The Train

We arrived in Beijing Station at 7 to get the train at quarter to 8. We got onto the train and found that our two roommates hadn't turned up or weren't getting on at Beijing so we got the four bunk beds in the room to ourselves. It's hard to say much about the train. You just sitting around reading or chilling out while these amazing views of the countryside go right past your window. Mostly we ate the snacks rather than the noodles cause we weren't that hungry from doing nothing. We wandered about the train and Brian found the food carriage but we had everything we needed and it seemed filled with older people. Customs and immigration happened from about eight to one in the morning. In the middle we did get to see them change the wheels on the train. They seem to bash the trains about during the procedure a lot which was funny but seemed just like they were bored. Then they raised us really gently about eight feet and changed the wheels. While Beijing has a lot of mountains, greenery and you go through a lot of tunnels, Mongolian has been completely flat and brown. Occasionally you get mounds and you can see cars on roads go by every now and then but you don't get little towns or villages half as much by the railway line.