mongolia, ulaanbaatar

Yes, I am here. :-)
At the ticket counter in Beijing they told me that the train is nearly full and i could get for that day only a deluxe ticket. Well, otherwise i would need to stay another 3 days in Beijing... so I bought the deluxe. It was nice. There are 2 beds in a cabin. They bring you linen to make it feel clean. It didn't feel dirty before though. I was so excited! Nearly didn't sleep the night before. I think right after we left the railwaystation i was already asleep. the ticket office might have lied to me, because I was alone in my cabin. Many other cabins were empty and also the "hard bed" were not total occupied. But i enjoyed my own room after staying in the dorm for a while now. The trip was nice.
At the boarder in Erlian the customs officer took our passports at about 8:30pm. Then we had to leave the train and we all went to the customs building. This was locked then and we all had to stay in until about 11:30 pm. It had a relatively cheap supermarket there and all of us stocked up on food and water. After we got the passports back I fell immediately to sleep and don't know when we left the station. About half hour later the train arrives the Mongolian boarder Zamyn-Ued. The customs officer woke me up and passports were collected again and the officer had to wake me again. I immediately fell asleep again but then woke up at the early morning. Going through the dessert. I saw my first Mongolian camels outside. Of course many horses, sheeps and not many houses.
Arriving in UB was like arriving in a nice little charming town. Also now after staying here for 2 days I still like it and feel the same. Today i spent most of the day walking around from guesthouse to guesthouse and leaving a note that i look for travelbuddy for independent traveling. Like already in Malaysia also in Mongolia they want to bring you around only in tours. It is possible to come around by public transportation though. However I would like to share with somebody and hope to find a few backpackers who don't want to drive around in jeeps all day long but also experience the nature and local life. If not, i will leave the city after 7 days latest on my own. Meanwhile there are many things to do around UB as well. Today i was in the monastery for example and participated the afternoon ceremony. Quite interesting to see. The monastry itself reminds me very much the old monasteries I have visited in Tibet.
Tomorrow I will go hiking over the mountain next to the city. It will be 7 - 9 hours walk. I met a few people today who did it at least partially and the all say it is so wonderfull and it doesn't feel like it is next to the city. so let's see... :-)