The train from Ulaan Bataar to the Monglian border town was very cheap(the equivilent of 3pound) and our third class cabin has a gang of mongolian children who roamed the carriages terrorising the other passangers. We were the only westerners as most travellers opt to take the through train which goes straight from capital to capital. We were travelling with Sam, (a 20 year old american who was now living in Tokyo) who is a great guy to travel with and as he spok...

We remained in Mongolia for nearly a week after returning from the Gobi. As we were unpacking the van after the trip we found to our disbelief that we were sharing a room with Dara the guy we had stayed with in Novosibirsk! The next few days were spent with him and others from the hostel, sampling mongolian cuisine purchasing magic cloth from the black market and watching the trick shot billiards world championships on some momgolian sport5s channel until the ear...

The Gobi Desert (25th - 31st March) We set-off from UB guesthouse in the morning with our travel companions Grace and Caroline and our driver/guide Loya. Although Loya doesn't speak much English at all, he smiles a lot and sems like a jolly fellow. We stopped-off at a market on the way out of the city and got supplies of water and beer and hit the "road". It isn't exactly a road, but a small track that runs through the desert over hundreds of mounds a...

We arrived in Ulaan Bataar with no prior hostel and as we had read good reviews about the UB guest house we excepted the free ride back to the hostel. The guest house is situated in the centre of what is a very small ugly predominently soviet built capital city but despite its apearences it is very easy to warm to the place as the mongolians seem to be friendly and the surrounding mountainous landscape is breath taking. The first couple of days were spent roaming...