Saturday, September 17, 2005

Like the splitting of the Red Sea...

...The Brothers Wrongolia have parted ways. Some might say this warrants the end of something great. But like the Holy Roman Empire, it's just the beginning of something new.
So we left Ulaan Bataar armed with a relaxed grin and a brand new Chinese visa. However, the Mongolians at the border were keen to know why we now had no car and why we had no paperwork explaining what had happened to it. They refused to let us out, sent us to the local army base, told us to get paperwork and then kicked us out onto the dusty street. After great pains we did manage to get our paperwork but in the meantime they'd promoted the duty-free girl to passport control. And so when we tryed to get out again, they checked nothing, we made a run for the Chinese side and were eating fried noodles and Sezchuan chicken by sun-set.
Anyhow, I have just been at the Beijing Central train station, seeing Ian off on his way to some Taoist mountain in the Shandong province. He's got a little trip planned before heading back to Blighty when the money runs out. All fifty-eight quid of it.
And as for me, well I've been offered a job here in Beijing. So this might mean a short foray into Chinese living. Spent today looking at a bulletin board wondering who was trying to sell washing machines and who was advertising appartements. There's really not that much to differentiate when your Mandarin is halting at best.
So fear not.
The Waggon still rolls.