I departed by train from Ulaanbaatar for Russian Siberia early in the afternoon on Tuesday. In the middle of the night we reached the Mongolian border. Everyone cleared customs and immigration within an hour and we proceeded across to what my cabin mate called “Raa-see-a”.
I was booked on a 2nd class ticket with a comfortable cabin containing four berths with a table and large picture window. There were just two of us sharing the cabin. My company was an older rough around the edges stout Russian man with a large belly. His face and hands showed wear and strain that can only be attained through a life of hard labor, stress, and smoking. At first he came across a little intimidating and I feared he might be a one of the dreaded vodka drinkers I’ve heard about but with a couple of pleasant exchanges, through my Russian phrase book, he warmed right up. I quickly took a liking to him. I speak no Russian and he spoke no English but it was clear he had my best interest at heart.
When we stopped at the Russian border the first person to board was a stone faced 30 something military guy who went through the carriage banging around and looking for illegal immigrants and stowaways. After that we proceeded a little further and a mix of official looking people boarded for immigration and customs. I handed over my passport to a serious looking woman and hoped there wouldn’t be any problems. I wasn’t sure if I had filled out the entry card properly and had scribbled out a mistake or two. I tried to get another form to redo a new card before arrival but the Provodnista (woman who manages the carriage) couldn’t be bothered with my request and seemed quite perturbed I would even ask. Oh well, I knew my Visa was straight.
As I was waiting to get my passport back I heard the heavy breathing of what I was sure was some kind of large drug dog. Yes, it was a drug dog but I was surprised to see a small and friendly border collie type of canine. I continued to wait and dozed off.
I was awoken by my cabin mate and very happy to get my passport back with the proper entry stamp and all. No problems. In the end it took almost 4 hours to clear Russian immigration and customs due to old Soviet beauracracy that still hangs on.
I arrived in Ulan-Ude around 7:30 in the morning exhausted from overnight border crossing. I then found my way to the only hostel in Ulan Ude and checked myself into a comfortable dorm room with 8 beds. I don’t much care for dorms but Russia, for whatever reason, is very expensive so its time to get use to hostel dorms again.
Upon arriving in Ulan Ude I completed the Trans Mongolian railway and am now on the Trans Siberian rail line. I had debated booking tickets in advance through an agent but in doing so I would have paid twice as much. I therefore decided to throw caution to the wind and just book along the way. It’s generally not a problem but it can be a big hassle.
When I checked into the hostel I was greeted by the very helpful owner, Denis, who is Siberian Buryat but speaks excellent English and English is very rare in this part of the world. I requested his help on buying my next ticket. He offered to help me get it sorted online. It’s very difficult for a non Russian to navigate the ticketing site so I hadn’t even considered giving it a try. Oh, and I didn’t even had an itinerary.
Denis browsed the site and with the advice of an enthusiastic Neapolitan Italian guest, who had taking the train the other direction, I worked out an itinerary. It took all morning but by 1 pm and a call to my credit card fraud department, to pull the block off my card after the first purchase, I had all of my tickets worked out. Wow! It all came together so easily. I couldn’t have made a better decision to stop in Ulan Ude. With remarkable ease the stage is set for a train ride all the way to Moscow and beyond to Latvia.
Between Ulan-Ude and Moscow I’ll make three stops. The stops will include Irkutsk to visit the world’s deepest lake, Yekaterinburg to see a fine Russian city, and Vladimir to visit a nearby village full of old world charm. I’ll then press on to Moscow for a brief stop to visit Red Square and Lenin’s mausoleum before rushing to Latvia before my Visa runs out.
So far my first stop in Russia has been great. Ulan-Ude is a pleasant small city and said to be the perfect transition stop between Russia and Mongolia. The difference between countries is dramatic but there’s still an element of Mongolian Buyrat culture in this part of Siberia. The hostel is very comfortable and it’s really quite nice exchanging info with other travelers. Also, I can cook my own food. Most people travel the Trans Siberian from Moscow to Beijing so making stops at hostels on the way to Moscow is a great way to get current info. The dorm is much more comfortable than expected and last night I slept great. Tomorrow I’ll move on to my next stop, Irkutsk.
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