http://www.travelblog.org/Asia/Mongolia/ Travel adventures in journals and photos from Asia , Mongolia en-us Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:09:24 UTC Fri, 05 Dec 2008 02:09:24 UTC Hi again palsWe've arrived in the coldest capital in the world and its living up to the reputation. Yesterday is was 20 and i think it's the same today. I'm wearing every item of clothing I have and I can still feel it. It's making our noses run so much but we have to be on the ball with tissues because if we let it drip it freezes Tristan has sneakily bought more base layers than me but it's O http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-351143.html Mongolian Independence Day. It celebrates them gaining independence from China in 1921. The biggest thing going on today Wrestling More specifically Mongolian Wrestling. Mongolian wrestling is a traditional style of wrestling that has been practiced in Mongolia for centuries and is one of Mongoliarsquos Three Manly Skills. The other two are archery and horsemanship. It is a big deal http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-348755.html I went out to dinner with some friends last night. After two years of living in a small village in Alaska without a restaurant I am always find the ability to go out just a little more exciting that I should. There are a surprising amount of places to eat here. I am not a huge fan of traditional Mongolian food. It isnrsquot bad and I am going to try as much as I can while I am here but for e http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-348669.html You would think that laundry would be fairly simple around the world and that there wouldnrsquot be all that many strange new things to get used to mishaps to report... What do you mean that you would assume that there would be all sorts of laundry issues when abroad Stop being smug then and let me tell you about my action packed day of laundry.First of all I do my own laundry. Duh you say http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-347392.html Today we are travelling across Mongolia. The border crossing between Russia and Mongolia was quite hard it was at night and took many hours so it was quite tiring you get lots of forms to fill in some of which have no English on8230I had to get help from the Chinese girls who knew alittle Mongolian and then let the other English people know. The scenery of Mongolia seems very different from th http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-346857.html Km travelled 1280331.10.08The little boy Dava shook hands with us and energetically waved standing with his family while our Jeep slowly turned on its bumpy way. Today we tried the half frozen river crossing. Without big success we have to say. Ochkhar stopped the car and got off to check the river and find out where best to cross and at the end valued that we were in the best place. So we tried http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Kharkorin/blog-341576.html Km travelled 1238329.10.08We stood silently looking at the frost particles sparkling in the air supported by a slow wind.It's time to go. Everything is already packed inside the car. We felt very comfortable here at the lake and leaving is always a bit sad. Moogi and his family have been very nice and friendly. How different is their life from ours. A life dictated by the sun and the moon the w http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Arkhangai/Tsetserleg/blog-341557.html Km travelled 1216328.10.08This morning at 6.00 Moogi came to our ger to light the fire. The night inside two sleeping bags and under a rug has been warm enough. We relax inside while the animals are taken out for the day. We have plenty of time until midday when we'll go for a horse ride around the lake. We read our books inside the ger with sunlight coming from the top ring. During the night the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Arkhangai/blog-341534.html Km travelled 1182326.10.08Ochkhar has brown thick skin like one that has seen many suns. His hair is dark and fizzy covered by a tight green hat. He spits loud words between thin lips and keeps his hands always up on the steering wheel. His jeep is blue blue outside and blue inside. Inside is all padded like an old piece of furniture.Dava is a smiling girl that keeps the smile even when she's s http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Kharkorin/blog-341232.html The last two weeks were certainly an experience.....we learned a lot about the Russian attitude. So I guess we became sceptical about what other countries would be like.......and Mongolia proved us wrong The moment we stepped off the train people were smiling at us....waving at us. Then this lovely girl came skipping up to us with the biggest grin shouted Hey.....I found you........I http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-339489.html IRKUTSK ULAANBAATARKm travelled 1145824.10.08We still can't believe it but it seems like we're officially in Mongolia. The trip started last night. The day in Irkutsk was quite useless apart from a good lunch at the London Pub. Too cold and I was too sick so we spent most of the day in at the hostel. We met two Brits there Dan and Rich that are on the train with us now. That's very good the http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-338267.html FRANCAIS16Oct2008 au 21Oct2008 Moutonneuse MongolieFinallement on y arrive avec un jour de retard a Pekin on monte dans le train No 3 direction Moscou commencant le Grand Final de notre voyage drsquoun an. On sent tout de suite la difference ce nrsquoest pas un train ordinaire crsquoest le legendaire Transiberien. On partage notre compartiment avec un Finlandais bavard Pano et sa fil http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Terelj/blog-337339.html Ten great things about living in Ulaanbaatar Mongolia1. How cool is living abroad 2. It is a city dotted with gers yerts trippy and fascinating3. It has a great quirky laid back attitude4. Elderly people still dress in traditional costumes5. Being small here means that I am lucky so people want to touch me okay not always a good thing but pretty