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Published: October 7th 2008
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My arrival in Mongolia was marred by the realisation that I had no idea what I was to do here for my 30-day visa, here is a tale of what I did…(I feel it is a little un-concise, un-connected and so on (due to writing it in different points of time and space), but I’m done with it now and so time to bite a bullet and upload as it is)…
So from Ulan Ude (Russia) I made a border adventure, and in fact crossed it by road rather than train due to the extortionate train price. Had to get a bus to the border then get a bus through the border as you can’t cross on foot), then a taxi and then finally a cheap local night train once in Mongolia. Luckily I met some friendly Polish lads doing the same and so stuck with them for company. Turned out they were on a little adventure but nothing compared to the adventurers I was to meet…
My arrival in Ulaan Baatar (capital of Mongolia) was just as the sun was coming up and, as you can imagine, the de-speckling of eyes were second only to a longing for
cheese and crumpets. I’d planned a couchsurf here; met my host, Midkhat (Russian super chilled guy) and as usual went into his world, which turned out to be totally couch orientated. I was there for a few days and he had 6 other surfers in this time as well. Here I met Matan, an Israeli, who had hardly ridden a horse but was planning on buying horses to go on a 7-week trek. Also I encountered my first of many groups of Mongol rallyers (from London/Madrid/Milan to Ulaan Baatar anyway you want in a 1 litre or less car - who’s up for it one year?!). All in all I must of met 20-30 rallyers that arrived whilst I was here in Ulaan Baatar.
So by this time I realised Mongolia was ripe for adventuring in, no real barriers, except I didn’t have the total independence to go it alone. So after some days of milling about the guesthouses and deciding an organised tour was not for me I finally met a group (4 Israelis). They had a van and driver hired for 7 days and so a trip to the central West was planned. Went well enough, I
had a 24-hour puking incident and the weather was not so nice, but got to see some great countryside (sand dunes, lakes, volcanoes) and the mind went bananas at times. It didn’t really feel like the adventure I was striving for though.
I arrived back and checked into Bolod’s guesthouse, which turned out to be the centre of Ulaan Baatar and it’s slightly crazed it seemed. I first met German Andre, who was a fellow in views, but also made the observation that I was just as crazy, he was though for sure. Michelle was a wanderer that had just been on 1000+km bike ride with a Belgian guy, Michael, she’d met in the post office here. He’d cycled from Belgium as you do. Another cyclist Julie had come from Holland via Beijing (www.biketobeijing.blogspot.com), again as you do. She’d met Keith, a journalist, on the train who was writing a piece on the Mongol horses, he spoke with instant reflexes so that you’d barely have time to get another question ready for him. Then you had this French guy who was living in Russia but seemed to have no clue why he was here or there; he did make
a refreshingly accurate observation though when he told a girl in the dorm that she could just drop the shower towel to get dressed and he wouldn’t mind at all! A nice mix.
During my time there I was to get my Chinese Visa and all around there seemed others in the same boat in this land locked country; there was a sense of dread about it. Good luck I was wished by all. I remember one panicking English guy who was so terrified even after he had the Visa in his hands, although maybe this was his general manner, as all conversation would somehow induce a sense of panic within him.
Going forward in time from this perspective I was to meet the Polish Gobi crew, more on them in the future. Through them I met the Polish who were driving from Poland and back in 4 mini cars. Also Canandian Joel, who’d just come from South-East Asia for some adventure in Mongolia, he turned into an elephant with his small backpack for a trunk. But this is all in the future and in the next blog…
I seem to have described more the rich blend
of people than the place, to me that was what Mongolia was about in these times. Mongolia seems to attract these types of people, adventurers, and these are only the ones I have time to mention (there was the French motor biker I left out somehow, nice sheep story - see pics). For me, Mongolia was supposed to be merely a stop on the way to China, then I met all these adventurers and searched high and low for what mine should/would be. Alas I found it in the end, with the winds of the Gobi desert…
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