The Rocky Rail To Mongolia

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Our morning started with a 6:15am taxi to Irkutsk train station. The driver appeared to be slightly worse for wear from a few Sunday vodkas and blasted the music up to keep himself awake. On our train appears to be second class within second class. Our cabin no doubt was top of the range in 1950. Going from one carriage to another is quite a challenge, not a move I would recommend to an 80 year old Indiana Jones in his next movie. Communication with the waitress in the dining carriage has proven another challenge with you unsure what you ordered and what you get. They have ran out of potatoes and rumours are flying that potatoes are selling for 1000 rubles per spud. Speaking of rubles I believe I have lost 200 rubles which is equal to €2:85, I am trying hard not to let it ruin my day.
One individual sharing our cabin is celebrating his birthday today and there was an awkward moment when entering the cabin as he was practically in his birthday suit, thankfully a sheet and underwear covered his family planning unit, I was never so glad not to have my glasses on. We are unsure where he was from but he has since left to go celebrate with his buddies. Our other companion is a pleasant doctor from Germany, and thankfully so far she has not been tempted to put us to sleep despite our ramblings.
As we draw closer to the Mongolian border, the scenery is something else. It almost has the feel of a spegetti western. I would not be surprised to see Vladimir out horse riding bare backed.
Fawlty Towers
We were advised the dining carriage was closing at 8pm so decided to head down at 7pm. Upon arrival the head waitress scolded us for having the audacity to turn up. We ordered our mains and desert was immediately ruled out when we received the bill straight away. The head waitress then came back and berated our table for having the nerve for opening the window, how dare we have fresh air. The head waitress then showed her ability to multitask task by removing the plate from under our friends table and point at the bill at the same time, to pay up post haste. With just lettuce left on my plate I decided to go use the bathroom. I came back to find out the head waitress berated me for not eating my greens while swipping my plate. I paid my bill and said thank you, however she assumed the extra 50 rubles was for her (which it was, and I was the only one that didn't get change), Basil Fawlty would be proud.
A Game of Thrones
A few myths busted on the customs. We were not greeted by any Russian special forces , with AK 47’s and guard dogs, instead the Russian equivalent of Chief Wiggam who was more interested in confiscating our chocolate stash than our visas. The Mongolia process was more painful in that we seemed to be completing the same information 100 times in 100 different forms.
Yes the toilets are locked while the train is stationery, so the custom process took 3 hours which meant all thrones were out of action. Even crueller still once we got moving again the carriage attendent advised toilets would be closed for a further 10 minutes.
We finished our night by hosting a games night,sharing drinks, snacks and stories with our 2 English neighbours in the carriage next door. We all plan meeting up tomorrow in Mongolia, this is what makes the Trans Siberian special.

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