What Happened When I Got My Passport Stolen
I never worried about getting my passport stolen. It was one of those things I never thought to worry about. At this point I had been travelling for 12 months on my own with no real mishaps. I was excited about my trip to Mongolia…this was a place that has been on my bucket list for a long time. I did some research on it and knew I needed to take tours here as travelling around the country on my own is near impossible and not advisable.
When I was looking at tours online, I was beginning to wonder if I could afford to stay here for as long as I had booked…25 days. The prices of the tours online were very expensive. I then started reading some blogs and they eased my fears when they recommended people to book all their tours once they get into Ulaanbaatar, and not online. So that is what I did, and it worked out perfectly.
In the past 12 months I had not taken any organized tours longer than 3 days, which were trekking tours. The first tour I booked here was 15 days long. It hit almost all the places I wanted to see…local village Naadam festival, reindeer tribe, horseback riding plus extras that were nice additions to my list. First on the list was the Naadam festival. We were spending 2.5 days here for the events. I was super excited and probably gave myself a false sense of security since I was with a group. Not knowing what to expect at the festival, I brought my full day bag with me with everything in it. Never on any of the research I did, did I see anyone talking about the theft and pick pocketing here. Not that I shouldn’t be aware of my surroundings, but when I see others talking about it, I become more aware of things.
With the excitement and my false sense of security I put my bag down to try my hand at an archery station. There were several people from my group with me as well as my guides. As I concentrated on doing archery, a group of people walked by and picked up my bag without me even noticing. I remember seeing them in hindsight, a group of teens, but didn’t pay attention to them. In that instance everything I had in there was gone, which was a lot more than just my passport.
We immediately alerted the police that were there, but I knew it was gone. We all searched the area, with no luck. I was more upset at my stupidity, but I wasn’t super angry or anything. It is what it was. Two things were now on my mind.
- What do I do now about my passport? I am on day 1 on a 15 day tour and already a 6-8 hour drive away from Ulaanbaatar.
- How do I get my hands on a police report? This is needed to claim my stolen items with my travel insurance policy. Not only do I need this, but I also need this to be done within 24-48 hours of the incident. Make sure you read your policy, so you know what is required to claim.
Serendipity stepped in for my first concern. The one hostel we stayed at on our tour was that night and it just so happened a guy staying there worked at the Canadian Embassy. I had overheard his girlfriend talking to other people about it. I went over to him and explained what happened and asked what I needed to do. He gave me the phone number and told me to initially report it and they will take it from there. That is what I did. I explained my situation and where I was. I was lucky I had other ID back in Ulaanbaatar with the rest of my stuff I didn’t take with me.
My guides put up signs in the town and asked around about my stuff and bag. Nothing came of it, but it was nice they did this. I did have to become pushier with them about getting a police report. They had tried a few times, but the local police were refusing to do it as they were too busy with the festival. I continued to hound them to continue to ask. On our last day there, about 3 days after the incident, we went into the police station and we finally got my police report. I basically told him what to write. I got him to write down every single item that was in my bag. It was in Mongolian, but I knew my insurance company was ok with that as they were able to get it translated without a fee for me.