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Published: July 18th 2008
Mongolian Guards
They stood around waiting for ages, sneaky shot through the train window.Woke up this morning at around 7 and had cereal in a cup and coffee for breakfast. When we got off to use the toilet we discovered that we only had 2 carriages and no engine, we had been abandoned! The guards arrived at about 7.45 and waited on the platform smoking and chatting away to themselves and the dodgy looking money exchange man, until they decided to check our cabins and passports at around 9. A little later on we were joined by an engine which took us and our guards across to Naushki on the Russian side of the border. The countryside here at this time of the year could easily be mistaken for the central north island of New Zealand until you come across the houses which are a little different, once again it’s easy to forget what this place is like in winter. When we got to Naushki we gave the Russian guards our passports and left the train to stretch our legs. It was a real nothing town with only one little shop within walking distance and a very poor introduction to Russia. For some reason Russian time was one hour ahead so we lost an
Quentin
Just about got arrested for staring at the guards hour and by the time we got our passports back and left Naushki to head for Ulan-Ude it was about 5pm. We had a half hour stop at Ulan-Ude and there were shops and a money machine so I got out a little cash, 1000 rubles. Claire said the next challenge would be finding a shop that would give me change! Funny thing about Russian customer service, they always like you to give them the right change and often refuse to give you theirs! So it was with a little trepidation that I went into a shop to buy something (1.5 litre bottle of water and 2 beers for 170 roubles) and gave her my 1000 ruble note, she whinged a bit as I tried to explain that that was all I had but went away and came back with my change anyway - the beer was warm and the water was fizzy but what the heck! The train pulled out of Ulan-Ude at around 10pm and the sun still hadn’t set yet, 2-minute noodles for dinner and pull down the blind to sleep.
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Angie Dixon
non-member comment
Wow
Hi ya Guys, Wow sounds like you guys having a awesome time, those guards sound a little scary!!!. The weather here is really bad at the moment bad storms all over the country, flooding, roads closed etc, roofs off buildinge etc, it's just all action over here !!!! ha ha . Good to hear from you both , Take Care , Love from Me (Ange)xoxoxo