Day 12-17 Onwards to Mongolia, then Beijing, the end of the line.

---

We now leave the Tran-Siberian route, and board the Trans Mongolian train, a much more modern train than our last train that brought us to Irkutsk. The train slipped away from away from the platform just as the sun was beginning to rise. A hundred years ago the train would have continued to Port Baikal then driven onto a British built ice breaker then travelled across the lake onto its destination. However, the stormy sea and thick ice made the journey unreliable so the alternative was to build a railway through the mountains at the south end of the lake. This was to our advantage, the train thread its way through, rising, then dropping, twisting, through some tight curves, in something akin to the Polar Express film, then finally skirting the frozen Lake Baikal for more than a couple of hours. This leg of the journey from Irkutsk to Ulaanbaatar would turn out to be the most stunning so far. Apart from mountains and lake, we would travel across rivers, through valleys, ending with a moonlit illuminated frozen Mongolian plain. This was only spoilt by being held up for over three hours at the Russian/Mongolian border. First the luggage was searched, then the dog search, then the cabin search, then our exit documents taken - that was before we travelled approx. 20 kilometres to Mongolian border for passport/custom check which comparatively didn’t take us that long, except I think our fellow Mongolian travellers did have lot to declare with them after bringing back new year gifts!

We arrived at Ulaanbaatar about 7am, and after the cool demeanour of the Russian persona (although they were better in Siberia than Moscow) it was great to be given a warm welcome from our next guide Ulzimaa and our friendly driver. This may be the coldest capital city on earth, but that doesn’t apply to the Mongolian people. They have been very friendly and welcoming. Boy oh boy, I tell you it is cold, not helped by the altitude, it being 1500 metres above sea level. Taking your gloves off for a few moments to do the simplest task hurts! After a quick shower and breakfast, we embarked on a tour of the city, a driving tour I’m pleased to say! We got out briefly to see the monument dedicated to Russian/ Mongolian relations, then Mongolia’s largest temple with chanting Monks at morning prayers, finally Chinngis Khaan Square, named after the famous Mongolian emperor.

We had seen on television, a statue of Ghengis Khan, outside Ulaanbaatar made of stainless steel, which we particularly wanted to see. We weren’t disappointed, it is magnificent and dominates the surrounding plains for miles. You can even go inside, up to the horse’s head for the astounding view of the surrounding countryside.

From here our driver took us to our destination for the next two nights a traditional Mongolian Ger which are still used by nearly 60% of the 3 million population. Suddenly our driver turned left where there didn’t seem to be a road. We then travelled 5 kilometres cross-country in his Toyota 4x4 to our Ger, in the middle of nowhere.

This traditional Ger camp is meant for approximately 80 guests but there is only….us! In the previous stopovers we had a guide for perhaps a day, but for two days we have had a enthusiastic and informative guide, a wonderful cook, a man who oversees the Ger, (even getting up in the middle of the night, to stoke the fire) we feel very privileged, not to mention a touch guilty. However we really enjoyed spending 2 nights under canvas, very cosy.

We spent our last day in Mongolia exploring Ulaanbaatar, first a Beatles monument (yes there is a big Beatle fan base there), then the Mongolian History museum. It is quite a buzzing friendly city, but is spoilt by terrible smog, caused mainly by the population burning coal for the Gers. They also have a bad traffic problem, they don’t give each other much space. We saw 3 accidents in the brief time we were there. Curiously although they drive on the right by law - like Europe and America, because they import many cars I saw most cars were right hand drive like ours.

We mentioned about the Mongolian food in a previous blog, we needn’t have worried, its lovely. Together with the Mongolian outlook, charm and warmth we have enjoyed the best part of the Trans-Siberian by far.

Another early start, and we said goodbye to our guide Ulzimaa and driver, to board the last train on our Trans Siberian journey, this time a Chinese train, with their smart trench coated coach attendants. We were to travel overnight, but first of all we had to cross, the Gobi desert, we saw camels, deer, horses, and vultures. Then then onwards to the border into China. Apart from the normal customs and passport controls, we had the additional excitement of the changing of the bogies. The Russian tracks are wider than the Chinese, so the train is taken to a shed-with us on it- and the carriage wheels are changed! The carriages are separated then jacked up, then new bogies attached. This part of the operation was smooth, we hardly realised it was happening. It was the subsequent shunting, not to mention the time taken, we had begun to think-‘wouldn’t it be better to change trains?’

We continued through the night to wake to the amazing scenery of China. With paddy fields, dams, mountains and our first glimpse of the Great Wall of China.

We are coming to the end of our first leg of our trip around the globe. As we were going to be travelling, in sub zero temperatures and Trans-siberian timetables we decided to have the help of a specialist tour operator- and are pleased we did-we now enter Beijing and from here on we are on our own!

---

Photos

What no meat!!
packaging looks better than what I got!

Arrival 6.45 am Ulaanbataar
You can see Alison with guide on left.

Comments

[Lesley]

I'm there with you!
From the comfort of my central heated house, the blogs are great it's like a history lesson (my favourite subject at school) you both look great can't wait for the next blog. Take care xx