Mongolian Express-Oh!

The relief as we boarded was palpable. Made it to the right place and on time. Phew! It was close though...

Lee had done a reckie on the two previous days with limited success.

Tariq from our hovel-hostel had taken him the first day. After a frustrating morning they did manage to purchase Tariq's ticket but the stop for beer and a celebratory sandwich had turned into a, 'convert to Jehovah', session. Lee made it back as fast as he could!

The next day we both went to test it out but started by going up-town instead of down-town, (there was no way of telling!) We did discover one of the best stations at the end of the line. Everyone melted away and we were left standing in what looked like a magnificent ballroom, complete with fabulous chandeliers. It was silent and empty. A guard came and directed us to the next level to return to the main line. We reached our station about 4hrs later, it had only been 6 stops and one change!!! I was exhausted and a bit dispirited. I was not looking forward to tomorrow.

We left our hostel at one the next day at one, even though the train was not leaving until 9.30, complete with our backpacks and two bags of shopping for our journey. We walked to the first station to avoid changing, and, after asking several times, we made it straight there in an hour!

We sat at the Internet cafe and the 7 hours went quickly. Two hours before it was due we went to the platform. Lee had the questions written in Russian, 'I am catching the Mongolian Express, train number 6, at 9.30. Could you please tell me which platform it goes from?' We were put in position by a helpful Russian rail woman, but it was only 20 minutes before it left when Lee took a wander and found our train in on platform 2 not 5!!!! There seemed some confusion when we approached the carriage attendant but we eventually got on. There were a few back-packers but many more Mongolians carrying so much stuff on board that we could hardly believe it . We found out later why.

We sat relieved in our 1st class compartment. This was to be our home for the next 5 days. I was very excited about this stage of our journey, because of the distance we were going to travel, we were leaving the Russian bureaucracy, behind and Mongolia was a complete unknown.

There were two knocks on the door. A man first, wanted his bag from the store under the seat. We obliged. Some time later a couple of women pointed to the compartment above the door. When we looked up there was an enormous blue bag. Lee passed it to them and locked the door. We checked everywhere else. Nothing. We settled happily for the night. The rocking soon sent us to sleep.
I awoke at daylight the next day and peered excitedly through the curtains. I could see only two colours: The summer blue sky and the golden leaves of Autumn trees. It was dazzling and fabulous. I could not fail to smile. I leapt out of my sleeping bag, not wanting to miss a thing. I released the blind and just stared at the scene before me.
Along the track majestic beeches stood sentinel, their bark silver spears in the sun. Behind them the flat land stretched endlessly away with a haze of white frost lifting in the suns rays.
We stopprd at a grey station. The Russian women seemed serious, the Mongolian women bustled and smiled. Their faces bloomed like the moon I once saw in a Victorian play.
Our hot water flask provided our coffee, we had bread and a choice of jam or fruit-a veritable feast. I am constantly surprised by how little we really need in life.
At the next station a few pieces of the jigsaw fell into place. There had been a lot of activity as we approached and, as we were only stopping for 15 minutes I did not bother getting off. In seconds the Mongolians had held up endless goods for sale. There was the sudden flood of Russian people trying coats on and examining shoes and boots. In ten minutes it was all over! It was fabulous and sudden, reminding me of those elaborate fold- out birthday cards. This happened every time we stopped, whether it was 5am ir 12pm. Simply amazing. The Mongolian are traders by nature. They can make 2000 euros a month doing this!

5 days was a long time, and, at times, the train seemed relentless in its jourmey, until the border, where we had to wait 5hours for the Russians to search for the Mongolian goods that had been moved up and down the train so many times the passageway resembled an ant run. This was greeted by the europeans on boardwith hilarity.

We made lots of friends, exchanged books, shared a beer amd generally had a good time. We lost 3 more hours, now -7 from England, and went through three seasons; We started in the Summer sunshine of Moscow, changed to the firing of the landscape among the little wooden villages of outer Russia by the fabulous Lake Bakiel, where I watched the sun rise, a gash of gold in a cold, grey sky, over the surrounding mountains, near the Russian border, and then moved to the white snows of winter as we approached Mongolia. The dawn injects a little blue into the sky, a softerner of colours, but there is no disguising the onset of Winter. We would soon be getting off in Ullaanbaator.
The later scenery was even more breathtaking than the former. The beech trees were now skeletal fishbones and, no longer silver but stark-white, the brave gold of the remaining leaves now a pale orange. It was all magical. A morning mist rose around the horses on the plains amd the sun peeped coyly over snow capped mountains . I think Mongolia will match the Russian Steppes.