Beijing to Ulaanbaatar

A few days ago I left Beijing for the sweet, sweet skies of Mongolia. One of the concessions to planning I made while still in the states was this train ticket. I found an agent in Beijing to book it for the price plus about $20 USD in commission ($86 USD total). This turned out to be a pretty good deal, as I heard stories of people paying upwards of $300 USD. We left Beijing on 30 August just before 8 am and were to arrive in Ulaanbaatar midday 31 August. I was lucky to have just two other people in my compartment (2nd class "hard" sleeper) designed for four. Nathan, a Mancurian just departing work in Phoenix, Arizona, was good company, and Chris, a St. Andrews Senior from the Eastern Coast of the US joined us with tales of travel, sailing, and his girlfriend back home. Along the way we were privy to spectacular views of the great wall for the better part of an hour. Most of the time we chatted and snacked, read and played cards. It was more tiring that it seems, but when we got to the Mongolian border near midnight we were in for a real treat. Train enthusiasts might get a kick out of this... Russian (and therefore Mongolian) trains and Chinese trains use different railway gauges, so each time the train passes from one country to the next, the bogies need to be changed. We opted to stay on and watch the operation.

This internet cafe closes in a few minutes so I will rush through some things from the last few days. Mongolians can be very aggressive. UB is a small but urban city- very Russian (though I am guessing). Half of the 2.8 million Mongolians in Mongolia live here... There is wonderful Western food and good beer.

Tomorrow I am heading out on a privately planned 24 days trip around the country. I have hired a van with 3 others and we head to Lake Khoysgol... We will be camping about 20 of those nights. Hopefully the Siberian winter won't be too painful or early. Thank you for the well wishes, comments and emails.