Last stop in Russia! Got in super early this morning and heading off again tomorrow morning. Cross border train tickets proved to be a bit tricker to procure than domestic. Ulan Ude is a large city in the Republic of Buryatia, home to an indigenous minority related to the Mongolians. The main religion here is Buddhism and the main reason I wanted to stop here was to go out to the Ivolginsk Datsan, a buddhist monastery and home to the spiritual leader of Russia's buddhists. The bus station was hardly worthy of the name and I couldnt make head or tail of the info I was given so I negotiated with a taxi driver to take me out there and wait. Misha turned out to be a perfect old gent, showing me photos of his grandchild and telling me all about his family, pointing out his dacha along the way (a dacha is a typical wooden russian country cottage for escaping from the city). The monastery, especially the main temple, was a bright multi coloured affair and thanks to a french tour group going around i was able to glean some extra info on the place and the paintings. You had to walk in a clockwise direction around the whole complex, and along your path between the buildings there are prayer wheels that you spin, clockwise, and make a prayer. I like the procession of things in buddhism, and i hope to learn a lot more in Mongolia.