---

Neehow Guys,

Well what a journey. My Trans-Siberian trains have now come to an end. I only have another 7 days before flying back to England. Hopefully I will not be there for more than a week before setting off to rendezvous with Big Red.

After a whirl wind tour of Ulan Ude where we met up with 4 very nice locals (thanks very much for the guided tour and hospitality!) , the next stop was the Russian Mongolia border. 8 hours of nothing happening certainly can be difficult to pass. Luckily the travel scrabble was out again and the master of creative wordsmithing came to the fore.

Finally getting into Mongolia was like passing into a different galaxy. The scenery is spectacular. There are very few trees and the landscape looks as though it has been lined with velvet green carpet. Of the 2.4 million people who live here, 1 million live in Ulaan Bataar. A shower and a breakfast later, we were heading 6 hours off road into the most remote place you have ever seen. Here we met up with a nomad family and stayed 2 nights in a Ger. The star system can be
Naadam
seen here at its best and I marvelled for hours just staring up and drinking vodka. I am sure I could see twice as many. The family were great and very hopitable. After 2 days I was really sad to wave goodbye to them (and all the goats we had been catching and milking each day).

The next 2 nights were spent in a more luxury Ger tourist camp. Running water and a toilet to sit on. The horse riding here was second to none. They kit you up with a horse and off you go into the open spaces of the Mongolian mountains and plains. The word to go faster was 'Chu'. and I was going like a steam train galoping as fast as the horse would take me. I have never had such exilaration as the smoothness of the horse and the reponsiveness was seemless. Even the saddle was comfortable when trotting. Mongolian tradition is to wrestle and there was opportunity for me to take on some of the best. Needless to say, after dressing me up in the tightest underpants and off the shoulder open neck shirt (nice midrift!), they picked me up and threw me
Naadam
Wrestlingon my head. Luckily my 2 Judo sessions taught me how to fall properly otherwise I would have been coming home early.

11th July is Nadaam. The biggest festival in Mongolia. Somehow we timed the trip to make the opening ceromony. It was brilliant. The costumes and people are fantastic. Wrestling
Horse riding, Archery and Horse racing. All in all, I was very sorry to leave Mongolia. I could have stayed another week. However, China was calling....

After arriving in Beijing, a plush hotel was in order, and staying at the Marriot for 2 nights was just the trick. I am now in a great backpackers hostel for the next week. There is so much to do here. The beer is very cheap (30 pence for a 1.5 ltr bottle of Tsing Toa) I am in heaven.

Must sign off now.... China to explore.
Don't work too hard.

Dave.


Mongolia
Ger
Mongolia
Concert with Mongolian Dancing and Horse head orchestra.

---