5 July, Tuesday
We got on to the platform and to our surprise, there was no one waiting for us. Hmm … then we remembered that our carriage number had changed from 8 to 1 at Sukhbaatar, so we started walking towards
Carriage 8 and bumped into a young gentleman with a tour sign that did not say Go Russia
but had our names on it. Bolor, an ex
lawyer who spoke excellent English would be our guide for the two days. We also had a driver at our disposal. First stop was the breakfast place where we
were served a hearty breakfast that included salad. besides the usual meat, eggs and bread. It was nice and substantial. We had to have half a chunk of bread earlier
before we left the train as we were starving.
On the way to breakfast, Bolor told us that 40% of the 1.3m
of the folks who live in Ulaanbaatar live in shanty town neighbourhoods on the
hillslopes. There, there was no running
water and they had to share toilet. They had power
though. Mongolia has a population of 3m
in total. It is rather sparely populated. Only 3% of the land is privately
owned; the rest are public land.
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| Me in front of Chinggis Khan monument |
Bolor also told us two characteristics of Mongolian community that were different from that of Chinese or Russian. The first was that Mongolians are combative people. Even crossing the roads is a show of combativeness. No one respect someone who does not stand up for himself or herself. Second point was that in Mongolia, the women are the decision makers. His father can suggest but his mother decides. And when he gets married, he will make suggestions to his wife who will make the decision.
Our first tourist stop would be statue of Chinggis
Khan at Tsonjin Boldog, 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar. It is a private development. Around the main huge statue of Chinggis are some metal statues of
horsemen warriors of Chinggis era. The developer idea was that for
USD5000, one can have a statue of the horse with a horseman bearing face of
the donor. He wanted to fill the valley
with horses for Chinggis army. It was an
interesting monument as one could climb to the mane of the horse and have a
great view of the surrounding valley.
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| Buzzard going for this tourist's ear |
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| Then the eagle was going for his ear again |
In front of the monument, there was a nomad with a falcon
and buzzard. He was offering them to tourists take photos with for a fee. We watched a
while then climb to the mane of Chinggis horse.
After the climb, we all decided to make photos dressed in traditional Mongolian photos as a momento of our trip together as this would be the last time 6 of us are together. Bolor even tried to direct a skid out of us
as a group. It was hilarious. Afterwards, while Paul went souvenir hunting
afterwards, we went back to taking photos of the horses and the birds. Martin joined us and laughed as the buzzard attempted to nip the year of one of the tourists that was holding it for a photo.
We had sat in the front left seat with Martin as Bolor was in our favourite seat on the way to Terelj Park, 66 km east of Ulaanbaatar. En route, we saw live sheep markets (similar
to what we had seen at the live animal market in Kashgar, Xinjiang, China back in
2009). Bolor said that it was because it was time for Naadam. During the festive season, the wish of every Mongolian for a
family celebration is fresh mutton soup.
We could also see gers scattered about the rolling hills. We saw shepards with their grazing herds of sheep, goats, cows or horses.
The national park is set in a picturesque
valley with beautiful hills of differing heights and “in layers”. The air was fresh and cool and it was
nice. There was an actual entrance. Unlike National Park as we know it in the west,
this one has several ger camps scattered and some nomads grazing their herds
nearby. On the whole, human population is
sparse as are forest clumps. Rocky
outcrops of mountain tops and green rolling grass were the dominant
features.
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| Our first ger camp |
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| Our first ger |
We arrived at our designated ger camp. The van parked outside the main gate. We were greeted by three young ladies who had
our keys attached to a piece of felt on which the number of our ger was written. These super strong young lasses
then lugged our luggage and deposited them outside each of our ger. Martin and I were in Ger 5 with Toni and Rob,
and Wendy nearby. Paul was further away from the group, towards
the restaurant. We were near the bath
house and second row from the front gate.
We opened the door of the spacious ger where two beds
are set up on
opposite sides of a wood burning stove with chimney through the roof in the middle.
There is a chest at the head of each bed and a low table with
two stool on which were set two tea cup on saucers. The beds were covered with sheepskin and
looked quite comfortable although the stuffing of the pillows felt a little
lumpy. We put our luggage down, did the
necessary set up for charging as there was a power plug in our ger. Martin by then had lost his phone charger so we lent
him one of ours.
