Third time's a charm

So I'm not really sure what Durrell and New Clark's problems were, because my trip to the Mongolian border went off pretty much without a hitch. I was out of my front door and back to my apartment in 29 pretty cold hours, and am good to stay in China for another 60 days. But to be honest, what made the trip really smooth was that on the bus I met an American that had been doing visa runs to Mongolia for two years. So I basically stuck to him like glue for the trip, and made it back to Beijing without any real hiccups.

Dawn in Erlian

This was my first time out to the Mongolian Steppe, which is pretty impressive in its total flatness. With the ground so flat the sky is absolutely enormous, and out the bus window at night it looks like the landscape just swirls up into the stars there are so many. Every once in a while a ghostly wind turbine or high tension power lines stretching into the dark will float in and out of view. Definitely a big place.

Old and new Erlian

Otherwise, there's not much to add to previous posts on the place. It's a cold and quiet place, not really the wild west border town I was expecting, but still fun to see.

Inner Mongolian flatness