Moscow - Ulaan Baatar

Dear All

So we made it!! Five days in a train compartment and the longest break was only half an hour...We boarded train No. 6 from Moscow to Ulaan Baatar Thursday evening at 9.35. Our bags were packed with clothes and books and we had just been on a spending spree in the loocal supermarket; cup noodles, water, milk and bread. The compartment on first class turned out to be small but nice and we were happy that we had not bought second class which would have meant less space and less privacy... So for five days we looked out of the window at the Siberian landscape, read books, played games, listened to music and just relaxed. Wonderfull!
On Monday we reached Lake Baikal, the deepest lake in the world which contains as much fresh water as the US Great Lakes put together. That's a lot! The picture shows what a wonderfull sunrise we saw over Lake Baikal. From here the train turned south towards Mongolia which we entered at midnight. We had to stop for 3 hours at the border and since the train toilets are closed when the train is at a stop the entire wagon really needed to go to the toilet when the train finally moved...
Today we reached the capital of Mongolia, Ulaan Baatar, in bright sunshine. We were picked up at the train station by Esse, a Mongolian contact we know from Henrik and Pernille. He is incredibly helpful and kind and has prepared a great 13 day trip around Mongolia for us. We are leaving tomorrow and are going to visit lakes, forests, waterfalls and his family who are nomads and live in gers at the great Khovsgol Nuur Lake. But more on that when we get back. Take care.
Anne Sofie and Carsten

First stop Moscow

Dear All

We have now arrived safely in Moscow after a long day of travelling. It turned out to be quite decent, however. When we arrived in Moscow airport we were at first attacked by the Moscow taxi mafia. Fortunately, a kind Danish business man offered us a lift to the city centre in his brand new Mercedes. It turned out he had a driver who could take us to our hotel - a two hour trip through the horrific Moscow rush hour traffic!!! Magnificent...

Tomorrow we board the Trans Sibirian Railway. See you in Mongolia :-)

Best,

Anne Sofie & Carsten

Leaving soon. Please say hello sometimes

Around the world in 90 days. That is what we have set out to do. During the following 3 months you can follow our adventures in this blog. We will write in the blog when we have the opportunity and you are more than welcome to comment on our emails - or just send a nice hello. We are writing in English since some of our English friends are, hopefully, following our trip as well. Enjoy!!