21 July, 08, Ulaanbaatar
We have less than 2 weeks left of our world travel and with the Chinese encounter in Erlian, we have no desire to visit China again for a long time.
We have a flight from Hong Kong back to London and there are only 3 options of getting from UB to Hong Kong. Either we fly from UB to Beijing to Hong Kong, UB to Russia to Hong Kong or UB to Korea to Hong Kong. No visas required for Korea - so that is where we are going. No more hassle!
We fly to Korea on the 23rd July night and now we are just going to relax in UB in the boiling heat and blue sky...
Wednesday, 23 July 2008
TRAVEL ADVICE FOR THE TRANSMONGOLIAN EXPRESS
USEFUL INFORMATION FOR THE TRANSMONGOLIAN EXPRESS
Journey time
Ulaanbaatar to Beijing - 30 hours (includes 1 hour wait at the Mongolian border and approx. 3-4 hours wait at the Chinese border).
Buying your ticket
It is of course cheapest if you buy the Transmongolian Express tickets yourself directly from the train station ticket office, but tickets are often sold out weeks before the departure date.
Most people (including myself) buy the tickets through an agent. If you buy through an agent in UK for example - it will be very expensive. I have found that it is cheapest to book through an agent in China rather than an agent in Mongolia. The price difference was about US$50!
We booked through http://www.juulchin.mn/ (Mongolian agency - one of the pricier - only know that now!) which cost us US$225 per person one way from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing on the Deluxe class. We had already paid for it, when another agent in China (http://www.oceantravel.cn/) quoted the same ticket for US$178 per person!
Seating/Sleepers in the Transmongolian Express - different classes
There are 3 different classes of travelling on the Transmongolian, which are:
Deluxe class (sleeper)
First class (soft sleeper)
Second class (hard sleeper)
The second class are obviously the cheapest and the price goes up depending on how comfortable you want to be.
In the second class and first class sleeper you share a compartment with other people. Each compartment sleeps 4 people, while the deluxe sleeps 2 people only.
We bought the deluxe sleeper as we did not want to share the compartment with anyone.
In the deluxe sleeper section, we had a lower and an upper bed, a single sofa, a small table, two small tv screens and headphones for each bed. We got clean white sheets and pillows with pillow covers, satin covers and hand towels. We even had a shower/bathroom which we shared with one other couple. We were given a kettle of hot water, cups, tea and coffee and refills whenever needed. The sleeper hed were comfortable and had a protection rail to avoid falling out of the upper bed.
When you leave Mongolia, you are on the Mongolia train. When you get to the border of China and Mongolia, there is a break for about 1,5 hrs - 3 hrs, when they are changing the train. Basically, you get off the train. The train moves, and the Chinese restaurant carriage is added to the train, and the Mongolian restaurant carriage is taken off. During all this time, you cannot use the toilets on the train - they lock the toilets. You will still be in the same carriage and compartment that you got on when you boarded in Mongolia. There are different versions of the Transmongolian trains. We were on a rather modern one, and very clean. We were impressed.
Restaurant in the Transmongolian Express
The train has a restaurant carriage. It has drinks, alchohol, food, snacks. Beware though, it is not cheap. The Mongolian food carriage has limited food and it is pricier than the Chinese food carriage (Chinese food carriage is only available when you get to the Chinese border, and the Mongolian food carriage is taken off). The menu on the Mongolian food carriage seemed to have a variety of things, but when we wanted to order, they only did a set menu. So basically, the entire train had the same set menu. It was really busy, so you had to book a slot to have your lunch. We booked for 2.30PM, but only managed to be seated for lunch at 3.30PM and had the food at 4PM. So, a good idea to bring your own food if you can. The food carriage can only sit about 4o people, so everything has to be done in slots. We skipped dinner as we didn't want to wait till very late, and the food carriage shuts at 7.30PM. So we lived on pot noodles.
Note: Drinks, especially water is expensive, so bring your own.
Note: You meet a lot of friendly travellers in the food carriage.
Toilet facilities in the Transmongolian Express
We were lucky to have a bathroom with one other couple. It was cleaned twice while we were on the train. Otherwise, you have the public toilets on the train. They are ok, but I suspect that after 10 hours or so, it gets quite dirty. There is toilet paper, but bring your own to be safe.
What to bring on your journey
If you are sleeping in 2nd class or first class, bring toilet paper, hand towel, a cup/mug (you can get free hot water from the stewards on the train) and your own tea bags.
It is very useful (if you want to save money) to bring your own snacks, drinking water, fruits and even pot noodles (we did - remember you can get the hot water on the train), plastic spoons/forks. Bring your camera - there are so many pretty spots, a book or ipod/music as it is a long journey. Many people bring alchohol with them too.
