(Train through Mongolia)

At the moment we are one lonely train car waiting to be connected to the Russian train on the border of Mongolia and Russia.

 

We have been on and off the train since May 3^rd with no wifi or cell service. We left Beijing on May 3^rd and arrived in Ulaan Baatar May 4^th. Last night (May 5^th) getting back on the train for two nights I have time to reflect and write about our trip knowing that I will be unable to send this out possibly for another four days. These blogs may be long but to get the flavor of the trip I have to be a bit descriptive.

Overnight train travel is so unique from other means of transportation, We have a two person berth, but many people find themselves co-habituating with two or three strangers, all speaking different languages. The space is tight, the luggage is stowed under the seats and privacy is limited or not at all. Everyone gets on the train with bags of food, water, and luggage, looking refugee-like. The boiling samovar at the end of the car is coal fired and provides an endless stream of hot water, which has proved necessary for everyone to prepare meals. Out of everyones bags come varieties of international dried food to be reconstituted into meals; freeze dried chili for us, pasta primavera for dinner or lunch today, even freeze dried raspberries, I am regretting forgetting the oatmeal.

(interruption from a rather severe looking Russian female border control, they seem to be all business and somewhat intimidating.)

What is unique by traveling this way, is the instant friendships you strike up. For a moment in time you connect with someone and share history, stories, and the excitement of the trip. You stand in the corridor swaying back and forth conversing in sign language or many people speak English. We met a couple who traveled all over Canada and the U.S. who lived in Beijing. At our stop in Ulaan Baatar we hugged and exchanged cards like old friends, hoping our paths will cross in Moscow. Last night we met some women from Australia, that remembered us from the Beijing train.

The first night on the train we knew that we were going to have a three hour wait at the border of China and Mongolia because, believe it or not, the train has to change wheels because China’s track is different from Mongolia and Russia. At midnight, we were jolted out of sleep by clanging and banging. Next came the Chinese border guards collecting passports, then the porter distributing exit cards to be filled out. Back to sleep, close the door, Shap is in the upper bunk so I am the one that gets up, fills out the cards and he peeks his head out for the guards to verify that the man in the bed is indeed the picture on the passport. They do this by turning on the bright overhead light to blind you out of darkness. They leave with the door open and the lights on.

 

Then more jolting and banging and the train moves. We are now about an hour of interrupted sleep every 10 minutes or so, just enough time to fall back to sleep. Back come the border guards with the passports. Then back to sleep. Next come the border guards to collect the paperwork. Shap is back to sleep, me, I am out in the corridor talking to our new found friends. Back in bed, did I mention that the “mattress” is one half inch thick, and there is no heat because all the doors are open at each end of the car for the constant flow of traffic. I am digging for my long underwear,Beijing was 80 degrees and now it is about 40.

After what seemed like eternity our train moves forward, I have no idea how many cars we have attached to us but I know there are several. I look out to see another sleeper car on the opposite track high up in the air being held up by hydraulic jacks. Somehow and I have no idea how, new wheels are being attached to the train. I don’t know how they got the old ones off the track and the new ones on. I wave to the people looking out the window on the other train and take pictures of the process.

Soon we are being jacked up and they are taking pictures of our process while being lowered down on the wheels. I give up and go back to sleep, now that I have seen this rather complicated process. Charlotte, my new found Chinese friend, talks about how ridiculous this is in our day and age.

 

Shap has been lounging in his upper bunk watching the process. I am convinced we are on our way and go back to sleep. Ten minutes later or so, the Mongolian border guards arrive at our car. Lights on, I have now decided to sleep in public and not close the door. We produce our passports and off they go. Shap had insisted that I did not have to fill out the cards but I of course did not listen to him. They do not want the cards. Back to sleep, the guards are back to get the cards. Ok, I get the Kindle out and read, I have given up on any sleep. Ten minutes later, we get the passports back. It is now 3 AM and the train begins to move again. I am awake and reading, then ,finally close the door, turn out the lights and close my eyes, awakening at 7 to stumble down to the samovar to make instant Starbucks coffee.

We go to find breakfast, walk into the dining car to find it has been transformed into a beautiful hand carved ceiling and walled Mongolian themed dining car. It turns out with each country you get a new dining car and a new menu. Lunch was ok but I think we will be sticking to freeze dried food as I understand that the Russian food is terrible on the train.

We get off at 2:30 pm in Ulaan Baatar.

 

 

Off to the Trans-Siberian Railroad. In today’s paper there seems to be a problem in the public toilets. People are stealing whole rolls of toilet paper! To prevent this problem, the government has put in each toilet a face recognition camera to ensure that you do not use too much paper. One women was arrested after the camera showed she had been in the toilet twice in too short a period of time. See article below.

 

Cragged Rock where the Silk Road came through the village of Cuandixia

The village entrance

 

 

Driving through Beijing, it is evident that China has changed greatly in twenty years. There is new construction everywhere, with high-rise apartments on the outskirts of the city housing thousands of people. On the plus side, there are many more trees that have been planted, so the city is not as stark as it was. Along the highway there are rows of trees and climbing roses, however no birds to be seen in residence.

 

Our hotel, the Red Garden Inn, is in the Hutong area and is delightful. You drive along a very narrow street to a small gate that opens to what one would imagine a home before the revolution might have looked like. Courtyard, beautiful handcrafted beans, painted in traditional Chinese designs, fountains made from clay pots bubbling in corners, and art everywhere. Even the room numbers have artistic touches with paintbrushes or a teapot under the number.

