In the footsteps of Ghengis Khan

I have a bit of time so am able to get into our experiences in Mongolia which is where we left off.

Ulan Batar first. A pretty ugly soviet built sort of town. There are 1.5 million people living here. It is a dusty dirty sort of place with lots of horrible concrete soviet style apartment buildings. These are rectangular blocks with no redeeming features whatsoever. Our Guest house is in one - we basically are housed in what would have been a family's apartment. Two small bedrooms, a kitchen, bathroom, separate toilet & a small hallway which may have doubled as a lounge. I would have said that it would be good for a family of four (at a stretch) but apparently they used to squeeze a lot more in. Like two families of four for example. NO balconies in this block but I would have to note that some did have balconies. Very small but they were balconies. No lifts & the hot water gets turned off at fairly frequent intervals. We are suffering that problem at present.

All the roads are in a bad state of repair & many in the city are dirt. Buses are old soviet models & are always full, full. Shops are pretty basic & the place most frequented by shoppers is the black market to the east. So if that is what soviet cities are going to be like, Russia will be a pretty bleak experience. There are signs that things are improving though. There are new buildings going up slowly but these are generally commercial places eg banks - I cannot see the housing getting too much better in the foreseeable future. The suburbs on the outskirts are either gers or very basic wooden houses, probably with communal facilities. We have tended to stay in the CBD area as most of the interesting things (museums, temples, pagodas etc) are here. Some of the museums eg Natural History with its dinosaurs & stuffed animals were very good. The Buddhist pagoda was also great as we watched a monks chanting session (genuine this time) followed by a service involving all the worshippers. Actually very similar to our christian communion ceremony. I liked the National Museum of Mongolian History. It gave quite a different set of insights to Ghengis Khan. He is a Mongolian national hero & conquered everything in sight. He started of a dynasty (Manchu I think) in China & opened up all sorts of new trade routes. Quite a guy & many of his philosophies were very far reaching - that is if he put them in practice. I guess the wests viewpoint would be that he was a bloodthirsty barbarian who did nothing for those he conquered. Sore losers perhaps!!

But with all that I have to say that the Mongolian people seem to be quite positive. There is a sort of a buzz in the air & people seem more relaxed than they do in China (say). Leah has spent some time in Cashmere shops and there has been no pressure to buy which is a real plus after Beijing. I have enjoyed the many contrasts - well dressed businessmen alongside people from the country in their traditional felt cloaks with colourful belts & large leather boots. Also country women in their long woven dresses & cone shaped hats, in tandem with girls in their mini skirts.

However the highlight was our trip into the Mongolian mid west & the Gobi desert. We organised that thru Nassan a guest house operator - originally 13 days 12 nights expedition with the brief to stay with as many ger families as possible. Our driver was a guy called Ulzii & he drove a 4 wheel drive Russian van. A bit like a robust version of a Mitsubishi L300. The van was basic - no air con, no power steering, bench seats but it was built like a tank. Actually it had to be - the roads?? were generally terrible. We would take 8 hours to do 200 km. And it chewed gas like you would not believe - about 8 km per litre. So Ulzii had to be careful about his directions - like he could not stray too far away from villages & petrol pumps. He carried two jerrycans full of spare petrol (& needed them both on occasions) & also two spare tyres which he also needed.

Anyway we covered 2400km in 12 days. And a most interesting time was had. We stayed with ger families & ate their food. I call it food very loosely. The first night was a bowl of rice with tiny bits of gristly beef washed down with herder tea (goats milk, water, salt & some strange looking tea leaf combo). I have to say that the tea wasn't too bad. It was cooked over a stove n the ger which was fueled by horse or cow poop. Sleeping arrangement were - on the floor. Breakfast was small bits of a sort of pancake concoction along with the goat's milk tea. They got their water from the local creek. I saw where they collected it the next day - right where all the goats, sheep, horses & cattle collect so I was a bit worried about the old stomach for the next day or so. Gers are circular, very low at the side & about 8 foot high in the centre. The door faces south, the stove is in the middle & all guests enter to the left. Their drawers are at the north end of the ger & the bed was on the right. The walls & roof are made from sheep or goat felt - one layer in summer & more in winter. I would have to say however that the tourist gers were covered with canvas.

