The U.B.

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Spent the first day in Ulaan Baator, or U.B. as the English speaking locals call it, getting the lay of the land and resting up from the late night border crossing and early morning trek through town. I’m staying at the Naruntuul Hotel, which is a nice business class hotel right on Peace Avenue near the road to the Gandan Monestery. The hotel room is in fairly good shape and has a living room with a kitchenette and a small separate bedroom. Nice bath and even a little balcony. Pretty swank! There’s a bank with a working ATM right next door! About two blocks away down Peace Ave. towards the center of town is the State Department Store. It’s a big Soviet era building which once held the State run store. It’s now a nice department store/mall run by private businesses. Several blocks further along is Sukhe Bator square. This is the real center of town, with a large open square flanked by the Parliament House and other government buildings, banks, the Opera House and the Palace of Culture. There is usually a statue honoring the square’s namesake, who was a Mongolian revolutionary leader, but it had been removed for refurbishing. The square was also the center of huge pro-democracy rallies in 1990, which led to the fall of the communist government within several months.

U.B is kind of like a wild west town. After the fall of communism, there was a period of uncertainty and upheaval. The forces of capitalism are hard at work and there is now building and growth everywhere. There are too many cars for the size and types of roads and traffic jams are common. U.B. also has some of the most aggressive drivers I’ve ever seen! Crossing the streets is an adventure every time. That being said, the guy who almost runs you over will waive like he’s sorry! Very friendly people indeed! You notice right away that the Mongolian people certainly have a different attitude from the attitudes of the average Russian you see on the street. Smiling in public is common here! I was told that there was a very severe drought in Mongolia in 1999 into 2000. That year also had the harshest winter on record. The locals call it a natural disaster. Many animals were lost and as a result, many nomads had to move to the city to find work. On the main street, you often see a mix of businessmen, students and nomads in traditional garb.

There are also restaurants serving any kind of food you would want. The local cuisine is heavy on mutton and other meats. I had a chance to try one of the local favorites known as buuz (pronounced “boots” ) Buuz is a kind of dumpling filled with a savory meat filling. Nice!

Back in my room, I had a nap and got up at 2 a.m. to watch the Packer game. It came in fine, but by the end I was wishing I had just stayed asleep.

After a nice “western breakfast”, which included eggs, bacon, bright yellow fried potatoes and tiny tomato halves , I met my guide in the lobby. I had set up a trip to the nearby Terelj National Park for an overnight stay in a Ger Camp. A Ger (pronounced “gair”), is the traditional Mongolian nomadic abode. What the Russians call a “Yurt”. It is a round lattice frame covered with felt and heated with a small cast iron stove in the center. My guide was a pleasant young Mongolian woman, whose name I never could pronounce. She led me out to our vehicle and driver. The driver was a pleasant Mongolian gentleman who spoke no English. He was a fearless driver! The vehicle was a Russian four wheel drive van, which we piled into and set off. I had stashed my roll along bag at the luggage room of the hotel as I would be returning for two more nights.

Getting out of U.B. was the biggest chore, as it had snowed the night before so the daily traffic jam was particularly tricky. Our driver took no prisoners and leaned on the horn with the best of them. After we had made our way through U.B., we set out on an unimpressive toll road into a mountainous area only about 80 kilometers outside of town. We arrived at the park, which lay in a beautiful set of mountain valleys with a river and open areas with stables for horses. There were numerous camps, sometimes cabins, but usually a hotel with a dozen or so Gers set up nearby. We pulled into our camp and were met by a caretaker and his big German Sheppard dog named Bambi. Bambi warmed right up when she found that I had beef jerky treats in my pocket. We climbed a hill which led up between Gers to my Ger, the closest to the hotel building further up the hill. Snow had been cleared from the entrance, and a fire had already been lit in the stove. I stashed my gear inside and made myself comfortable in my little nomadic home. After resting for about an hour (too much post-Packer game nodding off on the ride out to the camp) we all met up at the lodge building (where my guide and driver stayed). The lodge had the bathrooms as well as the restaurant. We had a familiar traditional meal. After green salad and soup… Buuz!

After lunch we headed out for a tour around the park. There were numerous huge rock formations and some looked like the animals. The best known was the “Turtle Rock” which did resemble a giant turtle. We also went to an area which was a Buddhist Meditation Center. There were Temples and a Tibetan-like Meditation center built halfway up a small mountain, overlooking a lovely valley. The “road” back to the center was completely snowed in and if not for our fearless driver and trusty 4-wheeler, we never would have made it. Instead it was like a snowy Baja race, dashing around corners and through gullies and around outcroppings to the gate. From there it was a hike uphill through the snow, over a bridge and along a slippery walkway to the steps up to the center. The view down the valley was beautiful.

