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Chapter 6 - Ulan Bator (UB)
We made it! After a 24 hour train journey including a 6 hour border crossing we arrived in Mongolia's capital Ulaan Baatar
(or Bator or UB). Again the first objective was accommodation then we were keen to book atour. Mongolia has a population of
2.45 million, most of whom live in and around Ulaan Baatar, so inevitably most of the infrastructure is also concentrated
around the capital. It is very difficult but possible to travel around Mongolia independently, however most people don't spend
a huge amount of time in Mongolia and use it as a break in the Trans-Mongolian journey.
Once settled it was time to explore the city. I felt instantly at ease and even charmed by the place's ambiance. Ulaan
Baatar is surrounded by hills, some of which have huge chalk images of Chinggis Khan - spelling reflecting the Mongol pronunciation
- imposed on them. This man, the epitome of savagery in the west is worshipped as a national hero and indeed the founder
of the country. Born in 1162 CE, the future Chinggis Khan (Ocean King) demonstrated his brutality from an early age by killing
his brother for stealing from him as a teenager. In 1206CE Chinggis Khan unleashed the Hordes on central Asia. The Mongols
were expert cavalrymen and mounted archers and they used their mobility to penetrate deep into opposing kingdoms and to outmanoeure
their opponents. By the time of his death in 1227 CE, Chinggis Khan had created the largest ever land empire. His sons were
to continue the Mongol expansion, wreaking havoc throughout Eurasia.
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| UB - Traditional dancing |
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| UB - Tom and Elke in front of the statue of Sukbataar, the national hero |
Our last evening before the tour was spent in a theatre called Discover Mongolia. Here we saw the cream of Mongolian
traditional culture for the reasonable price of $6!! The show truly surprised me in its talent and diversity. There was traditional
dancing, throat singing, long songs, short songs, horse headed fiddle playing, contortionism amongst many other things. Let's
just say Laure and I left the theatre gobsmacked!
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| On the road to the sand dunes - the local mammals |
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| In the blue van defying gravity laws on Mongolian road |
Mongolia is very rich in wildlife. The most common animals and birds include horses, yaks, sheep, goats, marmots, jerboa
rodents, camels, steppe and golden eagles. The latter can be seen perched on posts and gliding above the steppe in majestic
sweeps, almost as if they were posing for the cameras. Fat little marmots could be found scurrying between burrows.
After passing through Erdenesant, Rashaant and stopping at the sand dunes of Elsen Tasarhay we finally reached Kharkorin
(or Karakhorum) - the ancient Mongol capital. That night was the first of many spent in a yurt (called ger in Mongolian).
The stars shone very brightly - as they did every night in Mongolia.
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| Erdene Zuu - Stupa temple |
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| This nomadic family chose a scenic spot to 'plant their ger' |
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| The cheeky boy and the small yak |
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| The younger brother - Mongols know how to ride a horse (or a goat) before they can walk! |
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| Erdene Zuu - Asleep waiting for costumers |
We left the hot spas near Tsetserleg and rode the Mongolian natural gauntlet all day until we reached Khorgo-Terkiin
Tsagaan Nuur National Park (please don't ask us to pronounce that!). We were surprised and delighted to climb an extinct volcano
with an incredably steep crator, affording beautiful views across the surrounding mountain range with Great White Lake in
the distance. That was our end destination of the day. We stayed in bright orange yurts next to the lake, in which Elke and
I swam/washed in before the sun went down.
A breakfast of bluberries and natural yoghurt (freshly made) was washed down with tea and coffee. Before the food had
time to settle we found ourselves on the backs of some sturdy Mongolian horses. Mine was called No. 1 (I wondered why!!) and
was a first class four-legged wonder! I had the ride of my life and Laure had a cautious trek next to a clear lake and a proud
range of mountains with multi-coloured herbs by our sides. We had great control of our steeds and they responded to our commands
without dispute. Laure's confidence grew and her horse was itching to go for it. No.1 galloped like the wind up and down the
valley and still wanted more! By the end he was reduced to a sweaty mass of tired muscles supported by 4 trembling legs! And
we both had sore bums!
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| The Mongolian road |
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| The sky is one of the most appealing feature of Mongolia |
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| Dinner's ready! It was very impressive watching the vultures eat this small sheep or goat |
Food and drink was offered first to the males then to the females in order of age. Being the only male in the tour group
I was served first, and Laure being the youngest woman had to wait for the last servings! After eating a typical nomadic dish
called buuz (consists of small dumplings filled with mutton) and yak curd; we were served vodka from fermented yak's mik.
It was quite mild and didn't have the same strong kick as the bottled vodka. The fact that it helps settle your stomach was
always a good excuse for a little bit extra! We watched the women of the small community milking the yaks and Laure took dozens
of family portraits with the flashy camera in front of which the family were more than happy to strike their proud poses.
We all slept on the floor of the yurt that night, and apparently I was curled up in a ball as I was next to the gaping hole
in the camel skin wall. (Mongolia is famous for its wildly varying temperatures - it plummets at night. In UB it can
reach 45 C in the summer and as low as -40 C in the winter.)
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| The solar powered TV and satellite dish! Very popular! |
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| View from Amarbayasgalant Monastery |
We thoroughly enjoyed our stay at Hovsgol Lake and we were all sad to climb back into the minibus after 2 days. We headed
back to Moron to pick up Anaa, then headed eastwards. We stayed with another rural family and enjoyed an ample supply of vodka
before moving on to Mongolia's second city: Erdenet. Here we were treated to our first and only hotel stopover on the trip.
