Train to Beijing

6:00am - Just picked up our wake up call and I reluctantly crawled to the shower. Upset at the fact that we have a lovely bed in a lovely room but can't even enjoy it for more than 7 hours. Breakfast was great - tons of food. Naki met us in reception and took us to the train station at 7:00 for the final leg of our Trans-Siberian/Mongolian adventure. In 30 hours time we will arrive at Beijing. The train was superb! Much nicer than any other train we have been on and well taken care of by the staff. Once onboard we were welcomed by a hot cup of tea and then lunch shortly after. In the restaurant car we made lots of new friends and talked for hours which helped pass the time. We met Matt from Cambridge (who we shared our cabin with), Matt and Benita from Brisbane, Jeff from Pennsylvania, an anoying American from Arkansas, Harry Potter (look alike from England) and Paddy from Holland. We waited at the Mongolian/Chinese border for 4 hours while they checked passports and... changed the wheels. For some strange reason the Chinese tracks are exactly 15cm wider than the Russian ones which means that they have to elevate the entire train to replace the boogies. A fascinating procedure to watch. As we neared Beijing we passed many suburbs and I couldn't control my excitement. Me and Ali finally managed to find an open window on the train so that we could spend the last remaining hour hanging out the window airing our armpits. The train was so bloody hot!