After shunting around for about half an hour we reached the Mongolian border and the customs officials got on and collected up our passports. Everyone was really tired by this time and some people had already gone to bed. I couldn't stay awake during the hour and a half long process and managed to get in a quick nap before my passport was handed back at around 2:30am.

After I got my passport back I was out like a light. I woke up around 8am to the glories of the Gobi desert, which against the bluest sky I had ever seen was spectacular.

We continued on to Ulaanbaatar and I got talking to a nice Mongolian lady who was traveling with her young son and her brother, they had been on holiday in Beijing. Her little boy was keeping some of my passengers entertained. We finally pulled into Ulaanbaatar at 1:20pm on the dot and right on time and we were met by our guide Eric, from our local operator.

We piled into a waiting bus and were taken to the hotel, where I handed out the room keys and asked everyone to meet back in reception in half an hour for the city tour.

I had just enough time to freshen up before I had to head back out again and I wanted nothing more than a shower after 30 hours of dust, disturbed sleep and train toilets. Our first stop on the tour was the oldest monastery still standing in Mongolia. It was a tall white building with a green roof and inside housed one of the biggest standing Buddha I had ever seen.

Outside we fed the pigeons rice as this is supposed to bring good luck in your life and is part of the Buddhist religion. After the temple I went to the office of the local operator and got all the information for tomorrow and met the owner. I gave the crew twenty minutes to have a look around the main street so they wouldn't have to wait on the bus.

When I had everything sorted out we had a very long ride in traffic to the Mongolian monument to the Russian soldiers, which is on a hill outside of town. At the foot of the main part of a hill was a man with a huge eagle and you could pay to have your picture taken holding the giant raptor, which most people did including me. The weight of the enormous bird actually surprised me, it wasn't as heavy as I thought, but then again maybe two months of carrying around a backpack has increased my non existent upper body strength.

The hike up to the monument was intense, but the view from the top was worth it. We hiked back down and then proceeded to get struck in more traffic. Alan and Moy were actually putting bets on as to how long it would take to get through the traffic lights. Alan actually lost for once. Our final stop was Shukbaatar square, and we had a really good group photo in front of the main building.

I then decided to take everyone back to the hotel to get jackets as it had gotten quite cold. We then went out for dinner at a really cool Mongolian Barbeque place, recommended by Eric. It was all you can eat, which was excellent as most people were starving from the lack of food on the train. The food was cooked on a huge pate in the middle of the restaurant and with huge skewer like instruments. The guys cooking did tricks with them and even managed to crack and egg with them. I was impressed. After our lovely dinner, we walked through the streets of Ulaanbaatar and back to our hotel.