One of the things that I have been told countless times by fellow travellers is that Russians don't smile. I arrived at an obscure Russian border crossing on the Mongolia border on a bus from Ulan Bator. The Russian immigration lady gave my passport and me a steely eyed stare for a good while. She then rang someone and then finally asked me a question. I smiled and said I don't understand but offered my phrasebook as assistance. She started laughing, not what I was expecting. She then yelled across the other side of the room to see if any of the officials over there spoke English, none of them did but they all thought it was very funny. A thin ill looking immigration official wandered into her booth and had a good chuckle aswell. Eventually a woman appeared who could act as interpeter. They wanted to know how I got to Mongolia. When I told them I got there from China I then had to explain how I got to China. Once I worked my way back to Singapore they were satisfied. I then had to take my bags over to a plinth for customs. An Asian guy appeared and asked me to open my bag, or rather signalled to open my bag. On top was my Trans-Siberian Handbook (Bryn Thomas). The official had a look at the map and the pictures. He gave me back my book and waved me on. He didn't bother with the other much larger backpack. I had been given a Customs Declaration form but it was in cyrillic so I couldn't fill it in and they didn't care. The only trouble I did face at customs was my bus 'forgetting' me and driving off. I am pretty sure they didn't forget and simply didn't want to hang around. Either way the Russians were again very helpful and called the bus back. They found this very funny aswell. If you do get the bus from Ulan Bator to Ulan Ude you can change US Dollars or Euros on the border for a good rate.
Back on the bus a woman suddenly appeared who spoke English. She was amazed by my travelling alone and not speaking the language. My answer as being English to where I was from seemed to satisfy alot of other questions she had about me. She offered a homestay at her place, "not for free of course but cheaper than a hotel". I had already arranged a homestay through Natalia Myasnikova (+7 9025 648278, myasnikova_nat@rambler.ru) who I found on the internet. I was staying for 1,000 Rubles a night including breakfast with Tatianna an old Russian lady who didn't speak a word of English but is very nice. Russia is unfortunately expensive, or at least on par with other Western countries, and isn't really setup for budget travellers. If I had not found a homestay through Natalia then I would have skipped Ulan Ude because it would have been too expensive to stay here.
Tatianna had her 11 year old grandson Bulat to stay. Bulat spoke excellent English and took me out to Lenin Square and to find somewhere to eat. I'm not sure as an eleven year old I would have been a good tour guide but Bulat made an excellent effort. Ulan Ude's claim to fame is having the largest Lenin head in the world. It is very big. The square is dominated by Lenin and people roller blading, skateboarding and BMX biking. I wonder what Lenin would have made of it. I have been impressed by Ulan Ude. It is a pleasant small town. There is a friendly atmosphere and people seem to be having a good time, possibly helped by the big blue skies and the hot temperatures. The drive into town on the bus passed through lots of rolling hills and plains with communities of wooden houses. In Ulan Ude lots of wooden homes still survive. There is a recently renovated high street which is quite pleasant. I got buses to visit the two main attractions (other than the head). On both the drivers charged me the local price and took me to the right places. I visited Datsun Buddhist Monastery a pretty spot out of town. I also went to the Outdoor Museum which was setup in 1973 to preserve old buildings. They have transported wooden houses, churches, and native yurts, aswell as sone circles to the museum. I even bought my train ticket to Irkutsk from the train station without a problem. Although I did write it all down in Cyrillic first. While I was waiting in the queue people asked me to save their places (or at least that is what I thought), which is fine until more than one person asks and then they both return. When they did return they then discovered I didn't speak Russian but they both turned out to be helpful with my ticket purchase. I mentioned that Russia is expensive and not a good place for a budget traveller. I have tried to save money by buying tickets as I go rather than going through a Russian agency. Funnily enough it seems the ticket I purchased today has cost me a few more dollars more than it would have done if I had gone through Svezhy Veter Travel Agency www.svezhyveter.ru.
No comments:
Post a Comment