Back in the USSR

Leaving Mongolia

An early start on our last day of the rally saw us leave the Comfort hotel at 7 am. Our aim was to reach the border by around 9 am so that if we had any delays we would still reach the finish line the same day giving us two working days to organise Bluebells transport back to England. We were leaving a country poor financially but rich in humanity, nothing was ever too much trouble and you were always greeted with a smile. Later we were to here anecdotal evidence of Mongolian kindness. One rallier told of how his car broke down and he was taken into a Mongolian family Ger (Yurt) for three nights while he organised the repair. Another car snapped their gear leaver and was stuck on the side of the road. Suddenly a man appeared (a roadside mechanic) who promptly disappeared under the car. A few minutes later reappeared, instructed them to move the leaver when he called, disappeared again only to emerge a while later with the car repaired. They offered payment which was almost taken as an insult. I could fill this blog with numerous other similar accounts of Mongolian generosity and similarly in other countries on our trip. I keep saying that people in general are kind and generous to strangers, it is the authorities that do not exhibit the same level of friendship.

Mongolian Herdsman

As we travelled back to Russia, we were fortunate to see a Mongolian herdsman moving his cattle out onto pasture. We had seen many of them in the distance but none close up. It was a chance to see him move his cattle just calling from the saddle. His face showed he had spent years in the Mongolian climate, hot summers parching the skin, cold winters weathering the face.

We made good time and arrived at the allotted hour, fortunately we managed a quick crossing. On the Mongolian side it was very straight forward stamping passports and waiting at the gate until the Russians were ready for us, that took about 1.5 hours. The Russian side seemed more organised on entry than exit. We had the obligatory emptying the car, reaching half empty when the border guards seemed happy so we refilled the car boot. Andy disappeared into a small building to complete the car paper work. I was left on my own and soon a border guard started looking around the car and saw some loose change on the dash board. He asked to have a look and then asked me in broken Russian if I had any English money, to which I replied in the positive showing him a pound coin. He seemed very interested in it, so I offered him the coin which he duly took and then left me alone. Andy returned shortly after and we were free to go.

Driving through Russia was much the same as before, vast forest areas then open land with copses of silver birch scattered in acres and acres of open farm land. We had missed breakfast so we searched maps.me for a cafe and one appeared that happened to be exactly opposite the fuel station we had stopped at on the way down to Mongolia. We pulled up and with zero English from the proprietor and zero Russian from us, with sign language and the odd English word we managed to order a bowel of soup each despite the cafe owner suggesting we had some goulash and various other condiments. She was obviously a bit disappointed, but we enjoyed the soup!!

Back on the road and the final push into Ulan Ude. We had mixed emotions, elation at finishing a rally that two old, good for nothing, gits had no business doing and an anticlimax that it was all over. Five and a half weeks travelling almost a third of the way around the world, visiting places that we would never have dreamt of holidaying in, sixteen different countries in all. The finish line beckoned and we duly took all the photos we could to prove we had made it.

Entrance gate to finish line

The Finish Line

Final embrace

Once finished, we registered our arrival with the Adventurists. We were given a time the following day to drop Bluebell off at the railhead. For the rest of the day we relaxed, Andy C’s only disappointment was that he did not get a certificate of completion of the rally, Rosa promised she would organise one. The following day was again a chill out day meeting all the arriving teams, hearing their stories and investigating the fate of those who did not make it or who were still to arrive. Friday we planned a visit to Ulan Ude to collect our tickets for the Trans Siberian Railway.

Bluebell all cleaned up

Friday morning we arrived at the station to collect the tickets and it was a good decision as there was a long slow moving queue, we would have panicked if we arrived at the station hoping to board the train straight away. After ticket collection we headed into Ulan Ude, a city that boasts the largest bust of Lenin in Russia. The bust overlooks a big square which is obviously used for parades, at the time we were there, there was a group of women with drums practicing a display. Ulan Ude had numerous fountains scattered around the city in small squares or garden areas, all seemed to work in time with music played over loudspeakers.

Lenin Bust

Fountains Galore Ulan Ude

Soon we decided we needed a beer, after all the hard work of walking around the town, this proved more difficult than you would expect, in Russia cafes and bars are not obvious. However, we eventually spotted a sports bar, ideal for our needs or so we thought. Inside there was just one room with about five tables and chairs randomly placed. Sitting in the corner was a table of three ladies, one the proprietor, one who had the appearance of a member of the KGB (short almost as wide as tall, short cropped hair and glasses) and one other. They discovered we were English and took an immediate shine to us. We ordered two beers which were dispensed from what appeared like unmarked taps on the wall behind the bar into a plastic bottle that was plonked on the table with two plastic glasses. I have to say the beer tasted nice. Conversation progressed with the ladies, who wanted our email addresses, one of them had a daughter who lived in Germany and so wanted to visit us in England!!! Then they insisted that we returned to the bar that evening despite us trying to communicate to them that we had another engagement (the final party of the Mongol Rally). Andy C took a shine to the KGB lady but the proprietor had other ideas, she disappeared into a back room and came out with postcard sized pictures of her taken probably thirty years ago. She wrote all her details on the back of the card and gave the picture to Andy C. Things were getting a bit awkward so we had to devise an exit strategy which involved a portrait photograph session of us with these ladies.

I didn’t understand a word they were saying

Andy C couldn’t persuade the KGB lady to have her photo taken, probably security, so settled for second best

Back to the finish line and preparation for the evenings party. A prelash (as my children say) of vodka and beer.

Prelash

Followed by a coach trip to the Che Guevara club in Ulan Ude. It was a great party with continuation of vodka and beer with a variety of food. Andy C excelled himself by dancing with just about everyone in the club, culminating in falling asleep at one of the tables. A great evening was had by all.

Andy C dancing with everyone in Che Guevara

Andy C so hot a flame is coming out of his head

Even Rosa from the Adventurists danced

Next day we finally left the finish line and headed to the Rail station. We were about to take the Trans Siberian Railway to Moscow.

Our Coach Attendant ?

The train

She was a lovely girl

Andy C agreed

Boarding was very straight forward we picked a spot on the platform that happened to be right outside our carriage door when the train stopped. What’s more we had the carriage with the most delightful attendant. We met many interesting characters on the train and saw a large part of the variety of Russian life and scenery.

More from Andy C in the next blog.

Cheers for now. Andy P