Late afternoon we hopped on our second train of the day, a 10-hour journey to Beijing was ahead of us. This time Alby was armed with (what a daredevil!) an instant noodle ‘hot pot’. Since Chinese trains are equipped with a hot water tab it’s the perfect snack for on the road! 10 uncomfortable hours later we were very happy to get off the train. A few sleepy arguments with unofficial ‘taxi drivers’ later we bumped into a real one who took us to our warm, clean (!) beds at the Leo Hostel at 3am.

We slept until 11 and decided to have a look at the long distance bus station, where we hoped to buy tickets to Erenhot on the boarder with Mongolia. Although the place was crowded with people waiting for their bus we were not allowed in because it was the 1^st October holiday… In an attempt to escape the traffic we took the bus to the Temple of Heaven Park. We enjoyed a long walk along the ground, tried our first fresh yoghurt pot and Alby also a vacuum packed meat snack (yum!) before heading back to the hostel. We are heading out for dinner soon down our street which has tonnes of dumpling kitchens… Mmmm!