Ulaanbataar to Beijing (or: The Very Long Train Ride - Part 2)

this part of the journey was going to be quite short, we departed UB at 8am and arrived in Beijing at 2pm the following day. still we were going to be passing through some interesting scenery (and a change of gauge).



in many ways i think the first part of the trip was more exciting - 5 days with about a dozen foreigners amongst 400 hundred odd locals. when you're the odd ones out you tend to bond much more quickly. the 2 georgian blokes who operated the russian restaurant car didn't speak a word of english (neither did their menu) but we got along with them really well and had a couple of great nights. the restaurant cars on the mongolian and chinese legs were cheaper, cleaner, spoke more english and, well.. were more restauranty. the trains during the leg to beijing was also predominantly tourists with few locals. the stops were unexciting with no dodgey goods being sold and the attendants running the show were much stricter and more likely to keeps things clean (like the toilets).



i was sharing my cabin with the australian bloke (only other one on the train as far as i could tell) and two mongolian women (who slept for pretty much the whole 30 hours straight). the pom was, again, way down the other end of the train so i spent most of my time with the two groups of dutch friends i had met along the way. although there was less mingling on this leg the scenery was much more exciting. after passing through the gobi and crossing the border (again a lengthy process although we were lifted in the air at one stage to change the wheels) we immediately encountered many more people, typically tending to their crops or (somewhat mysteriously) planting rows of trees next to the rail line.



as we drew closer to beijing the countryside became more hilly and we even caught glimpses of wall fragments (the 'great'ness and genuineness of which was hotly disputed). we passed through steep valleys, alongside wide rivers and under impressive bridges. unfortunately we also passed through countless tunnels of all lengths which made photography a 'blink-and-you'll-miss-it' kind of sport. on encountering the outskirts of beijing the scenery changed to heavy industry, construction and smog (although i've been repeatedly informed it's just fog, apparently common in springtime).



beijing itself it very busy, very neat and very large. at every opportunity there are neat flower beds (where in UB there were dust gardens) and the streets and back streets are lined with locals playing board or dice games and tiny shops selling all kinds of animal, vegetable and mineral. beijing is surrounded by 6 (!!) ring roads and the CBD is apparently about 40km across so you can imagine the size of the tourist map i picked up. navigating the streets is however very easy, as most signs have both english and mandarin and the city has a sensible grid layout. after leaving the train i said goodbye to all my friends and set off to my own (pre-booked) accomodation. after showering i set off down the street to find some lunch and promptly bumped into most of them again doing the same.



that evening i went to the see the national acrobatics group perform which was nothing short of spectacular. on the bus on the way there i met two australian girls who were about to set off on the train towards st petersburg. it turns out kat had studied at UQ so we exchanged information before the show. on the way home i again bumped into the (bloody!) dutch who were on the way to check out beijing's (apparently only??) bar and club district. well 'bar street' turned out to be a deceptively long walk, during which we didn't pass a single bar. when we got there though there were plenty of bars and people and the street surrounded a lake which was quite picturesque at nighttime. there was karaoke, heaps of tourists and expensive beer so we didn't stay long. on the way home (and only about 200m from my hotel!!) i found a bar with a mix of locals and foreigners, cheap beer, a live band and a much better atmosphere than anything we found earlier in the evening.



so this morning i woke up to the sound of thunder and heavy rain and decided to do a few inside things until the weather calmed down somewhat. the next couple of days i will check out the (real) wall (take the 919 express bus from some bus station) and the central tian'an men square and forbidden city and gardens complex. i might also swing by one of the closer markets to see if i can get my wallet stolen for a nice leather jacket.

ps. i'll be home tuesday afternoon if i don't get a chance to write again before i leave.