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| Pica |
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| Bird |
We had about an hour and a half before lunch. We both decided to go for a walk. Bolor had earlier said not to wander deep
into the woods as there were still wolves in the area. They do not normally come out to interact
with humans but the woods is their territory. Martin and I walked around the back of the restaurant after checking
it out, and found a back gate where we noticed a lorry leaving. We left by that gate and walked down and back
up the valley. In that time, we saw cute
little birds and what looked like what they called marmots in Mongolia. Bolor called them pica. They were round tail ground squirrels. There were various interesting flowers, kites in the skies, nomadic kids
playing and working, and some tourists on horse rides. The geology of the mountains surrounding us were interestingly different. We stopped at half way
up the hill to admire the view and Martin stepped on an ant’s nest
accidentally. Good thing, he was not too
badly bitten as he was in shoes and not his sandals. He had not brought anything beyond walking
dress shoes and sandals for the trip.
Interesting choice. We were almost late for lunch due to our extensive wandering around our very interesting environment.
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| Flower |
Lunch was superb – a full three course meal with salad, a
main and then a desert. Welcome to Asia and Asian fondness for eating. We are going to be overly full and super
spoiled. This part of our trip included all our meals. Hmmm .... we will have too much food. Half an hour
after lunch, we would start the afternoon program. So we set about getting ready.
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| Turtle rock as seen from the temple |
Leaving the camp, but not the park, we passed yaks grazing
in the field. Our first stop was turtle
rock. Legends had it that this was the
fossil of an once sea mammal. Another
legend claimed that this was where a Mongolian woman had her husband kill her and
bury her with all his treasures when all was lost in a battle so that she would
not become hostage. There was an art
shop there, and Paul bought the chess set for his grandson.
Others got their camel socks at the recommendation of our travelling companion. In
the shop, there were also skins of foxes and wolves, for sale. These were mostly intact except
for a single slit between the hind legs from which the inside of the animal had been extracted.
Outside, we saw an interesting bull with white strips on his face as if
he were wearing war paint.
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| Bull with war paint marking on its face |
From the rock, we would go next to the monastery where monks go to do
meditation. It was an interesting ride
from Turtle Rock. Although relatively
near, the roads were full of potholes so the ride was super bumpy. Martin and we did not feel it so much. Wendy, on the other hand, commented on almost every bumps. Rob and Toni were
surprisingly quiet even though they were at the very back of the van. We disembarked at the entrance. Bolor said to do the meditative walk to the temple by contemplating each of those messages that were displayed on placards along
the path as an invitation to direct your thoughts.
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| The Aryabal temple on top of 108 steps |
We did that as we walked towards the arbor where we would
spin a prayer wheel and it would point towards a number. Ours was 29.
The next part was to find your message from the translated work that was
printed along the next path but we got too excited and forgot to find 29. We had by passed it and we did not feel like retracing our steps just to find it. May be on the way down later. At the bottom of the
of the uphill path was the final ascent to the Aryabal Buddhist temple … a total of 108
steps. These were no gentle steps either; the risers were substantial. The view at the top was very pretty though and well worth the climb.
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| View from entrance of the temple |
Inside the temple, Bolor explained that the most senior
monks would sit by seniority from the altar to the door. So we arranged ourselves in the same order in those meditating
seats. We looked around, spun as many
prayer wheels as we could, listed to the birds and photographed some cute
picas. There was one relatively
larger one. On the way down
back to the entrance, Martin and we took a different route from the rest so that
we can explore the temple grounds a little. We forgot about finding message #29.
All that rush of the morning in UB seemed to be left behind in the ambiance of this national park and the gardens of the monastery. Wendy waited in the gardens without coming to
the temple as the stairs climbing was proving too much for her.
Next on our program was to a nomadic family who
lived not far from the ger camp. The
directions to get to their ger would prove to be a challenge. Bolor was in contact with them several times
before he pinned down their exact location.
Our driver drove us to their front door.
Young kids of nomadic family are so lucky to have the whole world as
their playground. We saw a little girl
by herself outside their ger before her mom realised a vehicle had pulled up nearby and went to
grab her although she was in no danger at any time. There are hardly any structures that would
obstruct the view of anything that could cause an accident there.