At the border controls
When you are leaving the Mongolian border, the Mongolian police check the trains and take your passports. You are likely to be at the border for 1-2 hours before the train moves again. It is quite pain-less.
Then the train drives off again for about 15-20 minutes, when you get to the Chinese border at Erlian, here the immigration police enters the train, collects the passports and it takes 4 hours before they leave the border to head for Beijing. Now, make sure that your visa is in order.
Our visa WAS in order, but it was not honoured by the Chinese immigration. It is a long story (and we are still very disappointed and angry about the situation, but when it comes to the Chinese immigation police, you cannot do anything!). Make sure that your visa is properly given by the Chinese embassy.
So a 30 hours journey from UB to Beijing should really just have taken 24 hours, but the border control checks adds hours!
Journey time
Ulaanbaatar to Beijing - 30 hours (includes 1 hour wait at the Mongolian border and approx. 3-4 hours wait at the Chinese border).
Buying your ticket
It is of course cheapest if you buy the Transmongolian Express tickets yourself directly from the train station ticket office, but tickets are often sold out weeks before the departure date.
Most people (including myself) buy the tickets through an agent. If you buy through an agent in UK for example - it will be very expensive. I have found that it is cheapest to book through an agent in China rather than an agent in Mongolia. The price difference was about US$50!
We booked through http://www.juulchin.mn/ (Mongolian agency - one of the pricier - only know that now!) which cost us US$225 per person one way from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing on the Deluxe class. We had already paid for it, when another agent in China (http://www.oceantravel.cn/) quoted the same ticket for US$178 per person!
Seating/Sleepers in the Transmongolian Express - different classes
There are 3 different classes of travelling on the Transmongolian, which are:
Deluxe class (sleeper)
First class (soft sleeper)
Second class (hard sleeper)
The second class are obviously the cheapest and the price goes up depending on how comfortable you want to be.
In the second class and first class sleeper you share a compartment with other people. Each compartment sleeps 4 people, while the deluxe sleeps 2 people only.
We bought the deluxe sleeper as we did not want to share the compartment with anyone.
In the deluxe sleeper section, we had a lower and an upper bed, a single sofa, a small table, two small tv screens and headphones for each bed. We got clean white sheets and pillows with pillow covers, satin covers and hand towels. We even had a shower/bathroom which we shared with one other couple. We were given a kettle of hot water, cups, tea and coffee and refills whenever needed. The sleeper hed were comfortable and had a protection rail to avoid falling out of the upper bed.
When you book your ticket, make sure you are getting the right ticket you want to buy. When you deal with the agents, it is quite confusing what you are getting. Each of them say different things, so just be on your toes.
The TrainsWhen you leave Mongolia, you are on the Mongolia train. When you get to the border of China and Mongolia, there is a break for about 1,5 hrs - 3 hrs, when they are changing the train. Basically, you get off the train. The train moves, and the Chinese restaurant carriage is added to the train, and the Mongolian restaurant carriage is taken off. During all this time, you cannot use the toilets on the train - they lock the toilets. You will still be in the same carriage and compartment that you got on when you boarded in Mongolia. There are different versions of the Transmongolian trains. We were on a rather modern one, and very clean. We were impressed.
Restaurant in the Transmongolian Express
The train has a restaurant carriage. It has drinks, alchohol, food, snacks. Beware though, it is not cheap. The Mongolian food carriage has limited food and it is pricier than the Chinese food carriage (Chinese food carriage is only available when you get to the Chinese border, and the Mongolian food carriage is taken off). The menu on the Mongolian food carriage seemed to have a variety of things, but when we wanted to order, they only did a set menu. So basically, the entire train had the same set menu. It was really busy, so you had to book a slot to have your lunch. We booked for 2.30PM, but only managed to be seated for lunch at 3.30PM and had the food at 4PM. So, a good idea to bring your own food if you can. The food carriage can only sit about 4o people, so everything has to be done in slots. We skipped dinner as we didn't want to wait till very late, and the food carriage shuts at 7.30PM. So we lived on pot noodles.
Note: Drinks, especially water is expensive, so bring your own.
Note: You meet a lot of friendly travellers in the food carriage.
Toilet facilities in the Transmongolian Express
We were lucky to have a bathroom with one other couple. It was cleaned twice while we were on the train. Otherwise, you have the public toilets on the train. They are ok, but I suspect that after 10 hours or so, it gets quite dirty. There is toilet paper, but bring your own to be safe.
What to bring on your journey
If you are sleeping in 2nd class or first class, bring toilet paper, hand towel, a cup/mug (you can get free hot water from the stewards on the train) and your own tea bags.
