Ulan-Ude (2) & Train to Ulaanbaatar

Sunday 13/08

Homeschooling this morning.

Quick tour in town for lunch. We go back to see the huge Lenin’s head (under the sun this time). We find a nice restaurant. Last Russian meal; it will help us to stay with a positive impression of the Russian food, which has not always been the case…

We ordered 2 taxis to go to the nearby train station to catch our 4pm train to Ulaanbaatar.

At the station kids buy treats in a small stall with all our remaining (very) small Russian coins. After 2 or 3 purchases the babouchka stops counting and trusts them blindly (while many of these coins – mainly the ones the kids found on the floor – are hardly “readable”).

The train (it is the one going from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar) is nice, operated by the Mongolian railway company; one of the best ones that we’ve taken so far (with very clean toilets).

We had our usual instant noodles for diner. Then I read Michel Strogoff aloud.

The train stopped for 2 hours at the Russian border post and 1 hour at the Mongolian border post for customs control, so we couldn’t sleep before midnight. I was alone in my compartment.

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