Trans-Siberian Railway: 1,108 km from Irkutsk to Ulan Bator in 24 hours

On Monday morning, it started. The last leg, now with the Trans-Siberian Railway to the capital of Mongolia.

This time, I wanted to be early and actually arrived at the train station 45 minutes before departure. Boring! They didn't even know which platform I would depart from... I was bored for 30 minutes at the station and decided to come just in time next time. At least then there is something going on... Being early is not for me! 😉

When I boarded, I couldn't believe my eyes. I had landed in the luxury class... there was no 3rd class in this train, meaning my seat number 5 was in a 4-person compartment (2nd class) and I had a lower bed. I could hardly believe it. A private compartment with its own power outlet, lamp, and TV! I was still alone and very excited. Just a minute later, Martha, a 65-year-old Brazilian, came. We got along great right away and together we were thrilled about the spotlessly clean train.

Martha always travels alone, never longer than 2 weeks, and loves adventures. She moved to London in the 90s to have easier and faster access to travel destinations.

We stayed in the compartment together and had lively and long conversations about everything imaginable. At around 10 pm, we reached the Russian border control in Naushki. They took our passports and we waited for over an hour on the train. The assigned seat couldn't be left and the toilet remained locked. Discipline and order, that's all I can say! Suddenly, officials came and asked me about "Medicine?". I had heard that there are some medicines that are not allowed in Russia and I knew that if I said "yes", there would probably be a search operation. So despite having antibiotics and other medicine in my backpack, I confidently replied "no". The official held my gaze and then pointed at my backpack with the comment "open". Well, maybe not as confident as I thought 😄

He made me empty out my clothes and eventually lost interest and moved on. Phew. Shortly after, our passports were returned. About 30 minutes later, we were at the border crossing in Mongolia. It wasn't as strict and we were able to enter without any problems after another 1.5 hours. In the morning, shortly after arriving in Ulan Bator, Martha and I said our goodbyes and not even 5 minutes later, the driver sent by the hostel greeted me with a tight hug. I immediately knew that the Mongolians are completely different from the initially very reserved Russians.

We drove to the hostel with a few last-minute and daring maneuvers. When I asked him why he always turns so quickly, he answered "Police" and laughed out loud. With a few words of English, I understood that certain cars are not allowed to drive on Tuesdays, including his. 😉

When I arrived at the hostel, I had to find my sleeping place amidst my roommate's underwear. The (standing) toilet also didn't quite meet my taste, so I decided to explore Ulan Bator first. I visited the National Museum of Mongolia, crouched at a bus stop for 1.5 hours in pouring rain, soaked to the underwear, hoping that the "Land of Blue Skies" would soon show its best side, and walked to the most famous sights in UB. In the evening, I returned to the hostel and got acquainted with the 1cm "thick" mattress. I was told that Mongolians sleep on hard surfaces... Ah, I see!

Just before going to bed, I talked to Undral (she owns the hostel and speaks Swiss-German) about a possible Gobi tour that was supposed to start in the next few days with hopefully a few more guests. So I went to sleep without knowing that one of my biggest adventures would start the next morning...

(I am now in the Gobi Desert, which means rare reception and even rarer internet. The next post will follow on July 4th 😉)