Two weeks later: in Thailand but continuing Mongolian part of blog!

A matter of being very busy and not having any access to our blog while in China are my excuses for not posting anything for far too long.  All I can say is mea culpa and I'll try and make up for lost time by going back to our 1st ger (also pronounced gear by some) stay in Mongolia on Sept. 6th and then catching up to where we are.  Please have patience with me as it will take a fair bit of time but I will get to it!

• After being dropped off at the ger, it was all very laissez faire; sort of like being dropped off in the middle of nowhere with no map, no brochure indicating what was available to do and see, AND no one at the ger speaking a word of Englishbut knowing we'd be picked up some 26 hours later.  A tad unnerving right off the bat but OK too after getting over our initial qualms.

• Our 1 night/2 day ger stay, arranged through our Khongor Guesthouse in Ulan Batar (UB) included a horseback ride after lunch. Our trail guide, who only spoke Mongolian, had individual very guttural sounds, not words, and whistles for each of the 4 horses (you may remember Cissy from Belgium by way of Holland and Yasu from Japan were with us too) if the horses started to go their own way, eat grass, etc.  The saddles were unlike any of those we used all of the 10 or so times we've been horseback riding back in Colorado or elsewhere.
• The countryside in parts did remind us though of Colorado and also of the Black Hills in S. Dakota if you've been there.
• Cissy, aged 69, had been to the same ger before on one of her many trips to Mongolia so she became our surrogate tour guide thankfully!  Went for a lovely hike in the meadows and foothills right by our ger.  No "trails" at all like we've been accustomed to at all the many, many parks we've hiked at all over the US - here you just hiked/walked where you wanted to with having to stay on a narrow 2 foot wide path.  Definitely liberating to do that but again something to get used to.
• What WAS very disconcerting to us was the massive proliferation of trash, especially empty water bottles and beer cans everywhere we hiked.  It wasn't just there at Terelj National Park that we witnessed that but all over Mongolia.  In my opinion, what a profound shame to mar the beauty of the land like that.
• BTW, thought you'd find it amusing reading this from the comfort of your homes or work places to know that, while in the ger, we had NO water at all the whole time there; i.e. none to wash up before or after meals, for drinking, after using the pit toilet, etc.  When we got back to Khongor and I mentioned this to one of the staff members, he blithely said we should have asked our ger hostess for water.  Luckily though, we each DID have our handy roll of t.p. with us as that wasn't provided either of course.  I never leave home (i.e. wherever our "home" of the moment is!) without some in my very tiny purse as t.p. isn't provided in Mongolia or China, we found.
• Info about Terelj for you facts and figures people; as you just MAY have guessed by now, I am definitely a charter member of that group!  The park is 55 kms n.e. of UB at an elevation of 1600 meters; was first developed for tourism in '64 but only became a national park 30 years later.
• Even though it's been a national park for many years now, there are NO roads like we all are accustomed to in the park or, for that matter, for much of the way to the park from UB and when we went on our next trek out of UB.
• The "roads" in most of the places we were in away from UB were more like being on a car rally to Dakar you read about and see.  There are 4 or even 5 very roughly parallel dirt "roads" or tracks all weaving in and out that drivers can choose to take regardless of which direction they're going.  They all have massive potholes so the drivers are all constantly weaving around and around all the LARGE potholes trying to avoid as many as they can.  There are no signs indicating where to go, and certainly no speed signs either.  If you have a queasy stomach, Mongolian roads are NOT the place for you, I can safely say.
• Had hoped to write a lot more plus send photos but must run as Steven and I are being picked up in a bit to go to Doi Inthanon Nat'l Park here in Chiang Mai in northern Thailand.  Promise to write more and post photos as a soon as I can, hopefully before we go see Muay Thai boxing tonight at the stadium.  Love to all.

More photos of first Mongolian tour

Courtney, aka the yoga hobo, and Martyn at Russian border; we'd met them at Irkutsk hostel, then on train and again at UB hostel.

