Arrived in Beijing after 30 hours on the train. We seen the bogies (teehee) getting changed, as the tracks are different gauges. Arriving in the early morning sunshine and able to see the Great Wall was pretty special way to complete our epic journey by rail. Had a final meal with our group buddies and went all out, which in Beijing means we spent a fiver each - including beers! Magic! Next few days were spent walkinging the Great Wall (according to Chairma...

Day 14-16 7th-9th September 2009 Brilliant place - spent night in a ger too (see photo), will update soon x See below - Hi all, sorry we're not doing well at keeping up to date with the blog- we hardly ever get internet access- in fact in some places we're lucky to have running water and electricity! Mongolia was amazing- a real highlight so far! After yet another early start- this really is an endurance test- we took the bus from Russia to Mongolia (about 10...

Sight seeing - Massive Lenin's head (that's about it) update soon x

Day 11-13 of our trip (4th-6th September) Stayed in a little homestay with courtyard and mre importantly a Banya (Russian Sauna) and slide into Lake Baikal! You sit in Sauna, hit yourself or friends with Birch tree branches then slide into a freezing lake! Funner than it sounds! Very chilled in the little log cabins and brilliant plentiful food. Update this later, Steve and Shan x

It used to be the murder capital of Russia, now it's the Aids capital - not all bad though! Will update soon! Day 9&10: 2nd-3rd sep Arrived finally in Irkutsk after the long journey. Its a lovely charming city- but not so much to see and do. It was great to relax and recover from the train! The strangest thing was that it was 30 degrees celcius- roasting hot the first day- and then minus 3 the next day!!! Never seen such a dramatic change in 24 hours- gues...