Your Prize is Three Days in Mongolia . . .

The segment from Beijing to Irkutsk took two nights and three days.

Sometime during the middle of the night we arrived in Mongolia. We had to wait an hour or so while they changed the wheels on the train. Evidently Russia (and Mongolia by extension) has a wider track span than China and the rest of Europe. Later I read that Russia did this during the Stalin era to discourage the Germans from invading Russia by train. I suppose to derail the Germans' plans, as it were.

Anyhow, the Mongolian train personnel disconnected our car and hoisted it up with a crane. Dave told me this crane was called a "gantry." A new word for me. The only "gantry" I ever knew of was Elmer. And the chassis of the train car is called a "bogie." Another new word.

Doug made his rounds of multi-lingual good mornings, beginning with a Romanian. Even though the train ran out of food by mid-morning, no one seemed to care. There were lots of people to talk to.

I could see on the printed schedule that the train was running a little behind time. Several times the train came to a complete halt in the middle of the Gobi Desert for no apparent reason. After a while the scenery became entirely predictable. I spent most of the day writing down notes and taking a few pictures. Doug and Dave had a lot to talk about, especially Doug. I enjoyed thoroughly the time I spent with them.
Is is hard to imagine why Genghis Khan and his hordes were always trying to invade China?

On the Irkutsk to Moscow part of the trip some Swiss travelers were telling me they had just spent three days in Mongolia as a result of winning first place in some contest in Switzerland. I asked them, "What was the second place prize? A week in Mongolia?"