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31 August: Erlian

We had another early morning! We finished up and headed to the Mongolian embassy, we had no other alternative than to take a taxi since we didn't know the way nor which bus went there. We arrived just after 07h30, the embassy was scheduled to open at 08h30, but we wanted to be first in line to get our visas, we had waited in embassy lines before and it hadn't been fun.

While waiting there we saw the changing of the guards, nothing more than new ones arriving, saluting the old and being handed a walkie-talky, shocking stick and what looked like a pocket knife holder, after which they saluted again and the old ones left. We waited another 15 minutes before being granted access. Then came the ordeal, the woman first told us the visa was for 50 days and the cost was 465Y each. We tried to find out whether there was one shorter and cheaper, but to no avail. In the end we filled in the pages and handed them back, then the man told us that we could not get a 50 day visa and all that was available to us was either a 14 day or 21 day visa, all the visas costing the same.

We ended up taking the 21 day visa, but now we were short on cash, having half in yuan and half in US dollar. We had thought it would be considerably more expensive if we wanted the visa in a day, but not anticipated that the cost would be double, nor that it would cost $145 for the both of us. After trying to explain the woman was kind enough to take half in the Chinese currency and the other in US dollars. We paid and were told to return just after 14h00 to pick them up again. We headed out unsure of whether we should have gone to Mongolia or rather just extended our Chinese visas and stayed here, but whats done is done.

Outside we tried to find out whether there were buses running back to the railway station and whether we would have to take another expensive taxi. While waiting outside at a bus stop one of the others waiting started talking to us in English asking where we were going. Turns out he was also headed to the railway station and offered to tell us when to disembark. The ride took about 30 minutes before we arrived. We went straight to the hotel, got some money and returned to the railway station to buy our tickets to Erlian (Erenhot). There was only one train leaving at 22h05 and it would take 9 hours. We tried to get sleepers, but there were none left, only one choice the hard seats, no soft seats available! We bought the tickets, we would have to sit upright through the night on hard seats, but thats life, at least I wouldn't have to lie on the floor again.

Walking back we passed the post office and decided to check if they had a box large enough for us to post back the sword and some other souvenirs that were really weighing us down. No luck, the boxes were all too small and the assistant wasn't overly keen on helping us. Back at the hotel we packed our bags seeing as we would have to check out in 2 hours and watched the last part of the movie. Relaxed, we walked to the bus stop of bus 82 and drove back to the embassy, where we once again watched the changing of the guards before being allowed in. Our visas were ready and waiting, we checked them, then double checked them before leaving and catching the next bus back. The whole process had taken only an hour driving there, collecting them and driving back. We bought some more water, a coke and yogurt before walking back to the hotel. We really wanted to research what and where to go in Mongolia since we had no travel guidebook. We asked the reception ladies at the hotel where to get an internet cafe, they couldn't explain so one of them took me a few streets away to where it was. There was no way we would have found it, hidden in some small alley. We paid for the hour and while Leanne looked at where and what to do, I applied for some more work. The hour was past before we knew it, so we headed back and sat on the couches in the lobby (we had checked out already) and started writing again.

We stopped just after 06h30, looking for dinner. We walked all the way to where we had been the afternoon before but stopped short at another restaurant to try something new. The noodles looked good, we had spotted it on someone else's table and ordered it for ourselves. We shared it between us and ordered another dish that looked like little rice douw meat bags that had been steamed. With this we also ordered what looked like strips of beef with vegetables and some rice to accompany it. (Again we had to look around at other tables to find something that looked good to eat). Turned out the latter dish was pieces of mutton and sheep stomach!! We tasted some of it, but in the end left it, much to the amusement of other patrons. Our standard way of finding out and deciding on meals, since we couldn't read Mandarin, was to look at dishes others ate, this time it had disappointed us. We walked back to the hotel, buying some kind of sweet bread along the way and spending the time we had left in the hotel lobby writing. One of the hotel's guests (or so we think) came and sat with us, at first he tried to talk to us and we tried to communicate back, but the language barrier was to large. Then he started getting in our personal space, every few minutes sitting down close to Leanne and looking at what she was writing and always speaking...although we did not understand and didn't speak back. It almost looked like he was agitated with us - we were certainly very irritated with him. We think he was a little drunk, but it really frustrated us. At this stage no amount of money could persuade us to stay in this city!

We packed up and left for the station after 21h20, waiting there before we could board the train. The station once again was filled with people, we waited until just after 21h45 before moving forward to board the train. There we found our seats and packed our bags in the spaces available above our heads. We shared the two bunks with another woman. We left the station just after 22h05, exactly on time. Leanne tried to sleep for the duration of the travel while I read my book. I was very afraid that our bags would get nicked so I decided I would remain awake until we arrived in Erlian. The seats were really not that great, hard and uncomfortable to say the least, but then again we had only paid 36Y for hard seats and that was all that was available.