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Published: October 20th 2006
Mongolian Parliament
So, what did we expect after 70 years of communism?Day 136, 14th October
Ulaan Baatar
We’ve booked seven night stay in UB to get our Chinese visas sorted out and to generally repair our aching, worn-out bodies. After a shower I took the stinking bandage from my knee which had been there for well over a week. It had healed well despite the constant movement, so I left the wound to breathe. I washed my reeking clothes in a basin, the water turned black! - and when they were dry, went off to do some shopping at the state department store.
I’m finding UB to be a city with no heart. It’s very un-Mongolian compared with what we’ve witnessed already. Building belong to the Soviet-era, and lots of aimless people wandering the streets, looking for work, perhaps, or even an identity within this faceless city. The surrounding snow-dusted mountains are a pleasant contrast to the heaving traffic that clogs the streets and is so un-forgiving to the poor pedestrian. People stand around in traditional dress looking lost - some carry huge mobile phones, maybe waiting for a customer to call or an offer of some work. The city is also a haven for backpackers, I’ve dubbed it
Curious press (and militia)
It wasn't soon before we attracted the attention of the press - and the local militia who cautiously watched every move. the New Kathmandu. I think it’s the name, Ulaan Baatar, that attracts people, like Timbuktu does - an exotic location you can brag about for years to come. You have to be careful when walking UB’s streets too - the open manhole covers, and children dropping water-bombs from apartment windows seemed to be a favourite pastime! I managed to avoid this and found an internet café, it wasn’t difficult, in fact I’ve never seen so many in one city.
Day 137, 15th October
Ulaan Baatar
The first stop of the day was the Chinese Embassy, a huge place on the north-side of the city. There was no problem getting a 60-day visa with same-day-service for $60. That’s a dollar a day in China! We just didn’t mention that our form of travel was bicycles - apparently, we’ve found out that you’re not allowed to use your own form of transport in China without special permission. Hmmm, I’ll have to look into this…
Later, we went for a pizza which is turning into our staple-diet here. Unfortunately, I developed bad guts and spent the rest of the day in bed, occasionally ‘talking to God on the
Mongolian Article
The day after we spotted this in Mongo Post, or something of that ilk... big white telephone’!
Day 138, 16th October
Ulaan Baatar
Ben is an Aussie guy staying in my room. He’s kayaked the Yenisy River across Siberia to the Arctic Ocean! Before that he did South America coast-to-coast via the Amazon, and has the most amazing stories to tell about his trip. Makes our tour seem like a bike-ride to the shops and back! He also has a “free-call” Iridium satellite mobile phone which he said we could use. I tried to call Kathryn twice with it but couldn’t get through. I did manage to get through to my parents and my best friend in England, Harv. He’s still a lazy git!
The next thing we had to do was to get our Mongolian visas extended. Nassam managed to get this done for $40 each. Later, I went off to the post office, then just chilled-out in the flat. At night I met up with Marcus and Ria, the German cyclists. We wet for a drink at a jazz club and for a pizza afterwards. The other guys went on a cultural evening to see the famous Mongolian Throat-Wobblers - or something like that?
Day
Khan Brau
Mongolian beer from UB. If you look closely, you will see the German words which translated mean; "Brewed in accordance with (German) purity laws"! 139, 17th October
Ulaan Baatar
Today we decided to visit the notorious ‘Black-Market’ on the edge of town. On the way we popped into the British Embassy to meet Kay, the ambassador. The staff were interested by our escapades and thus invited us there on Friday to visit the ‘Steppe Inn’ - an English pub in the embassy compound. At the black market, we were trailed several times by gangs of pickpockets and other un-savoury characters, but turned the tables and stalked them back, which freaked ‘em out somewhat! Rory and I managed to get some ‘knobblies’ for the bikes as we reckoned this was the best idea for the Gobi crossing. Then I went on a souvenir-buying quest and bought some old Mongolian coins, a brackelet for Kathryn with an Indian design, and a Lenin medallion to hang on my wall. There was a huge food-hall too, ideal to stock up on foodstuffs before we head into the wilderness.
When we arrived back at the flat, Rory announced that he’d arranged for a newspaper and TV interview for tomorrow in the main square with our bikes. Later I sent emails again then ate with Rory and
Gers in the city
A strange sight was to see the gers in the city next to apartment blocks. Toby at a cheap café, we couldn’t find the Fish’n’Chip shop listed in the LP guidebook. I spent the rest of the evening reading up on China.
