The train station

Yesterday I went to the train station to get my ticket for my Trans-Mongolian Railway trip to Moscow at the end of this adventure in UB. Five days on the train, rolling through Siberia and Russia and an overnight in Moscow before meeting up with Bill in Iceland seems an especially wonderful way to leave UB behind. So, as I said, I went to the station to figure out the schedule and buy the ticket. Wrong! They don't sell tickets at the train station. For that, you have to walk across the street and go down 3 blocks to the office of the railroad. When I got there I looked around and saw several signs, one said Peking, which I know is the end of the line going east and south and another sign said Moscow, so that's where I headed. I waited in line for several minutes while the man ahead of me was finishing up his business. When I got to the head of the line and made my request, the woman at the window indicated that I needed to go to the information booth in the lobby.

So, I went to the booth, and THAT woman (with the help of a roaming young man who spoke quite decent English) said I needed to go to the International Office down the hall. They told me that they couldn't sell me a ticket now, but that I could order one. I went to the office indicated, and THAT woman (who also spoke good English) said I needed to go to room 212 upstairs. Soooo, I did and then I seemed to make progress. I took out my calendar and we settled on a date and she gave me the total for the ticket: less than $200, which I thought was a very good deal, considering that Amtrak once wanted to charge me $100 per person to go from Madison, CT to Boston when I wanted to take the kids to an Indians game at Fenway Park.

I took out my debit card, but was told that I needed to pay cash. Luckily there is a bank branch in the building, so I got in line in that office. After making my way to the head of the line and handing over my debit card, I was informed that there was a "programm eror", as the note the teller passed to me said, and it should be about 20 minutes before it was resolved. Either that, or I could go back to the railway station to the ATM machine there. I went into the hallway to wait out the 20 minutes, when it hit me! My money belt! I surreptitiously loosened the buckle and slid out 2 $100 bills and tried to flatten them out as well as I could, remembering how they were rejected the last time I tried to change dollars for togrogs. I got back in line, the teller took the bills, gave me my togrogs and all was well!

Back to room 212 - the sign read "VIP Room" - the woman took my money, wrote out my ticket and wagon and seat assignment and I was on my way! When I got back downstairs, I returned to the International Office (my 3rd stop in my original travels) and asked the woman there about the ticket out of Moscow that I'll need. She said I'd have to buy that ticket in Moscow, but that they could make a reservation for me at - The Information Booth! I went back to the Information Booth, paid 500 togrog for the reservation out of Moscow and went on my way. I'm fairly sure that everything is right. At least I have papers in my hands that have the correct dates on them and the correct city names, so that's all reassuring. If not, I'll be texting someone from somewhere in Europe or Russia and giving you updated dates for my return home.