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The delicacies, from left : fermented
mares milk, cheese, curds & cream |
Upon arrival, we were invited insider the family
ger. On the table, was set delicacies
for the guests – home made cheese, dried curds and cream. From the kitchen, the family served fermented
mare’s milk (arak) – small vessels for the visitors and bowls for Bolor and the
driver. In nomadic tradition, a single communal bowl
would be passed around and everyone would drink from it. All the food were acquired taste items. The fermented milk tasted as if it has a hint
of vinegar in it. Bolor said in the summer,
marriageable men would go from camp to camp in the valley to see whose
fermented mares milk taste the best and whose daughter has reached puberty. The nomadic family we visited has three
kids, two boys and a little girl. The
boys were very young, under 10, but very mature. They knew to put their pants into their socks
before slipping on their riding boots and how to saddle their own horses and those for tourists. They were self sufficient little men. All the belongings of the family were in locked decorated chests lining
the back wall. On that wall were
displayed his and her families and the kids as well as all the medals the
horsemen have won. It appeared that two
families lived together in that nomadic unit.
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| The little expert horseman |
Bolor said that it is too difficult for a single person to
handle everything related to a ger and self sufficiency, so a man would only
take on a ger and a herd when he takes a wife.
Usually both families would contribute animals to the new couple. And everything can be moved – take down and
set up again in half a day. Families
usually move twice or at most three times a year – they move with the grass
availability. Their water comes from a
common well. This family had a large
herd of horses. The mares are
milked. To milk a mare, they would first
let the foal have some milk so that the teats are soft, then the mares are milk
until 1/3 of her milk is left. That is left for the foal.
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| View from inside the nomad's ger looking out |
After spending some time understanding nomad’s life-style,
we then went to get ready for horse riding.
Only Paul, Rob and my travelling companion were going riding.
The non-riders were invited by the matriarch of the family to watch the mares
being milked before leaving as she was about to do that. We handed over all our pocket’s content and
our camera bag to the safe keeping of Martin.
The driver put chaps on our calves which strapped to the bottom of our
boots. Bolor rode on his own. A grown nomad led Rob's and Paul's horses. His young son of about ten was in charge of
my travelling companion's horse. Big responsibility for one so young. His little brother of five
kept egging him to put my travelling companion's horse into a trot or a canter. It was very naughty of him. The older brother though was not tempted. Thanks goodness for that. Bolor brought up the rear. Like all Mongolians, he is an accomplished
horseman who shares a special bond with the horses.
The Mongolian horses are relatively smaller
but they are not exactly tame. They are
working horses and not pets, so no patting or treats are permitted. My horse rode close to the right flank of my
handler’s horse but nothing untoward happened.
The ride was pleasant. We rode
across the valley all the way back to the ger camp.
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A pair of blackbirds that sang
beautifully for us on our after dinner
nature walk |
We were worried that dinner was going to be as heavy as
lunch but luckily, it was not. Broth,
and noodles followed by desert. Very
sensible. We all sat and took photos
outside the restaurant ger after dinner.
We then went to have a shower.
We did some photography before collecting Martin to do the nature walk we had earlier scheduled. Off we trot, this time leaving by the front of
the property to climb a hill, almost to the forest line. We stayed away from the forest but we met
others in a group coming from the tree line.
We found us a knoll where we sat down for a while to breath in the view
before the mosquitoes began to make supper of us.
It was getting a little dark so we headed back to the ger with the
intent of coming out later to photograph the stars. Martin said that night would be perfect as
the new moon was not yet in the sky so if the clouds clear, then the stars would be most visible. He had been worried by
the rain in the morning before we arrived in UB and the continuing sprinkle
when we arrived at Chinggis Khan’s monument.
But the day had turned out to be beautiful.
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| A pica - ground squirrel |
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| An interesting specie of flower |
We had been lucky that Martin and we had gotten along really really well, like good brother and sister. He had been for us great company, conversation and navigation companion. We tend to like doing the same things, especially on matters relating to nature so we end up the natural two to hang out together in this "great wilderness" of Mongolia. By the time we were back at the ger, we have not seen Bolor
yet. We had seen him walk towards other camps in the valley when we started our walk. We speculated as to whether he
may be checking out the fermented mares milk of other nomadic families. It was because he jumped fence that we
thought the fences were for animals only and not for humans so we had been
jumping fences too. Others have
retired. We were going to do our blogs
but we were dead tired so we cleaned up and went to sleep. Even before Martin was back from his night
rituals at the bath house, we were out cold.