cool all the same6. There are movie thea http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-335414.html Arrrrrrrrrrrrrrghhhh That is the sound of Tara banging her head on a wall Charlie Brown style. It hasnrsquot been a very good couple of days to live in Mongolia. Although I love living here and am having lots of fun adventures the last couple of days have reminded me that living in a developing country also has its downsides. Brace yourself people it is time for a rantI decided to buy a t http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-335412.html Kylla Mongolia on hieno paikka. Ei siita mihinkaan paase Luonto on todella jylhaa ilma on raikasta ja ihmiset ystavallisia ja jengi taalla puhuu englantia Mongoliassa ollaan oltu siis kolme yota joista kaksi todella kamasessa mutta kodikkaassa guesthousessa. Kun saavuttiin sunnuntaina oli todella mahtava fiilis paasta kampille suihkuun ja pehmeaan sankyyn... ..tai niinhan me luulimme. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-334540.html Tassa siis uusi ja uljas Blogi Aikaisemmat tekstit saatiin kopioitua tanne vanhasta ja TANNE SAADAAN NIITA KUVIA rajattomasti siis ja videoitakin jos sellasia tulee otetua Jes Elama hymyilee taas http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333839.html Mongoliassa vihdoinJunareissu meni loistavasti ilman mitaan ongelmia.Maanantaina siis lahdettiin kaupungista Tolstoijunalla kohti Moskovaa.Junan ulkoasu oli hieman venajahtava mutta hytti oli oikein fiini.Saatiin samaan hyttiin kaksi venalaista mimmia joista molemmat puhuivatenglantia joten saatiin selville etta juna on venajan rajallapuolen yon aikaan. Rajatarkastukset menivat onge http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333837.html Update to come read what we did in the photo captions http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333497.html Update to come read what we did in the photo captions http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333496.html First stop the Central Post Office to withdraw several hundred thousand Turgrogs about 50.00. We are ring in Mongolia.Choijin Monastery but it was closed so had to be happy with looking at the exterior.Long walk outside of the UB city to the Bogd Khan Palace Museum the Winter Palace of Mongolia. Hardly any restoration which made the place seem even more authentic than the usual temples. http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333481.html There are photos attached so click the web link on your email is you can't see themWe have just spent the most amazing two weeks in the Mongolian countryside and have had a fabulous experience. We organised a driver and a guide through our guesthouse and were joined by 2 Spanish girls and a Danish couple. Accomodation was mainly in Gers owned by Mongolian families although we slept in tents o http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Gobi-Desert/blog-333416.html We had very inauspicious start to our visit to Mongolia. After alighting from the train we were met with the usual touts for hostels and because we had to find an ATM chose to jump in a taxi instead. A taxi driver came running toward us and after assuring us that his was indeed a metered taxi packed our bags into the back of his vehicle. First he drove us to a money exchange even though we h http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333411.html So I accidentally went on a tour of a cashmere factory today. Yes accidentally. I thought that it was a cashmere shopping trip. This is what happens when you get your information third hand. I hadnrsquot been shopping for cashmere yet. I am still easily lost going around the city and hadnrsquot gotten around to coordinating a trip with anyone else. My friend Liz who I work with has http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-333171.html It is international week here at ISU. You may be wondering why I bring this up. I will answer. 200 kids from 29 countries What is more fun than that And two I was on the committee that organized it so feel the need to spread the love to all you people who have nothing better to do than to read about the minutia of my day. Oh the power... Wait donrsquot stop readinghellip Irsquoll http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-332782.html hellipI reached into my backpack and found a marmot eating all my carrots so to calm my nerves I sipped a red bull and played tictactoe while listening to Mongolian radiohellipI awoke half blinded by the brilliant blue sky from this nightmare of sorts to find I was in the middle of a Gobi desert steppe surrounded by mountains that had mouths I wrestled out of my sleeping bag to consider http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Gobi-Desert/blog-332190.html My arrival in Mongolia was marred by the realisation that I had no idea what I was to do here for my 30day visa here is a tale of what I didhellipI feel it is a little unconcise unconnected and so on due to writing it in different points of time and space but Irsquom done with it now and so time to bite a bullet and upload as it ishellipSo from Ulan Ude Russia I made a border adv http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Ulaanbaatar/blog-331773.html SAYNSHAND DAY 3After a pretty good nights' sleep and an easy morning devouring another chapter or two of my book we walked over to the museum at around 10ish as we were going to meet Sara at 11. First stop of course was 'The Castle' where we bought some food and the much needed fluids for our desert trip. Sitting outside the museum catching the first rays of October we met a fellow traveler http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Dornogovi/Saynshand/blog-331254.html Days 30 33At last finally arrrived in Ulaanbaatar and we met our tour guide and the rest of the group before heading to a hotel for a shower YAY All of us really happy to arrive at the showers until we saw thesign bathhouse.. Turned out we just had a room with about 5 showers in ha ha ha.. After everyone had had the most awkward shower EVER we headed to breakfast it wasone sausage and half http://www.travelblog.org//Asia/Mongolia/Gobi-Desert/blog-330950.html