Mongolia

Posting from Mongolia, oh yeah! Would you believe it, broadband internet access from Mongolia? Fantastic! (^o^)

Recap of the last few days:
We arrived in Ulaan Baator (Mongolia's capitol) late Thursday after a rather hellish day & a half train ride (we were stopped at the China-Mongolian border for nearly 6 hours from 9pm til 2am, being woken up every hour with people demanding our passports & no toilet access & a constant jerking due to changing all of the wheels on the train as the tracks in Mongolia are a different width than in China. Craziness! We were filthy, tired, & hungry when we rolled in & that shower post-train ride was definitely in the top 10 best I've ever had. I have a feeling the next one will be even better as we've got a 2 night/1 day stretch...the one after that is a 3 night/3 day one (the worst -- ergh!). Had a filling & rather tasty meal of horse fillet & went out for a few drinks at a local club with some of my group. All in all it's been an interesting experience! Yesterday we went to the Mongolian ger camp & spent the night there. We all went for a 2 hour horseback ride on Mongolian horses (they're so tiny it's a wonder the Mongolians conquered half the world from their backs) & they even let me have a few gallops, which was fantastic. Mongolia as seen from the train & elsewhere besides Ulaan Baator was just as I'd imagined: gentle rolling green hills & plains with loads of horses & sheep & randomly dotted with ger camps. Ulaan Baator is a bit different than expected as it's quite modern with hotels, restaurants, bars, internet cafes with broadband, and a surprisingly fashionable youth! They all seem quite smiley & open & friendly, which is a nice change from China.

We leave tomorrow evening to head to Russia & Lake Baikal is our next stop. It's a 2 night/1 day stretch, worse than before but still not as bad as it'll be the last stretch. I'll post a couple of pics right now for ya'll to enjoy...