We Gotta Get out of this Place...

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Carolee and I are presently going through this Bill Murray/Groundhog Day nightmare where for the past 4 days we've woken up to find ourselves impossibly still in Ulaan Baatar. We rush to the train station to see if we can get ANY available ticket to China, receive a taunting "Ugui" (negatory) from the agent, then try to figure out how we will spend yet another remaining 10 hours in this city. Inevitably we succumb to our routine of finding a meal that doesn't include mutton or horse milk and spend a forced 2 hours on the internet before finally going back to the hostel to pray that we'll catch that next train back to China.

Please don't get the wrong impression that Mongolia isn't a great place. It's truly an amazing country-- but the capital of Ulaan Baatar....ehhhhm..... it's a bit like Detroit....without the charm (sorry Celyn). And when you only plan on staying in a place for 2 nights and it ends up being 5 with no end in sight, you feel a bit defeated. Right now is a difficult time to get a train to China as it's currently National Day. Oct 1, 1949, is the day that Mao established the People's Republic of China marking the Chinese Communist Party (CCP)'s victory over the Nationalist party. The nation celebrates for a week and Chinese all throughout the country are in travel mode. Finding seat availability, either in China or in neighboring countries such as, say Mongolia, is extremely difficult.

We've inquired about nearly every Chinese town across the border- Hohhot, Erlian, Jiniang, ANYTHING-- but to no avail. We've even been returning to the train station every morning b/c even though all trains are sold out, cancellations are a common occurence. But for now, nothing seems to work. There are some alternatives we've heard of-- to take local transportation to the border, then a quick minibus jaunt across the line and then just work your way into middle China, but we're not too confident in our travel skills yet to follow such a detached route. But desperation is gently rapping, and if this weekend passes and we're still sitting at this same internet cafe, we may go so far as to ride camelback out of here. We'll keep you posted.

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Photos

Waiting for the bus
Some people read the paper. These guys play billiards.

Comments

[Webber]

Horse milk?!?!
Are you outta your mind?! Where in Ulaanbaatar have you been given horse milk? If you can name the place(s), I'd be delighted cos horse milk is a rarity until and unless you go to the countryside. And noone in their right mind would milk the tea with horse milk anyway! I am a Mongolian myself, and it is quite offensive to hear such derogatory remarks about my own country. You have a choice of even meats for your food, not only mutton! Until and unless you were only frequenting the street guanzes which usually, yes, do have mutton meat in all their meals. Had you gone into something that had a sign "cafe", you would have seen that the meals have indications of meat they use. There are some dishes for which you can't even use mutton!!!!!! I am sorry, but this is the kind of s.h.i.t. that I keep reading from people who have their minds set on not opening them - if you are not ready to do that, why even bother to travel?!??!

[Carolee and Jay]

Yes, Horsemilk.
No sir, I can assure you that I am of sound mind. And was so even after consuming such a potent swill as airag at that time of writing. Access to it in Ulaan Baatar was via a fellow western traveler who said he purchased the beverage, imported and presented in a recycled Squirt bottle, from a street vendor in the capital confines- I don't know where you got the idea that it was mixed in with the tea. I did not want to imply that mutton and horsemilk were the only menu items to be had in Ulaan Baatar, but merely wanted to emphasize that after a week in the desert where, yes, that was ALL that was served, we wanted to make sure that we didn't encounter it again in the short term. I'm sorry that you've taken offense to my comments on your hometown. I really would've hoped that you minded my preface that Mongolia was an amazing country but that the city, like ANY industrial city in the world- be it Western or Eastern, 1st world or 3rd- can be a bane. Also, you should be reminded that this is one outsider's perspective on a foreign land aware of only the incidental encounters that presented themselves to him on a random visit. By no means am I suggesting that my account is an all-encompassing one. And as far as my experiences were concerned, mutton was plated up everywhere, my friend, and if you do not believe so, I must say that you may have misperceptions on your own country. I would encourage you to continue take pride in your country as you have much to be proud of- but I would also say that you need not be as vigilant as to become paranoid. I wasn't out to bad-mouth the entire country of Mongolia- I was only saying mare's milk ain't my cup o'tea.