Blogs from Mongolia, Asia - page 10

Ulan Bator - nichts fuer schwache Gemueter. 5 Minuten auf der Strasse unterwegs und es wurde schon mein Allerwertester von einem Passanten begrapscht und aggressiv gebettelt (umgeben von Kleinkindern, die zuerst nett nach "money" fragen und dann den Tonfall schnell aendern.). Im Reisefuehrer auch eindruecklich ein Foto, das einen kleinen Jungen zeigt, der in einem Kanalisationsschacht geschlafen hatte (da viel waermer als die bis zu -30 Grad oberhalb, hier in der kaeltesten Hauptstadt der Welt). Ulan Bator scheint mir trotz alledem (Durchschnittsverdienst 250 Dollar pro Monat) sehr stylish - jede/r ist perfekt angezogen. Und auch wenn wenige Englisch sprechen, haben wir (travel buddy Rafael und ich) mehrmals gehoert, wie unabhaengig und stark die Mongolinnen sind. Allein im Restaurant essen zum Beispiel? Ganz normal. Auch beim Bier zeigt das Land eigenen Willen: drei der vier Biere, d ... read more

'...charging along like troops in a battle All through the meadows the horses and cattle...' The evening sun shown itself like a big flashlight flashing every few seconds from behind the trees. We were passing through inner Mongolia. The constantly changing shadows, along with Stevenson's lines made it visually rhythmic. Willy too was lost in thought. ''It came to me in a dream you know'', he said suddenly in his deep and soft voice. He was still looking out the window, the flashlight lighting up his face in a warm glow. A moment later, he was in shadow again, he turned to me and continued. ''Going to Russia, Mongolia and Sheena (China) in this train''. I smiled back. Meet Woditsch Wilhelm. He is 78 years old and is from a small village in Germany. He is ... read more

After Hustai National Park my plan was to go to the Ikh Nartiin Chuulu Nature Reserve east of Ulan Baatar. It has one of the highest populations of Pallas' cats so there's as good a chance there of seeing one as anywhere. It is also the Mongolian stronghold for argali. There are argali at Hustai as well, but when I was there I was told there were only six or seven of them in the park so I didn't try looking (apparently there are no ibex at Hustai either, despite it being on their checklist and website). There are two camps at Ikh Nart, one catering pretty much solely to Mongolians and Chinese, and the other run by Nomadic Journeys and catering mainly to Western tourists. Obviously the latter is the more expensive, but from what ... read more

And now I'm in Mongolia! It is quite exciting. Some places in the world I've always wanted to go because just their names make me salivate. Borneo and Sulawesi I have got to already. Tierra del Fuego I haven't. Mongolia I think might be the most exotic-sounding of the lot and I'm finally here. I took a bus from Ulan Ude for twelve hours to get to Mongolia's capital city Ulan Baatar (it's had all sorts of variations in its spelling over the years, but Ulan Baatar seems to be the current one). Russian customs were pretty straightforward, if overly long because they had to process the entire bus. Oddly enough all luggage was x-rayed which is a bit weird when leaving a country by a land border. Presumably they were checking to make sure nobody ... read more

Chukka’s, the playing of mostly 4 sometimes 8 x 7 minute periods. Polo, a fiercely competitive game, akin to rugby on horse back, used in ancient times as cavalry training, battle without the sword The Mongolian horse is centuries of breeding, obviously hardy as they are turned out in the mountains over winter. There are moments of great hilarity watching big western men select, mount and try to drive these little horses, “basically stable”, was Jarrod’s comment. There are six teams gathered for this exhibition, two Mongolian boys, one Mongolian girls, one each of Harvard and the Kiwi team. Early afternoon it got quite cold and stormy, the tent blew down, heavy rain showers, chaos of wet gear, two teams still playing, the show must go on, all this observed from the bowels of the downed ... read more