| 43 ° 39 'N, 111 ° 59' E 15 March 2010, 1:55  At 10 o'clock last night - the border had been completed and we were officially Elian, China - we drove past a big red shed. The pilot was so long that it seemed there was a whole train would fit. Because I knew the bogies of our train at the border could be changed so that the train on the track narrower Chinese could further drive, I was alert to anything that resembled a central undercarriage changeable. Initially it seemed to drive past the shed, but soon after passing the train slowed and became a shipping corridor in the opposite direction used. The train was inside the shed. A lot of shaking and banging ensued. The train was disassembled. Each wagon was separated from the others between 4 red orange lifting maneuvered. The pilot was shorter than I thought and the train was careful only by him in two parts next to each other. Piece by piece I saw the wagons are lifted into the air. A few blows were the bases from the train and were ingeniously in one smooth motion, by a simple cable-driven mechanism, all chassis pushed wide and narrow bases took their place. Two hours later, all the wagons again and landed with new bogies. A lot of banging and shaking took the train again to put together. Meanwhile it was already noon and had kept my eyes open no longer. This morning I woke up with a familiar, but apparently not identical, cadence. Many work for little effect. The only really visible changes, the dining car: who is now sober and efficient. The romance of the Mongolian car has disappeared and made way for 'free meal' coupons and Chinese effectiveness. michiel Dewit | Tags: China , Chassis , Train
Posted in Trans Mongolian Express (Part 3) | 1 Comment » 40 ° 5 'N, 113 ° 18' E March 15 2010, 0:41 Tonight we crossed the border. It was predicted that it would be much hassle, but it was enormously helpful.
Fellow travelers were told there were Ukrainians who had come out of Mongolia and at the border uitmoesten, I squeezed him properly because we have not kept the news and the Netherlands for the same money as a conflict with China. Middle of the night somewhere on a deserted station in Mongolia was not so to me. Instead of 8 hours stand still where we were hoping it was just 1.5 ur on the Mongolian side and 4 hours to the Chinese. After an hour on the Chinese side had been any security and I could not take my eyes more open. The Chinese railway official came by to give us two free eetcouponnen to give great because we only had breakfast and snickers. Michael has extensively investigated how the bases were exchanged, but I slept. This morning I was awakened by a bright sun, open curtains and look outside. We are in China and yet somehow it feels like a dream. Even though we are only a few hours in China, Mongolia difference is remarkable. It is done here for example agriculture, something I've seen nothing in Mongolia. We just enjoyed our delicious complimentary breakfast. Whether it's propaganda or not, it was certainly appreciated and we were not the only one who came down on the free treat. Now we thought to enjoy a real 'Chinese' breakfast, but there were two square white bread with butter, jam, tea and a boiled egg. Good to digest so. The first station since the light comes into view, CHina here we are. juutsel | Tags: China , Border , breakfast
Posted in Trans Mongolian Express (Part 3) | No Comments » March 15 2010, 0:41 Tonight we crossed the border. It was predicted that it would be much hassle, but it was enormously helpful.
