Day 48

June 7 2013

Ulan Bataar to Russian borderIs silence really “Golden?”

The lady of the house had made pancakes for breakfast which was absolutely delicious and whilst trying to have a conversation with her husband, who was showing me more archeological items plus some medals he had won for god knows what,… well I suppose you don’t get them for shooting rabbits, his wife kept on making more pancakes which she put in a plastic bag and handed to me for “later in the train” she said. Well that was nice as this was supposed to be a bed and breakfast place only. It was a nice place to stay and gave me a homely feeling, almost like being with my mum again. I made another dash for the large hotel to use the internet. Eddie had been in touch with me several times and reported that Tommy was out of intensive care and housed in better facilities in the Hani hospital. Also he had made contact with Dutch-Vietnamese organization who specialise in helping sick children who are In need of surgery or other urgent medical attention. All monies donated into their account marked “attention Tommy Verdriet” would be matched dollar for dollar by them. Fantastic! I tried to transfer he money which had been placed in my account but did not have all the required information to make the transfer at that moment as my bank asks the address details of the organizations bank including a postal code and Swift code. Anyway I will give it another try when I arrive in Moscow as I won’t have internet access for the next 5 days. On behalf of Eddie I wish to thank the persons in Australia who have donated and help save my friend’s son’s life. My pickup was planned for`12 noon, but I still needed to buy enough food to get me by for 5 days. In a quiet corner in the hotel’s lounge I spread out all my Mongolian bank notes; and there are many. The money is called Tugrik; there are about 1420 Tugriks in a dollar. The problem is that they don’t have coins, only notes. The common notes are 1,000, 5,000 and 10,000. Here lies the problem. Say 1000 Tugrik is about 70 cents so if you buy anything you tend to use a 10.000 T note because you don’t want to stand at a checkout going through all the notes and turning them over one by one as they only have our writing on one side. If you buy an item they give you chance from piles of notes they have in a special part of their drawer. So if you make a purchase, they often give you change using 500,100,50 and even 20 T notes. So in no time you collect bundles of notes you don’t want to use because it is so time consuming to sort through them. I spread all my notes and sorted them in piles of 1000 T. each. Some piles worth only 70 cents consisted of up to 20 notes. The mind boggles. I folded them in lots of 5000 and headed for the supermarket. I had 65000 T to spend as I did not want to be left with any Mongolian money other than some crisp notes I always keep for my collection. Shopping took 20 minutes, paying and the cashier counting my money took another 10 minutes as I handed him a bundle of note 10 cm high. I don’t know how they do it; I guess they only look at the colour of the notes.Back at the flat I packed up whilst my driver arrived, however before I was able to leave the lady called me into the kitchen and made me sit down to eat soup before I left. All very nice and leaves you with a good feeling about the people.Train travel makes you make friends easily, especially with fellow western travelers. The friendships are only short lived as everyone goes on their merry way as soon as a destination is reached unless you have found some more common ground to provide a reason to keep in touch (or try anyway) Yesterday in the museum a met several persons again who I had met in the train and today while waiting in the waiting are the 80 year old Big Mack walked in. He had been in the country side and slept in a Gert and even showed pictures of him on a horse. (Looked funny, big man - small horse.)As scheduled the train left at precisely 5 min to two. At times when these trains leave you don’t notice it as there is never a sudden jerk when it starts rolling. Also there is never a whistle blowing or other audible sign to tell you when it is about to depart.No for the “Is silence really golden?”I share my four berth compartment with one other person; a guy of about 20-22 year old who cannot speak a word of English or any other language. I noticed that he doesn’t even speak Russian which is taught at schools like English is taught in European schools. I tried a few things but there is no communication. He talks on the phone to his mates but that is all. Perhaps he comes from inland Mongolia I don’t know,; I do know that I am stuck with him all the way until Moscow, that is 5 days.Mack is four carriages down the train and came to visit me for a while and a few hours later I visited him. He is in a compartment with 4 persons. The upper beds two Mongolian ladies and on his opposite side an about 35 year old Polish-Australian lady from Perth who is going to visit family in Poland and decided to go by train. At least he has someone to talk to.Anyway- silence is not golden after all is my conclusionSomething interesting came up in the conversation I had with Mack and the Polish lady.. A term that I had heard first in Kunming and that is “couch surfing” It is a special way of travel as far as accommodation is concerned. Couch surfing is: offering and being offered a “couch” to sleep on. Free of charge but a fantastic opportunity to learn about other people and other cultures. After registering on the couch surfing website, say when you are at home, you offer fist to be a host. People who are looking for a place to stay in say Brisbane you can offer a night or more to stay at your place. The deal is that you can’t ask for money as this is a free service but in return you can learn from other people and as they are members can be sure that their place is open to you as well. (if they are home and not travelling of course) After they have been at your place they will fill out a report about their experience and that way you build up trust. So when the tables are turned people can read first what type of person you are and decide then if they will take you in their home. On your personal page you list things about yourself and perhaps offer to cook a meal for your host. I have heard that some people are given city tours or are picked up from a airport/station etc. A great way to see the world and become more acquainted with other people s lifestyles. The Polish lady had been travelling like that and so had Mack so age does not matter.Meanwhile I had left Ulan Bataar hours ago and was heading towards the Russian border. The border post are sometimes hours apart as is with the Mongolian-Russian border. The Mongolian border control station is at Suhbataar. Customs come on board and check/stamp passports and ask question about if I have anything to declare. I declared that I had a nice time in their country but that went straight over the guys head. Best to just say “no” next time and not to confuse the man. (can’t help myself at times”A few hours later it was the Russian’s turn. First the customs/baggage check and questionnaire. The man spoke English so not a problem. As he could not communicate with the Mongolian boy he made him unpack every bag and box he had with him; then continued checking has bunk, blankets etc. The second man arrived to check passport and visa’s, he walked around with a laptop placed on a tray held by a strap around his neck. The laptop had a special accessory attached to it which is used for swiping the passports. Next came a soldier with a dog. Than another checker who probably checks the man with the laptop. 20 minutes later another soldier who checked to compartment again and even climbed on the top bunk to inspect the storage area above the corridor which is normally used by the person in the top bunk. No idea how long all that took as by now it was around 1.30 am and I just went to sleep.

Goodbye Mongolia and Hello Russia.