Journey to Mongolia

We’re spent the last two days on the train from Beijing to Mongolia. In Northern China there was wilderness but you never went for too long before coming across a power station or a factory, and once a wind farm covering miles. Mongolia though, was nothing but vast plains (extremely flat even by Lincolnshire standards!) and eventually some gently undulating hills, with the occasional white yurt and herd of wild horses.

Ulaan Baatar is an extraordinary and unexpected city, emerging from the wilderness with suburbs of yurts and wooden houses. Even here in the centre, glass skyscrapers are overlooking yurts and tarmac roads are disappearing into piles of sand (with the well dressed urbanites of Ulaan Baatar walking over them in high heels and smart clothes!).

Our window overlooks a Buddhist monastery – this is it at dusk, but all the monks have gone inside.