 

Our destination was the village of Cuandixia, two hours outside Beijing. It was reported to be a charming preserved village created 500 years ago where the Han family lived during the Ming Dynasty. Pictures and descriptions brought to mind a thriving village set into the mountainside with beautiful trees and flowering bushes. Driving there we passed gigantic electrical towers intertwining and snaking down a valley that resembled a dry riverbed. Touring on either sides of the road were cragged mountains that posed a threat of tumbling rocks blocking our pathway. Once again, Shap and I found ourselves riding on winding roads with 1,000 of feet drop-offs and no guard rails. We seem to have the uncanny ability of finding in every country their steepest, most challenging roadway.

 

Cuandixia appears to be in a National Park due to the fact that we had to pay to get into the area. There is no indication of this other than a checkpoint. Of course, if we read Chinese it might all be clear. Arriving there, you could look upward on the mountain to see rows of stone homes and cement tiled roof tiles. It might have been more authentic if the roof tiles had been clay, but restoration has taken place and now cement seems to have replaced the old clay and stone building methods. However, the village was laid out exactly as it had been with the wealthy living high on the hill and the poorer people at the bottom. At one time there was a river flowing by but it is a dry riverbed now.

 

We climbed up on uneven stairs, through courtyards of homes shuttered closed. The doors with rice paper coverings were torn, and the entire village had the look of abandonment. The popularity of the village has waned. A shrine sat above the village with a winding pathway leading to it. Spectacular views of the mountainside and the rooflines of the village were worth the trip alone. We ended the climb walking through a fragrant pathway of flowering bushes.

 

Out guide suggested a “short” walk along the old silk road (now a two lane highway) to an area where the rock walls squeeze the road into a zig -zag of rock walls with long cervices snaking through the rock threatening to disengage at any moment to block the roadway. The short walk in the hot sun turned into over a mile of uphill and an apology from our guide that forgot the distance. All was worth it once you happened upon these rocks. An abandoned primary school was carved into the rock with a wooden doorway, carved openings for windows which was the only indication of an entrance. Dark, damp and cave-like, it would not be an encouraging place to study.

 

Tomorrow the first leg of our Trans-Siberian adventure.

 

It is 6 pm in Seoul and the airport is busy. Happy Birhday to Shap, my wonderful husband and travel companion. It has  the feel of any other airport in the world, even a Dunkin Donuts is here. I would recommend Korean  Air to anyone; clean, polite and business class was a god send. Found an amazing discount and it was worth the extra money. Not that much more. Sleeping prone actually does help your outlook. 

Now that I am far away from home my anxiety of being torn between Vermont and the world has lessened. Watching people here in the airport you realize how homogenous we have become. I can pick out clothes and bags from all over but many of the products are American. We are all in this together and no matter what Trump says, I do not see how we can untangle and move backward to a world without international trade. 

Off at 3:30 AM for Jet Blue to JFK with our wonderful friend Alan Thorndike arriving at our  door step to drive us to the airport. 

The sun is rising off to our right and promising a beautiful day. We look over the landscape as we take off and I muse about my conflicting viewpoint of wanting to stay in the comfort and safety of this beautiful home and my desire to travel and experience the world. 

Spring in Vermont, one of my favorite times of the year and tomorrow we leave for 6 weeks. I will miss the tulips, the lilacs, and the transformation of our magnolia tree, now white with its flowers and soon to turn into waxy green leaves. I remember the first spring here, trying to uncover the mystery of that tree. I did not know that magnolia trees could bloom in Vermont, but having grown up in Pennsylvania I knew this had to be one. Some year I will photograph its transformation.

The world situation is dark right now. Everyone is positioning itself and showing their muscles. Trump is totally unequipped to do his job, as he can no longer bull his way through, spewing his grandiose spittle everywhere, while people cower under him, like insects running to take shelter. The Republicans think that they will be able to manipulate the situation, while those with any long term history in the Senate should know that they need to be vigilante. Will they follow like sheep or will some wake up and  become the black sheep of the party. Meanwhile the Democrats are ineffectual. Will we, the people, continue to take to the streets or will our protests fall like dead leaves being crushed under the footsteps of the “new regime.” We cannot let this happen.

So we leave with anxiety and yet with anticipation of the unknown. It is an adventure, an adventure that Shap and I have talked about for years… completing our round the world travels. I am following in my grandfather’s footsteps, he traveled round the world in the 50’s, a very different world for sure. Iran was then Persia and I have pictures of them on elephants and camels. They came home with a doll from every country for me and I would imagine them walking with these people dressed like the clothes on my dolls. Perhaps this was the beginning of my desire to travel and see the world. I am lucky to have a companion that has as much curiosity as I do.

Train travel has always fascinated us. There is something about sitting looking out the window at buildings, and countryside glimpses of poverty, wealth, skyscrapers, and derelict buildings, of ducks floating in puddles beside the tracks unperturbed by the clamoring noise of the train, it brings a sense of peace and meditation. Although the luxury of the Orient Express is alluring, it is not our kind of travel. We need to be with the people, get off at different places and explore and then back on to unknown parts. For sure, a berth with a comfortable mattress and our own bathroom would help these creaking bones, but it is not who we are. We must travel where we can connect with others and share stories or hand signals and laugh at our inability to communicate. We must take ourselves out of our comfort zone and challenge ourselves to be gracious, humble and accepting of our situation. We, in a small way, need to communicate to others that we are all together in this world and we want to respect and love each other for our differences. And so tomorrow begins the “great train ride”, the epic finish to our round the world travels. Does this mean that we will now retire to our chairs and stay in the comfort of our home? No, I am already planning a family trip somewhere exciting and onward to South America which we have not explored.