6 July, Wednesday
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| A view of the night sky that morning |
We woke up at midnight to go the bathroom and note that the
ger door had not been latched so we latched it when we re-entered. Martin was snoring softly. For some reasons, that made us smile. We climbed back into bed quietly. At
around 3am, Martin called out to us to wake us up as he had seen the skies outside and
they were great for star gazing. We had
prepared the tripod before going to bed and so we pulled out the tripod and the
camera with the widest possible lens.
The lights of the camp were still on so we went in search of a darker
spot free from light pollution. We
headed for the entrance of the camp. At
that moment just before we reached the gate, the lights of the camp went out, so we made for a patch near the
entrance of the camp but within the compound of the camp. We set up the camera.
Martin knows the skies pretty well so he explained where
everything were. We took a couple of
exposures of 15 – 25 seconds each to attempt to capture the beautiful Milky
Way. Martin admired the skies while we
did that and helped lend a hand with the equipment. A guard with his dog began his rounds around
the camp when we were in the middle of shooting pictures of the stars. We stayed out for maybe half to three quarter
of an hour. It was quite chilly but
refreshingly so. We went back to the
ger and went straight back to sleep.
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| The bird sitting on the tip of a model aeroplane |
The alarm rang as set, but we shut it down instead of
snoozing it. So we end up waking up at 8 am and had to run for breakfast as we were already unfashionably late! Breakfast was green pea soup followed by the
usual offerings of eggs, sausage, and salad with coffee and tea and condiments
with pancakes and toast. Bolor started
to chat about career changes and all. Since Martin and we wanted to do a last
nature walk before we left camp at 11am, we requested Bolor to have coffee
with us the next morning instead to continue the discussion. We
packed, and let our heavy bags be moved to the car. Martin and we went out towards the valley this
time from the front gate. We met some
nomads bringing their horses for tourist rides.
We also found a memorial of a plane and other wildlife … some large
crickets whose wings are beautiful when they were in flight but they were all too
fast to capture on camera .. … we walked towards the back of the camp then away from
it and found another perspective. Our
last nature walk together … we have had quite a few companionable ones now since
we are the two nature lovers of the half dozen.
Too soon, it was time to collect the rest of our gear from the ger to
head back towards UB for the city tour.
So long Terejl. It had been
really pretty.
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| Impromptu animal markets |
On the way back to the city, we passed some kids on bicycles
– they look as if they were training for the Tour de France. More impromptu live animal markets appeared to have mushroomed overnight along the route to Ulaanbaatar. We passed the villas that have been
specially built to house the leaders of ASEM (Asian-Europe Meeting) when they would be in town for a conference later that Wednesday after Naadam.
The entrepreneur intended to sell these after ASEM as novelty villas that had housed such and such leader at a premium. They are very entrepreneurial in this country.
Our entry back into Ulaanbaatar was from the east of the city. We were advised that each district within the
city has its own jurisdiction so it has its own courts and all. As such, someone could be sued in official capacity
in one part of the city and in a private capacity in another part of the city on a single matter!! We passed an Eastern Orthodox
Church and the Wrestling Stadium that they used for winter sports. There was also a mosque as the Kazakhs here
are Muslims. We were told that Mongolia had stopped taking note of ethnicity, only a single Mongolian race.
First stop, unbelievably was lunch at the Mongolian BBQ
place. We select from the assortment of raw meat and vegetable mix from a buffet spread and then the chef will cook it on a huge iron
round top for us. It was delicious. We select the sauce too. There were also some selection of pre-cooked delicacies. Bolor said that we had to have at least 3 helpings or the
establishment would think their food was not good enough for us. We tried but did not comply. We did not think we would be hungry after the hearty breakfast that morning but we were so we ate quite a substantial lunch.
For the first time, our driver did not eat with us. Bolor said that he was eating elsewhere. The driver had been a little worried about our bags
in his van so he was checking and rechecking the locks. Seeing that, we decided to take our passport out with us rather than risk it being in a bag in the vehicle. We had a great meal at the restaurant.
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The shrine wishing the Dalai Lama
happy birthday at the temple |
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| The tall Buddha |
After lunch, we visited the largest monastery in the city, the Gandantegchinlen. It was also the oldest. Right to do photography cost USD10. There were many temples in that compound but the
most famous was the one with the tallest statue of an indoor Buddha in it. The statue stands at 26.5m. In accordance with Buddhist customs, we move clockwise around it once we entered the temple. It was the Lama’s birthday that day so there
were chants for his good rebirth. At
first, we all thought that something had happened to the Lama as they were
praying for his rebirth. Bolor found out the real reason from the monks and informed us.
