it's funny the first time

I decided to keep a log of the border crossing, although I was careful not to let them see me making notes. Because I'm pretty sure that would be subversive activity.

At 4:50 pm we pulled into a Kazak exit station for a quick passport and visa check, and by 5:00 we were rolling backwards to the yard where our undercarriage was to be changed, due to the different gauge of the former Soviet countries.  Somewhere between that and the entry of customs officers for Kazakhstan, darkness fell.

My passport was taken at 6:20, at 6:49 we began to move, but did not go far.  At 6:58 we stopped again, and at 7:06 an officer with a dog came through.

At 7:15 a small group of officers came by and asked me to pull out and open my bags.  They were all men, and mostly just looked at things, asking me to pull things out but not handling them.  At 7:56 my passport was returned and I foolishly put my bags away under my seat again.

At 8:47, the train moved again, but stopped a short while later.  Another group entered, including someone who apparently is a nurse, who took my temperature around 9:15.

At 9:20 I was asked for my passport again, told to stand up, and I took off my glasses this time without being asked.  The officer thoroughly compared me with my passport, checked my visa and then left with the passport in hand.

9:22: an officer stopped in to say welcome to China.

9:25 brought three more officers, two of whom were women.  They wanted to search all my bags and asked about books and maps.  I pulled out the map of China that I have, and then was required to pull out my bags again to show them all books.  I had one still wrapped in cellophane that is intended as a gift, and she took a long time over that one.  She and her fellow officers commented on the books to each other in Chinese.  The map was the source of an extended discussion in Chinese, but in the end they let me keep it. One of them commented that I like books.  I smiled and agreed.

9:35, another female officer arrived, with a male shadowing, and she asked for my phone.  I said I have no phone but gestured to my tablet, which I had laid on the table.  She took it and went through it pretty thoroughly.  Of course I was not on line so all she could look at was what was stored, which is minimal.  I am surprised she didn't ask to view what I had on my flashdrives. Next she went through a lot of the photos on my camera, but eventually grew weary of that-I have a lot.  And then, you guessed it, she went through my bags. I am not sure if I was singled out because I am an oddity or if everyone gets this treatment.

At 10:17 my passport was returned. At 10:42 the train moved, but false alarm.  It is now 11:00 and we have still not departed.

At 11:30 we finally got under way again.

During these border crossings the toilet is locked and you are expected to stay in or near your cabin.  However, fortunately, between the Kazak and Chinese process, they opened the toilets. Eventually I also got hot water for my noodle dish and had dinner in between visits, once I realized that this really was going to take many hours.

When I read in Lonely Planet that the border crossing takes six hours, I thought surely that was outdated information.  I must say, they have been quite thorough.  Fortunately they have also been civil, even courteous at times.  I thought of making a joke a few times but this is serious business and so I refrained.  Lost opportunity.