As I expected, I didn’t sleep much last night. I was busy packing and then sad that dad had to go home. My alarm rang at 5:30am and I hopped up, ate breakfast and finished my packing.
Taxi to the bus stop – jumped on the bus and sat there for a good 12hours. It wasn’t super comfortable, but it was by no means the hidous bumpy, thunderous rides of the countryside. We had paved roads the entire way, and I’m glad we did it – it’s really the first time I’ve actually SEEN the cultural transition. The geographical transition is so not related at all. One minute you’re eating beef stroganoff (not the nice kind) with rice in Sukhbaatar, Mongolia. The next minute you’re being serenaded by multiple super hot Russian men at the border. Then you’re on the road and there’s something different……. OH – there’s no gers dotting the horizon, there’s proper roads that we’re driving on, there’s no dirt tracks weaving through the valleys, there’s no half-wild horses roaming around and the land is cultivated. But in general geographical terms, it’s hardly different. The people are though! below: the bus departing UB at 7:30am
Mongolians are quite distinct in their looks and their demeanour. Asiatic features with no smile and not much friendliness or helpfulness. Russians are also distinct in their own way – European with thick blonde hair, angular features and the occasional smile! below: a big smile drew across my face when this lady entered our bus – we’d just crossed through the Mongolian border and this lady was checking our passports for something or other. She was just exactly what I’d ever dreamed a Russian lady would look like: beautiful, leggy, blonde, well dressed and groomed, strong facial features – and the accent, of course!
A SMILE! Oh man, it was so good. I got multiple smiles, a few ‘where are you going’s and a much more pleasant overall feeling. Their toilet wasn’t much prettier though.
Our bus was laden with a group of really friendly, rambunctious, lovable deaf people of all ages. They were obviously travelling together and were having the best time! All their children came along for the ride.
I don’t want to count my chickens before they hatch, BUT it was a long journey, so making the destination would have been a ‘yay’ moment in any circumstance. This was particularly ‘YAY’. I stepped off the bus and there was Mozart music playing through a decent speaker, to the movement of a water fountain with children running around playing in it. The buildings are all Soviet style – but they’ve been cared for. Everyone’s dressed beautifully, literally skipping along the street. It feels like a cardboard-cut out of Mary Poppins or The Sound of Music. The atmosphere here is just amazing.
Saying that, the bloody ATM sucked a good 3000 Rubles (I think it’s a lot) from my credit card without giving me the cash. GRrrrrrrrrrrrr. I haven’t figured out what to do yet – but ended up getting some bread and cheese from the supermarket for dinner. (it was actually really yummy)
We have two days here, I can’t wait to take some photos tomorrow. And just play around in the city. It’s really pretty here in Ulan Ude!
Below: our bed. Don’t judge a book by its cover. We’re absolutely delighted with this hotel. A bathroom, hot shower (somewhere, we haven’t found it yet), fridge, phone, Wi-Fi, balcony, close to the main street, clean, friendly…. the next photo is of our fridge, then the next photo is of my dinner – some kind of pumpernickel bread with Edam cheese. YUM
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