Overland into Mongolia

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It is often said that the journey is just as important as the destination and (my apologies for the cliche but...) this is certainly true for the overland trip to Ulaanbaatar. The train trip from Beijing to UB is a 30-hour journey on the Trans Mongolian express which passes through the Gobi dessert. I've been told that it's the same model train as the Trans Siberian and travels part of that route as well, except that particular journey is a 5-day epic.

As amazing...adventurous...romantic as the experience may seem, i almost missed the train altogether thanks to my alarm clock still set to Bangkok time - an hour behind. Realisation while getting changed at the hostel that the train was leaving in 40 mins with or without me had me stuffing my gear into my pack, flying down six flights of steps, hurrying the guy at reception to write down "Main Train Station" in Chinese, and sprinting for a taxi like an absolute mad man. The taxi driver, the traffic lights, the quite Saturday morning traffic and complete strangers at the railway station all played their part in getting me on the train with at least 5 seconds to spare. Even the young kid in a flash suit who insisted he worked for the train company and offered to help me with my bags couldn't keep up. I was on a mission. He quickly disappeared however as i approached the boarding gate.

With an almost-tragic start to the train journey i thought the 30-hour journey might feel twice as long especially as i had no time to stock up on food or drinks, but to my pleasant surprise it didn't. Vendors at unexpected stops offered very cheap snacks and drinks. I shared a cabin with a Mongolian lady and a Chinese man so communication was limited to gestures and facial expressions. They were very friendly and we freely exchanged passports so we could find out a little bit about each others travel habits. Between the three of us, we managed to sort out any and all matters of immigration forms and which sachets were tea or coffee. I also met a German girl, Maggie, from the next cabin who lives in UB and studies Mongolian culture. She turned out to be quite knowledgeable in Mongolian history, customs, greetings and a quick learner in cards.

The changing landscape throughout the journey was impressive. From the foggy, quiet start of the waking Beijing city through to dense suburbs, then countryside with glimpses of the Great Walls, followed by dusty country towns and dry mining towns that never seemed to end. As we approached the border to Mongolia the drop in temperature was remarkable. We had a two-hour stop at the border to change the wheel bogies due to the different sized rail gauges then we were in Mongolia just after midnight. The last formality before getting a decent sleep was a once-over by Mongolian border officials complete with tight, long burgandy leather jackets for the female officers with equally impressive jewellery and hair arrangements.

We woke the following morning to the stillness of the desert outside. The train had come to a stop in the middle of nowhere. The sky was a brilliant blue and the earth was a deep shade of brown. The temperture had dropped considerably as not only were we heading further north but we were also climbing in altitude. It wasn't long before we were welcomed by the sight of snow covering most of the countryside.

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