It is very useful (if you want to save money) to bring your own snacks, drinking water, fruits and even pot noodles (we did - remember you can get the hot water on the train), plastic spoons/forks. Bring your camera - there are so many pretty spots, a book or ipod/music as it is a long journey. Many people bring alchohol with them too.
At the border controls
When you are leaving the Mongolian border, the Mongolian police check the trains and take your passports. You are likely to be at the border for 1-2 hours before the train moves again. It is quite pain-less.
Then the train drives off again for about 15-20 minutes, when you get to the Chinese border at Erlian, here the immigration police enters the train, collects the passports and it takes 4 hours before they leave the border to head for Beijing. Now, make sure that your visa is in order.
Our visa WAS in order, but it was not honoured by the Chinese immigration. It is a long story (and we are still very disappointed and angry about the situation, but when it comes to the Chinese immigation police, you cannot do anything!). Make sure that your visa is properly given by the Chinese embassy.
So a 30 hours journey from UB to Beijing should really just have taken 24 hours, but the border control checks adds hours!
TRANSMONGOLIAN EXPRESS TO CHINA DISASTER - DETENTION AND HOUSE ARREST
19 July, 08, Ulaanbaatar
We had heard a few horror stories, but never imagined it would happen to us.
We left UB early morning on the 17th July to board the Transmongolian Express to Beijing. This 30 hours journey was going to be one of our luxury-train trips, as we had booked a Deluxe cabin with two beds (one lower and one upper berth), a single seater sofa, two small screen-tvs with headphones, a radio and a spring-clean modern toilet with a shower, which we shared with an elder French couple. Yes, it was luxury. The cabin had the best bed and best toilet I had experienced on the entire China/Mongolia trip. No kidding!
The beds were covered with satin sheets and a hostess brought in a kettle of hot water, cups, tea bag and coffee. We felt very comfortable and relaxed in our little luxury-cabin.
The train journey was really nice and scenic. We had so much fun and made new friends on the train (quite a few of them were Scandinavians), until we crossed to the Chinese border and we got pulled off the train. The Chinese immigration said that our Chinese visa was not valid anymore. We disagreed as we had got and paid for double entry to China and we had only entered once. They kept saying our visa was out of date and so we were asked to leave the train with all our luggage. We had already travelled for 12 hours and there was another 16 hours to travel to Beijing. We were taken to the immigration office and they refused us to go back on the train. They detained us and asked us to sign lots of papers in Chinese - which we could not read - and give our finger prints. Who knows what we signed! We had no option! (I was angry and furious - but as Amit calmed me down and explained that they could do anything to us - as we were held in China out in nowhere.) We were then put under house arrest. Two Chinese official walked us to a hotel and we stayed in a suite type of room. There was two rooms, we slept in one and the two officials slept right outside our door! Now, I know what it feels like being detained by the government! We woke up this morning, having made lots of calls to the British embassy and they could basically not help. All they said was that it was best to return to Mongolia, which is what the Chinese officials advised us to do. They said we need to go back to Mongolia and then get a new visa from there for China! Chinese officers arrived at the seedy hotel, collected us around 9.30Am and drove us to a building facing the Chinese/Mongolian border. We were told "You go, Mongolia" and pointed in the direction of Mongolia. We thought - is he kidding?? It was plain desert and the sun was burning the golden sand. With the trolley and Amit's shoulder still recuperating, there was no way we could walk to Mongolia. After much shouting and arguing with one of the Chinese officials who spoke no English and just kept laughing when we asked what to do, he suddently stopped a truck and asked the local driver to take us to the Chinese/Mongolian border on a truck with a local man. We jumped in with the stranger and 5-10 minutes later we were at the Mongolian border. We thought they would be understanding, but no at first they did not want to let us. They said we left Mongolia yesterday so now the visa is also invalid. So we said, were they going to keep tranferring us from China to Mongolia and then back to China and then back to Mongolia? The Mongolian officials wanted us to buy a new visa, so we said that we wanted to speak to the British embassy first. At first they refused us to make the call, but then they let us, and while Amit was on the phone, they called me in and said "ok, no problem, you just go back to Ulaanbaatar, we cancelled your entry of yesterday". So they let us go! We needed to drive to the train station on the Mongolian side and a local woman said she would drive us and of course she took more money from us than she should have.We reached Zamyn Ud - the hottest town of Mongolia (it is mostly desert), where we had to wait for 6 hours for our train to Ulaanbaatar at 5.55PM. The train trip took 16 hours! We shared a cabin with 2 local Mongolians who spoke no English. I slept in an upper berth and Amit slept in the berth beneath. A surreal experience. We shared some of the 2 local men's watermelon - that was kind of them to offer us some. They watched us when we played card and they just grabbed our Lonely Planet book and looked through it, then the picked our playing cards and just being curious. Definitely felt a cultural difference there - how they just took without asking. At 3Am, I suddenly opened my eyes -had been sleeping for a while, as I saw the big guy falling off his upper berth onto the floor, I screamed, he screamed and then I head Amit screaming, - I looked down horrified thinking that the big guy had fallen on Amit, while Amit screamed while raising both his arms in the air (luckily his left arm was in the sling, so stayed in tack - phew!), as he thought that I was falling off the bed and he raised his arms to catch me! Bless him. In the darkness, I grabbed his right hand from my berth and said "are you ok?", he said "I thought you fell out of the bed". The big guy was laying on the floor in a lot of pain, he had smashed into the steel table, which he had broken and onto the half water melon on the floor which had splattered everywhere. He just got back up into his berth, put his head on the same side as the steel table that had a iron bar sticking right into the air, and one of his arms dangling out of the train window. Amit and I did not sleep after that, we put our blankets together and covered the iron bar, to avoid the big guy falling and killing himself on the iron bar!! We were so cold without our blankets, but better to be safe than sorry.
