A not so little jaunt...

So, we have finally left Russia. Well after 10 hours of drawn out custom precedures, we left Russia. In effect it could have taken ten minutes, and even that would have given the officials plenty of time to scowl and smoke (not neccessarially in that order). The train ride was cool though. Very few russians on our train as it was very touristy but it was a lovely ride through some stunningly beautiful countryside.

But anyway, we have escaped to Ulaan Bataar, the caital of Mongolia. Everything here is nicer. Not in an aesthetic way, just the opposite infact. Everything here is ten percent dirtier, but the people are so friendly it's hard to care. Their favourite pastime is walking up to westerners and saying their random english buzz words. They seem to enjoy this though, so we let them get on with it in the name of anglo-mongolian relations. The Mongolians also have a rather unhealthy obsession with Genghis (who seems to be called Chingis everywhere else in the world) Khan. They love the little dude. To them he is still very much the hero. It's slightly sad that they see that era as the pinnacle of their civilization, though i suppose it was. It would be nice if they were more forward looking but i digress as I'm sure there was a point to this email but i seemed to have forgotten it. Therefore unrelated paragraphs ahoy.

Mongolia is nice and cheap. 20p an hour for the internet is most agreeable, as is the 20p beer (though my stomach doesn't always agree). According to the guide book 11% of Mongolian breweries regulary fail health inspections. Its kind of like the lottery except most people win, and a smal percentage get bowel complaints.

Oh, my t-shirt in every country is going swimmingly. They're all fairly touristy though and are off little note, all except the moomin t-shirt from Finland. It comprises of a strange scene containg most of the moomin characters. They are all angry at a kangeroo-thing, all except the young moomin who's looking whistfully at a group of tiny mole like creatures at the bottom. The kangeroo-monster says something in finnish but that doesn't help clarify anything. I'll whack it through babelfish at some point and see what's going on in moomin world. Also can anyone clarify who the young hobo (accomodation-impaired) is with the pipe?

I'll probably write again sooner this time, perhaps with something useful. At least something pertaining to what we're doing anyway.

So goodbye for now, to those who are expecting personal emails or replies i'll get on that soon.

A special hello to family, hey mum...

Sandsy - stop hiccuping

Dan - how do

Andy - how's the feet?

Cullsternatot - silly hair

jordane - wispas!