Change is as good as a holiday... Part IChange is as good as a holiday... Part IIThe first stepAir conditioner, bar fridge and a double bedTwo of these people are not quite like the others...Hostel in SingaporeSingapore Botanical gardenwaiting for our island paradiselazy afternoons... mystical nightsthe busses are good but not good enoughMelaka, MalaysiaThe CapitalCameron Highlands"damn we didn't make it to a proper destination" stop overIsland ParadiseSeeking Refuge in a tour guide book!Karst Rock FormationsstopoverTraped by mamouth waves... a well needed restSmoggy daysAncient CityBest Markets, best pizza, best coffeeHappy New Year!Gloloating down the MekongDown the MekongWelcome to China!Dali: adventure to the lakeSouthern CapitalThe first MountainPandas!: birthday in Changdu (Ellie)A weekend away!Terracotta warriors and so much moreOver the hump!Freezzzing toesHello again world!!!Vodka and RussiaChita to BaikalTrans SiberianSurviving SiberiaWe're in Europe!Hi Jodi and Tim!We love the balticsstop over :(Little Green Men!da BahnWE MADE IT!The TruthThe move to... My (not just travel) Blog
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Location
Chita, Russia
Today was the final day in China and the first in Russia (almost part of Europe!). From the beginning the day was not taken lightly given the usual rigmarole involved with crossing boarders. We somehow managed to sleep in till 10am on the train from Harbin to Manzhouli. After being the last ones off the train, because we couldn't understand the announcements yet again. Then we made our way by (non-metered) cab that we would regret having not negotiated a price in advance. Our timing was perfect as we boarded a bus headed for Zabaikalsk, over the boarder in Russia. There were only about 4 of us on the bus, along with an assortment of mobile phones, DVD players, and other cheap electrical equipment which the Chinese and Russians seem to find anyway (legal/illegal) over the boarder for resale. We were lucky (seemingly not as you will find out below) enough to have a Chinese, English and Russian speaking Russian lady in her mid 40's on our bus. Thankfully Ellie also had the foresight to ask for advice about crossing the boarder on the Lonely Planet forum (which I downloaded to my shiny new PDA phone). Anyway the Russian lady hurried us along helping us go to the right buildings and desks, pay the correct fees and fill out the immigration cards which were only in Russian and Chinese... I think it was at this point that the Russian passport officials started taking an interest in us as we were unable to make heads or tails of the form. To cut a long story short, we were the first of 40 people (all Russian or Chinese) to get to the immigration desk and the last to leave the room. Before they gave us the magic stamp they proceeded to thoroughly examine every page in the passports with a magnifying glass under a variety of special lights, felt the thickness of ever page (at least once each and there were 5 officials at one stage, not to mention the ones that ran out the back with Ellie's passport for 15 minutes). Then they closed the only counter open, leaving us in a room with no furniture for 30-60mins with no idea was happening. We used this time as an opportunity to stuff our face with bread and butter, and drink tea followed by a short burst of reading. (the officials walking through found our little camp out for a visa quite amusing). Eventually they filed back in, open a counter, examined our passports a bit more, and gave us stamps. Then it was back on the bus for 3 more passport checks before we got out of the compound, and then we were requested to pay some random official looking guy local money, we had none so that wasn't a problem and he let us pass. 30min more on the bus through flat snowy desert and we were at the Zabaikalsk train station.
At the station we were so incredibly luck to be approached by the local English teacher as we were attempting to book our tickets to Irkutsk!!! Whom we can't thank enough for helping us get the last two tickets on the train to Chita, only one more train from Irkutsk. We chatted briefly to her before slipping away to fix some porridge and brown sugar with dates. Several hours later, her husband a well dressed and astute man approached us and introduced himself as Sayan. He ever so kindly invited us total strangers back to his place for tea and dinner, after pondering the offer vs. the 5 hour wait in the train station we gladly accepted.
Sayan's English was very good, as he had studied in San Francisco, USA after completing his university degree in Russia. Having also visited the states as a boy with family, we discovered we both have an appreciation for the natural beauty of west America. They offered us tea, traditional Russian dumplings (mince wrapped in pastry - v.good), cheese, salami and a range of other assorted nibble food. Then he got out the premium vodka (I could tell it was the real deal because it was holographicly sealed). He gave us a short run down about what and how to have a shot...(the secret is in the exhale). It was a divine evening, the company so fascinating. Sayan had many stories to tell and was pleased to be able to practice his English having no other people to chat with in the town. Turns out he is running the public hospital for the town and has 300 odd staff, his boss is a former KGB agent! When giving us a brief tour of the town he showed us the location where the new hospital is to be built. He said that because the owner wasn't using the land that the local council (equivalent) had just granted him permission to build on it. No compensation or anything... Amazing, that's how things are done in Russia apparently. I don't think land is hard to come by being the largest country in the world.
Lastly he gave us a stern but admiring talk about the dangers of travel and foreigners in Russia. Many of which we are already familiar with from our travels. Though we had overlooked one, theft... As it turns our Ellie's shiny new digital camera that we bartered so hard for in Singapore was nicked somewhere between Harbin and Zabaikalsk. More on this later no doubt. Arrr....I'm on the train and they just turned the lights out and I can't see what I'm writing....
Goodnight, but so much more to say.
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Written by darius 38 months ago
Hey Nathan, just got your sms, all i wish is all the best ... irkutsk and Lake Baikal is something I always have wanted to see but haven't been able to do yet. Not sure at what stage you are in the trip but if you do make it to Irkutsk there is a Buddhist monastery around there that has a perfectly preserved non-decomposed body of a monk that has been like this for the past 100 years. Traditional Russians believe in their orthodox church and relics quite deeply and I always wanted to check out these Buddhist monks. As to Baikal itself its quite fascinating too being the largest lake in the world and the only lake having its own species of seal very picturesque etc. The Russians warnings I'd take very seriously too especially the closer you get to civilisation as people do it tough there and do anything to make a living. He must have been a very good man to even mention any of that stuff. The train trip itself is also going to be heavy but I guess you have done quite a bit of heavy travel so far so it shouldn't be too much of a bother. Anyway all the best! Keep on truckin!