ok, so i forgot to mention the reason for the title of the last entry - but not many of you noticed. maybe noones reading! its not all that interesting, just that when i was in ulan ude, sitting in the main plaza,enjoying the sunshine, i saw five wedding groups and also a funeral procesion. the body was brought out in an opentop coffin, to the music of a brass band, then the mourners followed as it was carried off across the plaza and away somewhere... anyway, i joined the train heading to ulaan baatar, was sharing with other backpackers, which i was almost disappointed about, after having such good experiences with the locals on the previous trains. but they were really nice, and the journey was fine. at naushki, at the russian border, a custons guy came on to check our passorts and documentation. he saw that i didnt have the previously mentioned migration card. he returned to our carriage about ten minutes later, took my passport again, and indicated that i should follow him. i left the train and was taken into the office at the platform, but fortunately all that happened was that he asked me to fill in a card there. it was quite a relief to get back onto the train!!! we arrived in ulaan baatar about 6 in the morning. there were some hostel touts waiting to meet the train. i ended up choosing a really great place to stay. it was in someones house, really close to the city centre, comfortable beds, hot showers, really friendly owner. i spent a few days in and around ulaan baatar, saw a few museums, saw the mausoleum to sukhbaatar, the mongolian national hero who in 1921 proclaimed independence for the country. i guess hes inside it, but its not open to tourists. there are a few monasteries that survived the purges by the communists in the 1930s and the links to tibetan buddhism are strong in mongolia. i visited terelj national park, with a couple id met on the train. i actually found it a little disappointing, as it looks like it been built entirely to try to separate the tourists from their money. there was a reasonable hotel, and it just had a very touristy feel to it. we actually went horse riding, for an hour - that was enough for me and the mangy horse i had - by the end it was stumbling and i dont know that it would have lasted much longer... but as soon as we were off the horses, someone else would come up to us and offer us another horse ride, on better horses, or on camels, or on yaks.... we visited a ger on this trip. a ger is a traditional mongolian dwelling, circular, with wooden supports and surrounded by felt. the woman didnt seem too welcoming, but gave us each a bowl of 'suu tei chai', a salty milky tea drunk by mongolians everywhere. the first sip could easily have been my last, but i felt it rude not to finish my bowl, so managed to drink it all. really strange tasting, it was almost like floury water, with salt. our hostess looked bored throughout the duration of our visit: at one point she picked up her nail clippers and proceeded to cut her nails! i kind of felt then, that wed outstayed our welcome!!! another day we visited manzhir khiid monastery, which was actually nearer the city, but felt really remote and didnt have a touristy feel to it. probably helped by us being the only ones there, but as we left we saw three minivans and a tourbus pull up - i think the atmosphere would have been very different with so many people around! and then i went on an 8day tour round the countryside. it was really good fun, though there was a LOT of driving. the roads in mongolia leave a lot to be desired, honestly, i think i will never again complain about how bad british roads are. our average speed, on tarmac-ed roads was only about 40kpm, because there were so many craters and potholes to be avoided. and when we were offroad, we hardly went any faster. i think we covered about 1900-2000kms over the tour. we went into the gobi desert, where we saw a glacier that is permanent, in winter can be 10m deep, but even in summer, is still there. a bit bizarre, ive never associated glaciers with the desert! and we climbed some sand dunes, which were cool. the views out over the sand were great. and we also visited the area of bayanzag, which is where many of the dinosaur bones and fossils discovered in the 1920s were discovered. it was a cool place. and we visited the ancient capital, kharkorin. its got nothing really going for it now, but there are plans to make it the capital, between 2020 and 2030, to commemorate it being capital, 800 years ago. we did camp two nights. the first night it was a bit cold and windy, so when the driver offered to find us gers, we were delighted. he was from the gobi, so i think he was calling on all his contacts to get us cheap deals. one place, we arrived after 11pm, long after the occupants had gone to bed, but shortly after, they had the stove relit, which heats up the whole ger, and were making us suutei chai (which by this time i developed a bit of a taste for!!) and offering to cook dinner. their hospitality was unreal. the gers were really cosy, staying in them (although we displaced the families) was a great experience. reading back over that, it kind of sounds like i didnt really do much. but so much of the time was spent driving to get to each place, thats really why. it was all great fun. and then it was time to leave mongolia, so i took a train to the border, zamyn uud. however, because there are only two international trains a week, and i wasnt on one of them, i had to take a bus from there, across the border, and on to beijing. it was a sleeper bus - complete with beds, rather than seats! they were SO narrow, i had a hard time lying with my hands flat by my sides!! but i did manage some sleep, as it wasnt too uncomfortable. arrived in beijing about 3am, and went with a mongolian woman id met on the bus, to the hotel she was staying at. next day i checked into a backpacker place. i had an amazing day yesterday. in the morning, i went to see mao in his mausoleum, which must be about 10times the size of lenins. but the whole thing just seemed to be a pantomime. there were many people placing bunches of plastic flowers in front of a large marble statue of him. (i am convinced these flowers are the taken back to the shop and resold..) my first thought when i saw him was 'oh my god hes got a glow in the dark face' but then i realised it was just the way the light was shining on him. we all shuffled past - it probably only took about 30seconds, and then we were into a room where we could buy our tasteful mao souvenirs. though why you would want a mao thermometer, im not sure.... and then once outside, but still within the grounds of the mausoleum, there were the rather more tacky souvenirs - battery powered soldiers and the like. it really lacked the solemnity of seeing lenin. after that experience, i went to visit the forbidden city. it was AMAZING!!!!! probably the best sight ive seen over the course of this trip. i was just absolutely enchanted by it. i can quite understand why the emperors didnt leave its walls, unless they had to!!! i spent about 5hours wandering round, getting a guided tour from roger moore and i didnt even see all of it. it was just absolutely incredible. im really enjoying beijing. im loving the food - delicious, cheap and lots of it. the sightseeing is great and the weather is mild. im off to do more sightseeing!!