The Vodka Train

For the final part of my journey, I have decided to join the aptly named 'Vodka Train' tour and travel from Beijing to St Petersburg on the Trans-Siberian/Trans-Mongolian route.

We left from our Beijing hotel at 6am (after arguing with the reception staff over my deposit that they refused to pay back - I finally won!) and headed for the train station for our 7:45am departure for Ulaanbaatar, the Mongolian captial.

Our tour group consisted of my new roommate, Kealie, two English sisters Georgina and Jo, a Kiwi called Lee Ann, a Bristish-Irish couple Michelle and Martin, an Aussie stduent Jess, an Aussie couple Alex and Hayley and Aussie friends Stephanie and Calista. At every stop we would be greated by our 'honcho' - a local person, usually a student, who would guide us around their city.

In Beijing, our honcho was Mark but I only saw him twice - once at the beginning and once when he dropped us off at the train station!

We reached the Chinese-Mongolian border at 8.45pm (after travelling for 13 hours straight!). After being shepparded off the train, through Chinese immigration and Mongolian immigration, we were left on the platform whilst Mongolian officials checked over the train. It was almost 2am before the train finally departed!

We arrived in Ulaanbaarat at 1.20pm and were met by honcho Toya.