So an interesting start. Most of the gers after that were family run tourist gers ie the family would live in one ger & would provide two or three gers for visitors. These were set up in the traditional way but the food was a little better & more varied. Still within the Mongolian ethos though ie bugger all veges & NO fruit. They still maintained their nomadic way of life as they moved ger in winter & had big herds of goats & sheep. We did stay in a family ger down in the sand dunes area of the Gobi desert. This was with a young mother & her 5 children. The dad was away running a post on the Chinese border. A great group - really tight knit & they all worked really hard. The oldest girl was about 11 & the mother indicated to Leah that she was 25!! She looked young but still hard to believe that she had her first child at 14. They had goats, sheep & camels. So all our food was based on the old camel - camels milk, camel meat, camel milk based tea, I am sure it was camel rice as well. But the milk & meat were nice, very nice. Everyone had their jobs. The two little girls were charged with diving into the camel pen each day & picking up all the dung for fuel. Great job!! The older girls were mainly responsible for rounding up the herd each night & penning them. Also did some of the cooking (very well) & cleaning. Toilets were "in the country" - all very primitive esp as it was flat ground in all directions.

Washing - well that was a sort of waterhole about 1 km walk away. A waterhole incidentally shared with all the animals. I availed myself of it one day & swear I probably came out dirtier than when I went in. But oh the relief to get something that was less than 45C hot on my skin.

The heat & dust in the Gobi was horrendous. The old van leaked in all directions so we were just covered at the end of each day. So after two weeks of only one wash each we were not fit persons to know. In the mid west the days were hot but nights cold. Roads were no better than dirt tracks in most places. And they showed on Mongolian road maps as main roads. Very few trees anywhere and we did not see too many wild animals (mainly gophers, eagles, vultures, cranes, marmots, hawks, storks, ducks & some gazelles). All the really good stuff is way over to the west.

Lots of highlights though:

• Just seeing how they live out in the Gobi was an eye opener. The sand dunes family were a great example. They also moved ger twice a year. The older girls would go off to school at the local village & stay there for the whole term. Their ger is very basic - we slept on the floor & they slept outside when we were there. Diet is really limited - mainly rice or noodles with small amounts of meat, that pastry dish & very occasional veges (onion, potatoes mainly). Sometimes yogurt. Also loved the little girl who wrestled Mongolian style with her slightly older brother. She gave as good as she got - and there was never any sign of hard feelings if one or other got beaten. Actually the best was the 11 year old. She was lethal.
• The Gobi is not all sand. Big areas were in a tussocky sort of grass which supported the nomads, but barely. Big distances between gers & even bigger distances (at least 100km) between towns . The countryside was rolling sort of plains with low hills that you had to drive over.
• We spent a night at Kharakhorim Ghengis' s old capital. Nothing left now but a rather grim dusty town & a Monastery (Erdem Zuu) which was built from the ruins of the old city in 1585.
• We trekked to an ice canyon in the middle of the desert. Yes, a small river ran thru' this steep canyon. In fact it (the river) was covered in a thick layer of ice. Quite an amazing sight as the temperature out in the clear would have been well over 40. The ice sheet was about 3 - 5 km long.
• Also saw the red cliffs where they have unearthed untold numbers of dinosaur skeletons. Again right in the middle of the desert so excavation would have been really hard work.
• We had our own private folk singing session. An old guy came & entertained us one night in our ger. He had 4 instruments (2 x 2 string violin type things, a flute, a sort of small flat harp), used them all & did some throat singing as well. Quite good for 45 min & $ 6.00. But we heard better throat singing back in UB & hope to hear the acme in the Tuva republic in Siberia.
• Did some horse & camel riding - the latter in the sand dune area. The camels were all of the two humped variety so riding was reasonably easy. But they are big animals & you are a long way from the ground!!
• Our last day was special. We sat out on the side of a small mountain & watched the herders at work. Just an amazing sight how they herded the horses, sheep, goats, cattle, camels across these grassy plains. Everything was moving sort of continuously. They would be out with their special lassos trying to separate the wilder horses from the tamer. I really enjoyed the spectacle.
• Other things - climbed a small volcano in the mid west, helped with herding goats, pumped up Ulziiis tyres when they went flat (& got a blister for my troubles), wandered around small villages (what desolate places they are) & watched yak trains moving around White lake. These were yaks hitched to old carts with wooden wheels. Justa fantastic sight as it probably hasn't changed since the year dot.
• Meeting 4 Russians, 3 of whom spoke great English. Two offered us free accommodation in St Petersberg which needless to say we accepted very quickly.

