Blogs from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Asia - page 10

The population of Mongolia situated somewhere around 2.75 million people makes the country in contrast to its land mass one of the least populated countries on earth. It's this fact that doesn't bother me one little bit. No people! What a delightful concept, just miles and miles of beautiful open expanses, rolling hills and the bubonic plague, but that's another story. To make way for this however I would need to make it through the urban capital conglomerate of Ulaanbaatar. It was a dubious start however, I'd booked my accommodation ahead and organized a pickup from the airport by my guesthouse. Of the 200 of so passengers on board the flight I appeared to be the only tourist without a fella stood at the airport waiting for me with a nice little plaque with my name ... read more

Wow I haven't blogged in a really long time! So for those not on facebook, I did indeed get my Russian visa in the end, much celebration ensued. The rest of my time in Hong Kong was good fun, I went to Noah's Ark (which was as hilarious as I expected, but also a lot more interesting than I expected since it had lots of information about various attempts to find the remains of it on Mount Arrarat, and information about modern projects inspired by the story, such as Frozen Ark, which is a collection of DNA samples of every animal of the world to try and combat extinction), and I also went to several temples, including the 10,000 Buddahs temple, which as the name suggests, has over 10,000 gold buddah statues in it and on ... read more

The Island Fortress of the Celestial Kingdom Rules There is no organized tourism in the Celestial Kingdom. Foreigners, upon prior arrangements and approval, may receive transit status . Please be aware that whilst we do the utmost for our transit visitors you are under very strict regulations as to what you can and cannot do and this is not negotiable. For example; you are not free to wander around on your own, there are photographic restrictions and video cameras are generally prohibited. The main problem is with journalists who have tried to enter the The Island Fortress of the Celestial Kingdom with us but without informing us of their status. This has led to two serious instances which has got our guides into trouble. WE CANNOT TAKE JOURNALISTS INTO the Island Fortress of the Celestial Kingdom. ... read more

In March, I started applying for a tourist visa to Mongolia. The visa procedure applicable to Vietnamese is quite complicated. Khongor Guest House in Ulaanbaatar sent an invitation letter with my name and copy of my passport to Mongolian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. After the letter was approved, it would be sent to Mongolian Embassy in Hanoi. Three weeks later, I contacted the Embassy and they said there was still no approval result for me. I decided to delay my trip to June. Air ticket to Mongolia from Vietnam is very expensive, US$1,200 round trip, and I had to take 5 flights on 4 different airlines (Vietnam Airlines, MIAT - Mongolian Airlines, Air China International and Southern China Airlines). 24 to 28 June 2011 - My 5-day trip ended up with one more day in Beijing, ... read more

China was fun in the end!! Got to Beijing on a nice long train but managed to find a bed so was anything but a rough ride! My couch when I got there was pretty sweet, and met up with a sweede so we teamed up to take on this crazy big city! Was a pretty relaxed time other than the Mongolian visa. 1st day at the office, no, massive cue, twice the price coz its a Monday go figure! 2nd time at the office I arrived an hour early to make sure wwhich was fine but had to pay twice the price to get it back in twice the normal time.. great so had to spend twice the time in a lovely busy, polluted city with spitting locals everywhere! 2 amazing trips to the great ... read more