Leaving Erenhot, China, we went about a mile down the tracks to the border of Mongolia, Zamiin-Uud. Another set of border guards enter, check the room, take your passport, and go do their thing. The whole process, exiting China, getting our wheelsets changed, and finally entering Mongolia took between five and six hours. As the border guards exited to the train and we were preparing to leave, a couple from farther up the train was pulled off. I assume they did not have the proper visa for Mongolia. According to Matt, Nate was fortunate enough to have slept through the entire border process. We went ahead and followed Nate's lead and went to bed with us in our private room and Nate and Matt in their peasant's room.

We woke up sometime in the morning as we were skipping along through the Gobi Desert, a barren place with very few towns on the way. At the border the previous night, our original diner car was replaced with a better diner car with full meals and a full dining staff. This car was decked out with ornate wood carving covered in what appeared to be gold leaf. Aside from the cooked meals, they also sold a few things one might need such as sodas, water, beer (which Nate and Matt took advantage of) as well as snacks and candy. The diner took Mongolian, Chinese, Russian denominations as well as Euros. The food on this car was a full menu of items ranging from salads to meat and chicken dishes. Matt and Nate both ordered food, which they let me have some. I thought it was tasty and filling.

Continuing on, we had a 25 minute stop at a station in Choir, Mongolia. At the station, people will sell you everything you might want on the train: noodles, soda, crackers, fruit, water, napkins and so on. Every stop we had allowed us to restock any food and supplies and had the added benefit of being able to get off the train and wander about. In Choir, Carmen and Nate followed the lead of many others and walked about 100 yards from the station to check out a statue. The statue is a commemoration of Jügderdemidiin Gürragchaa, Mongolia's first cosmonaut. I stayed behind to take some photos on the platform and spoke with Cheng as well as restocking on some food items.