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Well we had been warned before embarking on this train journey that 6 days on the train is extremely boring - oh how wrong they were if today is anything to go by! Our day started at 3 am with a loud knocking on our cabin door, when we opened it there were 4 Chinese Immigration officers peering in, as it was dark they took it upon themselves to switch our lights on and after we had answered a series of questions they went away. They however returned an hour later again waking us up with another series of questions but this time they took our passports when they left. These were finally returned to us 2 hours later and the train started off again. I must say this will probably be the only time in our lives we will pass through Immigration me in my pajamas and Nick in the nude!! We went back to sleep and were again rudely awaken an hour later this time by Russian Immigration, with none of the niceties afforded us by the Chinese. We were ordered out of bed and out of our room. Waiting in the corridor was Comrade Devito with a wicked glint in his eye and a stepladder to assist them with the search. Once the cell search (I will call it a cell as it seemed like a search carried out in prisons) was complete off they went. Half an hour later and a new group of police arrived to take our passports. Next up are customs who search through our luggage checking for who knows what. An hour later and they are back with the dogs (I assume they are the drug or explosive dogs!!) One of them runs into our room and immediately starts jumping on me and licking my feet and hands, Nick is trying not to laugh and I am trying not to kick the dog as his handler is wielding an AK47! The dogs leave and they then do a search on top of the train??? Lastly we are visited by the food police who check all the food we have (and we have a lot). Thankfully they did not turn up with the rubber gloves which we thought was going to be the next search!! Finally we are given the all clear much to Comrade Devitos dismay I feel (they were obviously not searching for fake handbags or fake Uggs!) We sit in our cabin breathing a sigh of relief and then along comes Comrade Devito gesticulating wildly to follow him which we do, he points outside the train and then shoos us off! We look back and the train is moving down the platform without us, with a smiling Comrade Devito at the door! It is -10° outside and Nick and I are wearing flip flops and have no coats. We follow the other passengers and find a waiting room thankfully and are then informed that we have 2 hours before our train comes back as it is having its wheels changed. Finally get back on board without hypothermia and Comrade Devito must have seen how cold we looked as he has cranked up the heating!
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