Temuujun's Guesthouse Ulan Bator

... What we thought was going to be a relatively fuss free and safe visit was rudely interrupted whilst leaving, as once I walked through the concrete hole, I turned around to find three reasonable sized Mongols bumping Owen around trying to pick his pockets. A raised voice and them realising he wasn’t on his own was enough to get them to move on, but this encounter drove home the fact that some people here don’t have a lot ...

... Oh the agony. As my hair now resembled a frizz ball we asked for it to be straightened and to my surprise it worked! They must have been some bloody good hair straighteners.

So today is our last day in Mongolia before we go to China. We have heard from Dmitri that he has just arrived in UB so hopefully we will meet him before we leave. I forgot to mention the website he runs about Lake Baikal as he put our last blog entry on there: www.baikalclub.com ...

... to one leaving the next day at 8am for five days – all transport, accomodation and meals for under 150 pounds!

Our team consisted of Tuul, our tour guide, Otchka our driver, two Australians, a New Zealander , a German girl and us! We were driving in this amazing old Mongolian people carrier that looked like a VW campervan but a lot more sturdy. And it definetaly needed to be sturdy – Mongolia, as far we can make out has just one asphalt road leading ...

... and enough cash to buy a horse to get to Ulaanbaatar by myself. No problemo! But the train returned, and I didn't have to. One girl had to be calmed down, as she was hyperventilating from the shock of being “left behind”...
Ulaanbaatar is a scar on the face of Mongolia. That's what the guide-book says. Although two hours after arriving and checking into Gana's we had my camera stolen in a buddhist monastery, I still have faith in it. How can I describe ...

... about Ulabantor or, run down, messy, unfinished and a bit crazy that is exactley what I got. When walking around Ulabantor you see quite a few drunks and tramps but not as many as other places I have been. We all went to breakfast in a western cafe, it was the first proper bit of food I have had ffor 4 days and since being on the train I have lost 5kg of weight. Our first proper stop of the day was the monastry museam of Choijin Lama. It was built in the style ...

... br>
It was kind of funny for me though. It wasn't funny for the first two minutes when I thought my debit card was gone, because I knew it would be a pain to get another one. Afterwards, I was happy that I had my debit card and that they hadn't taken my camera or ipod that was also in my purse. The money just didn't matter as much. So I was smiling in the police station, happy that I got my wallet back but Uya was still freaking out yelling at me ...

... were different people, with different families and now we were one family with the same memories. They all began crying and it only let up for about 30 min all the way until they went to sleep.
The next day we loaded them on the buses and brought them back into UB to their parents and we got the new group. The new group is slightly older, but better at English than the previous two. There are some students who are from Mongolia and live here ...

... is a sumo champion, and the family lives with their adults daughters, one of whom is also an animal doctor (all present). Shortly, our driver, grinning, pokes his head into the ger and says, "Ok, go!" It seems that he managed to find a group of people in two Land Rovers who are going where we are, and they'll take us. Later, when talking to our driver, I find out they introduced themselves as policeman (presumably off-duty). I whip my pants back on ...

... and 2 days out of the city, and to be quite frank, after seeing the city, I'd rather spend time in the middle of nowhere.

Ulan Bator is pretty sketchy. As I walked out to go change some money and pick up my train ticket (what an adventure!!!!!), I got accosted by a street kid, to whom I gave a dirty look and kept going. I think I got short changed by a woman, but after wandering the streets for half an hour looking for an office that ...

... back. The guy when he drove us to the hostel wanted 10, we only had 5 between us which really ****** him off. He got very threatening and got out of his car to prevent us from going into the hostel. it was the most scared I have been on this trip. The manager of the hostel woke up when she heard him yelling and swearing at us. He left in a huff after she yelled something at the window at him. We didn't take anymore taxis after that. Lesson learned.