So a great time if hard with all the dust, heat & the lack of showers & toilets. Not a trip for the fainthearted. It was great to get back to UB & a the thought of a hot shower & a laundry. Well guess what - the guesthouse had no hot water. Parts of UB's supply system were down for annual maintenance - we drew the short straw. So it was a really cold shower for me along

with cold water for our laundry. Woe woe.

We have our tickets on the train to Irkutsk (35 hour trip) which is on Lake Baikal. Leave later today but apparently the Mongolian Russian border takes 11 hours to cross! Can you believe that?

Tibet and Xian

This finds us in Ulaan Baatar capital of Mongolia hanging out for a few days while we wait for oyr Russian visa to "go active". In fact we leave on Sunday evening for Lake Baikal.

We have not long returned from 12 days in the mid west & Gobi desert. What a trip!! Toughest that we have been on but really rewarding at the same time.

However as usual I am getting ahead of myself. I think that I left off in Zhongdiane China which is in the South west close to the Thibetan border. We went there as it has thibetan style temples - the best in China & the closest to the real things (well so they say). Zh. is 3400m asl & the mountains surrounding it are really spectacular. But the landscape is barren & colsd looking. Lots of yaks in all directions & also horses & goats. We stayed at a local hostel & went out to the best of the temples. It did look a lot like those you see in photos from Thibet. But the chinese are giving it a make over so I don't think that it will be as true to life in a couple of years time. Already the monks were starting to cater for the tourists. They chanted when tourists were around & it was pretty ordinary. Not all the monks were involved & you could see that they were pretty bored with it all. There were donation boxes everywhere & the whole thing had a packaged feel about it. But some of the art treasures were great. Like the Wheel of Life. This is the buddhists way of depicting heaven & hell. Hell was pretty terrible. People getting pushed into flaming pots, being cut up but swords & axes, swallowed by gruesome looking beasts & it even showed some poor guy getting his family jewels cut off. I got a real cold feeling in my nether regions when I saw that. So we Christians do not have it alone for imaginative ways of showing hell & all the pleasures that await. Some great statues of Buddha in his various stances - sitting, lying, standing etc. The temples were all dark & gloomy with lots of insence but I think that is how it is in Thibet. They did not have any services going but lots of people prayed at the statues & made multiple donations of course. Wewalked back to town thru some fields where the local peasantry were working. They seemed quite cheerful even though the work they were doiung was real basic (hoeing, reaping, digging & the like) & it was wet everywhere.

Zh was a nice place though. They had a big village square & every night people gathered, the music would play & all would start to do these old folk dances. Great sight - young & old & even some tourists (guess who).

So a good time was had by all. We left Zh for Panzihua (Border of Sichuan province) on a sleeper bus. Now this time we were smarter & got beds near the front. So I managed to get a bit of sleep & leah did much better. But the 'loos along the way were no better. Talk about the pits - well they were!! So for me a 12 hour ride & hanging on all the way. I just couldn't face them.

In Panz we got a train to Chengdhu. We opted for soft seat which was not too bad but hard sleeper would have been better. At least you can lie down. Soft seats are not adjustable & the carriages fill p with all sorts of people trying to grab some space.

Ch wasn't too bad. Home of the Panda Breeding centre which we visited. They are really cute animals esp the young which are remarkably playful. But if ever an animal is doomed to extinction in the wild it is the panda. Think about it. It has a very limited diet - like bamboo & nothing else. Bamboo is really low on nutritional value. They live solitary lives so don't get together that often. The female is in oestrus only 2 days in a year & most males are not sufficiently well equipped to ensure successful conception, even if he did get to her at the right time. So nearly all the babies at the centre are born as a result of AI.

