SEP 12, 19 .. IRKUTSK, RUSSIAN SIBERIA TO ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA
Here we go loop-de-loop. Here we go loop-de-li.
It was an exhausting project getting myself packed out of Irkutsk and cleaning the Flat I had occupied for ten months having moved in on November 8, 2018.
Two friends, Elena K and Sergey S, came to my Flat, helped me with my bags, drove me to the train station, loaded my bags onto the train, and waited and visited with me as the clock ticked down to 0813 hours on Monday the 9th of September 2019 when the train began to roll.
Thank You Elena, Thank You Sergey, Thank You Both So Very Very Much!
Irkutsk, Russia (left red balloon) to Ulan-Ude, Russia (center right red balloon) to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia (lower red balloon). We passed Lake Baikal (top red balloon) en route to Ulan-Ude.
It was foggy and overcast as I boarded the train in Irkutsk.
Below you have it. Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar.
The Mongolians spell it Ulaanbaatar. The Russians (who I believe named it) spell it Ulan-Bator (Red Hero).
Oh My! Oh My! Lake Baikal on a beautiful sunny day.
This sequence of ten photos comes from a total of fifty seven that I snapped of Lake Baikal.
Into Ulan-Ude we arrived. It was a seven hour trip.
Surprise Cap !
Two members of the Ulan-Ude Fellowship were on hand at the Ulan-Ude Train Station to meet me and greet me and visit with me during our stop in Ulan-Ude. Patti spoke to them over the phone.
Thank You Sergey S for setting this up. It was very special.
We left Ulan-Ude and headed South for the Russian / Mongolian Border. It was a six hour trip.
It took a little over two full hours to be first processed out of Russia by uniformed Russian Immigration authorities and then second it took another full hour to enter Mongolia as we then faced another set of uniformed, and very official, Mongolian Immigration authorities.
Let me tell all of you this fact : You keep your mouth shut. If they say do this or they say do that, you DO this or you DO that (please remove your suitcase from under your seat and open it up) etc.
We pulled into Ulaanbaatar at 0650 hours Tuesday Morning the 10th of September.
As we rolled into Ulaanbaatar, my Ulaanbaatar Team (Deegi and Saina along with their daughter 9 year old Cindy) were on the train coach and at my compartment the instant we stopped moving to take my bags.
Below are photos of my luggage. Four pieces. I could manage them by myself but my Team did it for me, first in Irkutsk and lastly in Ulaanbaatar.
In July of 2015, I began occupying the below room. It has been my home-away-from-home here in Ulaanbaatar for over four years.
The below link from JUL 20, 15 shows much more detail about my Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, home-away-from-home.
The below photos show it as it is now on September 12th 2019. For one thing, the bed has been moved from right to left. The photo showing the computer in the corner is 100% accurate. It hasn’t moved in my four years here.
My view for over four years.
Patti My Dear One..
Are you sitting down?
All seven of the seven Irkutsk water bottles along with your DASANI bottle came with me! And my local supermarket carries the identical juice concentrate that I had in Irkutsk. My mix : 100 ml of juice and 400 ml of bottled water.
Oh My! Oh My!
One of my favorite restaurants here in Ulaanbaatar is still alive-and-well and their bacon potato salad is still on the menu.
However ! The Candelabra is new !
After four years (off and on) in this wonderful apartment located in the same locale in Ulaanbaatar everything is immensely familiar to me.
Why it’s almost like home to me.
If I don’t publish this, and get myself to bed, I’ll have a difficult time sitting in an 8am meeting in the morning.
Cap and Patti who I trust will clean up any issues she finds in this Post.
Today I got myself officially registered as a visitor to Mongolia at the Immigration Office. Another very formal process.
The below link shows this along with other scenes of Ulaanbaatar.
- SEP 11, 19 .. A PAUSE TO REMEMBER THE EVENTS OF ‘9 / 11’ .. SEPTEMBER 11th, 2001
- SEP 13, 19 .. FRIDAY THE 13th ..
10 thoughts on “SEP 12, 19 .. IRKUTSK, RUSSIAN SIBERIA TO ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA”
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Quite a project to pack out of Irkutsk after 11 months, physically and emotionally. I got emotional from here in Alaska as you were doing it! Seems sort of appropriate that it wa a foggy morning when you left, “fogging in” some of the reality of leaving. Having heard on the phone at the time about your “greeters” in Ulan Ude, it is a treat to see them pictured here. How tender of Sergey to set that up and how tender of these two men to come out to touch and greet you .. pretty special. Then the border (Russia/Mongolia) processing, and on to Ulaanbaatar. So nice of Deegi, Saina and Cindy to be there to get you off the train and to your room at Happy’s. Fun to see the pictures of Happy’s place where you are, again, happy to be! The bacon potato salad pictures made my mouth water!! I want a bite!! Welcome back “home” to Mongolia!! Smiles, hugs, love. Patti
Yes the emotions ran high as I had to (what word to use here, got it) ‘retire’so many of my Bobbseys that had been with me from the time I arrived in Irkutsk to the date of my leaving. Many were shocked when they ‘passed on’. Foggy translates perhaps to sad-to-see-me-leave. Pleased you enjoyed seeing my greeters in Ulan-Ude. That was such a surprise and so nice. The border crossing was (ah-h-h) tense. No other way to describe it. The authorities looking intensely at you eye-to-eye and then back to your passport and then a second eye-to-eye look at you. YOU have enjoyed that bacon potato salad but you and I sat across the room from where I was located by the restaurant staff. They actually made me move because they had a large party coming and wanted that group over to the left as you enter the restaurant. Trust me there are going to be more visits. Now to call you for a quick visit. Much Love and Gratitude .. Cap
Okay, now I am very hungry for bacon potato salad? I actually like the new arrangement in the apartment. Did they ever replace the broken refrigerator?
Remember Patti eating hot dogs and fried eggs in bed? The second serving from my B&B?
Fond memories.
I mean I love that bacon potato salad. Garlic and something hot / spicy but extremely subtle and not overwhelming. The broken refrigerator was in Irkutsk. Not here in Ulaanbaatar. So happy you have Fond Memories from your visit here to Mongolia. Yes I remember Patti and the hot dogs (in Mongolia they are exotic sausages). Smiles Cap and Hugs Patti
Boy, I sure do recall that the refrigerator in the shared kitchen in UB did not work. I looked at it sitting there empty. Am I hallucinating? Your cold stuff was in your windowsill.
I didn’t know about the refrigerator in Russia.
Gullible : You ‘have-got-me’ .. I do not recall, when you were here, that the refrigerator in the kitchen here was not working. I simply do not recall that. Shall I say : Two ding-a-lings do not make a bell ?
Smiling .. Cap
Cap, Your finest hour. Outstanding adventure and service. Like you told me, to feel good, do good. All the best, Greg
Thanks Greg ! Patti and I heard that in Akron, Ohio, at the King School Meeting, in early October of 1994, from a speaker from Cleveland, Ohio, Jerry Berkley ! To Feel Good .. Do Good .. Smiles from the two of us .. Cap and Patti
Time sure flies – hard to comprehend you have been in & out of Mongolia for 4 years now,
I’m living it and I can’t believe it Tom. The Mongolian adventure began July 15th 2015. Smiles .. Cap