From Erdenet we travelled to Amaryasgalant Kiid, a monastery that is situated in a stunning scenic environment, surrounded
by hills and no other settlement in sight. Here the Buddhist monks could get close to their deities. Unfortunately only 30
monks were left in this majestic monastery. The Communist Party had long since killed and persecuted the hundreds of monks
who lived here in the 1930s. This story is repeated throughout the country.
One of the tyres on the sturdy tin-can minibus burst unluckily on a random rusty pair of scissors(!). In a rare show
of anger for a Mongolian, Anaa threw them into the bush. The tyre was rapidly changed in record time and the road back to
UB was finally blessed by tarmac!
In UB we rested and recuperated, said goodbye to our new found friends, stocked up, then left for the next destination:
Beijing!
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| This is called a ger party |
We met Elke for lunch in City Cafe in downtown UB (about the size of Liverpool). Here I experienced my most delicious
meal so far - spicy chicken, fried vegetable and rice. Elke decided to join us on a tour we had planned that was due to set
off on 24th August. We still had a few days to kill before departure.
We recced the Gandan monastery to find the best places to view the Dalai Lama. The monastry houses 500 monks who study
and worship throughout the day. The white washed temple walls hide an amazing 20 tonne copper (gilded with gold) statue of
Avalokitesvara - the patron deity of the Tibetan Buddhists (the earthly version is the Dalai Lama himself!) we used the time
in the monastery to spin a few prayer wheels and reflect on life.
See seperate section for the Dalai Lama visit........
The rest of our time in UB was spent chilling out and catching up on emails - essential before going on a trip to the
middle of nowhere!
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| Husai National Park - The Takhi horses |
Chapter 7 - Central Mongolia
We set off at 7am on 24th August in a deceptive dark blue coloured 9-seater (deceptive in the sense that it looked like
a tin-can on wheels but actually proved very robust!). Our group consisted of Laure, myself, Elke, Mara (an old school hippy),
Trine the Norwegian and Marlin the Swede, as well as Anaa the Mongolian driver and Enkhee, our guide for the trip.
Our first stop was Husai National Park where we came across a sizeable group of wild horses. These 'Takhi' horses had
been reintroduced by a Dutch couple and now number 190, which is not bad after virtual extinction 10 years ago! The horses
themselves don't look any more specular than other breeds; they have plumper frames but it's special to see them simply because
they're so rare!
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| The sand dunes of Elsen Tasarhay |
The next day we visited Erdene Zuu Kiid (100 treasures), which is reputed as Mongolia's first monastry. It is sadly a
shadow of its former self with onlly 3 of the original 60-100 temples remaining. It is surrounded by 108 stupas (108 being
an auspicious number for Buddhists) and provided us with an excellent crash course in Buddhist deities.
We found out soon after leaving UB that Mongolia's road network is none existent. About 100km out of UB the tarmac ends
and the real overland driving begins.
A road - English definition: a smooth paved surface leading from one place to another vs. Mongolian definition:
the rocky side of a mountain or a worn away grass surface traversed by rivers, streams, huge boulders and yaks.
On the night of the 25th we were lucky enough to ease our bruised bodies into a natural hot spa before settling in for
a second night of wild dreams (funnily enough we all experienced this phenomenum during the trip!) in the Mongolian hinterland.
Laure dreamt of horse battles and people dressed in ancient clothing and had the impression during one night that there was
somebody else in the yurt...
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| Wrestling is the national sport! Those 2 are getting ready for it! |
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| Erdene Zuu - Prayer wheels and monk preparing the inscent |
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| Erdene Zuu - The Adolescent Buddha and the Buddha of Compassion |
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| You've been globalised! Children amazed at our MP3 player |
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| Inside the yurt of a nomadic family - check the Chinggis Khan water container |
Chapter 8 - Northern Mongolia
Our journey continued northwards- and what I didn't believe possible actually happened - the roads got worse. (I still
can't bring myself to call them roads!!)
We stayed the night with a nomadic family in the hills. They were relatives of the driver Anaa. Some were drunk after
celebrating the 2nd birthday of one of the girl in the family, the cummulation of which involves shaving the girl'd head.
(Girls get their heads shaved at the ages 2 & 4, boys get theirs done at the ages 3 & 5.)
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| Milking the yak - No, we didn't try |
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| Moving away from the White Lake |
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| Entrance door of Amarbayasgalant Monastery (the most inspiring of the 3 big Mongol monasteries) |
The next day we had lunch in Moron, and no we didn't meet any!! Anaa's wife cooked a delicious traditional meal (always
involving meat - a good job we're not veggies anymore!) Anaa pleaded illness, but we suspect it was more nostalgia for some
good home cooking - nevertheless we got a new driver (his business partner with a huge mole on the forehead). And off
we went to Hovsgol Lake - a beautiful area of pristine wilderness, clear water, pine trees and tourist yurt camps. Here we
had a break from the punishing 'roads' but not from the horses' backs.
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| Tom galloping on 'Bold Brown' near Hovsgol Lake |
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| Me on 'Spotted' taking it easy... |
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| Beautiful Hovsgol Lake |
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