Those two days that just passed have been full of surreal experiences and we are so knackered!
We had heard a few horror stories, but never imagined it would happen to us.
We left UB early morning on the 17th July to board the Transmongolian Express to Beijing. This 30 hours journey was going to be one of our luxury-train trips, as we had booked a Deluxe cabin with two beds (one lower and one upper berth), a single seater sofa, two small screen-tvs with headphones, a radio and a spring-clean modern toilet with a shower, which we shared with an elder French couple. Yes, it was luxury. The cabin had the best bed and best toilet I had experienced on the entire China/Mongolia trip. No kidding!
The beds were covered with satin sheets and a hostess brought in a kettle of hot water, cups, tea bag and coffee. We felt very comfortable and relaxed in our little luxury-cabin.
The train journey was really nice and scenic. We had so much fun and made new friends on the train (quite a few of them were Scandinavians), until we crossed to the Chinese border and we got pulled off the train. The Chinese immigration said that our Chinese visa was not valid anymore. We disagreed as we had got and paid for double entry to China and we had only entered once. They kept saying our visa was out of date and so we were asked to leave the train with all our luggage. We had already travelled for 12 hours and there was another 16 hours to travel to Beijing. We were taken to the immigration office and they refused us to go back on the train. They detained us and asked us to sign lots of papers in Chinese - which we could not read - and give our finger prints. Who knows what we signed! We had no option! (I was angry and furious - but as Amit calmed me down and explained that they could do anything to us - as we were held in China out in nowhere.) We were then put under house arrest. Two Chinese official walked us to a hotel and we stayed in a suite type of room. There was two rooms, we slept in one and the two officials slept right outside our door! Now, I know what it feels like being detained by the government! We woke up this morning, having made lots of calls to the British embassy and they could basically not help. All they said was that it was best to return to Mongolia, which is what the Chinese officials advised us to do. They said we need to go back to Mongolia and then get a new visa from there for China! Chinese officers arrived at the seedy hotel, collected us around 9.30Am and drove us to a building facing the Chinese/Mongolian border. We were told "You go, Mongolia" and pointed in the direction of Mongolia. We thought - is he kidding?? It was plain desert and the sun was burning the golden sand. With the trolley and Amit's shoulder still recuperating, there was no way we could walk to Mongolia. After much shouting and arguing with one of the Chinese officials who spoke no English and just kept laughing when we asked what to do, he suddently stopped a truck and asked the local driver to take us to the Chinese/Mongolian border on a truck with a local man. We jumped in with the stranger and 5-10 minutes later we were at the Mongolian border. We thought they would be understanding, but no at first they did not want to let us. They said we left Mongolia yesterday so now the visa is also invalid. So we said, were they going to keep tranferring us from China to Mongolia and then back to China and then back to Mongolia? The Mongolian officials wanted us to buy a new visa, so we said that we wanted to speak to the British embassy first. At first they refused us to make the call, but then they let us, and while Amit was on the phone, they called me in and said "ok, no problem, you just go back to Ulaanbaatar, we cancelled your entry of yesterday". So they let us go! We needed to drive to the train station on the Mongolian side and a local woman said she would drive us and of course she took more money from us than she should have.We reached Zamyn Ud - the hottest town of Mongolia (it is mostly desert), where we had to wait for 6 hours for our train to Ulaanbaatar at 5.55PM. The train trip took 16 hours! We shared a cabin with 2 local Mongolians who spoke no English. I slept in an upper berth and Amit slept in the berth beneath. A surreal experience. We shared some of the 2 local men's watermelon - that was kind of them to offer us some. They watched us when we played card and they just grabbed our Lonely Planet book and looked through it, then the picked our playing cards and just being curious. Definitely felt a cultural difference there - how they just took without asking. At 3Am, I suddenly opened my eyes -had been sleeping for a while, as I saw the big guy falling off his upper berth onto the floor, I screamed, he screamed and then I head Amit screaming, - I looked down horrified thinking that the big guy had fallen on Amit, while Amit screamed while raising both his arms in the air (luckily his left arm was in the sling, so stayed in tack - phew!), as he thought that I was falling off the bed and he raised his arms to catch me! Bless him. In the darkness, I grabbed his right hand from my berth and said "are you ok?", he said "I thought you fell out of the bed". The big guy was laying on the floor in a lot of pain, he had smashed into the steel table, which he had broken and onto the half water melon on the floor which had splattered everywhere. He just got back up into his berth, put his head on the same side as the steel table that had a iron bar sticking right into the air, and one of his arms dangling out of the train window. Amit and I did not sleep after that, we put our blankets together and covered the iron bar, to avoid the big guy falling and killing himself on the iron bar!! We were so cold without our blankets, but better to be safe than sorry.
