Taking the train from Irkutsk to Ulan Batar took only 2 days, from which 8 hours wwere spent at the border.
How different could Temujin be from this little boy, when at his age?
The historical settlement of Kharkhorin was surrounded with Buddhist stupas. 108? Probably. We didn't count.
The gates were equipped with these. Unfortunately, there was nobody to open.
Another picture of the stupas presented at the sunset.
This motorway has as many lanes as you like, and you can always create one for yourself.
The two central pillars inside of every ger constitute the ultimate construction solution.
Access to 2 Chinese and one Russian TV channel is more important than running water. We live in 21st century, aren't we?
This is, ladies and gentlemen, how alcohol is produced.
Travelling the "no-roads", this is a typical equivalent of the landscape villages.
We were hitch-hiking on the way to Bayakhongor. Apparently no traffic today.
What to do? Save the feet and wet the shoes or save the shoes and hurt the feet?
Sometimes you could save both feet and shoes. Yet you could not save the engine.
Luckily the rivers get narrower as we approached the Khangai Mountains.
This picture was obviously directed for romantic purposes.
It was taken just before traversing the pass in the Khangai.
Once we reached the peak of the Khangai, the temperature went from 30+ degrees Celsuis to 10. We felt like seasons changes all the sudden.
At this point, we had to rush down. It was getting late and the temperature kept dropping.
...and so the next day we woke up in winter. The temperature dropped below zero. We had to accelerate.
It was almost like evacuating from the are, before it got cut off through snow falls.
Marching for few more days, we were exhausting our resources. Luckily we went ahead of the snow falls.
These road chapels can be found all over the place.
The road signs reappeared again. We felt like we went back to civilization.
To catch the last beams of sun, we decided to spend the last days at the Gobi desert.
The polls constitute the safest and most trustworthy road signs in the middle of nowhere. We were heading south.
Camels became the mean of transport.
Playing on two strings was never easy. I don't think I would try again.
It's only 3% of the Gobi desert that is really the sand dunes. Most of the rest is just rock and grass.
This is how most of Gobi actually looks like. It's grass 360 degrees until horizon.
This was the last episode of the Mongilian part. Soon we were on the flight back home.
Typical 10 minutes stop during the Trans-Siberian journey.
Sasha, whom we met on the train (3rd) class took is as a point of honour to help us in every way. That included teaching us Russian.
A cup of tea became our most intensive daily activity. For five days.
Taking pictures of any uniforms in Russia is risky. You really shouldn't do it, and if you must, stay hidden.
For five days, we were leaving the sun behind.
It's a tiny village right at the Lake Balkai. The symbol at the doors mostly likely indicates 19th century Polish involuntary settlers, whose families continue to live there today.
Just because it says "radioactive" it doesn't mean it necessarily is.
Small Russian sauna waiting for guests at the Lake Baikal.
Just enjoyed the moment.
Trans-Siberian means five days of continues shaking. It does things to the digestive system... so coal was kind of necessary.
The faces of the local shamanistic dieties were sold everywhere the local market in Listvianka.
An Othodox church in Irkutsk.