The airplane factory in Ulan-Ude. We got off the train at the ass crack of dawn and were promptly taken on a city tour. Pictures don't quite abound here; I wasn't really awake.
Buryat village near the centre of Buryat Buddhism, in the middle of Siberia. Buryats, approx. 450,000 people, are primary located in the Buryat Republic, a semi-autonomous region of Russia in Siberia.
The Atsagatsky Buddhist monestary in the Buryat Republic.
Where the Lamas live, next to the monestary.
Our guide, Andre, giving a tour of the monestary.
Buryat village near the monestary, with several boarding schools. Children are sent from throughout the Republic to attend school here, so that they can be near the monestary.
Prayer wheels outside the monestary.
Andre with our meat dumplings in the Buryat village where we ate lunch. We each made our dumplings; the squashed one at the right? Yeah, that's mine.
Our hostess with the dumplings.
Our driver, me and Bryce, Monica and Craig and Christine and Andy at lunch.
Ulan-Ude - famous for the biggest Lenin head statue in the world. Bryce kept laughing as we got lost, with me saying "ok, take a left on Marx ave, and then a right on Lenin."
Our homestay in Ulan-Ude - with an accountant named Valeria.
Back on the train! The landscape starts to change as we approach Mongolia.
Passing villages, lit by the sinking sun. It was a beautiful ride.
First stop during our border crossing fiasco: Russian customs. 3 hours to kill and THEN they start taking our passports.
Our train.
The back of the train.
Cow, hanging out in the road on the way to the supermarket.
Border towns are not particularly inspiring!
Our train, being taken away.
Bridge at the Mongolian border. With tons of time to kill, we wandered down to the river - till we were chased away by the bugs.
Raul (from Chile) ruining the symmetry of my picture :)
Lise, a wonderful woman from Montreal who has been EVERYWHERE, and me at the Mongolian border.
Peter and Peter, English and Irish, TV reporter and Diplomat - entertaining us at the border.
AHHH - there goes our carriage from the train!
Watching the countryside as we go from Russian Exit customs to...Entering Mongolia.
Customs!
The travellers, keeping each other entertained at the Longest Border Crossing Known to Man.
Train leaving again!
The engine pulling our train away - bastards! We want to SLEEEEEP!
Once on the train, we could finally eat. Here, a ramen-soup party for our last dinner on Train #362.
