In October and November 2016 I had the honor to visit a country that was on my bucket list for a long time; Mongolia. Mongolia is known for it's eternal blue skies, endless steppes, Genghis Khan and countless of horses.

The arrival in Mongolia was by train with the legendary Trans-Siberian Railway. From Irkutsk, Russia to the Mongolian capital - Ulan Bator - takes around 35 hours. The most time-consuming is the waiting time at the Russian/Mongolian border. Staff members of the border patrol from both sides will check travel papers and luggage thoroughly, even with tracking dogs. The whole proces took over 8 hours. But after that the moment was finally there; it was time to enter Mongolian territory. Although I was trilled, it wasn’t love at first sight. The Mongolian police took my passport because I was drinking vodka with a couple of travel companions. The second experience with Mongolia wasn’t any better. At the first stop at a small train station there was an intrusive beggar bothering me and a few hundred meters further away there was a street fight going on. Welcome to Mongolia!

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