Ulaanbaatar to Beijing
18. August 2007 - 19. August 2007
Baynaa took us to the train station in Ulaanbaatar in the morning and after getting on the train we again had a stinky compartment - we were sharing with two Italians who absolutely reeked of unwashed clothes and unwashed bodies. It was disgusting and we really didn't enjoy the ride very much. Thankfully it only took around 30 hours.
We travelled through very barren looking countryside - the edges of the Gobi desert. And saw a lot of camels and flat, sandy and dusty landscape.
Lena and I got out our Chinese textbooks and we tried to brush up on our little Mandarin we can speak. Crossing the border into China late at night was an experience, as we all had to leave the train (the carriages had to be put on a different undercarriage, as the rails are a different gauge). At the station we all had to go through customs and get our visas checked and then we had to wait for our train to come back. The station was blasted with dreadful chinese pop and easy listening classical music... But we were in the fresh air and didn't have to smell the Italians!
We arrived at Beijing Railway Station at lunchtime the following day, managed to queue for a taxi and got to our hostel without a hitch. And the hostel turned out to be more of a hotel: clean, friendly staff and cheap!
Baynaa took us to the train station in Ulaanbaatar in the morning and after getting on the train we again had a stinky compartment - we were sharing with two Italians who absolutely reeked of unwashed clothes and unwashed bodies. It was disgusting and we really didn't enjoy the ride very much. Thankfully it only took around 30 hours.
We travelled through very barren looking countryside - the edges of the Gobi desert. And saw a lot of camels and flat, sandy and dusty landscape.
Lena and I got out our Chinese textbooks and we tried to brush up on our little Mandarin we can speak. Crossing the border into China late at night was an experience, as we all had to leave the train (the carriages had to be put on a different undercarriage, as the rails are a different gauge). At the station we all had to go through customs and get our visas checked and then we had to wait for our train to come back. The station was blasted with dreadful chinese pop and easy listening classical music... But we were in the fresh air and didn't have to smell the Italians!
We arrived at Beijing Railway Station at lunchtime the following day, managed to queue for a taxi and got to our hostel without a hitch. And the hostel turned out to be more of a hotel: clean, friendly staff and cheap!
posted by Daniel.Lang at
08:22
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