After a very enjoyable night’s sleep in a full sized bed, the buffet served at the hotel was more than acceptable. The only issue was that the bacon was cooked US style, and every time one stabbed it with a fork, shards would end up all over the plate. Still, this was easily fixed with fingers, and the hotel had decent coffee, so we counted this as a success. After checking out and paying the laundry bill, we were taken out to Gandan Monastery, the major monas...

Continued from last night.... After 4 and a half hours of being shunted backwards and forwards to have the bogeys for each carriage changed over, and our passports returned, we finally entered Mongolia and began our trip across the plains and the Gobi Desert. There really isn’t too much to see here; apart from the occasional donkey, sheep, horse or cow. There are 60 million domestic animals in Mongolia compared with a population of only 3 million, half of tha...

This morning is just a case of sitting around playing the waiting game. The train for UB (UlaanBaatar) is at 11:22 but we need to take at least an hour to clear the security check before getting on board. As such, we spent the morning sitting around in our room reading, updating blogs/Facebook or reading. I took the opportunity to download most of the Belgariad audio book to have something to listen to other than Todd’s snoring on the train. Or simply to listen...

Once again we begin the day with the breakfast of champions, watching John knock back at least 2 omelettes and waffles with chocolate sauce. Not my choice of meals, but hey. I had arranged with Lily to get in touch with someone regarding a tour of the Hutong (Mongol for Water Well) region of Beijing. Lily had organised everything for us and our new guide, Jessica, arrived at the hotel just before 9am and with a new driver as well we once again braved the reckless...

Another day of travel, another day of amazement. Today began (after a healthy breakfast of coco pops and waffles) with Lily taking us to Tiananmen Square. Before we got in the car she reminded us to ensure that we had our passports with us and to not ask any political type questions as there are always a number of plain clothes police who understand English walking around the square. Now, I know the hype about how it’s the biggest city square in the world, and ...