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Train trip to Mongolia:
The next leg of out trip would see us travel from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar in Mongolia. This is the first leg of our multistage train journey on the trans-Siberian railway from China to Russia.
Sunrisesaw us boarding train K23 on a snowy platform in Beijing's Central Train Station. Krissy and I shared a four berth cabin with two young Australian lads, for this 28 hour passage to Mongolia. Space was certainly at a premium in these cabins, which were comprised of two bunk beds, separated by a small table. The cabin itself was clean and comfortable enough. After some time spent on choreography we were soon able to move around the space without causing too much disturbance to one another.
Time passed surprisingly swiftly in a blur of cards and pot noodles. The only thing that was plentiful on the train was the supply of boiling water from a coal powered zip at the end of the carriage. This provided Krissy with at least two hours of entertainment as she stubbornly attempted to cook rice by continually filling and draining a bowl with boiling water. Needless to say the end result was not exactly appetising.
At half past eleven that evening the train ground to a halt at a small train station twenty five minutes south of the Chinese-Mongolian boarder. Strangely enough, at this point, the train tracks change size. Over the next three hours each carriage of the train would have to have it's bogies removed and replaced with the correct gauge, so that it could continue on it's way. This also gave us a chance to get off the train to stretch our legs and experience for the first time temperatures below -10.
When we finally crossed the Mongolian border just before 2am, we had our passports and papers inspected by a staunch but friendly Mongolian customs officer. He spoke immaculate English and the process was swift and incident free. The same could not be said for when he searched the cabins of some Chinese passengers just a few doors down from us. This was our first glimpse of the century old aversion that the Mongolians still harbour toward their neighbours.
When we awoke the next morning we were greeted with the most spectacular view across the vast expanse that is Mongolia. The frozen plains sparkled as they were bathed in the warm red light of the rising sun. We were treated to a number of sunrises that morning as the sun repeatedly hid behind low hills on the horizon only to spectacularly reappear. Before long we were seeing an ever growing number of hardy cattle and Mongolian ger camps on either side of the train, signalling that we were getting close to our destination. Pulling into the train station in Ulaanbaatar ended the first leg of our train journey that would eventually take us a third of the way across the globe.
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