After 5 days of travelling across the Eurasian landmass, it was nice to finally become witness the rolling green hills, the occasional ger dotted in the distance, and watch horsemen galloping alongside the train tracks as we entered into Mongolia. However as the Mongolian capital unfolded before eyes, our hopes of a fascinating and cultural city were soon quashed...but to finally be in the fresh air and on solid ground was a welcome relief to say the least.

We were picked up at the train station by our host, Daljma and taken to our hostel. From the outside it looked like a run down council estate with our hostel contained within one of the very run down building blocks. We cautiously entered through a huge steel door with no obvious sign that led us up some very dubious stairs to our room. The hostel itself is basically Daljma's house and we were given what we assume to be her and her husbands bedroom. Another quirk being that all the interior doors including the bedroom and bathroom had glass windows. Very bizarre. Anyway it was a lot comfier than the train so we were suited.

Once we got into the city it finally felt like we were travelling again. Not a westerner in sight, beers costing less than a quid, no clue as to what anybody is talking about and a constant traffic jam.

Ulaan Batar (Or UB to the locals) is very nice in the very centre, a grand central hall looks out over a huge open square which houses a statue of the Mongolian Legend Ghenghis Khan. The square hosts parades and official events during the days and at night there are mini cars and tandem bicycles to hire. There is a garden at the bottom of the square where old men meet and play chess, whilst children play on the parks. Dotted around the square is evidence of Mongolia's fast growing economy in the style of huge spectacular buildings and a selection of designer clothes shops. Yes, everything is lovely in the square.

Unfortunately, as you leave the square everything soon becomes a bit of a mess. In the 1930's the Soviets built the city in typical Russian style and destroyed almost all of the monasteries and temples. UB is therefore sprawled across one long very congested road and behind the constant traffic jam on the main road, ugly grey apartment blocks, rough estates and derelict suburbs of gers ruin the landscape and the over populated city becomes a polluted repetition of cheap cafeterias and karaoke bars.

It therefore didn't take us long to realise that we would need to be getting out of the city and into the country as soon as possible. We just had to decide which part of the country we would like to go to, we had eleven days and Mongolia is bigger than Europe, with hardly any roads! After a lengthy talk with Daljma, we decided to head to Central Mongolia for a week, this would give us a taste of all the different aspects of Mongolia - Nomadic tribes, Gobi desert, nature, landscape, horse trekking and history - A little bit of everything.

Things we have learned:

1. It appears that since getting married, Claire has now got the clumsiness that befalls the Wheelers, having fallen over going up the stairs hurting her elbow, falling over coming down a hill, really hurting her ankle and trapping her finger on the train when putting the bed away REALLY hurting her finger.

2. Mongolian food is ok and very muttonesque, cheap and huge potions.

3. Mongolian money is like Monopoly money

Dave's Transport stats so far:
Planes used - 1
Buses used - 1
Trains used - 3
Metros used - 1
Cars used - 2 (+2)