On arrival at Harbin passport foralities were observed at the railway station and we were taken to the hotel. Next morning we left for Manchouli, The sleepers on this part of the journey were very comfortable. We arrived at Manchouli early and once again baggage and Passports were examined before transferring to the Siberian train.
As Customs examinations were by this time becoming a habit, careful re-packing was a waste of time.
Twenty minutes from Manchouli brought us to Otpor, the Siberian border town, where all baggage was moved to the Customs shed by a specially appointed transport man (for a fee of approximately 80 cents Hongkong) per package.
Here, all money, cheques, letters of credit, gold and jewellery were declared and a receipt given by the officials to ensure that no one takes out more money than is brought in.
This receipt was later presented to the Customs at Niegoreloje which is the western terminal of the Siberian Railway.
Literature of a political nature is liable to be confiscated at Otpor, The ordeal of each examination is much easier than it sounds, due to the attendance of an English-speaking Russian tourist representative who is attached teach of the Trans-Siberian trains.
From Otpor to Moscow we travelled second-class with first-class food coupons. Both first and second-class on the Siberian trains consist of a two-berth compartment, the only difference being a private wash basin in the first class compartment. We did not find this part of the journey We arrived at Moscow on the seventh day unfortunately a few hours behind schedule so we were only able to have dinner at the Hotel Metropole and a hurried motor drive through the town to the North Station where we found our train. The tourist representative did not travel any further with us but by this time we were able to ask for our tea in Russian, and we had picked up a few other useful words.
We left without delay for Niegorelje where we arrived the following morning. The receipt which we were given for our money and valuables at Otpor was checked over and handed in at this station. From there we journeyed on to Stolpce where again we had a customs examination to satisfy the Polish authorities.
After this we changed trains for Berlin, passing through Warsaw about 9 p.m. and arriving at Berlin the following day at 8 am. We had until 2 p.m. here and were about to explore the city, visiting among other places the Kaisers Winter Palace. It is wise in Berlin to go direct to Cook's office from the train for reservations to the Hook.
Nine hours after leaving Berlin we were at ihe Hook of Holland and without delay were hustled on to the steamer for Harwich. At 6 a.m. the next day we were going through our final Customs examination and two hours later we were in London. We travelled first-class on the Channel steamer,
Text read from the printed page and cleaned; old type leaves the occasional error.