Arrived Ulaanbaatar on Monday 3 October 2006 and settled into our room in the Khongor Guest House - tiniest room so far, but good location.  Found our bearings, located the internet cafes (always one of the first things to do) and even managed to buy tickets for some shows (more later).  Next day, as there is a Laotian Embassy on the outskirts of UB, decided to see if we could get our visas.  So armed with the passports, plenty of Mongolian Togrogs...

We've just returned from an overnighter in a national park north of Ulaanbaator where we stayed in a ger with a herder family. Very, very interesting not least the arrival of snow today as first predicted by the Worcester Park world weather centre and James (MacAskill) Scott!Bye the way if some of you are puzzled by Buddist Monasteries and Ben Nevis as postcard photos this is because we need to use a standard photo until we load our own. One of the ...

After a really, really long shoogly train journey we're in Ulan Batar (loads of different spellings) and once I've mastered the internet here, photos will shortly follow. Hope everything is well with everyone back home and abroad. Sunday 1 October 2006.Now off on train number 362 on the Trans Mongolian Railway heading for Ulaanbaatar.This is a local train and is more rickety and shoogly, and less plush/well equipped than the train from Moscow to Irkutsk.But t...