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Published: October 2nd 2008
Our guide (Jenny - who was great) met us at the station. We were grouped with 8 other people, and they would be with us until Beijing. A coach takes us straight to have a shower. We all need it. So the first time i get to meet the other 3 guys from our new group is naked in the showers! The showers were strange. It was just an open room with 6 shower heads mounted halfway down the wall and a small stool under each one to sit on and wash. After this bizarre introduction we are taken for breakfast and then Jenny (can't remember her Mongolian name) took us on the now standard tour of Ulaan Baatar's monastries and main square etc. At the monastories we get to sit in on some 'high-school monks' chanting. They were only 6 or 7 but were being taught, yet people could go in and watch. Bizarre.
I found Ulaan Baatar strange. It's not like a city as you can see huge hills in the background with the outskirts sprawling up them. It's kind of a mess, but not in a bad way. All the kids on the street came up and
said hello and goodbye to us aswell as we were walking around. After lunch we set off on a 50km drive by coach to our camp. The roads were really bad. At one point we passed some guys re-painting the central markings. No roadworks, just 2 guys walking down the middle with a stencil and a guy just in front carrying a tub of white paint as lorries raced passed them. Before long the road no longer existed. We were in the hills on dirt tracks. I never knew a coach could tilt so much without toppling over.
Our camp consisted of about 12 tent like buildings called Gers. Completely in the middle of nowhere. You could walk to the top of the nearest hill and see more of the same into the distance, just nothingness and the odd cluster of Gers. Inside them, they were so spacious and had a fire for warmth + electricity. I want to introduce these to England. Just buy a plot of land and stick about 20 of them on it. We also found we had proper toilets and showers.
After supper that night Jenny tried to tempt us into a dancing
competition. Nobody was keen. Firstly, we'd all just eaten and secondly not many english people will dance amongst strangers when completely sober. I think she was actually a bit upset by this but she did get us involved in musical chairs a bit later. After that, we played cards and drank all night. Got to know all the other people in the group a lot better.
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