Those two days that just passed have been full of surreal experiences and we are so knackered!
Monday, 14 July 2008
12 DAYS CAMPING IN CENTRAL AND NORTHERN MONGOLIA
16 July 2008, Ulaan Bator
UB-TSES
We have a 21 year old guide called Inga, this is her first trip ever with tourist. She has just finished Uni and she started of saying in the jeep as we drove off "from now on we are all family". that was lovely of her and we thought "how nice". But those were only words. Her immaturity and fakeness soon became evident - it bugged us but we decided to ignore ignore and just enjoy the nature and it turned out to be a super countryside journey. Our driver is Bator, speaks very little English, has loads of experience and is cool. We often play cards with him and we listen to his Mongolian Jakhlan songs - I must buy that CD!
we are out in nowhere and just stopped by a big town called Moron on the way to Khovsgol Lake (North Mongolia near the Russian border - and this is the only place we will find internet. We have been touring since 5th July in a Russian Jeep with a crazy driver called Bator. The roads are very rough and bumpy and my back is aching. Amit's shoulder is feeling funny but he is looking after it. Our mobiles are not working here and there is litereally nothing out here - just nature.We are touring 12 days, and we have been gone now 6 days and have 7 nights left and 8 days before we are back in Ulaanbator. We are staying in tents and gers/yurt (Mongolian white tent) and have no toilets/showers! We just have to pick a spot in the nature - for both No.1 and No.2! We had a wash in a very cold lake - but you cannot use shampoo or shower gel in the water as it gets contaminated. So you can imagine that we are quite dirty and smelly now! (We are going to have a wash in a public bat house here in Moron). We are really living a basic primitive life and you can get used to it, though it is not comfortable, but it makes us really appreciate our life in DK/UK. We are absolutely loving it here. It is really the most beautiful country I have been to. It really is. It is so spacious, remote, clean and massive. So many green mountains for miles and miles and just yaks/cows/horses/rabbits/rodents/cranes/other birds and hardly any people.
Leaking tent, hot spring
Great White Lake
Horse riding in Khovsgol
Nadaam Festival in Khovsgol
To be completed
_________________________________________________________________
We have had 15 amazing days in Mongolia. I would love to come back to see West Mongolia and the Gobi. A lot of adventure can be had in the spacious, massive and wonderful country-side. Definitely the most interesting country I have visited on this world trip.
China - here we come.....
UB-TSES
We have a 21 year old guide called Inga, this is her first trip ever with tourist. She has just finished Uni and she started of saying in the jeep as we drove off "from now on we are all family". that was lovely of her and we thought "how nice". But those were only words. Her immaturity and fakeness soon became evident - it bugged us but we decided to ignore ignore and just enjoy the nature and it turned out to be a super countryside journey. Our driver is Bator, speaks very little English, has loads of experience and is cool. We often play cards with him and we listen to his Mongolian Jakhlan songs - I must buy that CD!
we are out in nowhere and just stopped by a big town called Moron on the way to Khovsgol Lake (North Mongolia near the Russian border - and this is the only place we will find internet. We have been touring since 5th July in a Russian Jeep with a crazy driver called Bator. The roads are very rough and bumpy and my back is aching. Amit's shoulder is feeling funny but he is looking after it. Our mobiles are not working here and there is litereally nothing out here - just nature.We are touring 12 days, and we have been gone now 6 days and have 7 nights left and 8 days before we are back in Ulaanbator. We are staying in tents and gers/yurt (Mongolian white tent) and have no toilets/showers! We just have to pick a spot in the nature - for both No.1 and No.2! We had a wash in a very cold lake - but you cannot use shampoo or shower gel in the water as it gets contaminated. So you can imagine that we are quite dirty and smelly now! (We are going to have a wash in a public bat house here in Moron). We are really living a basic primitive life and you can get used to it, though it is not comfortable, but it makes us really appreciate our life in DK/UK. We are absolutely loving it here. It is really the most beautiful country I have been to. It really is. It is so spacious, remote, clean and massive. So many green mountains for miles and miles and just yaks/cows/horses/rabbits/rodents/cranes/other birds and hardly any people.
