Mongolia

Don't make our mistake and allocate too little time to Mongolia, thinking it is just a stopover on he Trans-Siberian.

Get into the country, you can take a day trip to Terelj national park for $45 for four people in a land cruiser. You can also do 10 day trips to the Gobi Desert. Ulan Bator is nice but Mongolia is about the countryside and you need to get out to see what it's about.

Go and see the big Buddhist monastry and Bhudda statue in Ulan Bator as in China no monastry's are like this except in Tibet.

You'll be stuck if you're a vegetarian. Mongolians eat mutton for most meals. So much so that the bank notes, taxis, shops and people all smell of mutton all the time!