We arrived in Ulan Baataar with the train from Beijing. It was our first stop on the long way with the Trans-Siberian Railway to Moscow. It was also maybe the destination I had been looking forward to the most on our entire year of travel. 

Ulan Bataar was much smaller than I had expected. Also a lot fewer backpackers than I had expected, I was thinking it would be more similar to Kathmandu in Nepal.    This realization of an underserved and pre-mature travel destination made my brain start developing plans for setting up a hotel.