Into Mongolia from Russia... with love

I had to get one James Bond reference in before I left all posting on Russia behind.

Our final few days in Russia were spent on Olkhon Island - a magical place, and very pretty as well. The lake was still frozen over in some parts, and the landscape of the island was wild and rugged. We went for a couple of day-trips around the island in fantastic combie-style Russian 4WDs, and we ate lots and lots of fish (omul being the local specialty). It was very cold, but we were able to warm ourselves with Russian banya - a sauna and wash room combined. However, this does mean that I haven't had a proper shower in about 6 days.

But we have now farewelled Russia, and have just arrived in Mongolia - in Ulaan Baatar - after another 2 nights on the train. It's been a pretty tough couple of days travel for some reason. Maybe I just need a nice comfy bed and a home-cooked meal. Or maybe it was the fact that a man we shared our kupe with started to show Tom photos of his three girlfriends after he had earlier shown me photos of his wife and kids. Or maybe it was the fact that our carriage attendant unlocked and tried to open the toilet door in a moderately aggressive manner knowing full well that I was in there.

Anyway, no rest for the wicked, because tomorrow we head out to live like nomads (albeit in a touristy way) for 6 days. We are going to stay with 5 different families in their ger tents and ride horses, camels, and do other Mongolian-nomad-like things. From the sounds of it we will be eating lots of mutton and drinking lots of yak milk. Not quite the home-cooked meal and comfy bed I might like, but there'll be plenty of time for that later. First things first: it's time for a shower.