Going off the rails...

Hello from Ulaanbaatar. Don't have much time to post, but thought I'd just give you a brief overview of some fun facts about the trans-Siberian journey.

Hours spent on the train from Moscow to UB: 101
Number of people in my cabin: 4
Days without a shower: 5
Packets of instant noodles consumed: 6
Number of baboushkas selling hot meals on the train platforms: 0 (this was definitely misrepresented in the literature we all received about the train!)
Bottles of vodka drunk (drank?): 2 (ok, not on my own)
Price of a 5 liter (that's right) bottle of beer at a kiosk along the way: 140 RR (<$6)
Number of Americans on the train: 1 (yep... just me)
Hours spent at the border between Russia and Mongolia (with the bathrooms locked): 6.5
"Choco-cakes" consumed by the four passengers in my compartment: More than 20
Number of fellow travelers that were assaulted on the train platform during a middle of the night stop: 1 (young Australian, punched in the face by a very drunk Mongolian fellow who was later apprehended on the train by the police and forced to pay his victim 1000 roubles or about $40 for those of you who, like me, are having difficulty with the exchange rate).
Hands of gin rummy played: ???
Books read: 2.5 (Finally finished Midnight's Children and read Stephen King's On Writing, which I highly recommend.)

Glad to be back on solid ground, if only for a couple of days. We were all ready to get off the train this morning, but everyone was in surprisingly good spirits given the very close quarters, long hours, and lack of access to showers. :) The computer here in Ulaanbaatar won't recognize my camera, so I can't post pictures now, but hope to do so soon. Thank you all for the comments and emails...

Much love.