The final leg of the Trans-Mongolian, still to decide how to travel through China so that could be the last couple of nights on the train.
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| Trans-Mongolian Train, UB to Beijing |
The Mongolian train was a instant upgrade from Russia, friendly attendants, an improved but expensive restaurant car, 2 bed sleepers for those in the posh seats, charging points that worked & located in the room, toilets that didn't get locked at every small stop and a shower!
The wilderness of Mongolia was on full display for most of the day, 12hrs to the boarder through the steppe of the Gobi desert.
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| Mongolia through a train window |
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| Camels in the Gobi |
After a comparatively quick (1.5hrs) stop to exit Mongolia we moved onto the China border and the bogie changing shed. For non-train aficionados China operates on standard gauge, 3.5" narrower than the rest of the T-M route and the bogies are the wheels the carriage sits on. So after a lot of shunting the train was split up and each carriage lifted on large hydraulic arms as the bogies are switched. The whole operation took about 2.5hrs which gave us the full midnight hour back on the platform.
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| bogie changing |
Waking up in China and the scenery had changed dramatically. The trees were back and large fields of crops, particularly sunflowers, were interspersed with a clusters of buildings and a couple of large towns. Approaching Beijing and the views changed again to rocky hills before we met the edge of town around 40km out, not too much of a surprise that a city of 20 million people takes up a bit of space.
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| An early view of China |
Before we got off the train there was one challenge remaining. To fit 15 people in the cabin.
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| all the gang in one cabin |
From L-R (top) Tracey, Chelsea, Oli, Mark, Lois, Anne (bottom) Raya, Sam, Jared, Minna, Bec, Tony, Steve, Simon, Andre
photo credit Dom/Eva
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