Well, things are finally starting to fall into place. After a nasty scare caused by the last minute rearranging of my final exams, everything has now been put back right and I am officially leaving China on the 7th of July and arriving in Ulaan Baator on the 8th. This involves a long but hopefully interesting train trip, which is actally part of the Beijing-Moscow trans-Siberian railway. Needless to say I am taking a good book and plenty of other diversions with me for my 30 hours of train travel. Luckily though, I do have a bed to make the journey more comfortable, unlike poor Jess who has to be more adventurous about getting into Mongolia thanks to an inconvenient exam timetable. Hopefully though we will all make it safely into Mongolia in time for the Nadaam festival.
All of the most important things such as train tickets, visa and insurance are now sorted. Picked up my visa at the embassy today without any problem, a fact for which I'm very glad. As I have exams up until the day before I leave I have to try to be super organised (not necessarily my strongest point), so I'm trying to get lots of shopping, tidying and packing done in the midst of my study. In fact I should be studying now! Needless to say, it will be a hectic few days and I will be very glad when everything is done and I'm sitting on the train watching the Chinese country side go by. I must say that I am looking forward to seeing some blue sky! We finally saw a little bit of clear sky this afternoon after some rain this morning, which added even more humidity to the atmosphere! In the last two weeks I think we've only had two clear days, but I think this is quite typical of a Beijing summer. Needless to say though, I was quite excited when I heard that Mongolia is known as 'The Land of the Blue Sky.'
Well I'd best get into some study if I want to do well in these exams! Summer is getting close now!
