To my surprise the fire in my tent was lit again at midnight and again at 6am with the staff just walking in unannounced. When I went to bed I was very warm but by the morning I was shivering in my two/three season sleeping bag and was very pleased to get up and go for breakfast. The food was again all local and very tasty, the pumpkin marmalade and yellow berry hot juice was a particular favourite. The temperature had dropped considerably from the day before and the wind was bitterly cold. Layered up, Nassa took us to visit a local nomad family. After walking for about thirty minutes in the cold wind we arrived at a young couple's tent. We were given fermented mare's milk (cold) to drink, cream and stale bread and some ... read more

Welcome to Mongolia The smell of cooking pork was slightly stronger than the stench of cigarette smoke when I woke at 9am. The rhythmic motion of the train was relaxing and I slept well all night. Chaos in the corridor this morning with an overnight influx of Mongolian tradesman I can only assume going to market. Within half an hour they were off the train and peace had returned. The commandant has a small area where she cooks for herself and any other passengers she likes. There is a large fridge freezer in her room and a sink with a good flow of water for her exclusive use! One of the cabins was stacked full of new ikea furniture (very dated black ash) all in the packaging on route I suspect to a Ger camp somewhere. ... read more

Blog 5th October 2012 - Zai Jain Beijing My final day in Beijing before I start to head home on the 9000 km rail journey. Today I ventured back to Tiamen Square. My last visit seemed fleeting as my guide power walked me through the crowds periodically stopping for a photo opportunity. As I left my hotel I was prepared to get disorientated and lost due to the sheer size of the place. Ever hopeful that in a crisis I would be able to read my Chinese map I set off for the day. Bumping my head as I left the subway train yet again I headed up into the holiday crowds. I was greeted by the scene of thousands upon thousands of people all swarming towards one government building or another. I had got the ... read more

I managed to hand wash my clothes last night and they were dry by this morning, an indication of how warm my room really is. I had a bad experience in a laundarette in Buenos Aires once. I dropped my clothes off for the laundry service and on my return I was served by an old woman who resembled my grandma, who duly handed over the perfectly wrapped clean bundle of clothes to me. When I returned to my hotel I discovered five pairs of M & S pants had been stolen! Since then I have had a policy of never using a foreign laundrette. Clean undies aside let's get on with today's blog. Having missed out at the London Olympics I thought I would drop by the Beijing Olympic village to see if I could ... read more

After all the preparation, packing and learning the languages I have now arrived in Beijing at the start of my three week trans - Siberian trip. My rucksack weighed in at a respectable 19.5kg, including 3kg of pot noodle and go ahead bars. The flight was uneventful and I will leave it at that. I landed at 5am and it took a further 25 minutes for the plane to finally come to a stand still! What a huge airport. I took a taxi to my hotel which I was pleased and relieved to see actually had two stars, twice as many as I was expecting. The taxi driver made 13 calls over the 31.1 km we travelled, on at least four occasions he said 'uk' and I thought I was on the verge of being kidnapped. ... read more