China to Mongolia by Train

Despite all of my travels I had not yet been on a long distance train so I was excited to ride the rails all of the way from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of Mongolia. In total the journey took about 28 hours to complete. It soon became apparent that we were heading into a different world as we left behind the buildings of Beijing and entered remote farmland with nothing, but small villages on the horizon. The fertile green land then gave way to more barren desert as we chugged along.

We stayed in small 4 person cabins with two bunk beds so it was cozy quarters with nothing but a small fan to help dissipate the heat. The main highlight of the train journey is that when you pull into the border crossing around 10pm the width of the railway track changes and therefore the undercarriage of every single car must be changed. The Russian track that they use in Mongolia and Russia is different than the standard track used in the rest of the world. It was exciting to watch from the train as we entered a shed and hydraulic lifts were used to jack up the train and swap out the wheels. It was a rough night as first a Chinese official came and collected our passports. After falling asleep we were all awoken when he came back to return them. The whole process was repeated by the Mongolian officials and finally after being awoken for one final time at 3am we were on our way in Mongolia.

In the morning I awoke to an empty landscape of rolling hills covered only with scrubby grass. We made stops in a couple of tiny towns and then entered some greener landscapes as we moved closer to Ulaanbaatar. It was a strange day as I experienced a kind of culture shock upon entering Mongolia like I have never really felt before. I had been in China so long that even though I can't speak Chinese or read any signs I was comfortable with the way things worked there. Crossing over into Mongolia was like entering a completely different world. All of the sudden all of the signs were in Cyrillic and the houses instead of having Chinese style roofs and brick walls were whitewashed cubes with brightly colored corrugated tin roofs. I was in for another surprise when I headed to the dining car and the car was completely different than the day before. During the middle of the night border transfer they had simply attached a completely different Mongolian dining car. Using a fork to eat for the first time in a few months also felt completely alien. My disorientation continued as we entered the city. The outskirts of the city was dotted with Gers, the famous round canvas tents that the nomads in Mongolia live in. Even listening to the sounds of the Mongolian language was disorienting as I was so used to the sound of Chinese even though I couldn't understand the words.

The best part of arriving in Mongolia was reuniting with my friend Ines who I traveled through Tibet with. I was so thankful that she arrived a few days before me and was able to lead me around town while I tried to absorb all the differences from China. The different architecture of the buildings, new streets to navigate. One of the most important things is understanding the local drivers so you don't get run over. In this regard Mongolia was the same as China. Pedestrians have no rights even if there is a walk sign at a crosswalk you must let cars do what they want.

My first few days in the city were fun. Visiting a history museum that covered Mongolian history from ancient civilizations to Ghengis (it is actually Chinggis) Kahn to the present day. The part I find most fascinating is that Mongolia in the early 90's was able to escape Soviet control with all of its hallmarks of collectivization and state control and establish their own democratic society. Quite the feat for a nation of 3 million people sandwiched between Russia and China.

The city itself can feel quite bleak as many of the buildings are rundown drab concrete relics from the Soviet era, but there are some interesting areas to visit as well that include a large Buddhist monastery, a strange communist statue/viewing platform. UB is definitely a little rough around the edges as it is the only major city in Mongolia. Lots of alcoholism, some street kids and it is renowned for pick pockets so you have to be really vigilant after not really worrying so much in China.

One of the most famous attractions in UB is the massive market where you can buy pretty much anything. Clothes, horse saddles, housewares, a ger, refrigerators, solar panels and food. A very interesting place to just wander around. Since a large majority of the Mongolian population still live a nomadic lifestyle UB is a giant meeting place where everyone converges. It was interesting to see the city of UB, but after a few days I was more than ready to escape to the unpopulated wilderness. The best parts of Mongolia are yet to come so check out my next post on my journeys through the central and northern regions of Mongolia!