Also took a trip out to see the tallest Buddha in China. Over 90m high - he was carved out of a sandstone cliff alongside a river. Lots & lots of Chinese tourists there but it was pretty spectacular. Ch is a big city. Development all over the place but as with nearly all cities we visited it has very high air pollution. In fact one day was particularly bad. You could feel it in your throat & most people wore masks. It's probably best not to know what you are breathing in. But Mao square & the central shopping centre were very modern. They did a great fountain display at nightfall in the square which went on for an hour or so.

So now on to Xian, this time in an overnight sleeper. Very enjoyable esp as we took a lot of food & drink on board & could pig out. Xian was all about the Terra Cotta warriors of course. But the town has a lot going on as well. The old city is surrounded by this high (restored) wall & has an interesting Muslim quarter, complete with mosque. Also a Bell Tower, a drum Tower & some very old pagodas. Xian used to be a town on the Silk Route so these things have been around for a long time. We spent some time walking the streets & seeing the sights. Outside the city walls though Xian is just another big Chinese City with all the attendant issues.

Now the Warriors. We got there by local bus (#306) from the train station. Best way to go - all the tours stop at various places along the way so you don't get full value at the site. Amazing place isn't it. I loved the special exhibit where they had two 1/2 life sized sets of chariots on display. The detail on the horses, drivers, chariots etc was astonishing. Just superb. Pit 1 where they buried all the soldiers was also great. It's hard to imagine that they have only uncovered about 1/3 of all that there is there. Pits 2 & 3 were also good but didn't have to same sort of impact as Pit 1 where you had row upon row of soldiers lined up with their horses. And they were all set up in battle formation.

To get to the site you drive past the emporers mausoleum. It is a big mound about 1.5km away from the pits. They have not started excavating that yet as they don't think they have the technology to handle it well enough. I would love to be around when they do. Ponds of mercury, crossbow traps, gold galore - all sorts of speculation about what is inside.

From Xian another sleeper train to Shanghai. Leah & I were in seperate compartments for this leg. We booked a little late so did not have any choice. We had to go to Sh to get our Russian visas. Which proved to be no problem. We had bodgied up Letters of Invitation & little else (no itinerary for example) but the visas was processed the same day & the guy wished us happy travels. So different from other peoples experiences in Beijing (or NZ or Oz for that matter where staff seem to go out of the way to be unhelpful & rude).

We liked Sh esp the Bund & the old Quarter area. We spent a day getting to/from Szushou & then only had about 90 min there. The crowds were horrendous - we had a hard seat train ride - never again. Managed to get into a small pagoda there & climb to the top but that was it. Finish that & it was straight back to the station to get our train back to Sh. We like Nanjing Street E - best shopping street we saw in China. All the big brand stores & the street in fact was a mall. People everywhere. Also spoent time at the Museum in Peoples Square - very good. Loved all the old paintings that they had on display. I could go back to Sh quicker than most other places we have visited in China. It wsn't as polluted & seemed to have a more laid back atmosphere.

Now off to Beijing - this time a soft seat as there were no sleeper berths left. We stayed west of Tianamen square close to one of the Metro lines. Beijing was all about getting our Mongolian visa & doing a bit of shopping. Visa successful & shopping also - at the silk markets. We also visited the Lama Temple north of T Sq which was very good. But I did not like Bj too much. The people are very aggresive esp ewhen they want you to buy something. Also the old spitting habit dies hard & air pollution is still a big problem. How things will improve for the Olympics I do not know. But they have to do something - westerners will not put up with bad service, rudeness (by our standards) & bad hygiene. A real challenge for the authorities!!

So it was on the train to Mongolia. A 30 hour trip in a four berth sleeper. We took on enough food to feed the train & were sharing with Ali from Glasgow & a Mongolian lady who must have been taking back half Chinas fruit & vege output. She filled up our compartment with apples, bananas, tomatoes, oranges & other things which I just can't off hand remember. When I saw that I couldn't help thinking - so maybe its true what they say about Mongolian food after all.