Leaking tent, hot spring
Great White Lake
Horse riding in Khovsgol
Nadaam Festival in Khovsgol
To be completed
_________________________________________________________________
We have had 15 amazing days in Mongolia. I would love to come back to see West Mongolia and the Gobi. A lot of adventure can be had in the spacious, massive and wonderful country-side. Definitely the most interesting country I have visited on this world trip.
China - here we come.....
MONGOLIA - FIRST IMPRESSIONS
4 July 2008, Ulaan Bator
Mongolia is the 19th largest country in the world and only has 2.7 Million people. About 1,5 Million of the population live in Ulaanbator = UB. Most people live in gers/yurts which is a white, round tent and can have about 6 single beds inside it. They come in different sizes. It operates as a lounge, dining and sleeping room.
In UB, people mainly live in flats or small houses, but many of the houses have a ger in the court yard. Our hostel has a ger in their court yard and it is really cool.
There is 98 % literacy in Mongolia. The main religion in Buddhism. You also have Christians, a few Muslims (the Kazakhs) and a number practicing Shamanism (mainly in the North).
Mongolia is very rich on resources, but unfortunately it has not benefited the country. 70% of the food eaten in Mongolia is imported from China! The USA have been giving monetary aid to Mongolia but are now threatening to withdraw the aid, because they feel Mongolia is trading too much with China!
The main problem here (as in many other countries) is corruption. The aid that arrives, does not arrive to the people. It is swallowed by officials in the government. If the Mongolians wanted to extract their resources they would see an explosion of foreign countries coming in and reaping the benefits, because Mongolia do not have the machinery. There are already several foreign mining companies who are profiting from gold and other minerals over here, but the Mongolians see no benefit to themselves. The traditional Mongolian is a nomad and if you had this major influx of companies starting an agricultural revolution or extraction of other resources, you would also see a fall or a disappearance of the nomads. This is how they have lived for thousand years. What is right or wrong? Many people in UB leave after high school to study in India, Korea or Japan. They don't see any opportunities in Mongolia so they leave. Then you have the traditional Mongolian nomad who wants to stay a nomad.
Mongolia has been ruled by the Russians and the Chinese.
It seems that the Mongolians are more fond of the Russians and have a clear dislike to the Chinese. With Russia coming into power in 1936, the Mongolians had free access to education in Moscow and felt they had more opportunities. The Buddhist religion was practiced behind doors as the Russians destroyed various temples and monasteries and thousands of monks were killed. In 1990 Mongolia got Democratic election, and guess what, all the Communist parties were voted back in. 1990 was an important year for the Mongolians. They started practicing the Buddhist religion openly again and sent lots of young men to Tibet and China be re-educated on Buddhism. Most of the old scriptures were in Tibetan and had not been translated into Mongolian.
It is an interesting time to be in Mongolia due to the political situation.
We had a very interesting conversation with the fellow-travellers, who are staying in our hostel. There is a Scottish/English guy and his Canadian girlfriend, who are travelling for 8 months and have travelled all through the Baltic countries, through to Russia to Mongolia. They have been stuck in Mongolia for 3 weeks - not by choice, but they are trying to get visas for China and India. They said that we were extremely lucky to get our Visas hassle-free in Singapore. The Chinese have really tightened up! In their 3 weeks' stay, they have learnt a lot about the country and they have been enlightening us.
We are starting our 12 days journey tomorrow going through Central and North Mongolia and will be back in UB on 16th July. I am very excited.
Mongolia is the 19th largest country in the world and only has 2.7 Million people. About 1,5 Million of the population live in Ulaanbator = UB. Most people live in gers/yurts which is a white, round tent and can have about 6 single beds inside it. They come in different sizes. It operates as a lounge, dining and sleeping room.
In UB, people mainly live in flats or small houses, but many of the houses have a ger in the court yard. Our hostel has a ger in their court yard and it is really cool.
There is 98 % literacy in Mongolia. The main religion in Buddhism. You also have Christians, a few Muslims (the Kazakhs) and a number practicing Shamanism (mainly in the North).
Mongolia is very rich on resources, but unfortunately it has not benefited the country. 70% of the food eaten in Mongolia is imported from China! The USA have been giving monetary aid to Mongolia but are now threatening to withdraw the aid, because they feel Mongolia is trading too much with China!
