I am sorry for the long blog silence - I have actually just gotten back from a trip to Mongolia and while the hostel had internet, I did not have my nice computer for proper picture prep and it was not an environment particularly conducive to composing blog entries. I had grand plans of blog writing today but I've actually been feeling a bit under the weather due to a Mongolian cold I picked up so I will just give a broad overview of my trip and the country in general here tonight, and follow with some pictures this week.
- We (my traveling companion Simon and I) took the Trans-Mongolian railway to get there to Ulaanbaatar, the capitol city of Mongolia, and flew back. The train ride took 30 hours and was definitely worth it to get a picture of the geography in northern China and in southern Mongolia. Highlights included mountains, vast rolling plains which resemble the Badlands, and a troupe of 2-humped camels which I saw right after waking up on the train and so entered my consciousness rather hazily, as if in a dream - this was Mongolia!
- We spent 1.5 days in Ulaanbaatar after arriving, and then left for a 'tour' for 3 days with 2 Dutch girls we met at the hostel. We saw Mongolian scenery and sites during the days and stayed in Mongolian 'gers' (round collapsible felt dwellings) at night with families that specialize in hosting tourists. It was quite chilly at night but stayed between 40 and 65 F during the days so was not too bad. I feel like staying with families that constantly have tourists around is not quite the real Mongolian experience, but we still managed to get a flavor for nomadic Mongolian everyday life.
- After returning to Ulaanbaatar, we had another 2 days of sightseeing before returning to China last night by air. We had quite an adventure getting to the airport as we elected to take the city bus which it turns out does not actually stop at the airport but instead passes it and continues to some apartment complexes. We had to walk a bit, but we were proud of ourselves that we spent $.25 on the trip!
- Random impressions of the city: much more friendly to tourists than Beijing - smaller, less pollution, cars actually stop for pedestrians. The city seems determined to break ankles though as there were lots of open manholes and metal poles sticking out of the pavement - a constant falling hazard! The people in the city seemed to stare at white people much less than in China, which I found very nice. No pointing and shouting of 'foreigner' like in Beijing. Mongolian people on the whole were very pleasant and helpful even to complete strangers.
- Random impressions of the countryside: What we saw of Mongolia was wide sweeping yellow grassy plains with some hills to mountains in the distance. We also saw a more mountainous area with impressive rocky formations. The clear air was amazing and the skies were very deep blue. Gers are quite comfortable and can actually become too hot thanks to the stoves inside; however the smell of burning cow patties can become oppressive to those not used to it. We saw several Buddhist monasteries in the hills and there seems to have been a massive Tibetan influence on Mongolian buddhism at some point.
More to come later, just wanted to give a broad sketch so you would be hanging on tenderhooks waiting for the details ;)
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