Germany

We climbed aboard an Airbus in Ulaan Bataar, and 8 short hours later we had winged across much of Asia and landed in Berlin. Welcome back to the Western World! We loved Berlin. The city is busy yet quiet, filled with great parks and displaying it's tumultuous history. We enjoyed the way the Germans have embraced the difficult period of the Nazi regime, and gloried in the fall of the authoritarian state. I'm happy to say there was no danger of me being shot as I scaled a remnant of the Berlin Wall. We spent far less time here than the city deserves, especially since, as Europe goes, this town is quite affordable. But, Paris and Rome were calling to us...

Mongolia

The endless wind sweeping off the endless steppe under an infinite blue sky. It's easy to see why the Mongolian people have a reputation for toughness. Anyone surviving and thriving in these conditions has to be tough. But, for all that toughness, most of the people we met were very friendly and warm. There's a lot of national pride, not only in the past--the mighty Kahns that ruled most of the known world, but also in the present--rejecting the overarching influence of Russia and China to forge their own country based on democracy. We loved Mongolia for the beautiful land and the great people. Our time there wasn't nearly long enough to appreciate it all, but we had a great time and we'd love to go back.

Home Sweet Home

We're back in the beautiful Berkshires, enjoying the warm weather and trying to get our lives in order. We are definitely going to blog the last few amazing stops of our trip within the next week- so check back soon for Mongolia, Germany, Italy and France. Our camera got stolen in Mongolia (on Peace Street of all places) so we had to switch to film for a bit and are in the midst of getting those onto CDs. See you soon!

The Trans-Mongolian Railway

We fought through the bustling throngs in the Beijing Rail Station and boarded our train for Ulaan Bataar. I was almost shoved down the stairs and under the wheels by a tiny little Chinese woman intent on making her train. Nevertheless, we found our car and our berth, a four bed cubicle that we shared with Monique and Sven, a great Dutch couple who were on a journey similar to ours.

Once the train started rolling, we were treated to an ever changing vista of mountains in northwestern China, with the Great Wall snaking along the ridges, to the endless plains of the Mongolian steppe, sometimes obscured by fierce snow squalls, and other times clear and barren and dotted with wandering herds of horses, antelopes, and camels.

After three days of swaying to the rhythm of the rails, we arrived in Ulaan Bataar, to face the descendents of the mighty Chingiss Kahn.

The Great Wall, China

Well, although it's a myth that the Great Wall of China is visible from space, nevertheless it is impressive, and very, very big. Makes you wonder what they were thinking building a wall this huge up and down over mountains--it certainly didn't help defend the country from raiders who just went around it, or bribed guards to let them through. But is indeed impressive. Still, I'm glad I wasn't one of the lucky guys hauling stone up those ridges to build the thing.

This particular section of wall is about 40 miles from downtown Beijing. Beijing sits on a broad, open plain. The hills to the north and west form a sort of natural barrier and protection, especially when you consider that the Mongol tribes lived to the north and west. That natural protection was augmented by the wall. But those Mongolians are good horsemen, and they didn't have much trouble riding around the thing, or in some cases over it. As the mighty Chingiss Kahn famously said, " A wall is only as good as the soldiers manning it."

We were joined at the Wall by hundreds of Chinese tourists who love to visit the nation's historical sights. A booming business of souvenir hawkers and snack sellers has grown up around parts of the wall, and Debbie and I were asked to pose with dozens of Chinese who wanted their photo with us. I know we're a good looking couple and all, but it was a little strange. I'm sure we've been immortalized in photo albums all over China.

Beijing, China

Our last couple of days in China were spent in Beijing taking in the famous sights. The first thing we realized about Beijing is that it is really, really big. Seems to be the theme here. So we took some really long walks and a long bus ride too. The bus ride brought us out to the Ming Tombs, where I got to compare my dental work with that of the stone carved boar guarding the raised dias at the gate. Debbie, of course, is far more chic posing on the elephant stool of the carved patio furniture.

Our walk brought us to the famous Tiananmen Square and the Forbidden City. Both of these are of course big. The Olympic torch was scheduled to arrive the day after we were there, so there were many people setting up for the ceremony, and many people wandering around gawking, like us. And of course Chairman Mao watches over everyone.