The Travelling Howes: On the road again .... Beijing to Mongolia

2nd July

Gotta keep this short - Emirates flight fine – Airbus 380 and you know it is huge when they call “boarding rows 80-88”!! Amazingly huge. Arrived Beijing on Sunday 28 June after completing health forms asking "had I had flu lately and if so tick box"!!! And had our temperatures taken on plane before being allowed to disembark... Hotel in Donchem ng District (very central) good, quiet - slept flat out for 12 hours. Monday was spent walking Beijing - went to 2 parks but saving all the real tourist stuff until we get back at the end of our trip. Pretty tired and temp over 36c - phew - ended up in huge shopping malls just for the aircon. Food interesting - D desperate to try irritable duck intestines and probably will before this trip is over! Most people very friendly and love to help you with directions in exchange for a short English lesson. Tuesday saw us up at the crack of dawn and onto the Trans Mongolian train 1/2 filled with westerners with rucksacks. 2 berth compartment was utmost luxury by our usual standards (as in India and Vietnam). Loved it - lots of people to talk to, stunning views from windows - pot noodles for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Temps cooling as we move North West. Just read up on Mongolia and bubonic plague - oh and it says if you get sick in Mongolia don’t go to the hospital - get to Beijing pronto! Better stay well.

Train coming into UB

Crossed the Chinese/Mongolian border at around 10pm and all the men were hanging around hoping to see how they jack up the train and change the wheels as Mongolian and Chinese gauges are different apparently. Sadly herded into building with supermarket and locked in for 2 hours so it’s still a mystery to most. Did manage to drink the train out of beer so the supermarket did well in that department. Another set of health forms and at 1pm we finally moved into Mongolia and I moved into my top bunk! Next thing I knew was dust in the corridor, bright sunshine, heat up in the 30x and camels, sand, squat little horses and gers out of the window. As an aside I am told the horses here are either quiet or terrible - I fully expect to get the latter. Shoulder playing up a bit but can’t let that dampen my spirits.

Have only 2 mins left - arrived Ulaanbaater (UB) last night and am now waiting to get a plane down to the Gobi desert. Gotta go, met the 2 other women on the trip with us, they seem fine - more to come I hope but unsure of where the next email facility will be.