The first train station in Europe... Zabaikalsk Russia

I've you've ever wondered where Asia ends and Europe begins, one answer is in Zabaikalsk - or 6626 km east of Moscow on the trans-Manchurian railroad.

This answer probably doesn't agree with what most people learned in schools - eg. the European continent ends at the Ural Mountains. But if you look at Europe in a political sense it becomes apparent that when you cross the border between Russia and China, you're crossing from Asia to Europe.

The border crossing between China and Russia, was an experience to remember. On the Chinese side of the border, things were fairly efficient and smooth. The ineresting part was really on first crossing into Russia!

Three hour train inspection

It was the entry into Russia where things got interesting. After crossing the border, a whole lot of Russian officials bordered the train and seemed to take it to bits for about 3 hours. About half way through, when it came to our turn for a cabin inspection, a very stern looking Russian woman came to check our passport, which included the most rigorous face-to-passport comparison I’ve encountered, with her lingering for at least 2 minutes on each passenger.

When it came to searching the compartment, they really only pulled a few panels out of the interior of the train compartment, including the roof and the floor, but didn’t bother checking any of what was inside our bags. I think the procedure for the Chinese was a bit different though. After what seemed like an eternity, and with my bladder miraculously still in tact, we were finally let out onto the platform in Zabaikalsk, which is a delightful little town that feels like its in the middle of nowhere, and is.

...followed by 5 hours to change the wheels on the train

Initially we had no idea how long the train was stopping to change over the train wheels to match the Russian rail gauge, so we hurriedly wandered around the town in search of some food, cheap wander and just to have a sticky-beak around. Later as the day went on, we still had no idea how long the train would stop, but in the end guessed that it was about 8 hours. Naturally we never found out what the delay was. There was some rumour about a few of the Chinese being kicked off the train, but never found out any more.

... and 1 Russian Mafia guy

The long delay did however give us a change to get to know some random Russian guy called Jura who wanted to practice his English and decided that local hospitality require that he buy us all a beer while we were waiting at the station. That was all fine until one of the officials, who looked about 15 and was wearing an extremely big hat, came up and told us something that I later interpreted meant we shouldn’t be drinking on the platform. The problem was resolved with Jura engaging in a shouting match with him in Russian, at the end of which he said to us “who does he think he is... I tell him to fuck off”.

Jura showed us photos on his phone of his various girlfriends in Russia, some of his mates with guns who he described as “he gangster” and a couple of his church and his mum. In the end when we thought the train was about to go, we were able to say our goodbyes – Jura gave me his mobile number, telling me "I have people in Moscow and 'Petersburg" if I had any problems.

Once the train was underway, we finally started the trek towards Siberia and on to Moscow.