From Beijing we started the first part of our journey home. We took the train into Mongolia where our first stop was the capital Ulan-Bator. On the ride we met many nice tourists who were also going the same way: Australians, Canadians, Americans, Swiss – almost every nationality was represented and it was really easy for us to join one of these groups to search for a place to stay in the city.

After checking-in, we went on a discovery tour and came across some interesting shops. They sell almost everything in these shops however from outside it’s really hard to tell what is hidden behind the entrance door; there might be a warehouse, an apartment or an actual shop.  By glancing through one of these doors we spotted an enormous leather shop, selling crocodile skins, snake skins in all colours, along with cow hides, sheepskins and goat skins, which were hanging on a wall in various thickness and various shades of colour. Here you could only buy the complete skins, while next door they sold shoe soles, heels, yarn, staples, nails and everything else a Mongolian might need to make their own boots.

From Ulan Bator we went into the countryside to Edenet where we met with the nomad, Torguud. Together we drove for about an hour along a long dirt road across the steppe. Behind the last hill, four yurts stood in the middle of the landscape, which is where Torguud lives with his family. Upon arrival they invited us for tea and then realised, deeply disappointed, that we speak neither Mongolian nor Russian. Everyone did their very best to try and communicate with gestures; their hands and feet, pen and paper. We got in the car once more and drove to the Naadam Festival, where the best horses and riders come from far and wide to participate in the 12-35 km horse race.

For the next day the men had planned a day ride for us and so we rode off towards the river with some freshly slaughtered goat meat in our rucksacks. When we reached the river, two of our companions rode on, while Torguud stayed with us and we ate the delicious goat kebabs which we cooked on an open fire. We then sat around for half the day waiting for the other two men to return, and could only exchange a few words mostly to do with the things in our immediate vicinity, for instance, goat kebabs or horses.  When we returned to the yurts it was already colder. In the summer the temperature can reach 35°C and the only shady areas are behind the shed or within the yurt.

On Monday we took the train from Edened to Darkhan and the plan was to change during the night onto another train heading towards Irkutsk, Russia. However the lady at the ticket desk in Darkan completely ignored us and there was no way of getting a ticket further. The next morning at 8am on the dot, Louise went back to the station to buy a ticket, which was easier said than done. It was the same lady from the evening before and she skilfully ignored Louise once again. For an astonishing two hours she served all the locals around Louise until she finally accepted our passports and in a sour mood, sold us tickets to Russia.

To distract ourselves from the painful experience, we wandered with all our kit across the local market in town. We then returned to the station to wait there for the 8pm train and found a quiet corner to sit down and watch a film on our computer. As we plugged it in to charge, a lady from the kiosk found a way to let us know that we were not welcome in this completely empty room and simply locked us in – very funny! This topped off our day at the station where a lot of people, accidently or deliberately, wandered past and stared at us, some just because they were interested, some with cynicism and some with barely hidden lust – and all this in a country with such beautiful natural landscapes.