On the 2nd May I boarded the train from Beijing to Ulaanbatar, Mongolia! The first section was 30 hours and I shared a 4 berth cabin with English Joanna, returning from Korea where she was teaching English and French Elvina, returning from Malaysia also teaching English. We were all equally excited and time passed quickly with a lot of talking, staring at the passing scenery, taking photos, drinking beer, eating, sleeping. We spent some time in the basic restaurant car, lunch selection was noodles or rice with pork and some veggies and beer was tipple of choice for sundowners.
The border crossing was relatively painless with a few hours in a train station trying to spend our remaining yen, while they changed the train's bogeys (wheels). It got rather tiresome as just as we settled into our bunks, more forms were handed out to complete - with swine flu outbreak, there were extra precautions with forms and our temperatures taken with laser gun. A restful sleep as the train headed west deeper into Inner Mongolia. Before we knew it, we arrived in Ulaanbatar and bade each other farewell and promising to keep in touch.
Otherwise the most important shopping i did was for the train trip....apparently no restaurant car on the 36 hour UB to Irkutsk leg.....stock up on fruit, nuts, cheese, noodles (aargh)!!!
But first off the beaten track into Mongolia......
The scenery varied from China - hilly countryside, factories, scattered villages, through Inner Mongolia - open plains, trees, horses and cows to Outer Mongolia more open plains, fewer trees, but more horses and yurts (or gers, the traditional housing).
The border crossing was relatively painless with a few hours in a train station trying to spend our remaining yen, while they changed the train's bogeys (wheels). It got rather tiresome as just as we settled into our bunks, more forms were handed out to complete - with swine flu outbreak, there were extra precautions with forms and our temperatures taken with laser gun. A restful sleep as the train headed west deeper into Inner Mongolia. Before we knew it, we arrived in Ulaanbatar and bade each other farewell and promising to keep in touch.
I was met by a local guide, Eegi from Shuren and co, taken to a Japanese bath house to shower - being my first experience, I was glad to be the only one there....this year there have been and will be many firsts....
We headed out east in direction of Terelj National Park/Chinngis Kahn monument where most of the tourist ger camps were situated but our camp was further afield with mountains in the distance. It was heaven, after Beijing, vast open plains, large herds of wild horses, and goat/sheep/cows, mountains and only a scattering of gers in the distance. I had a traditional ger to myself and after a nice long walk ...the silence was most noticable...joined a group of Australians, German and respective guides for dinner - a mixture of European and Mongolian food - salad, mutton pasta, chocolate cake! The sunset was magnificent and temperature dropped suddenly but I still spent some time enjoying bright star lit sky.
Each night my stove fire would be lit in the ger and it was very cosy and after short sleep on train, silence of the country side, i slept very well.
On the second day we visited a nomad family - they no longer move at change of season but continue to live the same nomadic lifestyle. This family farmed livestock and also had a large falcon they used for hunting - an impressive bird but sad seeing it in the ger. We enjoyed traditional tea (milky, salty) and dried bread cake while entertained by the woman of the house. In the afternoon we went for a horseride, fortunately I had a slow obedient horse so I could get lost in my thoughts, enjoy the scenery and chat to fellow riders! Every now and then my horse would get bored of the conversation and move at will to another rider/horse.
I reluctantly returned to UB - which I thought was an interesting city - main buildings of interest largely set around the main square with several bars, restaurants and plenty of shopping opportunities. And a 24 hr post office with 24hr internet facility and cheap! I was booked into 4* (Mongolian standards) hotel so I enjoyed what it had to offer - ensuite, flushing toilets, gym, tv!!! I visited the impressive Gandan monastery, National History Museum, as well as experienced local buses and fast food joints (not so pleasant fatty meaty dumplings). In the evenings I met up with Joanna & Elvan for dinner - Korean restaurant and drinks (Wine - how delicious) at Irish pub! The next evening we were more adventurous and went to a Mongolian restaurant and had pizza and a french bordeaux!
Each night my stove fire would be lit in the ger and it was very cosy and after short sleep on train, silence of the country side, i slept very well.
On the second day we visited a nomad family - they no longer move at change of season but continue to live the same nomadic lifestyle. This family farmed livestock and also had a large falcon they used for hunting - an impressive bird but sad seeing it in the ger. We enjoyed traditional tea (milky, salty) and dried bread cake while entertained by the woman of the house. In the afternoon we went for a horseride, fortunately I had a slow obedient horse so I could get lost in my thoughts, enjoy the scenery and chat to fellow riders! Every now and then my horse would get bored of the conversation and move at will to another rider/horse.
I reluctantly returned to UB - which I thought was an interesting city - main buildings of interest largely set around the main square with several bars, restaurants and plenty of shopping opportunities. And a 24 hr post office with 24hr internet facility and cheap! I was booked into 4* (Mongolian standards) hotel so I enjoyed what it had to offer - ensuite, flushing toilets, gym, tv!!! I visited the impressive Gandan monastery, National History Museum, as well as experienced local buses and fast food joints (not so pleasant fatty meaty dumplings). In the evenings I met up with Joanna & Elvan for dinner - Korean restaurant and drinks (Wine - how delicious) at Irish pub! The next evening we were more adventurous and went to a Mongolian restaurant and had pizza and a french bordeaux!
Otherwise the most important shopping i did was for the train trip....apparently no restaurant car on the 36 hour UB to Irkutsk leg.....stock up on fruit, nuts, cheese, noodles (aargh)!!!
But first off the beaten track into Mongolia......
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