Day 140, 18th October
Ulaan Baatar
Eggs on toast with chilli sauce for breakfast, my diet is getting stranger by the day. It was the day of our Mongol-media thinghy and I put on my new knobblies for the show1 With our bikes, and panniers (loaded with cushions and blankets for effect), we headed into Sukhbataar Square, just in time to see the Danish prime-minister inspecting the guard outside of parliament. The local newspaper, “Today”, turned up to do an interview, then the local TV channel appeared and did a 15-second-filler for the funny bit at the end of the news.
Afterwards, we rode off to the big Buddhist temple on the west side of town to take some photos and to nosy around. In the afternoon, I checked my emails and did the latest edition to my travel diary and sent it to every poor sod sitting at home who knows me.
When I went up to Nassams to pick up my Mongolian visa extensions, I
"Steppe Inn"
British ambassador Kay pulls the pints in the pub in the grounds of UB's British Embassy. bumped into Tim Cope, another Aussie guy who Ben had introduced to me via email and wanted to meet me. He had done Finland to Beijing last year and gave me some invaluable advice on the road conditions which are waiting ahead of us. It doesn’t sound too good. Apparently, there is no road - it is non-existent. Just because there is a line on every map of Mongolia ever printed, doesn’t mean a road exists - as in this case. Water is scarce too. Tim took 20 litres and even ran dry at times then! He could only cross the Chinese border by taxi and then got arrested in the first big town because they were in a restricted area. In Jining the police imprisoned him for a few days, then escorted him and his bike to the railway station, putting him on one train to Beijing, and his bike on another train. The “Great Leap Forward” sounds like it’s going to be a bit of a challenge….
Day 141, 19th October
Ulaan Baatar
Spent the morning with Scott stocking up on supplies at the black market. Toby turned up unexpectedly and we all had
Mongol Post
Mongolian postage stamps in my written journal. a shit-sandwich (at least that’s what it tasted like)! I headed back alone to finish my letters and to write even more emails. The saga between Toby and his friend, Hans, continues… let me explain…
A few months back, Toby got to Düsseldorf ahead of us and stayed in the hostel. He told us he got really drunk one night and didn’t remember getting back. So, using a German email address I pretended to be Hans, the guy who helped Toby back to the hostel. Now Hans (me) is the editor of a German bike mag, “Saddle-Free”, and has emailed Toby requesting a pic of him for an article on the bike trip. Toby being the ‘media-whore’ was happy to oblige. However, Hans wanted a bare-chested image for his gay-naturist bike magazine. Toby, worried, flatly refused. However, Hans, now besotted with Toby after their night of passion in Düsseldorf, which Toby has no recollection of, will do a photo-montage of Toby on the body of a nude German cyclist for the mag! Since Prague, the emails from Hans have been getting more and more suggestive, like those of a deranged lover. Tobes has even quietly admitted to us that
Mongolian Togrog
Mongolian money - nice souvenirs! Hans write to him and is now planning to find Toby in Asia. But, to give Tobes his credit, he has his suspicions too. He’s worked out that the emails from Hans coincide with the times we are together in cities! Still, it’s fun!
I spent the afternoon packing my stuff and getting the bike ready for the trip across the Gobi. At 6pm we caught the trolleybus to the British Embassy where we got a surreal taste of back-home in the “Steppe Inn”. Kay, the ambassador, was pulling the pints behind the bar, and we were drinking them down. Tim turned up and the conversation turned to our impending trip across the Gobi again, and how to avoid the Chinese authorities. We walked back at kicking-out-time after spending time with the upper-classes, and headed back into town. I said farewell to Tim and promised to look him up when I got to Oz to check out his documentaries and books.
Giovanna, a girl staying in my room, offered to take a load of stuff back to England for us all as she was going home tomorrow. Rory was like a dog on heat around her, it was funny to watch, he spent most of the night chatting her up in the kitchen. I was just as bad and ended up singing songs to her after Rory had given up!
Tomorrow, we have to get up early to hit the road while the weather is good. We’ve heard reports that this year the weather has been extremely mild and we have been extremely lucky not to have been frozen solid yet! Since we’ve been here the temperatures have plummeted. The small river flowing through town when we arrived, was frozen solid today. I’m just wondering how cold it’s going to get out there in the desert at night, with just a sleeping bag and tent to protect us……
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The Sushi Cowboy
Camille & Denise
Small world
Regarding that Ben guy you met...I've read the books about their adventures. Written by Colin Angus, "Amazon Extreme" and "Lost In Mongolia" are the stories of their rafting trips along the Amazon and Yenisey rivers. Not really well written, but exciting and adventureous nonetheless. The fact that you met him on your trip is pretty cool...