17/11/2007 In Zhongmu we put our feet up and relaxed before getting ready to head across the border into Nepal. It was a chance to refect on what we had seen and experienced in the last few days and of course to toast the happy couple. We had met a German man named Harald that evening and he asked to accompany us. That brought our party to 4 and meant that the trip to Kathmandu would be that much cheaper. Harald it turns out had done the Trans Siberian Express 40 years ago and it was interesting to hear him recall what he had experienced compared with ourselves. Russia would have been a very different place back then. Our friend from the guesthouse brought us down to the border where we went through Chinese border control. ... read more

The train journey to Tibet is the highest in the world. They actually have to pump oxygen into the cabin to offset the effects of altitude sickness because it peaks at about 3000 meters. The journey was going to take us about 48 hours so we decided to splurge and get a 4 berth cabin between us. It turned out to be well worth it, 2 days of hocking and spitting would have been tough on the nerves. Even with the preventative measures you could feel the air inside the cabin getting thinner. I woke several times at night gasping for air and there was a smattering of a headache. The pressure was building. The view out the window was savage though. It was looking like Mongolia mark two. The peaks and mountains were unbelievable as ... read more

We arrived at Xi'an train station early in the morning. We were met at the station by people from the hostel we were staying at, the Lu Dao. This place doubles as a hotel with the top floor used for the hostel. The Lonely Planet had raved about the place, saying the manager was well in with the PSB, the people who you have to get the Tibet visa off. So first thing we approached the manager and were given a flat "no" on the Tibet visa, that the borders were closed. News to us, but we let it slide, so next we asked about the free train ticket collection service they provided, this time we were pointed to the train station and told to get them ourselves. A bit taken aback we went for a ... read more

Datong has a population of about 3 million people and is a big coal producing region. It served as the capital around 400 AD and did so for about 70 years. You'd think that a city this steeped in history would have loads to see and do, unfortunately this did not prove to be the case. We took the overnight train from Beijing and arrived in at about 7.00 am. We knew what it was we wanted to see and in hindsight we should have just gone and did it in the one day But we were curious as to what Datong had to offer. We loaded into the CITS, sort of travel agents, booked accommodation, our train tickets onwards and a tour for the next day. We did some walking around the city that day ... read more

With a band of 8, Greg, Pippa, Robert, Carla, Anna, Pete, Lucia and myself we started out on our 8 day hike around Mongolia. The trek was to take us west as far as the city of Karkhorin and then back east to Ulaan Baatar and up to a park outside of the city. We had 2 drivers (Sugra and Togo), 2 guides (Tosnoo and Kishgee), and a heap of food and drink so we all bailed into the same trusty Russian Jeeps we'd used in Baikal and took to the road. DAY 1 Well we had something of an unfortunate start to proceedings when we got 3 punctures in the first few hours. The driver had gotten 4 new tires the day before and they were leaking. We had to hang around for hours waiting ... read more