The train journey along between Irkutsk and Ulan Ude (the circum-Baikal railway) was one of the best parts of the trip so far. After leaving at 11:30 the train took us along the eastern side of the lake, with views across on one side, and snowy mountians on the other. There was little to report from the trip other than a Russian boy giving us some chocolate, and what appeared to be a school drama group practicing their play on the train.

We arrived in Ulan Ude in the evening and set off for the hostel, stopping briefly to see the world largest head of Lenin which sits in the main square. Our tickets for the bus to Ulaanbaatar were waiting for us at the hostel, after picking them up and eating some food, we went to bed.

The following day was another early rise to catch the bus. We drove south and soon reached the border, where we stopped at customs for a couple of hours. After passing through the bus driver stopped at a old communist hotel for lunch. This was our first impression of Mongolia and it was not positive.

Fortunately we soon left the crumbling town and drove through the amazing Mongolian landscape. The closer we got to Ulaanbaatar, the busier the road became, and the worse the driving of others. I soon became very grateful for the restraint and smooth driving of our Russian driver (a sentence I thought I'd never type.

At about 20:00 we were unceromoniously dumped on the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar by the bus. Immediately we were surrounded by taxi drivers and people trying to invite us to their hostel or sell us a tour. We fought our way through the crowd and eventually made our way to the nearest bus stop to get to the city centre. Realising we had no idea which bus to get, we asked a local who took us to the centre and then even drove us the rest of the way. Shamefully, I was sceptical that she was trying to scam us somehow even as she drove away leaving us at the hostel doorstep.

The next day we decided to organise a tour out of Ulaanbaatar. With two people that we met on the bus the previous day, we organised a six day tour to Central Mongolia, leaving the next day.

After going to a Korean restaurant for lunch we walked 45 minutes Zaisan monument, a good viewpoint over the city. The monument itself was interesting (soviet-built to make the Mongolians grateful for Russian sacrifice during WWII), but the view was not great- we were soon realising that Ulaanbaatar is not the most beautiful city.

Not to be deterred, we set off on another 45 minute walk across town to find the 'Black Market'- a very ominous sounding local market. We walked around for a while looking at knock-off clothes before going to get a bus to the hostel.

For the second time in two days we failed to understand the bus route, but again we were saved by some locals. Three university students guided us across the city (and in my case helped me escape some drunk guy who lunged at me to steal my hat), and took themselves out of their way to make sure we got bacl to the town centre. We had some traditional deep-fried Mongolian food for tea, had some beers with some friendly locals, and then headed back to the hostel for the evening.