At the first of the hundreds of Ovoos we've seen in Mongolia en route to Terelj N. Park.

Our ger camp in Terelj N.P; ger is the Mongolian word for a yurt.

This one was ours and shared with Cissy and Yasu.

Having a delicious mutton and pasta soup in our ger with Cissy and Yasu; each meal was delivered to our ger by our ger hostess.  Mutton is the Mongolian staple meal; of our 4 meals in Terelj, 3 were basically the same: mutton with potatoes, different types of pasta or rice and slivers of carrots.

Our ger hostess in her ger preparing our meal.

Our ger "camp" was a very modest one compared to many fairly lavish compounds; we were so lucky with ours, we thought.

Perhaps not SO lucky when it came to our toilet in the outhouse; note the toilet seat!

Gorgeous wildflowers in the hills near the ger.

More photos coming; must dash for the station now.

Train to Ulan Batar, Mongolia and experiences so far in Mongolia

Been a while, I well know since last post/journal entry but we've been "on the road" as they say and out of internet access for much of the time. 

• Our last night in UU, one of our favorite places yet, we saw Jack again at the hostel; you may recall from previous blogs we had met him  initially on the Moscow walking tour and then again on the shore of Lake Baikal; he had ridden his bike from Irkutsk to UU and was on his way in a few days to come here to Ulan Batar (UU from now on b/c it takes me so long to type the  whole thing in!), the capital of Mongolia.  
• What a small world but yet again the Trans Siberian train route we've been doing is, in its own way, a VERY popular trip for many, many people so it's not uncommon to see people we met on one leg of the trip later down the road.  In a sense, we've met a family of fellow travelers to share stories, adventures and hints of where to go and what to see and do next.
• Back to our travels before I digress again!  Left UU on 9/5 to take the morning train, a departure from our normal late night trains, to UU, a 23 hour ride.  Our 1st providnitsa, i.e. train attendant, was SO much nicer than the others we'd met.  Our cabin mates were Mannfred and Fernando (remember the ABBA song), a German father and son team from Germany traveling to Beijing together before Fernando, who is Natalie's age, continues on a 2 year around the world trip and hoping to work in Aust. for a year, hitchhike across the US and then work his way back to Europe on a boat via Montreal.
• Without exception, all the people we'd met in the UU hostel going on to UB were taking the 12 hour bus ride rather than the train.  I had looked into that but the reviews and comments I'd read when planning the trip recommended the train instead.
• Scenery from UU to the border was much more beautiful than what we'd seen all across Russia before that: no more of the same birch trees for thousands upon thousands of kms, but lakes and hills and mini mountains that reminded us of home in Colorado and also of the Black Hills of S. Dakota.
• I can see why some prefer the train after we had to wait more than 5 hours at the Russian border to go through all the formalities including a very small dog coming on board to sniff out people hidden in our miniscule luggage area under our seats and above the door; that was followed by police officers doing the same thing.  
• We were luckily able to get off the train and wander around the tiny park behind the station; Steven read his Kindle and I picked up oodles and oodles of empty liquor bottles and 1 litre beer cans littering the park - wearing plastic gloves would have been a smart idea! 
• There were 2 19 yr. old guys on the train with us who had mistakenly booked the train one day later than they should have; that meant they were leaving Russia 13 hours after their visas expired; they ended up having to pay 600 Rubles right on the spot plus another 2000 into some sort of account - don't think they'll make that mistake again.
• Another 2 plus hour stop at the Mongolian border with very friendly Mongolian police/customs staff as opposed to the very dour Russians; again dog and police looked for stowaways then 6 local money changers came on board each one hoping to exchange travelers' rubles for the Mongolian togrog, the local currency.
• There are NO coins in Mongolia BTW; at an exchange rate of 32 togrog to the USD, you need a gazillion bills in your wallet at anyone time to pay for anything.  For example, I paid 2000T for 2 bananas and a tomato, then 45,000T for just a few groceries at the State Department Store here in UB, a massive 6 floor building that looks like any upscale US dept store but the grocery prices are as cheap there as any other place we checked out.  Getting so used to having grocery stores as part and parcel of the big stores - nothing like one stop shopping!
• Again, through luck and fortuitous planning, our hostel here in UB is all of 200 m from the State Dept Store and Peace Ave, or what we could call Main St.

