Advertisement
Published: April 18th 2011
Edit Blog Post
Mongolia, the sea of dark hair and almond eyes tell me we've truly arrived in Asia, our real travel love. We may have been here for a while now geographically but we just haven't been feeling it. The smells, the smiles, the food... The stares, the lack of personal boundaries, the terrible driving... They all embrace us and comfort us like a warm blanket. We may have never been here before but it feels familiar, we've only just arrived but we love it already.
The journey from Russia, though short in distance took quite a while, mainly due to all the hanging around at the border. We were at the Russian side for 5 hours. During this time, immigration came onboard and took our passports, well one man came and took our passports but for some reason he required five other members of staff to accompany him. One was holding his briefcase so I understood his purpose; the others though had no discernible reason to be there other than maybe to boost the appearance of importance.
Other than immigration and customs there was a lot of shunting around of carriages and when that was completed just a lot of
sitting around waiting for something to happen. Even once we got our passports back there was nothing left to do but wait.
Once the wait was over it was a thirty minute trip across the border to the Mongolian side where the process was repeated. Of course it was much more relaxed, required a lot less staff and was much quicker at only two and a half hours. During this time we were hitched up to a much larger train and then continued on with our journey to Ulan-Bator.
I'd not heard great things about Ulan-Bator so my expectations were low. True, it's just another Asian city but we ended up quite liking it. It helped that we got picked up by the hostel we'd prebooked and put in our own apartment rather than the room with shared facilities we'd asked for. The air quality was poor, the level of traffic was atrocious, the quality of the driving was equally terrible, crossing the road was an ordeal and we quickly lost count of the times we almost saw someone get hit by a car. The food though was superb, we could now choose somewhere to eat based solely
on whether we actually wanted to eat there, rather than if we could afford it. The people were much friendlier and we had a fantastic bakery (reputedly the best in Ulan-Bator) right on the hostel doorstep.
We also visited the city's few attractions, namely Gandan Khiid, Mongolia's most important monastery and Sukhbaatar Square which were ok but certainly not a reason for coming to the country. Other than that we spent our time in the city just relaxing, and browsing the souvenir shops.
All the constant moving onward had left us tired and a little homesick. Sometimes while travelling you just really can't be bothered and would rather just sleep. This sounds a little ungrateful as we know there are people who would just love to be doing what we're doing. Why sleep when there's a wealth of experience right outside the doorstep that we should be making the most of? Sometimes though you really just cannot be bothered to get your ass out there to enjoy it. It's a little more exaggerated for us as we also have Nate and Gabe to consider, they couldn't care less whether we're tired or not, they need entertaining. The constant
moving, sightseeing, night after night of broken sleeps, uncomfortable bed after uncomfortable bed, we were getting more and more drained by the journey. Thankfully our time in Ulan-Bator recharged us a little, the beds were comfortable, there wasn't a whole heap of stuff to see and we were eating properly again. For this reason alone I think Ulan-Bator will always be remembered fondly.
We couldn't leave Mongolia though without seeing what's outside the cities, the famous Mongolian countryside. We had some serious limitations though to consider, the boys can't travel for hours on end in a knackered old jeep and it's still considered winter so not a lot is available. Our only real option was to spend the night in a traditional
Ger camp in Terelj National Park a couple of hours drive outside of the capital. This suited us fine and would at least provide a taster of the traditional nomadic lifestyle.
As soon as we entered the national park it was easy to see why getting out of Ulan-Bator is so highly recommended. I was expecting endless plains with gentle sloping hills; the reality was spectacular craggy mountains and vast open valleys. Our camp was tucked
away in the shadows of huge boulders which towered over everything giving a sense of isolation.
The camp we stayed at had two guest Gers and one that the family lived in. They were very comfortably furnished, catering more towards tourists and less toward the traditional nomadic way of life, but as it was so cold out we certainly weren't complaining. In the centre of the Ger was a stove which had to be kept fed with logs keeping the inside nice and warm (and sometimes if you added too much wood, uncomfortably hot), which was welcome as it was so cold outside but it was a bit of a nightmare trying to keep little hands from touching the red hot metal. Needless to say, we failed once as Nate put his hand on the chimney, he wasn't burnt too badly though and he quickly learnt not to touch it again.
Sadly there was little contact with the host family which left little to do but take short walks (till the cold wind got too much) around the surrounding countryside and go see the animals kept around the place. The surrounding scenery was breathtaking, and the boys really
loved wandering around looking at the cows, camels and horses.
We had a fairly comfortable nights sleep till the stove burnt out, the temperature inside quickly plummeted which left us all hiding under our covers conserving warmth.
In the morning before we returned to the city we took a short horse ride to a look out point, which got mixed reviews from the boys. They liked it when the horses sped up a bit as it meant they got to bounce up and down, but otherwise they quickly got bored as we were just led slowly along.
After the camp we stayed one more night in Ulan-Bator before catching an early train to our next country and the end of the Trans-Mongolian part of our journey.
Even though short, we really enjoyed our time in Mongolia. In a better season and if the boys were older, we could of spent a lot more time exploring the surrounding countryside. It really is spectacular and definitely deserves more time. Maybe another time though, for now the journey continues, next stop China.
Advertisement
Tot: 0.119s; Tpl: 0.017s; cc: 24; qc: 33; dbt: 0.073s; 1; m:domysql w:travelblog (10.17.0.13); sld: 1;
; mem: 1.2mb
D MJ Binkley
Dave and Merry Jo Binkley
We look forward to Mongolia
Loved your story and can't wait to visit Mongolia. You are right about long term travel taking a toll on your energy level. Sometimes you just need to sit and veg out for a couple of days. I've slept in a Yurt in Jackson Hole, Wyoming and look forward to doing it in Mongolia. Looking forward to reading about China.