“Excuse, sir, can we see your passport?” the Chinese conductor said in broken English. “Sure, one moment,” I said as I searched my money belt. I patted my waist, looked through my bag and anywhere else it could have been, but to no success. Within seconds I turned white. Where the hell was my money belt?
A few hours earlier I had been in Mongolia waiting for the delayed train from Beijing. I strolled around, looked at the people, took photographs and just enjoyed the area. This must have been when somebody pick-pocketed me. I didn’t have a god damn clue when or exactly where it happened, but they did a good job. I got on the train confident and ready for the four day ride across Russia and into Europe. It’s the most adventurous and romantic train ride. It crosses one third of the planet. I entered my cabin and introduced myself to my two cabin mates. They were middle-aged guys from Kazakstan returning home from a business trip. One of them spoke only broken English and the only Russian I knew was “kiss me baby,” which they thought was pretty comical. Needless to say, there wasn’t much talking going on.
A few hours went by when two Chinese conductors knocked on our door and asked me for ID. Without any hesitation I went for my money belt, but I couldn’t find it. Those few moments I spent looking for my belt were the scariest of my whole trip. Every single important document and financial need was in that belt. I had my credit cards, passport, transit visa across Russia (which is very hard to get anyway), plane ticket to Turkey once I arrived in Moscow and $100 in cash. Everything was in that belt and if that was gone, I would have absolutely no idea of what to do. I was freaking out as I rummaged through my huge backpack, and the conductors were trying to calm me down:
“OK, mister, OK, mister. We have passport,” one of them said. I was white, my eyes were about to pop out of my head and my heart was racing like never before. He showed me my passport along with the money belt and a mixture of emotions zoomed through my body: confusion, relief, happiness and total bewilderment. He explained to me that they found the belt hidden in a newspaper behind a door. I combed through it and noticed that only the cash was gone. I was thrilled, to say the least. That may sound strange, but American passports are a hot commodity, along with everything else I had in there.
Word of what had happened spread quickly through my car. My roommates chuckled a bit at my physical appearance, trying to relax me. I would have been completely fucked if they had taken the entire belt. I would have arrived at the Russian/Mongolian border at three o’clock in the morning with nothing and probably would have been kicked off the train. I would have had to somehow make my way back to Ulan Baatar with no money, which is a 12 hour train ride. I couldn’t think of another border that would be worse for that kind of scenario. It’s in the middle of nowhere and the closest American embassy is in Ulan Baatar. All these crazy scenarios were running through my mind, but I tried to dismiss them. The only thing I had to worry about now was surviving a four day train ride with little food and no money.
My two roommates really helped me out. Every time they bought food, a little extra went to me. When I saw passengers leaving, I approached them and asked, either in broken English or by hand communication, for the rest of their food. I wasn’t very comfortable doing this, but I had no choice really. My roommates were only on the train for the first two days. The remaining two days I was on my own. Later that evening, the train stopped at a Russian town, so I got off to stretch and get some fresh air when I heard a couple of American accents. I followed the voices and eventually followed them back onto the train. I introduced myself, “What’s up guys, my name’s Khaled. I’m from Maine.” And so a conversation started. One was from New Jersey and the other from Minnesota. They were Peace Corps volunteers who had just finished their two year stint in Siberia. It was fun talking to them as they explained what they did and the overall experience of it. The evening progressed and in the course of time I told them what had happened to me. Boy, did they hook me up. Between both guys, they gave me $5 US, $10 Russian and bag full of noodles. On the Chinese trains they have great hot water barrels that allow you to eat noodles and drink tea or coffee anytime, which I think is quite clever. So that really helped me out. I chatted with them for a few days before they dispersed off the train.
After two days of practically begging, I seemed set. My roommates gave me a little cash before they left and more people helped me out with food. I could finally enjoy the train ride. Spending four days on a train was fantastic but a little strange, too. I listened to music, read books, wrote in my journal, and stared out my window for hours just gazing. Being rocked to sleep, watching Asia flow into Europe outside my window and enjoying the landscape was awesome. At one point the tracks took us by the edge of Lake Baikal, the largest fresh water lake in the world. If the earth had no more fresh water, this lake could sustain us for 40 years on its own. It’s huge and beautiful. The weather factor was interesting, too, because the train was moving so fast we never stayed within a storm very long. Massive bolts of lightning and strong rain would be upon us then five minutes later sunshine was on my face.
After exactly four days, my Tran-Siberian experience was over and I arrived in Moscow culture shocked. It had been seven and half months since I was in the Western hemisphere and it was strange. The buildings, the clothing, the weather, the smell, everything was different. It seemed odd to me that I was culture shocked in the west. Just before I got off the train I met a nice Australian couple who allowed me to enjoy a shower and put my stuff in their hotel room. I didn’t have much time to walk around and see the city. My transit visa ran out the next day and my flight to Turkey was early in the morning. Strolling around Red Square and being in Moscow was compelling. Although I didn’t see much of it, I was impressed, not only by the city but by the women too. I think I almost broke my neck a few times as my head turned rapidly checking out all the ladies. Night fell and the sight-seeing was over. I thanked the Aussie couple, got my bus to the airport and spent the night in an uncomfortable, plastic chair.
Khaled Habash can be contacted at [email protected]