Now 9/11: thoughts first of all to all those affected by the horrific events that occurred on this date.  I didn't have enough time to post pictures with what I'd written below before we left for our second trek/tour here in Mongolia.  Have notes galore from our last several days so at some point, hopefully soon, I WILL get to them and the pictures of this intriguing country.

• Left on a pre-arranged 1 night/2 day tour with Khongor Guesthouse in UB, about 2 hours after getting off the 23 hour train ride from UU, to Terelj National Park which is NW of the capital.  I had asked for the last 6 months if Khongor could please see if anyone else wanted to go on either of the 2 tours we wanted to go on to get out (i.e. for the company and to reduce our per person costs) and see the countryside away from UB but had heard nothing back from them.  I asked other Khongor guests in the 2 hours we had if anyone was interested.
• Those of you who know us both well might find Steven's following comment amusing. He said on 9/6 that he realized for the first time in 28 years where you, Nina, get your gift of the gab meeting new people.  Do you remember, hon, when we were all camping in both state and provincial parks eons ago and the first thing you'd do when we got to a new place is scamper off by yourself while we set up camp and go meet everyone and find out all there was to know about the park, the people and bring kids your age back to our campsite like the Pied Piper?  Well, your Mum is just like that, much to Dad's amazement after 31 years of wedded bliss!
• I/we've met so many people from all over the world and exchanged email addresses with them and hope that some of them at least will find their way to Littleton for some home cooked meals, baked goods and a warm bed.
• Luckily a 69 year old Dutch/Belgian woman, Cissy but pronounced Cece to our North American ears, was up for the tour as was Yasu, a 35 year old Japanese businessman traveling without his wife this time.  Steven and I were so lucky they both wanted to go because we had a couple of days with them and obviously got to know them and they us much more than just a few hours spent in the train.
• Natalie:  thought you'd be interested to know that for whatever reason there were probably more "seniors" here than young adults at Khongor - nice that for once people our age traveling the Trans Siberian route from SPB to Beijing were in the majority!
• A sidebar:  when planning the trip, I think we both thought that there wouldn't be that many people adventurous enough to do this wild and crazy trip.  Wow - were we wrong.  Can't tell you how many people of all ages are doing much the same route we are and of course trips of far greater length and breadth too than we.  We're already "planning" the next trip in our minds - Eastern Europe and Istanbul is high up there now but that may well change of course.  We'd thought of Aust. and NZ but they both sound way too tame for us now!
• I hope the pictures and descriptions will suffice til I have time to write again.

  

  Jack at UU hostel: had met him in Moscow, then hiked with him by Lake Baikal, then saw him our last night in UU.  Where next?

  
  

  

  Views from train en route to UB, Mongolia.

  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  
  

  

  Mannfred doing his typical Angela Merkel pose!

  
  

  

  Very common sight from train.

  
  
  
  
  

  

  In front of our carriage en route to UB: note the sign in window.

  
  

  

  Steven relaxing in "park" at Russian border.

  
  

  

  One of the reasons the tr4ain takes so long from UU to UB: cows on tracks all the time!

  
  

  

  At Mongolian border at long last!
  

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  • Photos aren't loading properly so am giving up the ghost for tonight so at least you'll get to read and see something.  Have lots more photos to share when I can - sorry about that!

Last post from Russia after three weeks here.

P.S.  9/6:  Now in Ulan Batar, Mongolia.  

