MONGOLIA

Later the Mongolian custom agents came with more papers to sign. By this time everyone was awake. They stamped our visas and then we went back to sleep. After a few more hours there was a knock on the door. We were informed that the custom agents were back. We were given more papers to fill out and sign. Then finally we were left alone to sleep to the sound of the workmen changing the guage of the wheels outside the window.

The next thing I remember was the dry arid desert air blowing in my face from the overhead fan and the open window. My mouth was dry as cotton. I got down from the top bunk and shut the window and turned the fan off and pulled the curtain shut. Everyone else was still asleep. I went back to bed and slept for a few more hours.

The next time I woke up it was starting to get light. I got up and went out of the cabin and looked out the window.

Mongolian Train



Outside was the barren open plains of the Gobi Desert. We had been traveling through it most of the night. About twenty feet from the tracks there was a cattle fence to keep animals off the tracks.

Open Plains



The train stopped briefly at a little deserted town made up of Russian buildings, then we continued on. We went to breakfast and to our surprise there was a whole different dining car. New cooks, new dishes, new everything.

Dining Car



As we got closer to Ulaanbaatar the scenery didn't change much. The praire gave way to an occasional village of the Mongolian tent dwellings.