Marvellous Mongolia

I woke up at 02:00 when the train pulled up in a noisy Mongolian town on the way to UB, as the locals call it, then fell back to sleep. The next thing I knew Pat was waking me up after I ignored the alarm that went off at 06:30. We got washed and dressed ready for our arrival into UB. Zaya from the hostel we’d arranged met us on the platform. She was a lot more reliable than that Russian place! Laurens and Eline were looking for somewhere to stay and so came with us to check the hostel out. It turned out to be a 5 minute drive from the station, close to the city centre, on the 2^nd Floor of an apartment block. The Zaya Hostel was all 4 apartments on the level and we ended up sharing one of them with Laurens and Eline. It tuned out to be roomy and comfortable. Laurens said it was the most luxurious hostel he’d stayed in, so we thought that was a good sign! Zaya was really friendly and hospitable. She talked to us about all sorts of stuff. She lived in the hostel with her children and husband elsewhere, so I think was glad for the company.

We freshened up and ventured out to explore, stopping off at the State Department Store, the nearest place to get cash. It was just like being in John Lewis with make up and fragrance counters on the Ground Floor, women’s fashion on First Floor etc. Then we headed back outside ending up in Sukhbataar Square, just a few blocks down Peace Avenue. We passed people begging in the street, which sadly included lots of children. Pat stopped to give a cigarette to a guy in a wheelchair who had no fingers. Thankfully he remembered to light it for him before walking away. I was amused by street vendors selling lollipops, cigarettes, coffee beans and phone calls using house phones. One lady was charging for the use of weighing scales, just in case you wanted to know if you’d put on a few pounds. We also saw lots of older men and women wearing traditional tunics. This was unusual as everyone else under 50 was wearing jeans, jackets etc.

After finding a place for lunch overlooking the closed Choijin Monastery we paid a visit to the Mongolian Persecuted Victims Museum closeby. It seems that whilst Hitler was busy in the west, Stalin’s reign of terror was in full swing in the east stamping out Mongolian independence and killing hundreds of thousands of people. Even the practice of Bhuddism was illegal and monks throughout the country were executed.

That evening was spent chilling out back at the hostel, whilst we decided what to do and see over the next few days. After telling Zaya about our jobs, she asked for Pat’s help to fix her internet connection!

I typed up the Listvyanka and Irkutsk blogs the next morning and we headed back out for a day of being tourists. The afternoon was spent in the Natural History Museum looking at dinosaur bones, fossils and lots of stuffed animals. There were also exhibits about wild Tahki horses, which had been reintroduced with help from the UK and other European countries, to save extinction. It was really encouraging to see lots of info on environmental protection throughout the museum. I guess that traditionally the Mongolians have strong ties with their environment, developing from their nomadic roots.

That evening we decided to tag along to a theatre production that Laurens and Eline were going to. None of us had any idea what it was about, but it was the only thing showing, in lieu of traditional Mongolian music and dance troupes who had gone home for the quiet season. It turned out to be a very entertaining evening and was the Mongolian equivalent of X-Factor, only the contestants had to sing in Russian and interludes were filled by local famous artists singing their well known songs, or so we assumed! We could only tell that they were famous if they were brought a bouquet of flowers at the end or during the performance. There were about 12 contestants who performed modern, opera and classical songs sometimes with a backing orchestra. The locals in the audience were taking it all very seriously, supporting the favourites and singing along and were bemused with us, the only 4 Westeners in the building. Afterwards, we went to a Bavarian restaurant for dinner, recommended by Zaya. This place was really popular with the locals and packed to the rafters. Later we realised why. All the locals were waiting for The Lemons, a Mongolian rock band, to come on stage. When they did the place erupted with singing, clapping and swaying. They loved it!

The next morning we were up early to catch the morning ceremony at the Gand Khiid Monastery. The complex was huge with 15 buildings all devoted to Buddhist teachings and prayer. We spent some time watching what was going on in the temples, all of which were filled with monks chanting, occasionally playing instruments and locals praying, sometimes taking a pilgrimage around the perimeter of the temples and turning prayer wheels, if present. The Janraising Datsan was the largest temple and housed a huge 25m tall gold plated Buddha statue. There were many monks milling around the place and we saw many young boys in ceremonies or in school, who’d be looking at Pat with intrigue as soon as we’d enter. We were amused to see some monks making calls on their mobile phones and busily chewing gum mid chant! They were very friendly and outside a nearby smaller monastery a group of young boys said hello and waved as we walked past.

The morning was absolutely freezing even though the sun was out so we went off in search of a café and warm drinks to thaw out. Afterwards we had an hour long search for a working cash machine that liked our cards and managed to circumnavigate the city centre in the process. Finally, we had some cash to get into the State History Museum. Unlike the similar museums we’d been into in Prague and Moscow, I was delighted to find that the exhibits brought us up to current times. It described Chinggis Khaan’s great empire between Vienna and Beijing in the 1200s. How different the story was in the 20^th and 21^st centuries when the country was pillaged by China, Russia and Japan. After a short democratic history of some 15 years, it will be interesting to see how Mongolia develops.

The next day we escaped from UB! We were met by Ganna, our guide and driver outside the hostel at 09:00. After we fought our way out of the city centre traffic, first stop was a newly built gold Buddha monument to the south of the city, surrounded by newly built apartment blocks. We then headed to an adjacent war memorial located at the top of 50 flights of steps. There was a really good view of the city from the top, although it was a struggle to get up there. The sprawling city was beneath us, covered by a thick band of smog generated by a large power station. Lovely. We then got back in the car and travelled out north east of UB towards Terelj. We stopped to look at and climb on a rock formation used by monks, hiding from the Russians. Some 100 monks hid in a tiny hollow space in the middle of the formation, but sadly were all discovered and killed. Afterwards, we were taken to Turtle Rock, strangely enough rocks that looked like a turtle from one side. From the other side it looked like a rabbit. From here I took a 3km horse trek to a nearby monastery and Pat decided to walk, preferring two legs rather than four. The scenery was amazing, we were in a valley surrounded by hills and the sky was a brilliant blue. It was so quiet. When we stopped walking you could have heard a pin drop. The monastery was locked up, but the view back down the valley from the veranda was breath taking. When we got back to the camp at the bottom we had lunch in one of the gers, chatting to Ganna finding out about Mongolians. Earlier he had told us that he worked for the government as a journalist, but decided to be our guide for the day instead of going in to work, to get extra cash. After trying and failing to give sugar cubes to our horses, we headed back to UB. It was alien for the horses to have sugar and their owners said they wouldn’t like it!

That evening we decided to try a Mongolian curry house for dinner. Pat had been longing for his favourite food, including a chicken korma! After an hour of wandering around and trying to find one mentioned in the Lonely Planet guide, we tried for another and found it. The food was good, but you don’t get all the side dishes we’re so used to. However, they did do lassi and the Chinngis beer was good!

The following day was our last full day in UB, so after a lie in we spent it at the Bogd Khan Winter Palace and Choijin Monastery, having a good look around. By the end we were all statued out and went back to the hostel for a rest after a bite to eat.

We were up early on the Sunday ready for our train to Beijing. Laurens and Eline were getting the same train and we managed to flag down a taxi (also known as a private car with a driver looking to make some extra cash) on Peace Avenue and then crammed ourselves and all our luggage into the car. Pat had a huge bag on his lap at the front that the driver had difficulty looking around. We boarded the train and settled in for another overnighter…