Never sent the post below b/c I had problems trying to include the pictures I wanted so gave up when it got to be too late - sorry about that!  Leaving, we think and hope, on a 1 night/2 day tour out of UB in 90 minutes so will scramble to get at least something off before we hit the road to see part of the country.

This will be short since it's close to 10 pm already and we need to be up by 5:30 to catch the 7:24 train to Ulan Batar,(UB) Mongolia. Have written some notes for the blog as I've done for all others but need to cheat this time and basically just post photos with comments and save the notes for my next post.  BTW, that may not be for a good long while since we hope to go on a 2 day trek from UB 2 hours after getting off the train at 7am on the 6th.  Then we'll be back in UB for one night, then off again for another 3 night trek away from UB.

Before the pictures though, just want to say that Ulan Ude (UU as opposed to UB!) has been right up there with our favorite places so far this trip.  The people as I mentioned are so very genuinely friendly, the town is easy to walk around and navigate the minibus system to the Buddhist datsans; there's a sense of peace and calm right here in town as we sat and enjoyed the fountain spraying jets in time with the music at the Theater Sq; the museums are a joy to go to, etc.  

Forget my spiel and I hope my pictures will help you appreciate our love for UU and its people.

On makshruta (minibus UU style) to Ivolginsky Datsan: note the pretty bows that all young girls wear to school.

All boys wear suits to school that we saw.

At Ivolginsky Datsan  2 makshrutas and an hour out of UU.

More I. Datsan photos.

Monk at I. Datsan

Ist day of school and thus a festival in UU on 9/1; this took place in the main sq. where Lenin's head is, and thus 2 minutes from our hostel.  We watched it for a while and then went back to the hostel where we could hear it very well (!).

Bows for sale in  local UU market we saw all over Russia but we didn't know how popular they were.

Girls and their big bows watching the concert.

At UU Ethnographical Museum depicting Buryat culture through the ages from prehistoric times.

 Photo NOT taken with telephoto lens!!

 Still at Ethno Museum.

In UU!

Meat section of market in UU.

In downtown  UU.

Fountain in time to the music at night - really, really neat.  Missed the colored lights though when we were there.

Kate from near Sharbot Lake, Ontario, who had taught ESL for 4 years in the far south of S. Korea and on her long way home. 

UU Ethnographic Museum about 20 miles out of UU.

Steven with "Family's Protector: "It'll bless you long life, wealth and prosperity."

In front of felt yurt in E. Buryat section of museum.

In front of Orthodox church at E. Museum.

On 9/2, we went back to the UU M. of History to see a film from 1928 we weren't able to see 2 days previously.  It was all in Russian but Andrei, a senior staffer a the museum, was asked by Ayuna, the museum director,I think, to translate it for us.   Andrei asked us what we thought of Edward Snowden, Putin, etc and shared his opinions of both too - great discussion.  Ayuna asked me to make an impromptu speech about us, our lives, etc to local students on a field trip to the museum.  She then asked me to proofread/edit a letter she had written in English on behalf of the Buryatia Minister of Culture to the Kingdom concerning a donation of  icons, manuscripts to Bhutan's National Museum!  That took a couple of hours but was well worth every moment as it was truly an honor to help Ayuna.  As soon as we'd arrived at the Museum, i.e. BEFORE asking me to do anything, she had 2 lovely gifts ready and waiting for us as we'd promised to come back to see the film.

 

Museum staff in background.

Eggs have not been refrigerated from Iceland through Russia.

UU's Rinpoche Basha Datsan.

Rinpoche has the largest gold statue of Buddha in Russia and we were told, the 2nd or 3rd largest in the world.

Overlooking the city of UU at Rinpoche Datsan.

Rina, a Swiss illustrator, we met at the UU hostel.

Just 2 of her beautiful sketches from all over Russia.

Rina persuaded us to try this wheat flavored cola available from carts all over Irkutsk and Ulan Ude; thanks for suggesting it, Rina.