We have arrived in Ulaanbaator Mongolia after over 30 hours on the train. A lot of that time was spent at the border while they changed the wheels on the train and left us to wander around the city. We were able to meet lots of people, some of them family listening to songs and also the police who asked us to decifer some artwork on the walls. We had a peaceful trip and the views were simply awe-inspiring with the beautiful desert and the grasslands that went on forever with lots of gers and animals grazing and mountains everywhere.

In Mongolia, we were able to get together with our friend Beth who is working here as a nurse and that was fun. We have seen lots of different historical sites, went on a walking tour today of temples, monasteries and other old buildings. Tonight we will go to the Mongolian Circus which we are very excited about and tomorrow possibly going to the grasslands to stay in a ger and do some horseback riding. We will have a Mongolian friend guide us around the days after that and are excited to go out to the countryside and visit real Mongolian families and see many sites. We are enjoying the country, but it is quite warm with lots of sunlight (18 hours a day or more).

One big different in Mongolia is that there are no "real" taxis so normal looking cars will pick you up and you have to try to communicate even though most people do not understand much English and no Chinese. We even went to the Black Market yesterday with mainly Chinese imported things, our train was loaded with fruit and other things. We bought some Mongolian clothing--we will try to get some pictures of them in different places and get some online in the next month. We hope your lives are blessed in every conceivable way!!