Mongolia -- heading east

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Well hello,

I guess you were wondering where we disappeared to. Well our travelsite crashed for a few days and we have lost most of our entries which is a real bummer... so I've decided to send a relatively quick update...

The border crossing from Russia to Mongolia was particularly rough. 8 hours of bureaucracy on both sides of the border with the Russians been particularly. We had close to 40 degree heat in our cabins, not been allowed to get off the train or go to toilet.. enough said not a hightlight...

We arrived in Ulaanbateur , the capital of Mongolia early morning about a week ago... its a bit of a dump frankly speaking. We went on a city tour and saw a cool buddist temple where the monks were actively chanting, watched by the younger ones who are learning the craft.. we saw the winter palace and summer palace of the last king of Mongolia who died in 1924 and went to a nice viewpoint over the city which a Soviet commeneration to the soldiers who died in the war.. Unfortunately the city in covered in a thick haze. There has been a number of forest fires around the city in the last few days because of the summer heat... there is also quite a lot of pollution which doesn't help visability. This place has a harsh climate -30 degrees in the winter and up to 40 + in the summer.. Luckily its not stiffenly hot while we are here...

We go the Irish pub and stuff ourselves as the food is good. I have a beef tenderloin for about $8!!! and Heather has a pizza .The local currency here is Tugriks if anybody asks you it about 1150 to a dollar... so we are carrying around thousands but i wish it was dollars..

We head off to a Ger Camp the next day and it is raining but we are happy as it is keeping the temperature down... The mongolian steppe is interesting to see...... its a massif barren grassy landscape which is reasonably flat... the ger camp in situated in Teriji National Park..



We spent the afternoon resting in our ger and listening to rain belt on the felt.. nice and relaxing ... we have some local food and then practiced our Eagle dance with our bus driver.. We finish the evening playing snooker and ping pong..

Must hurry on... next morning I went on a horseride for a couple of hours... Mongolia has some unusual rock formations ... more at home in the wild west i thought .. went to a meditation center in the mountains and admire the view.. I have picvtures.. Heather went for a nice walk... I tried some wild berries to eat ... did nt die t.g. On the way back to Ulaanbateur we stop at a local family ger and try some airag.. fermented mares milk... it has a tangy taste.. after this I think i can try fear factor!! Heather doesn't kiss me for a couple of days....

We go to a cool state show that evening... contortionists...unusual instruments and throat singing... must gather grub for the next stinky journey to Beijing... The train was a pleasant surprise.. it was a tourist train ... much cleaner .. no russians mongolians asians.. dont really miss it , its not like we can communicate anyway!! finished my first book in 3 years.. its embarassing I know... we go through the gobi desert and guess what it is full of sand.. and very dusty, you can feel it in the air you breathe... more bureacracy... we see the train bogies changed .. dont ask me too much about that .. its involves lifting and changing the under carraige of the train while we are still onboard.. strictly for train enthusiasts but a little bit of excitement for us... we cross the border .. yippee we are in China... we stop at this place called Erlian ... we poke around in the shop... I decide to avoid the public toilet '.... it reeks of the good stuff..

The scenery became progressively more hilly as we approached Beijing i take some nice shots as we enter mountain tunnels and emerge in nice green vallies.. Finally in Beijing... we have decided to give the group accomodation... Heather and I want some luxury.. we check in the Hyatt ... A splendid hotel with a very upmarket shopping center underneath... We are surprised by how modern it is ....

We head off to find a nice lake where we hired a bicycle made for two and had a nice ride looking the little shops and soaking up the culture beside the lakes..

The next day we are busy rise at 6.15 am as we are going to the Great Wall followed the fobidden city and Tiananamen square... the great wall is awesome .. its 6300 kms long ... we walk about 2 of it which is enough... its not visable from space as is often suggested.. its not even visable from 200 metres in the haze. You are really concious of environmental pollution here in China.. most days are hazy... it almost like the sun cant shine through.. I Bag a t shirt.. apparently you offer the hawkers only a 1/7 of what they are asking for according to out tour leader... they entice you in with a $1 dollar shirt i ended up paying $14 after some enjoyable haggling .. i think these guys always get the upper hand!!

The forbidden city is also massif too... it was first built in 1420 and has 500 year old cyress trees... the emperor had it good in his day.. he had about 3000 concubines!! Tiananamen square is the largest public square in the world and you fill really small in it.You had to be a high ranking official to enter it until 1949 .


my last paragraph didnt save... cant write anymore . in xian now.. saw the terracota warriors .. very cool later Roc/birdie xo

will add photos when we get the chance..

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Comments

[jason & jacqui]

I guess you're not planning on a second honeymoon?
Where aren't you guys going? It sounds like a great adventure. Keep your eyes open for a nice place for Jacqui and I to live after Bermuda. You know - lot's of money for little work, low taxes, nice climate, fairly modern....hmmm I guess that's why we're here. Jason