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We left Irkutsk for Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia and this involved a border crossing like which I have never seen before! The total time taken for the crossing was roughly 5 hours and it involved handing over our passports and not knowing when we'd get them back, filling out various departure and arrival cards, a brief cabin search, and even sniffer dogs! It all went as smoothly as possible though!
Ulaanbaatar is a really cool city where everyone seems really welcoming! On our first day there we visited the Gendon Monastry and the Sukhibatar Square; we saw the Ulaanbaatar Stock Exchange - which was in a little orange building - and a local culture show which had traditional throat singers; and we dined at a Mongolian all you can eat BBQ restaurant - amazing!
We stayed in Ulaanbaatar for one night before heading out to the Ger Camp where we would be staying for 2 nights. We stayed in a traditional ger which is kind of like a tent, but far better constructed and much warmer, and it has a wooden / coal burner in the centre. This is the type of dwelling which has been used for hundreds of years in the Mongolian countryside and still are!
Before we arrived at the camp we stopped off at a wishing pole which, if you walk round it three times before throwing something at the base of it, should grant you your wish. We also stopped off at a frozen river to play what can only be described as ice one pin bowling. It was actually really good free fun!
When we got to the turn off for the camp we found our road completely snowed over and despite the bus driver's very best - and slightly crazy - efforts, the bus had to be abandoned in two feet of snow half way up the hill to our camp!
Our time at the gers was really good - with the exception of the toilets, the less said about that the better! During the days we went horse riding, visited a Mongolian family living in a ger, indulged in a little Mongolian cooking, and hiked to a temple miles up in the hills! At night we entertained ourselves by playing traditional Mongolian games - which involved using sheep anklet bones - and we watched a movie about 'The Weeping Camel' and Genghis Khan!
We left the ger camp and spent a further day in Ulaanbaatar before boarding the Trans Siberian train to what would be our final stop, Beijing China.
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