Camels in the Gobi

Caught the train from UB to Beijing. There's only one train a week on this part of the trip, so it was busy and the most touristy of them all. I had a lovely first class compartment to myself, with a big wide bed, armchair and a shared bathroom (well - small room with a sink and handheld shower). It was a Chinese train and easily the most ornate of them all and the guards were very efficient and friendly.

The buffet car up to the Mongolian/Chinese border was all hard-carved wood and served excellent food but was very hot and busy.

One the bits I'd been looking forward to was crossing the Gobi. And for the first hour or so, it was exciting as the scenery changed and I had the amazement of knowing that I was looking at the Gobi desert. However, after about 8 hours of it, it lost its appeal a bit. It was also a friendly desert and insisted on finding its way into every part of the train so by the time we crossed into China, everything was covered in a fine layer of sand.

I was really pleased too to spot these 3 bactrian camels. Not a great photo, but they were a long way off and it was from a moving train.