This morning we
noticed on our booking form that breakfast was included, so we
marched over to the hostel office to see what was on offer. The woman
on reception told us to go back to the apartment – 'the boy' would
bring something over. He duly arrived with some very dry,
'cream'-filled chou buns and some out-of-date yoghurt drinks, so we
decamped to the supermarket up the road for some juice, bread and
jam.
We then set off for
lunch, stopping on the way at a funny little playground outside some
apartment blocks. Our first stop in town was a subterranean noodle
restaurant that we had spotted yesterday called Papa Goose, although
we referred to it as Mr Ping's because it had a big picture of the
character from Kung Fu Panda outside. After negotiating the
unlit stairs down to the restaurant, we discovered that it was
completely empty, other than a woman behind a counter who regarded us
with bored indifference. We grabbed a menu and sat down but it was
all in Russian and as it was a do-it-yourself-style place – choose
your noodles, meat, sauce and veges and they'll cook it for you. We
gamely tried using Google Translate, but as the staff seemed so
indifferent and the place was empty, we decided to move on.
Next stop was a
place called Booza, one of at least four restaurants going by that
name in Ulan-Ude, and one that had been recommended on one of the
travel websites. It looked a bit grim, so we decided to give it a
miss, too, which meant that we had used up our immediate options. We
thought we would try walking down into the pedestrianised part of
town to see what we could find there, but on the way, we spotted a
funny hole-in-the-wall place with pictures of relatively
appetising-looking food on the wall and figured we may as well give
it a go. There were a few people ahead of us and after each person
ordered, the woman inside closed the little hatch on the actual hole
in the wall and disappeared while she cooked the food. Eventually,
Kate managed to order and then, finally, we were able to eat, sitting
in the square in the most sheltered spot we could find (the day was
sunny but the wind was frigid). The food was pretty good –
sweet-and-sour chicken, boiled rice and fried rice (which I managed
to spill all over the ground). It was so good that we went back for
more – Kate managed to order some noodles this time, which were
amazing.
On our way back to
the apartment, we stopped for some pictures with the giant Lenin head
and then, a bit further on, we were hailed by a young man with a
North American accent. At first I sort of shrugged him off because I
figured he was trying to sell me something, but he persisted and we
eventually fell into a long conversation. An 18-year-old Canadian
travelling with his parents, Eric was an extremely seasoned
traveller. His parents work in the mining industry, and during
periods when the price of base metals dropped and they had difficulty
finding work, they would take him off on amazing trips in Latin
America, South-East Asia, Europe... After a while, we were joined by
his father and then by two local girls, both studying to be lawyers,
one holding a very large teddy bear. They explained that they rarely
came across English speakers and were keen to improve their skills
with us. So we all had a good long chat standing out on the corner in
the sun.
Later, we headed out
for dinner, again seeing what we could find among the places near the
apartment. After last night's liver debacle, we decided to play it
safe and eat at a place called Tokyo Sushi House. We were rewarded
with an English-speaking waiter and some lovely food – sushi,
noodles and fried rice, and no liver in sight.
We really enjoyed
our stay in Ulan-Ude. Although it was lacking in anything you could
really call a 'sight', it was fascinating as it clearly sits right in
the heart of the transition zone between Europe and Asia. Because of
the perceived lack of 'things to do', Kate had been uncertain as to
whether or not we should stay there, but we're both very glad that
did, as it gave us that strong feeling of leaving one culture behind
and stepping into a new one. Although there is a lot about the city
that is Russian – the big Lenin head, for a start, there are a lot
more Asian faces around and the food is also clearly more
Asian-influenced (which has us excited – Russian food is nice
enough, but you can't beat a plate of good stir-fried noodles).
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