Afternoon.
I wake up as the train approaches a station. It isn’t the first stop, but it is the first one I desire to get off at for some fresh air. The train eases to a smooth stop. The conductor opens the door and lowers the steps. A soft drizzle catches me as I get off. It is a small station with few people except for vendors selling everything from cookies to water to soups to beer. I approach one of the carts and buy two bottles of water. I look around at the green mountains surrounding the station and breath in the cool air. The conductor motions me to get on the train. I gather we are leaving soon. I get on the train and reach my cabin. Andy is sitting there as if waiting for the bottle of water. I hand it over and the train shoves forward.
The tracks wind between steep mountains and at times through them by means of tunnels. Rounding one of the bends we get a glimpse of a section of the Great Wall of China. Tourist busses line the road leading up to the Wall. The Wall ingeniously snakes its way over the tops of the mountains. It is an amazing sight especially when one thinks of the history behind it and the time and resources spent to construct it. In fact, at one time, its purpose was to keep back Chinggis Khan’s advancing forces. It failed in most places, although I am told that one section of the Wall was very resilient and withstood attack. A Chinese General who placed an insurmountable amount of resources into the section constructed it. He was beheaded for his misallocation of resources, but was later pardoned when his wall succeeded. I won’t have a chance to walk on the centuries old wall; that would have to be for another trip. My focus at the moment is reaching Mongolia.
The thick green mountains soon give way to hilly plains. We have entered into Inner Mongolia. At one point it was part of the Mongolian Empire, but now occupies the northern-most Chinese province that borders the Republic of Mongolia. The land is arid and there are no farms in sight. This is what Mongolia will look like, I think to myself. I leave my cabin to stretch a bit and mingle with my fellow passengers.
The Australian crowd has gathered in the hallway. I manage to sway into the conversation and learn they are traveling in a small tour group that operates out of Sydney. Their guide is a young chap by the name of Michael who hands me an Extrarefreshing Beer. This is written in caps because it is the name of the Chinese brew with the description: “Fresh, tasty, smooth, for the real drinkers. For your drinking pleasure!” It’s not the best beer I’ve had, but I believe the writing on the label helps. The more sophisticated members of his group are drinking whiskey neat. I invite Andy over and another beer is offered.We reach the border at night. Michael, who has made this journey several times, informs me that we should get off the train and get a brew. My original plan was to stay on board and watch how the car’s wheels are changed. The thing is, Mongolia uses Soviet era train tracks, which are of a different gauge than those in China. In fact, the Mongolian railway system is still under Russian management. Instead of changing trains they have devised a procedure whereby the train cars are lifted up from the Chinese track, the undercarriages are changed and the train is placed on the Mongolian track. The process takes about two hours. Michael says its nothing special and that its better to be having a brew at the station than sitting on the train for two hours.
Our passports and exit papers are taken and we get off the train. The train moves forward into a shed and we proceed to the station mini-mart. We are restricted to the station since our documents are being handled by immigration. We buy some Extrareshreshments and sit down. Sure enough, almost two hours later the train rolls back to the station on its new wheels. We get on and wait for our documents to be returned. The documents travel from Chinese immigration to Mongolian immigration and afterwards are returned to us. The wait is extensive and by this time I feel so Extrarefreshed that I decide to fall asleep. Andy awakes me briefly so that I can receive my documents and the train begins to pull from the station. We cross into Mongolia and I lay down to sleep again with the hopes that I’ll wake up refreshed in the morning.
No comments:
Post a Comment