Fellow travelers were told there were Ukrainians who had come out of Mongolia and at the border uitmoesten, I squeezed him properly because we have not kept the news and the Netherlands for the same money as a conflict with China. Middle of the night somewhere on a deserted station in Mongolia was not so to me. Instead of 8 hours stand still where we were hoping it was just 1.5 ur on the Mongolian side and 4 hours to the Chinese. After an hour on the Chinese side had been any security and I could not take my eyes more open. The Chinese railway official came by to give us two free eetcouponnen to give great because we only had breakfast and snickers. Michael has extensively investigated how the bases were exchanged, but I slept. This morning I was awakened by a bright sun, open curtains and look outside. We are in China and yet somehow it feels like a dream. Even though we are only a few hours in China, Mongolia difference is remarkable. It is done here for example agriculture, something I've seen nothing in Mongolia. We just enjoyed our delicious complimentary breakfast. Whether it's propaganda or not, it was certainly appreciated and we were not the only one who came down on the free treat. Now we thought to enjoy a real 'Chinese' breakfast, but there were two square white bread with butter, jam, tea and a boiled egg. Good to digest so. The first station since the light comes into view, CHina here we are. juutsel | Tags: China , Border , breakfast
Posted in Trans Mongolian Express (Part 3) | No Comments » 46 ° 22 'N, 108 ° 22' E March 14, 2010, 12:38  Today is our last leg of the Trans Mongolian Express started. At half past six this morning we got up and sat at a quarter past seven the train moving. From the past few days we had some sleep to catch up, so once we had installed in our comfortable first-class coupe again, we both have our bed a couple of hours slept. Around 11 we woke up. We wiped the sleep from our eyes and peered cautiously through the window. Nothing! Nothing to see except a thick white haze. The temperature is clearly what has gone up and the fog. After noon the mist carefully and see that we have rarely missed. The landscape is still exactly as we remembered us: white, flat, occasionally a tree and rolling mountains in the background. Later in the afternoon starts the view change. Slowly at first, but later more and more noticeable. The train runs a southeastern course and the temperature therefore appears to be increasing. Around three o'clock in the afternoon the snow turned into sandy plains largely with dry grass. Desert. The number of trees is steadily decreasing, in favor of the number of stray cattle and horses. Increasingly, there emerges a ger or shepherd in the landscape, like a grain of sprinkles on a white tablecloth. Life on the train is quiet. We do have an afternoon nap, chat with people on the train, drinking vodka with a couple from Belgium. They tell us that they are traveling for a year. Main Destination: New Zealand. They think about it to be there for some time, maybe two years to settle. We made this trip many times people have heard already traveling elsewhere have decided to settle. For now our home is still on the North Sea, although it begins to be increasingly moving towards backpack. We become accustomed to travel and get the rhythm slowly but surely tackle. Up to 1 hour tonight we are now at the border. First to the Mongolian side. We are now waiting for passport control. Then at 9 am on the Chinese side. As we await new wheels (because China uses a different gauge) and fixed a lot of stamps and little form. This is therefore a latertje tonight. The disadvantage is that we must continue our coupe and the toilets during the stops at the two border crossings remain firmly locked. Delay so ... michiel Dewit | Tags: Mongolia , Train
Posted in Trans Mongolian Express (Part 3) | No Comments » 47 ° 55 'N, 106 ° 55' E 14 March 2010, 12:10 Half past three in the morning. In the hall of the Golden Gobi hostel, heart-Ulaan Baatar, the noisy exchange of views. Judica and I are both still in one ear, waiting for the alarm us before the dawn of a too well-deserved sleep brings. Startled by the loud voices, we, our eyes uitwrijvend feet. We focus our ears and recognize one of the speakers as the American who gave us the night before had surprised with his eccentric person. He had lived in China for six years and taught Chinese children who would want to learn English. Around 10 o'clock he was at a pub, not far away, went to a mini-concert by a throat singer with jazz ensemble to go. "That's a lot of money. Your friend stole my money. 40,000, that's a lot of money. "Clearly the voice of the American. "I though you where my friend, you are not my friend. You are a thief. You stole my money. And you stole my cellphone. "We were both already awake. So we woke up, the exchange rates in mind, had quickly determined that the loudmouth ran amok about 20 euros and a cheap Chinese phone. Who Small is beautiful, etc., but in the middle of the night? "Let's call the police", he tried now. Of his interlocutor, we heard little. The American was with two Japanese to the pub, so we suspected that he talked with them. "I tell you, you will die shortly. And your father will die shorty, too. "The conversation was clearly grim. Now we discerned a few words of Eastern camp: "You watch your tongue." By now we were ready for the sound of blows, kicks and other expressions of martial arts to collect. There was silence. Two hours later, our alarm clock. Bob, the brother who runs the hostel, took us to the station. When asked, he said, not the happy person he normally always is that the Americans no longer lived in the hostel. Dark matter. Our train arrived on time, 6:30 in the morning and once boarded was the story of the American quickly forgotten. We are now almost at the border. Mongolians us as a people noticed. So much kindness and cordiality. You can hardly imagine evil of them. We get a little melancholy subject. Curious about what China will bring us. From our last Tugriks we have 5 snickers purchased. What we have left are memories of Mongolia and a few sheep bones ... michiel Dewit | Tags: American , China , Mongolia
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