Darren weblog

We arrived at UB station for our final Trans-Siberian train – it was train #6 and has turned out to be the best one yet! The train pulled into the station at 07:30 prompt with the Mongolian train wardens stationed at their doors. Immediately we knew it was a new train Once on board, the train looked pristine – it even had a shower room! And a power socket in the individual cabins which meant I could track the train all the way from UB to Beijing – <<check the route map here>>. We shared with Marius and a tour guide for another group – all was well and the journey began!

We knew we had the Mongolian/China border to cross, which this time meant 2x passport control and 1x wheel change!! Yupp, the track width in Russia and Mongolian (imposed on them by the Russians) is different to the standard width used everywhere else in the world!

Before the border we visited the restaurant car which was to say a little busy! But Chris & Carol used their elbows to great effect and we had a table quite prompt! The only food was the set menu which for train food was quite good. With a border crossing due, drinking beer was a risk as they remove access to toilets for the border.

The Mongolian border was swift as was the Chinese – which left only the task to change the wheels! This was done by splitting the train into three and shunting us into a shed. Each carriage was then lifted, the Russian boogies removed and Chinese ones pushed under. The whole task took a few hours and gave opportunity for some unusual photo’s!

We awoke the next morning to fantastic views of rural China and then our first sight of the wall! The train then climbed over the mountains and descended into Beijing. Everyone on board is extremely excited for Beijing – bring it on! . I think we will start to get some use from the “Point it” book – thanks again Benny & KT!

This entry was posted on Saturday, September 27th, 2008 at 10:56 am and is filed under Travel. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. You can leave a response, or trackback from your own site.