06.11.08 We walked almost 18 km. Now that we are finally sitting on our bed, I can't even feel my legs any more. We spent all day “hútòng hunting”. But before getting on the way for this long journey we decided to have breakfast out in a lovely café we walked past the other day. It looked good and in fact it tasted good. It's called BreadTalk, if you pass by, stop. As I said, what we've done today has been looking for hútòng, with the help of Lonely Planet. Hútòng literary means alley. For centuries the hútòng have been the [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 14620 05.11.08 Our room has no windows, it's hard to say if it's day or night, sunny or rainy. We wake up early. In the toilet I find the third Chinese girl in two days brushing her teeth while hundreds of litres of water run away unnoticed. Why do you have to ruin my day so early?! Give me a break! I know, I'm a pain. Everyone is. At 8.00 we're waiting in the hostel hall. Our guide Benny comes to pick us up; we all walk to the van, us, a French girl and her Polish friend, both [View Full Entry]

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04.11.08 In the morning the bright lights are all gone and the city is wrapped in a thick cloud of pollution. We have never seen anything like that, and I really hope we'll never get to see it anywhere else. It's so horrible that no picture can describe it. Today it's 2 months since we left London! We experience the buffet breakfast of the hostel and we go out to walk to the Forbidden City. The grandiose emperors' palace is probably the most crowded place in Beijing. For now we ignore Tiananmen Square, we turn our faces looking at the gigantic [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 14440 02.11.08 We wake early morning when the window is still a blank rectangle. A guy at the guesthouse offered to take us to the station for 2000T, but we suddenly realize that here is too early to withdrawal money, so he will do it for free. When we get to the station Michael puts in his hands all the money we have left and he looks very happy. Outside is very cold, a sharp wind brings snow with it. We sit inside the waiting room. The train slowly slides beside the platform. When it's almost time we bravely [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 12803 31.10.08 The little boy Dava shook hands with us and energetically waved standing with his family while our Jeep slowly turned on its bumpy way. Today we tried the half frozen river crossing. Without big success we have to say. Ochkhar stopped the car and got off to check the river and find out where best to cross, and at the end valued that we were in the best place. So we tried, as I said. The ice was very thick, not enough to support the car, enough to break the car's headlights. We eventually came past a [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 12383 29.10.08 We stood silently looking at the frost particles sparkling in the air, supported by a slow wind. It's time to go. Everything is already packed inside the car. We felt very comfortable here at the lake, and leaving is always a bit sad. Moogi and his family have been very nice and friendly. How different is their life from ours. A life dictated by the sun and the moon, the winter and the summer. One solar panel to put outside the ger during the day, enough to charge cell phones and watch satellite TV. The white lake [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 12163 28.10.08 This morning at 6.00 Moogi came to our ger to light the fire. The night inside two sleeping bags and under a rug has been warm enough. We relax inside while the animals are taken out for the day. We have plenty of time until midday when we'll go for a horse ride around the lake. We read our books inside the ger with sunlight coming from the top ring. During the night the horses are let free and in the morning they come back to the house, so we have to wait for them. When the [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 11823 26.10.08 Ochkhar has brown thick skin, like one that has seen many suns. His hair is dark and fizzy, covered by a tight green hat. He spits loud words between thin lips and keeps his hands always up on the steering wheel. His jeep is blue, blue outside and blue inside. Inside is all padded like an old piece of furniture. Dava is a smiling girl that keeps the smile even when she's speaking. She just got her degree in tourism economy and she's our English speaking guide. Before leaving the guesthouse we've been lucky enough to have [View Full Entry]

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IRKUTSK - ULAANBAATAR Km travelled 11458 24.10.08 We still can't believe it but it seems like we're officially in Mongolia. The trip started last night. The day in Irkutsk was quite useless apart from a good lunch at the London Pub. Too cold and I was too sick, so we spent most of the day in, at the hostel. We met two Brits there, Dan and Rich, that are on the train with us now. That's very good, the guys are very nice and they're being very supportive during these endless hours of boredom, playing cards and watching movies{Braindead and Twelve [View Full Entry]

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Km travelled 10344 19.10.08 Our arrival at Jack's hostel has been an easy one, and comfortable. We've been soon caught by a young girl, also a guest (and please don't make any comment on the fact that she was a kiwi as well!) that drowned us into words for a while. This morning we're ready at 10.00 when Jack comes to pick us up and start our great tour to Lake Baikal. We're both dead tired but we're going to have some amazing time. Jack seems a nice guy and driving for almost five hours is a good chance to have [View Full Entry]

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