Trans Mongolian

The next train was between Irkutsk and Ulaan Baatar, the capital of Mongolia. We had some trouble as we got on this train, some other kindly people had taken our seats so the cabin attendent moved us somewhere else. However the train is jam packed full of locals carrying heaps of shitty stuff to trade on the way and they took offence at us being in their cabin so after lots of yelling and some pushing, shoving, and so on we got moved into the 1st class wagon. The only difference between Kupe and 1st class is that each cabin is 2 beds instead of 4. The wagon is still full of traders and their gear. At Ulaan Ude everybody piles off the train for 30 minutes with their wares and trys to sell as much of their crap as possible. Even the cabin attendants set up a stall selling silks, it's all a bit comical really.

Traders selling their shit in Ulaan Ude

Not much else happened on this train, the border crossing takes about 6 hours but customs and immigration mostly ignored us to concentrate on the traders. After we got into Mongolia and on our way again the carpets in the hallway got pulled up and heaps of gear got pulled out, we assumed this was stuff they didn't want to declare/pay tax on. Everybody must know it goes on but nobody cares.

More photos here

Next up Mongolia