The main problem here (as in many other countries) is corruption. The aid that arrives, does not arrive to the people. It is swallowed by officials in the government. If the Mongolians wanted to extract their resources they would see an explosion of foreign countries coming in and reaping the benefits, because Mongolia do not have the machinery. There are already several foreign mining companies who are profiting from gold and other minerals over here, but the Mongolians see no benefit to themselves. The traditional Mongolian is a nomad and if you had this major influx of companies starting an agricultural revolution or extraction of other resources, you would also see a fall or a disappearance of the nomads. This is how they have lived for thousand years. What is right or wrong? Many people in UB leave after high school to study in India, Korea or Japan. They don't see any opportunities in Mongolia so they leave. Then you have the traditional Mongolian nomad who wants to stay a nomad.
Mongolia has been ruled by the Russians and the Chinese.
It seems that the Mongolians are more fond of the Russians and have a clear dislike to the Chinese. With Russia coming into power in 1936, the Mongolians had free access to education in Moscow and felt they had more opportunities. The Buddhist religion was practiced behind doors as the Russians destroyed various temples and monasteries and thousands of monks were killed. In 1990 Mongolia got Democratic election, and guess what, all the Communist parties were voted back in. 1990 was an important year for the Mongolians. They started practicing the Buddhist religion openly again and sent lots of young men to Tibet and China be re-educated on Buddhism. Most of the old scriptures were in Tibetan and had not been translated into Mongolian.
It is an interesting time to be in Mongolia due to the political situation.
We had a very interesting conversation with the fellow-travellers, who are staying in our hostel. There is a Scottish/English guy and his Canadian girlfriend, who are travelling for 8 months and have travelled all through the Baltic countries, through to Russia to Mongolia. They have been stuck in Mongolia for 3 weeks - not by choice, but they are trying to get visas for China and India. They said that we were extremely lucky to get our Visas hassle-free in Singapore. The Chinese have really tightened up! In their 3 weeks' stay, they have learnt a lot about the country and they have been enlightening us.
We are starting our 12 days journey tomorrow going through Central and North Mongolia and will be back in UB on 16th July. I am very excited.
ARRIVING IN ULAAN BATOR DURING THE STATE OF EMERGENCY
3 July, 2008, Ulaan Bator
We have arrived today safe and sound in Ulaan Bator, the capital of Mongolia.
You might have heard that the Mongolian Government declared a State of Emergency on the 1st July. Well, it is still a State of Emergency, but it is safe. There is a curfew for all. You cannot be on the streets between 10pm-8am and alcohol is banned in all shops and restaurants. Apparently, there were huge demonstrations a few days ago and modern buildings were burnt down. It was Parliamentary elections on the 29th of June (I think) and everyone expected the Democratic party to win, but the Communist parties won the most spaces in the Government. People were shocked at the results and many claim that it was a fraudulent election, hence the demonstrations. There was a lot of violence on the main square, but everything is sort of calm now. So nothing to worry about. We did not know any of all this - since we had no access to news in China. We tried going on the BBC website, but that website is blocked in China! All we knew, was when Amit spoke to his Dad yesterday evening, and his Dad said that there had been some political problems in Mongolia.
Then when we arrived this morning, the owner of the guest house where we are staying, filled us in on all the news.
We are staying in a family-run guest house. Our hosts are Mongolians Gan and Oyuna. They picked us up from the airport and they are so friendly and talkative (especially Gan - the husband) .We are paying US$16 for a room (that only has beds and a small corner table) with breakfast. We have an outdoor shower room and an outdoor toilet (which is a normal toilet seat but goes into a hole in the ground). There is a shared kitchen where you can cook your own food if you want. Gan is very good at planning tours and is eager for us to book a tour with him, but we are still deciding on the route and we are planning to start touring Mongolia on the 5th July. We have to choose whether we want to see the North of Mongolia (which is the best time to visit weather-wise) or the South - Gobi desert. No time to see both. I always wanted to see the Gobi desert, but the North is supposed to be stunning at this time of the year. We are probably
going to head north.
We have not seen much yet, but from what we have seen, Ulaan Bator looks very poor. The buildings are old and shabby and although the roads are clean.....ish, it seems run-down.
We saw one of the burnt buildings from the demonstrations. There seems to be a lot of poverty. We have seen a few street children begging and one in particular came in to the cafe where we were eating and kept grabbing Amit and trying to take his food. Even after three "NO"s and firmly telling the child to leave us alone, he kept bothering us. It was unpleasant.
To me, the Mongolians look like the Greenlanders. Their faces are wide, they have high cheek bones and many are golden-tanned. Some are very fair and have brown hair.
