Crossing the Border

After 6 hours on the train, noodles, crisps, sweets and half a bottle of whisky....we are crossing the border.

Well not so fast....

We are currently on the Mongolian side; there is thunder and lightning and torrential rain. Our cabin has passed the inspection; we had to step out into the corridor while an army soldier looked around it to make sure we weren't hiding anything. Another person in an official uniform, and really nice aftershave, has taken our passports. And another, our customs declaration...so now we wait!

About an hour later and we are leaving Mongolia; a woman with her 2 young kids has not been so lucky, she has been marched off the train....eek!

The train carries on for about 10km and then we stop at a place called Dozorny; it means "patrolled" in English and there is a big electrified fence. I am now feeling slightly scared as I remember watching Joanna Lumley crossing the Russian border on her Trans-Siberian adventure. As we sit around drinking Whisky, we hear the restaurant car being attached and people boarding the train.

It's now about 12am and our first visitor is a woman asking if we have anything to declare; we both say no but I am asked to open my luggage just so she can be sure - the curse of my granny returns! A nice man then asks to check our passports to ensure we have a visa; a relatively painless process. We sit back and relax a bit until we hear "Passport Control" coming from the end of our carriage. We had filled in the forms they gave us before we got to the border so we hoped this too, would be relatively quick and easy.....It was for Iain!

The woman, an attractive blonde, stared at my passport numerous times. She asked me to take off my glasses, then stand up. She keep staring at my eyes, I was starting to doubt that I would get through.....Another staring match and a few huffs and puffs later, she stamped my passport; phew!

It was now 1.15 and we were shattered. We thought we better wait until the train moved before making our beds; thankfully we did! Another, younger man, then boarded the train and asked us to vacate our cabins; he searched up and down our cabin with a flashlight, then left!

At 1.45am, the train started to move...relief....and tiredness overcame us!







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