Hello. Irkutsk was ok, got pretty slushy and slippery. The highlight was definately visiting Lake Baikal - the largest freshwater lake in the world. We went to a little fishing villiage, walked along the cliffs a bit, saw sunset over the mountains on the other side of the lake. It was amazing. Met a lot of people on the train and in Irkutsk. We've all moved onto Mongolia at the same time too. There's some Finns, Irish, English, Canadian, French Canadian, very multicultural.

The train to Mongolia had some incredible scenery and a lot of smuggling. The border crossing took 6 hours on the Russian side and 3 on the Mongolian - mission. Ulaan Baatar is really nice - everyone is friendly, there's more English writing around and it's cheap. Had some nice Thai and Chinese food and looked round museums/monasteries.

We leave tomorrow on a 6 day jeep tour into the unknown. Sleeping in felt Ger tents and eating Mutton soup every day. Temperature at night will be about -20, Katie will probably die.

Sorry for lack of photos again, we're not having much luck with internet connections. This is our third cafe of the night and still not able to upload any. We're building up quite a library though. You will see them eventually.

We'll be in touch when we're back from the wilderness. Enjoy your central heating,

Matt & Katie xxx