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Alex Mumzhui with his Brompton on Silk Route to China.

Silk Road

Alex Mumzhiu
2006-03-20 17:44:21

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countries, but these Germans biked through them just few months ago. I met them when they unloaded their bikes from the train at the border crossing to Mongolia at Nauski.I arrived at the same train. I asked them why they exited train before the border. They explained that they were told that the bikes are allowed in train everywhere except for the border crossing. Such a strange limitation, isn't it. The reason for this limitation we learned later. When the train crossed the border to Mongolia, a tons of boxes with illegal goods were thrown away from the train and big bulky bicycles really were on a way of people who handle these illegal goods. How they (Germans) get back on train with their bikes inspite of prohibition? I helped them. The chief border guard, the lady, was my friend and she allowed them as an exclusion from the rule to take their bikes back on the train. How does she became my friend? She removed me from the train three days ago and sent me back to Ulan Ude for the Mongolian visa, which I really don't need. Actually it was sort of a gray area, where the officer may decide ever way. So, when I arrived for the second time, she met me as an old friend. On a train from Ulan Ude to China I met the guy from the Israel who spent four months in Mongolia. He bought a horse (not rent) for $80 and travel alone (without guide) for many weeks. He stayed in nomad's gers and eat with them their food. In Gobi desert nomads love to eat marmots (syrkov) they are very tasty dish, but have one drawback you can get bubonic plague from them. Every year they have several cases of bubonic plague (it is not yours Anthrax) in Gobi. I asked him did you eat marmots? He said yes. But besides bubonic plague, are you sure they were kosher? He wasn't sure about it. These are the most interesting travelers I met in Mongolia.

Alex Mumzhiu
Beijin China
Oct 1 2001
19:50

Little hijacking incident. Mongolia was for a long ...