We arrived in Mongolia (Ulaanbaatar) early on the 1st April. We were confronted by taxi drivers and hostel reps trying to get our business. After getting in and out of several taxi's (without leaving the car park) we decided to go to the Golden Gobi Hostel after I persuaded James that the 5 star hotel was a bit extravigant. The taxi driver and hostel rep then got dragged out of the taxi by other taxi drivers who wanted our business and we were nearly kidnapped. I...

(James) Hello everyone, sorry we have not kept more up to date, two main reasons, firstly we have been in the middle of nowhere and secondly trying to find an internet cafe has been a mare... anyway, we are now in Beijing, China, so I am going to finish off Irkutsk in Russia. At the last update we had only just arrived Irkutsk, which we thought was a bit grey and stern along with its inhabitants. That evening we had a meal at the hotel and both ate a Horse steak...