A small and cosy town centre, a giant Lenin head and plenty of Buddhist influence, this really is quite a likeable city. Our hotel is a short walk from the train station. As customary upon arrival in a new town, we head to the local supermarket for supplies and a browse. Here, in the middle of Asian continent, we find Australian flag flip-flops
The next morning, we enjoy a dose of hotel life. Lying around in our pjs and catching up on all things internet related. By midday, we're ready to head out. First stop is the town's star attraction - a giant Lenin head in the town square. At 7.7m high, it is the largest largest and was installed in 1970 to celebrate Lenin's 100th birthday. We had lunch at a local canteen and a short wander around the town centre. The scenery, landscape and people are starting to change now and It is easy to forget we are still in Russia. There are now Mongolian faces than not and the colourful signs of Buddhism are aplenty. This town has quite a smile about it.
For the afternoon, we took a local minibus up the hill a few kilometres out of town and visited a modern Tibetan Buddhist temple - Rinpoche Bagsha Datsan. There is a 6m-high Buddha and great views over the city. There is also a circular walk around the temple grounds where we came across squirrels, dogs and lots of pigeons.
We treated ourselves to a nice restaurant dinner and a glass of red wine - and celebrated our 40th day on holiday and also our last night in Russia. Next stop Mongolia.