Back at the camp, we rested until dinner. Again, traditional fare with a soup that had a smaller version of Buuz, followed by a breaded chicken (or pork?) main dish. Off to bed in my Ger. The place was amazing and really comfortable. I must say that I have had better rests, however, as I had to get up about every two hours to stoke the fire. The staff had earlier tried putting a bag of coal in the stove, indicating that it would give a longer burn time before stoking. The problem with the coal was that it made the Ger so hot that it was like a sweat lodge. I suppose it would take longer for it to cool off, but you would wake up freezing cold, covered with sweat and probably stripped down to your skivvies! I think I have also detected a hint of this cultural tradition in the hotel in U.B., which keeps it’s rooms so hot I had to open a window!

On a middle-of-the-night fire stoking rise, I decided to hike up to the lodge building to visit the rest room. I was actually looking forward to getting outside on a cold Mongolian winter night. Wow, can you see stars in the night sky there!

I made it through the night and after breakfast it was off on a stroll around the area. I also found that Bambi liked to play “get the stick” like most dogs. She just wasn’t too good at bringing it back! Back to the Ger for another rest before lunch and the drive back to U.B.. On the way back we swung by the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan (Buddhist “Holy King” of Mongolia). Pretty cool, it’s said to be like a mini - Forbidden City.

Back to the hotel and out on the town again. Did some shopping then stopped at “The Great Khan Irish Pub” (no kidding) for drinks and dinner. I had a great chocolate martini, followed by, what else in a Mongolian Irish Pub… Spaghetti! Actually a Spaghetti Bolognese which was wonderful! Very happy, I headed back to my hotel for a nice night in.

Today I started out with by ordering the “German” breakfast in our wonderful breakfast room. It really is a nice room, it’s called the Slade Restaurant at night, but it’s a glassed-in atrium overlooking Peace Ave. on the third floor of the hotel. Anyway, the ”German“ breakfast was similar to the “”Western” breakfast, except you got a sliced up sausage/hotdog instead of the bacon and yellow potatoes. Hmmm.

My first stop was the Gandan Monastery. Before the Communists, there were around 700 monasteries in Mongolia. There were also tens of thousands of monks. Most of the monasteries were destroyed and over 14 thousand monks killed. More were imprisoned or sent into the army. The Gandan Monastery was maintained as a museum. But the great bronze Buddha statue was carted off . The original monastery on the site dated from the 18th century. Many of the buildings had been rebuilt in the 1830s. After the fall of the communists, the monastery was reopened and is still being refurbished. Donations from all over the country have allowed the statue (26.5 meters tall) to be remade and replaced. The monastery is a complex of temples, shrines, libraries and other places of worship. One structure had housed the 13th Dalai Lama for several years when he was forced to flee Lhasa in 1904.

While I was at the monastery, the monks were at prayer in several of the temples. They would chant and suddenly ring out bells, cymbals, drums and horns like you see in movies about the monks in Tibet. Regular people were streaming through the temples, many making their way around the series of “prayer wheels”, praying, lighting candles and making offerings to the temples. At big statue like structures outside, many would circle the structure, praying and moving the prayer wheels. They would buy bags of seed around the square (the seed sellers were everywhere and very persistent) and throw it up on the statue in offering. The birds in the area were very happy with this ritual and great flocks wheeled around the area.

I walked back to the main square in the center of town and walked toward the Parliament Building. In the center of the front of the building is a large statue of Chinggis Khan (or Gengiss Khan, depending on who you talk to). He is certainly the Mongolian fair-haired boy in these parts. Ever since he unified the Mongol people and started the march of the Mongol Horde, conquering much of the known world, his name, however spelled, has been legendary. I learned more about the Mongols, and all of Mongolian history at the Mongolian National History Museum, right around the corner from the square. It’s quite a nice museum and I was glad to find English translations of the information posted.

For dinner, I stopped at a Thai restaurant and had a tasty plate of Pad Thai and some chicken egg rolls. Then I did some shopping on the way back to my hotel. Evening in to do laundry, pack for the train tomorrow and catch up on this blog. For some reason the internet has gone down in my room and I’m going to have to try and send this by wi-fi in the lobby. Next stop, Beijing!

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Photos

My Ger
Fisrt yurt on the right.

Grand Khan Irish Pub
See, I told you...

Comments

[Elizabeth]

Today's Blog
Hey Michael, I have not checked your blog since before Thanksgiving. I am trying to get caught up and am going to start reading the latest one. I'm really enjoying reading about the train...I always enjoyed riding the train and how it clicks and clacks back and forth...But, hey 5 days seems like a long time (especially without a shower!). It must be nice to be off the train. I'm going to read your blog now.