Blogs from Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia, Asia - page 15

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Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar June 15th 2010

Mongolia is one of the least densely populated places in the world, and at least half the population live in or around Ulaan Baatar, its capital. The differences between this and Chinese cities is striking. The main thing is, while I always felt safe in China, this is a very rough place. It's not unusual to see fights break out or people puking they're guts out at ten in the morning. Definitely not a city to wander around in after dark. There isn't much proper infrastructure to be found, walkways are rarely paved, many buildings have ex-soviet styles to them, and a lot of poverty is still evident. Much of the population lives in Ger districts, which is typical Mongolian. Nevertheless it's a really interesting place to be in. The first day after the train ride ... read more
Town Centre
Ger District
Colourful Slum

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar June 2nd 2010

Hej igen, lige en kort notits om vores lille Gobi trip. I gaar kom vi hjem fra en 7 dage 6 naetters tur ud i det smukke Gobi. Gobi viste sig at vaere meget anderledes end vi begge havde regnet med, det startede ud med at vaere meget groent, men jo mere syd paa vi kom, blev det mere oerkenagtigt. Det blev dog aldrig saadan en sandoerken, som vi nok mere havde forestillet os. Vi har boet hos nomadefamilier, dog i vores egen ger, og spist hvad de spiser, dvs. en masse toerret koed, hvilket vi ikke var helt pjattede med! Ellers har vi proevet kamelridning, set paa dinosaurfossiler, leget med faarene, overnattet paa en kamelfarm - hvilket inkluderer kamelsang.. Ikke ligefrem skoensang! Vi har drukket vodka med mongolerne, og de andre turister. Og moedt en ... read more

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar May 15th 2010

For many the idea of spending six days cooped up on a train seems ludicrous. For us, it seemed like a cool way to end our trip. What better a way to come to terms with ending our travels, than spending 130 hours inching ever closer to home. The Trans-Siberian train has featured in our travel plan ever since the beginning, so it is nice that we get to see it through. The day before we left Beijing we got word of the forthcoming British Airways strike. They have delightfully chosen to begin their strike on the very day that we are due to fly with them from Moscow to London Heathrow. This triggered a panic attack, and desperate working out of potential plan B, C and D. As it happens we had already been working ... read more
Last moments of freedom in Beijing Train Station
Our home for six days..
Sunset in the Gobi Desert

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar April 20th 2010

I decided to have one last stop in Russia before I left, 24 hours in Ulan Ude, the capital of the Buryat republic and the home to the biggest Lenin head in the world. It was a rather weird visit. I arrived at 6 in the morning to a city which, If I didn't know better, I would say had never been visited by another westerner in the history of the world. I got quite familiar with the train station. I spent the first few hours waiting for the ticket office to open so I could book my onward journey and I also ended up staying in the train station dormitories- a totally bizarre experience with people drifting in and out all night. In between arriving and leaving I had time to get totally lost in ... read more
The train stopped at Naushki
Naushki
My first mongolian goats

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar January 28th 2010

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar December 10th 2009

After squealing like a little girl in the waters of Lake Baikal we returned to Irkutsk, where we had a few hours wait until we caught our next train to Mongolia. At thirty hours, I expected this train journey to be much tamer compared with the previous ninety hour trip from Moscow. Not only because I wasn’t sharing with Russians this time around, but because of Mongolia’s much stricter attitudes toward train drunkenness. Irkutsk is known as the ‘Paris of Siberia’. Like calling a ’chav’ fashionable, this was a complete exaggeration. With a distinctively ‘wild west’ aura, I felt there was more chance of seeing a cowboy riding down the road than a Russian lady decked in the latest Chanel and Gucci fashions. Apart from a never-ending procession of wedding parties at every turn, there’s little ... read more
Trans Siberian Railway
Trans Siberian Railway
Trans Siberian Railway

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar November 26th 2009

Juna saapui aamulla kuuden aikaan Ulaanbaatariin. Oli vielä pimeää ja mieltä kutkutti. Himmeä taksi kyyditsi meidät hotellille, läpi karun ja kylmän keskustan. Ennakkoluulot ja aamutuntien näkymät Ulaanbaatarista kuitenkin romuttuivat heti auringon noustua. Keskustassa moderneja rakennuksia, ihmiset trendikkäästi pukeutuneita ja kadut pullollaan katumaastureita. Tosin muutaman korttelin kävelymatkan päässä ei enää niin hohdokasta. Ulaanbaatar siis sekoitus uutta ja vanhaa, kivaa ja kurjaa. Auringon valo toi esiin myös äärimmäisen ikävän ja huonon puolen. Valtava saastepilvi imaisi sisäänsä koko kaupungin. Se oli jotain, mitä emme olleet ikinä aiemmin kokeneet. Näkyvyys: ei juuri mitään. Todella epämiellyttävä hengittää. Saastepilvi oli varmasti osasyy siihen, että vähintään joka toinen paikallinen oli pukenut hengityssuojaimen kasvoilleen. Toinen syy hengityssuojaimen käyttöön oli H1N... read more
Ulaan Baatar
Choijin Lama Monastery
Tourist street

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar November 7th 2009

I don't know if I've ever been in a city that has renamed and or moved itself as many times as Ulaan Baatar has! When a capitol of the more recent Mongolian empire was first declared it was 1639 and that capitol was 420 kilometers from the current capitol city. Actually city might not be the right word to use in reference to that first capitol. Ger camp might be a bit more accurate. Remember that at their heart the Mongolians are a nomadic people who were always accustomed to following their livestock. And as the pasture went dry, the camp moved on. At least 25 times it moved! And with each move there was the potential for a new name. It went through numerous creative names, like Khuree (Camp). When it finally reached its current ... read more
Choijin Lama Monastery
Migjid Janraisig Sum
Winter Palace

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar October 30th 2009

The capital city of Mongolia....is....cold, and.....not all that interesting! We spent a day and a half wandering around, and saw all it had to offer. It's very small and sights are limited. The Natural history museum was a taxidermists dream, just full of animals from all across Mongolia as well as a few dinosaur remains! After that, we decided to skip the history museum. The local monastery was the most interesting part, containing a 26.5metre high statue of buddha with many many worshippers turning the prayer wheels in constant motion. Monks walked round in orange robes and warm stirdy boots. Ulan Bator is classified as the worlds' coldest capital & it certainly was cold! Thank goodness for hat, scarf, glove shopping in Beijing! I loved seeing the children so bundled up they could hardly move! I ... read more
Ben and Nikki on Peace Avenue
Cold place to set up shop!
UB Monastery

Asia » Mongolia » Ulaanbaatar October 28th 2009

At 07.45 we boarded a 30 hour train to Ulan Bator! This was going to be the longest journey I had ever done...so far! The three of us had a comfortable four berth cabin to ourselves, with the bottom two beds acting a a sofa during the day. It was quite cold in the early hours, until the sun began to warm up the cabin. It was fairly roomy and would suffice for the next day and a half, aside from the industrial style toilet which allowed everything to fall straight onto the tracks, still it's better than a hole in the ground on Chinese trains. Once again, standard train entertainment involved many card games, a nap and some book reading. We were given two meal tickets, one for lunch at 11am and one for dinner ... read more
Ben and Nikki in the dining cart
Dining in style...sort of
Snuggling up!




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