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Tsetseleg-capital of Arkhangai aimag

The journey to Tsetseleg was 9-10 hours long. We passed vast lands, roaming cattle, yellow fields stretching for miles and a herder with his horses crossing a river. It was so beautiful I had tears in my eyes. We were seated around toddlers and teenagers who took an interest in us as we were speaking in another language they don't understand. During the bus ride, we conversed with Balgundalai, a 11 year old boy, using phrases from LP, body language and Balgundalai's mobile phone. We speak zero Mongolian while Balgundalai understands only a few English words. He bickered with a girl sitting diagonally and we took the opportunity to tease them both. Everyone cracked up and another girl started passing us messages on her cell phone in a language we don't know. By the time we reached Tsetseleg, it was 11.30pm!

A group of Korean students in Sukhbaatar Square, Ulaanbaatar.

In 1945, China was forced to grant independence to Outer Mongolia by the Soviet Union, in exchange for Soviet aid in fighting the Japanese invasion. Outer Mongolia became the independent nation of Mongolia, while Inner Mongolia remained a province of China. Mongolia has closer ties with Russia, its official script is in cyrillic. So once and for all, Mongolia is not Inner Mongolia and is not part of China!

One of the most frequently asked questions we get from other travellers is how did you enter Mongolia?

Mongolia is sandwiched between Russia and China. It is along the Trans-Siberian railway, the longest railway line in the world spanning four countries Russia, China, Mongolia and North Korea. There are many ways and permutations to get here from direct/connecting flight, train, bus to jeep. The most popular and economical way is to do the overland border crossing from Beijing.











We were in a four-berth cabin and there were beddings provided. Three ladies came in with boxes of goods and a man was carrying them in. One lady left the cabin and another started to put on a jacket and shades. Shortly after, a train attendant came round to check tickets and there were altogether four people in the cabin. Next morning we found two (unglam) bodies sleeping on the floor. Looks like fare evaders and overcrowding are common in Mongolia trains...

Accommodation is limited and not cheap in Mongolia so we considered camping. We have been hunting around for an affordable and durable tent in Singapore but choices were very limited and prices were steep. A three season two men tent with aluminium poles costs at least S$275 or more. Five days before departure, I came across Adventure Gear Post selling the type of tent we're looking for. They were selling KingCamp series - S$208.50 and S$223.50 (after 25% discount). We almost wanted to make a trip down to Aljunied when he chanced upon the same tent selling at 798 yuan (S$159) in China. As we didn't have much time to spare in Beijing and there wasn't an outlet near where we were staying, I instantly wrote to KingCamp to check if they could deliver the tent to our Beijing accommodation. I received a response from the company within two hours (around 2am in the morning mind you) and they managed to arrange someone to deliver it right to the doorstep of our hostel! We reached Ming Courtyard at around 8.30pm (half an hour later than expected) and a representative was waiting patiently at the lobby for us. I'm extremely impressed with their speed, efficiency and standard of customer service. Our tent served us well throughout our journey in Mongolia. Thank you KingCamp China!

We went through a lot of deliberation and hesitation before we finally decided to go Mongolia. Getting there quickly and cheaply was challenging enough to deter us from visiting this country. We were not even confident we would be able to make it there. We flew to Beijing via Hong Kong and travelled northwards to Ulaanbaatar. From the capital, we moved west to Arkhangai aimag and made our way back to Ulaanbaatar stopping in Töv aimag en route. That's all we could cover in 14 days without having to apply for a visa!