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There is a general international agreement on all international long distance rail trips that the restaurant car services are provided by the country you are crossing at present, in other words, restaurant cars don’t cross borders. The Trans-Siberian services are no exception to this, and you can expect the national railway of each country to be providing the food services on board – even if the rest of the rolling stock is provided by the country where your trip began.
Between the Russia/Mongolia border and Ulaanbaatar there is usually no restaurant car in either direction (since the section is usually during night-time in any case). Your wagon-attendants will usually have their selection of biscuits and snacks on sale if you are desperate.
In China there are also a few vendors on the platforms. They sell fruit, beer, water, etc. If you have time in Ulaanbaatar, we advise you to get some Yuan in advance from the bank (it is legal to do this), as Chinese vendors are not allowed to take foreign currencies.
If you travel West on the Chinese train toward Mongolia, you may actually get a lunch and dinner voucher for a meal or take away from their restaurant car but don’t rely on it. There are plenty of smaller supermarkets across Beijing station that cater to travellers. Take some fruit too, that’s what most travellers seem to crave for after a few days on the train.
Mongolian Show-boating?
We were talking about perceptions; what do “they” (the locals) think of “us” (bloody tourists), parading in with rucksacks and clicking cameras… standing in their streets, pointing at things, gesticulating and talking loudly in pigeon-whatever to try and get the point across?
Well generally, although with a couple of unfortunate exceptions, the answer seems to be “okay” or better. Unless you can speak reasonably fluent Russian (etc.), the chances are you won’t know different anyway… notwithstanding the incoming rocks if you are a rally driver who took a wrong turn…
There also appears to be an unwritten protocol on the need to present a certain way? The Russian paranoia about the way they are perceived, the Chinese “need” to show off their “better” system and the desire to hide aspects that aren’t…
We’ve had Russian and Chinese aspirational façades facing off across the Amur. What about show-boating Mongolian style? Does that exist? Neil puts me in the picture:
“I’ve got a lot of respect for them really, because they’ve tuned themselves out of that whole thing. They were controlled by China until 1924 and they’re more interested in rebuilding Mongolian culture rather than trying to build American or Russian style buildings. They are interested in building Mongolian buildings, and Mongolian buildings shouldn’t be skyscrapers. They should be three or four stories, with typical Mongolian exteriors and ornamentation. There are some modern-style buildings in Ulaan Baatar; they tend to be the headquarters of international corporations, or buildings owned by the government.”
There is one piece of Mongolian bling that is worthy of a mention though: the gleaming 40 metre high steel statue of Chinggis Khaan (Genghis Kahn) mounted on horseback. It is 53km out of Ulaanbaatar, on Tsonjin Boldog Hill. He’s facing East, standing guard against China, and looks incredible! The form is beautifully rendered… and you get to climb up inside it for the definitive view of the Mongolian Steppe. Amazing! We’ll be visiting him proper, with photos in the coming weeks, don’t you worry.
Homogenisation?
I’m sensing a trend throughout our talks across other cultures – not withstanding the occasional marvel as outlined above, encroaching “sameness”, a parallel to the techy “convergence”, that exists as a generic façade to the modern world, wherever you may find it.
It exists within cultures too, not just on the face that’s turned outwards to the world… there’s a parallel with the default, glass fronted, concrete slabbed precincts here in the UK: two rows of fish tanks facing off across a concrete no-man’s land, with a couple of ironwork seats and maybe a token piece of art too, bought as if by weight. Why, out of all possible styles, materials and designers, should that be the default? Okay, cost has got to be a factor… fashion too. But fashion comes and goes, and this stays, not only in the form of physical edifice, but as an ongoing design template too. Laziness? Apathy? Lack of imagination? I don’t get it.
So I ask Neil if he thinks that more “development” equates to more homogenisation?
“I think, largely speaking, that that’s very true…” Phew! Well that’s settled then. I prise for more: and to get to the character and extremity of the cultures, you’d have to go way off the beaten track?
“Yes, which takes us back to where we started with this whole conversation… about showing people what’s a bit further than just the platform of the station…” Ah yes.
A weird thing was reported by one of my female interviewees: her travelling companion gained the attention of a “senior” Mongolian man who expressed his interest by “bumping” up and down on the bench she sat upon in order to get her attention. Well that would do it I guess. When words are not enough. Their guide didn’t regard this as anything inherently unusual… but just told her not to respond in any way. So she sat immobile, gazing forwards lest any slight movement be interpreted as a sign of reciprocation! Then after a polite while she got up, nodded politely (a risky move) and made her escape. Curious. Now, does this say anything about Mongolian male culture, or had she just stumbled upon the one guy in the crowd who’d escaped from the local asylum… who knows?
Next time: Tips and Tales, Part 8.
Do’s and Don’ts: how to grease the wheel, or pop it off its axle.
[Photos by James Seith and Sistak]
