Okay, so we didn't run, we took the train.... but we did wonder at times if going by foot might be just as quick... We hopped on to the train and were greeted with a much more modern carriage almost entirely full with foreigners (and only a handful of Russians), which was a bit of a contrast from our earlier journey. Our compartment was also a lot cleaner and more modern - it even had a TV (not that it worked but we were still impressed). Probably the most traumatic aspect of the trip was the border crossing - 5 hours on the Russian side and 3 hours on the Mongolian side - this is no joke! Fortunately, we were allowed off the train for some of this time which was great to get some fresh air (30 degrees with a full compartment and no fan or airconditioning is not our idea of the perfect sauna!) and to use the toilets at the train stations as the ones on the train were locked for this entire time. The actual paperwork, though, went very smoothly. This trip was a lot more scenic than the stint to Irkutsk in that there was a lot more variety - as well as forests and grasslands, there were rivers, villages, nomadic settlements with ger encampments, and a lot more sense of the unknown.
We arrived in Ulaan Baator early on the morning of the 11th and were met by our hostelier - this was a huge bonus as the hostel would be a bit of a walk with all our gear. The hostel room turned out, much to our pleasant surprise, to be an apartment with it's own kitchen. The bathroom also actually contained a bath (!!) and we both had the best shower here that we have had since leaving London before heading out to town. The first day was pretty chilled out. We bought our onward train tickets to Beijing and visited the central Suhbataar Square.
Today has been a bit more full on but still thoroughly enjoyable. We visited the really fascinating National History Museum before heading out to the Bogd Khaan Winter Palace before climbing up to Zaisan memorial on the South side of town.
We arrived in Ulaan Baator early on the morning of the 11th and were met by our hostelier - this was a huge bonus as the hostel would be a bit of a walk with all our gear. The hostel room turned out, much to our pleasant surprise, to be an apartment with it's own kitchen. The bathroom also actually contained a bath (!!) and we both had the best shower here that we have had since leaving London before heading out to town. The first day was pretty chilled out. We bought our onward train tickets to Beijing and visited the central Suhbataar Square.
Today has been a bit more full on but still thoroughly enjoyable. We visited the really fascinating National History Museum before heading out to the Bogd Khaan Winter Palace before climbing up to Zaisan memorial on the South side of town.
Before we head onwards to Beijing, we are going to head out of town to visit a National Park and spend time with nomad families, sleeping in their gers, and learning more about their way of life.
1 comment:
Hello!
It's Regis and Agnès
We have read your blog and we are in a hurry to arrive in Russia and Mongolia...so we want to ask you how do you find your hoste in Monglia?
Bye and see you later
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