Natalie and I took the 30 hour trip from Central Beijing Railroad station to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia. Thirty hours sounds like a very long time, but it flew by. We really lucked out as far as car and cabin mates are concerned. We had a four-bed cabin which we shared with Alta, a lovely Monglian lady and her daughter...Emily (nicknamed such during their recent trip to Australia). They were so wonderful and friendly. And, best of all, their English was fantastic. We talked, ate together and played games (Uno, 20 questions etc) for the entire trip. Additionally, there was a very friendly American guy a couple cabins down who was not quite as lucky in the draw for cabin mate and who, consequently, spent a great deal of time in our cabin. He was a lot of fun.
Here's a picture of the cabin.
Alta, Emily (Koala from Australia), Emily and Natalie
We left Beijing at 7:40am on Wednesday 11 April. The rest of our waking hours were spent traveling to the border of China/Monglia. We had a glimpse of how the rural Chinese poor live - as we passed by many villages near the tracks.
This is not a clear picture, but it gives an idea.
brick homes inside walled villages scattered the countryside
At some point in the afternoon, I went "strolling" through the cars. I ran across a very lively boy for whom the train was far too small and boring. I learned from his father that his mother was going to school in Beijing, but the family lived in Ulaan Baatar. They'd just spent the last week visiting her and were on their way home. He was desperate for a playmate, and so I spent about an hour playing with his car and holding him up to the window. My camera was also something of interest to him, so we took a self portrait to look at.
What a cutie!
We hit the border/customs around 9pm and had to get off the train for 2 hours while they changed the wheels. This is necessary due to the fact that the tracks in China are not the same as the tracks in Mongolia. It was a long two hours as we were all tired and ready for bed. After re-boarding the train, we had to stop again across the Monglian border - customs again. Everyone fell asleep inbetween the visits from customs officers. In fact, I was so exhausted by the time the last one came that I fell asleep with my glasses on, hair in a bun and passport in my hand (eventually relocated under my stomach!) Needless to say, we all slept like rocks until around 10am.
Once we finally awoke, we took in the Monglian countryside. This was Natalie's first time to be in a desert - the Gobi desert! What a beautiful site. We saw nothing but dirt, sand and wild horses for miles.
Nearing Ulaan Bataar - the capital city (and really only city, as Monglian culture is a nomadic one) we started to see gers - the traditional houses made of felt and hide. Sometimes we'd see a lone ger and sometimes it would be a small family/multi-family compound. Here's one compound close to the city.
And right before entering Ulaan Baatar, there was a giant picture of Gingis Khan (correctly written Chinggis Khaan) on the side of the mountain. He is hailed here as a national hero. Indeed, dispite his brutality (or in part because of it) he expanded the Monglian empire from China to Hungary and down Vietnam and the middle East. Unfortunately, he was better at acquiring new territories than keeping and governing them! He was also responsible for developments such as common paper currency and educational systems within the empire. Khaan means "king" (not his original name) and the empire stayed in his family for centuries. Here's a picture of his bust on the mountain.
Thursday afternoon, we arrived without a single problem in Ulaan Baatar and were picked up by people from our guesthouse, Nassan's hostel. We love Nassan (and her guest house) and highly recommend it to anyone traveling here. It is homey and perfect for us. Here's the dorm room and kitchen.
Natalie in the dorm room
the cute little kitchen available to all guests
Friday we've spent changing money, exploring town a little bit and going through the Mongolian Natural History museum. The environment and weather here is perfect for conservation of prehistoric fossils. Several complete dinosaur skeletons have been found in the Gobi desert along with humanoid skeletons and dinosaur eggs. The museum was fascinating and very well put together. We were very impressed, not having gone in with very high expectations. There were even three school groups there on fieldtrip! Yay! We're off to a great start.
Tonight we'll meet a friend of ours who is in Peace Corps in Monglia. We'll meet up at the Irish Pub - of all places - and bring the two Italian friends we've made at Nassan's with us. What a wonderful, and very small, world!
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