application and pay the application fee. After some negotiating, thanks to my fellow passenger a fee was set and my visa approved. We left the office and stepped out into cold night air only to find that the train was not there. It was not a pleasant surprise to be standing on an empty platform in the middle of the night in Mongolia wondering where the heck the train went. Thankfully the train returned after about 30 minutes from swapping the Russian food cart with a Mongolian cart and boarded without further problems.

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Photos

Lake Baikal
World's deepest fresh water lake