Saturday night we got on the train on time. We found out we were in a cabin with a nice Dutch couple. The cabin was not what we expected. It smelled liked old horse blankets, but luckily we could open the window, so the bad smell got less. For the first time we slept in our sleeping bags and were glad that we brought them.

The next day, Sunday, we arrived at the Russian border control. First they checked our passports, then we needed to get out for two and a half hours. We walked around in the small village and ate some dumplings Russian style, so with sour cream (no dill, luckily). When we got back to the station we found out that only two of the five carriages remained. At the station we found some pretty good entertainment during the wait. Marit had a flirt with a Russian soldier (who looked Chinese, but couldn't speak it, too bad). She had a nice chat (and photo session) with her soldier and learned some things about the Russian army. We got back in and had to stay in the cabin. They took our passport and the forms we filled in when we entered Russia. We had to wait for another two hours (the bathrooms where closed, already for four hours) and they searched our cabin, not that thoroughly though. After that, we got our passports back and the forms with a nice stamp on them. We went on to the next border and during that half hour we needed to fill in some new forms. At the Mongolian border we had to stay in the cabin. They took our passports again and the forms and searched the cabins. After that we could get out on to the platforms if we wanted and had to wait for two hours. Back in the train we got our passports and some of the forms back and finally continued our journey.

The next morning, Monday, we arrived in Ulaanbaatar at 6 o'clock in the morning. We found out that four other Dutch people also went to the same place as we, so we searched for our driver together. Luckily we found him quickly by saying the name 'Bert' a lot (which is the name of the Dutch man who owns the camp we were staying in). We drove for two hours in a minivan and not on normal roads. In Ulaanbaatar they have asphalt roads, but after thirty minutes that stopped. So we hobbeldebobbelt further for about an hour and a half. The interesting part of the drive was that they were working on asphalting the road, but only small parts and those parts did not connect... Also there are a lot of cows and horses on and next to the road that seem to belong to no one. We stopped at an hotel, but luckily it wasn't were we needed to be. We had to walk for ten minutes, in which we crossed four 'bridges'. The first one was made of steel, the second of wood, the third one were three flat planks, and the fourth was only a tree across the water. We survived and from there we got picked up by an oxcart. We hobbeldebobbelt for another half hour and enjoyed the view. We finally arrived at the Gertenten camp. There were like eight gers witch looked all like the traditional ones. The camp was quite nice, it was in a valley in between high mountains. There were six dogs and a cat, which you ignored and sometimes needed to 'Tjoe' ('Tjoe' they say to every animal if they want to make it do something) out of your ger. Also around four o'clock till seven o'clock the cows walk in (there is a fence around the gers) to eat some grass. They also like to sneak into the gers if you do not close your door. We settled in in our ger, got some breakfast and explored the surroundings.

After a proper lunch we decided that we wanted to make a hike to the top of the mountain. The other people we met on the way to the camp also wanted to go, so we went all together. It was a climb of 300 meters. It was Marits first real climb, but she managed really well. At the top the view was magnificent.

That night it was very cold. Not at first, because all gers have a stove which makes it really hot inside, but if it goes out the temperature drops. Luckily we decided we would sleep in our sleeping bags and with two other blankets on top of them we kept warm.

Tuesday we started, after breakfast, with a horseback riding trip. Marit was a bit scared so her horse was hold by the guide and she only needed to stay seeded, which she did. Anniek said to the guide that she had some experience, so she got to ride on her own, and found out that she still actually could. We crossed a deep river with a strong current, what was quite the experience. After that we (well mainly Marit) hobbeldebobbelt up a mountain. After one and a half hour we had a break and climbed up for a nice view. The next hour and a half were really nice for Anniek because her horse finally had the energy to trot for a long time. Marit did not like the second half that much because her bump started hurting from all the hobbeldebobbelen.

That afternoon we made another hike (this time flat) and sat in front of our ger reading our books. That night we stayed up a bit longer to see the night sky and even some falling stars.

Wednesday we left around ten o'clock, again with the ox cart, hobbeldebobbelt our way back to all the bridges, crossed them again and got in the van that would bring us to our hotel. Two hours of hobbeldebobbelen later we were finally there. After some drastic cleaning (we did not shower for three days) we went in to Ulaanbaatar for some sight-seeing. We saw the big temple complex and the big square, which are two of the three highlights of Ulaanbaatar. We weren't that impressed, but we don't know why not. After dinner we had to get some more money from the ATM (we still needed to pay the hotel for cleaning our laundry). It wasn't a success. The ATM took Annieks card in and didn't want to give it back. Back at the hotel she checked her account and everything was okay, no money gone. Now we only got Marits card left, so hopefully the ATM's won't take hers as well.

Tomorrow we will cross the Chinese border. We are curious about that, at least that won't take eight hours, only six...