That being said, we thoroughly enjoyed the capital of China, in all it's glory. We had 7 great days in Beijing. We were fortunate to find a jewel of a hostel only a 10min walk from the the Forbidden City and numerous other famous sites. We packed in the sights at a lightening pace and managed to taste all that the restaurants and street vendors had to offer. The food was so good, I think we packed on about 10lbs.
On March 23, we boarded an early morning train at the central Beijing train station and bid China fair well.
The train ride went quite smoothly. We paid for 3rd class, called 'hard sleeper' in China, expecting to be crammed into our car. Luckily, since it is the low season and also not a big travelling time of year for the Chinese, we had a compartment to ourselves and our carriage was only half full. This means twice the blankets and pillows but a less stinky bathroom. Each carriage has a coal-heated hot water tank so you can make tea, coffee, noodles, etc. It is VERY convenient. If I couldn't have tea constantly to keep warm, I would have froze to death. We had instant noodles, bread and fruit with us but we wanted to give the dining car a chance for at least one meal. We were greeted by 3 smoking chefs and a hostess woman who was not happy to see us. We ordered some food and some 50cent beers and the smoking chefs went into the kitchen (they weren't too happy with us ordering). We received very greasy fried pork and a plate full of uncooked fried chicken (were they punishing us for making them work?). We polished off the pork and then proceeded to warn every tourist on the train about the chicken. Perhaps the Mongolian restaurant car will be better.
The Journey to Ulaan Baatar took 36 hours, which included about 6 hrs at the border for the authorities to check faces and the rail crew to change the wheels. Mongolia and Russia use a different gauge of rail than the rest of the world so at the border each car is picked up and the "bogeys" are changed to match the Russian system, or vice versa if heading out of Russia. This all happened from about 9pm to 3am so it made for a rather sleepless night. 
Locked out of the train at a freezing station while the Chinese authorities look the train over.
Locked out of the train at a freezing station while the Chinese authorities look the train over.After sleeping till roughly 8:30am, we were greeted by scenery like nothing we've ever seen: the Gobi Desert. It's bizarre to see snow and dirt as far as the eye can see with a sprinkling of horses and the occasional camel (with 2 humps). Southern Mongolia is where NASA should be testing lunar equipment.
All in all, a great first ride. We have already discovered the perfect recipe for success on board the Trans-Mongolian train: vodka, scotch, raman noodles and PB & J sandwiches.
Wish us luck on leg 2: UB to Irkutsk!!
P & C
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