We have arrived today safe and sound in Ulaan Bator, the capital of Mongolia.
You might have heard that the Mongolian Government declared a State of Emergency on the 1st July. Well, it is still a State of Emergency, but it is safe. There is a curfew for all. You cannot be on the streets between 10pm-8am and alcohol is banned in all shops and restaurants. Apparently, there were huge demonstrations a few days ago and modern buildings were burnt down. It was Parliamentary elections on the 29th of June (I think) and everyone expected the Democratic party to win, but the Communist parties won the most spaces in the Government. People were shocked at the results and many claim that it was a fraudulent election, hence the demonstrations. There was a lot of violence on the main square, but everything is sort of calm now. So nothing to worry about. We did not know any of all this - since we had no access to news in China. We tried going on the BBC website, but that website is blocked in China! All we knew, was when Amit spoke to his Dad yesterday evening, and his Dad said that there had been some political problems in Mongolia.
Then when we arrived this morning, the owner of the guest house where we are staying, filled us in on all the news.
We are staying in a family-run guest house. Our hosts are Mongolians Gan and Oyuna. They picked us up from the airport and they are so friendly and talkative (especially Gan - the husband) .We are paying US$16 for a room (that only has beds and a small corner table) with breakfast. We have an outdoor shower room and an outdoor toilet (which is a normal toilet seat but goes into a hole in the ground). There is a shared kitchen where you can cook your own food if you want. Gan is very good at planning tours and is eager for us to book a tour with him, but we are still deciding on the route and we are planning to start touring Mongolia on the 5th July. We have to choose whether we want to see the North of Mongolia (which is the best time to visit weather-wise) or the South - Gobi desert. No time to see both. I always wanted to see the Gobi desert, but the North is supposed to be stunning at this time of the year. We are probably
going to head north.
We have not seen much yet, but from what we have seen, Ulaan Bator looks very poor. The buildings are old and shabby and although the roads are clean.....ish, it seems run-down.
We saw one of the burnt buildings from the demonstrations. There seems to be a lot of poverty. We have seen a few street children begging and one in particular came in to the cafe where we were eating and kept grabbing Amit and trying to take his food. Even after three "NO"s and firmly telling the child to leave us alone, he kept bothering us. It was unpleasant.
To me, the Mongolians look like the Greenlanders. Their faces are wide, they have high cheek bones and many are golden-tanned. Some are very fair and have brown hair.
Wednesday, 2 July 2008
THE GREAT WALL OF CHINA
2 July
GREAT WALL OF CHINA
Our guide picked us up at 6.40AM and we joined another 36 people on a 3-hours bus ride to the Jinshangling part of the Great Wall of China.It was a hot sunny day and guess what you can see the blue sky! As soon as you get out of Beijing, you can see the sky! Wohooo!We ventured out on a 4 hours trek to from the Jinshangling to Simaitai part of the Great Wall. This is the not-so-touristy walk and takes you to the original old Great Wall (the part of the Great Wall which is mostly visited by tourists is the Badaling Great Wall, which is the new rebuilt wall, which has better and safer walking path.) We wanted to walk on the old original part. It is a 10 km walk up steep steps constantly going up and down up and down. It is hard work in the heat and at times slippery. The wall is magnificent. It is set in the hills and just goes on and on and on. The views are gorgeous. As we got to the end of our trek, there were two options, either you walk another 25 minutes or you take a slide (strapped to a cable and your hands holding a rope, sliding from one end of a hill to the other side) across the river. Amit and I went on the slide together - it was fun! Felt a sense of achievement today - very much enjoyed the trek on the wall.
GREAT WALL OF CHINA
Our guide picked us up at 6.40AM and we joined another 36 people on a 3-hours bus ride to the Jinshangling part of the Great Wall of China.It was a hot sunny day and guess what you can see the blue sky! As soon as you get out of Beijing, you can see the sky! Wohooo!We ventured out on a 4 hours trek to from the Jinshangling to Simaitai part of the Great Wall. This is the not-so-touristy walk and takes you to the original old Great Wall (the part of the Great Wall which is mostly visited by tourists is the Badaling Great Wall, which is the new rebuilt wall, which has better and safer walking path.) We wanted to walk on the old original part. It is a 10 km walk up steep steps constantly going up and down up and down. It is hard work in the heat and at times slippery. The wall is magnificent. It is set in the hills and just goes on and on and on. The views are gorgeous. As we got to the end of our trek, there were two options, either you walk another 25 minutes or you take a slide (strapped to a cable and your hands holding a rope, sliding from one end of a hill to the other side) across the river. Amit and I went on the slide together - it was fun! Felt a sense of achievement today - very much enjoyed the trek on the wall.
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