We explored the compound of the monastery. We had a look at the
counselling hall where people come to ask the monks for advice. Bolor, being an atheist, said that the
monks'usual advice is to pray. We laughed. It looked like they had female monks
too. Bolor would not believe that one of
those we identified as female was so. He
wassent on a mission to verify. He asked
for a question and we said to ask about the Lama’s birthday chants as if he did not already know. Off he went to ask that specific nun and found
out that she was indeed female.
The day was getting oppressively hot. We were drinking lots of water and trying to stay cool. We headed back to the car to find the driver taking personal care of our
belongings. We had left everything unnecessary in it as advised by Bolor to ensure we did not fall victims to pick pockets and all. We were glad to be back in the car where we were handed more drinking water.
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Mongolia Parliament
The huge dark statue infront is that of Chinggis Khan |
Our next stop was the Museum of History in the heart of
the city. On the way, we passed
Parliament Square. The traffic was grid locked chock a block!! 4-5 lanes single direction and still it resembled more a parking lot than a thoroughfare. In between, we
would make a stop at the Central Mall to visit the ATMs so that each of us could withdraw some monies. We had made a request to visit the flea market in Ulaanbaatar after the museum even though it was not on our itinerary. Bolor had very kindly agreed to take us there.
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| Mongolian History Museum |
The Mongolian History Museum was a good place to understand Mongolian perspective of their history. It was not one that was well discussed outside of Mongolia to the best of our knowledge. That was probably due to the small population of this country. It charged USD 5 for
photography.
Our second final tourist stop before dinner was the Central / Open Air (flea) Market. This one is huge and parking was a mayhem. Again we were advised to leave everything we did
not need with our driver who would personally guard these while we explored the market. Martin and we decided to go and have a look
around. Bolor went with Paul and
Wendy to look for a replacement for Paul’s broken iPhone charger.
Rob and Toni went exploring on their own.
We went in search for the meat market as we were half expecting it to be typically third world (non refrigerated and unhygienic) but to our surprise, it was all freezer slab in controlled cooler environment on
which the cuts / chunks meat lies … sort of like in a deli.
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The shades of the open air market from a window in the
covered building. Green gate to the right is the entrance |
There was nothing unusual about the other offerings in the covered building so we decided to explore outside in the open air stall area. We saw some good looking Mongolian
carpets, some Naadam theme traditional
clothing items, and the usual bric a bracs. As nothing interested us, we
met the group at the main entrance as promised at 6pm. Paul
was successful in procuring his much needed iPhone charger and it even had an English plug.
Our final tourist stop was the cashmere shop as requested by Rob and
Toni. We all went in to have a
look. My travelling companion would have loved the wool dress
but it would probably be too hot for Brisbane climate. Martin bought a
maroon scarf for Janet, his wife. Toni
bought three sweaters one each for herself and her two daughters. The rest of us had a look around and relaxed on the sofa while we waited for the purchasers.
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| Dinner place |
Dinner was next and it was at a Korean restaurant in what
looks like a wedding centre. We did not realise then that it was the wedding centre for Ulaanbaatar but we would learn that a few days later from a local friend. The food was
reasonably good. As we were leaving,
we were accosted by a grubby looking gentleman who tried to give Paul some
postcards for free but then told us it was his birthday. We wished him well. He then tried to get Paul to talk to him. Bolor said to leave the postcards on the
floor and carry on into the van. Bolor
explained that the best way to treat such folks is to ignore them
altogether. A little rattled, we all
head for the hotel. Apparently the modus operandi of this gentleman was to give a tourist something then attempt to get them to part with some cash or possibly pick their pockets.
We were brought to our hotel for the night - Platinum. Platinum looked like a posh hotel in China, complete with
huge sitting lounge and kitchenette. The bathroom was huge. We were all
sited near each other except for Paul.
Martin called for group drinks downstairs at 10pm so that we could all exchange addresses
and contact details. Wendy said she was not
coming. We asked to see the Trans
Siberian tickets from Paul which he showed to us We were hoping to be able to divide it up so that we all could have a piece of it for our souvenir of the trip. Our names were not on it so we did not bother
taking any copies for souveneir. Paul
also said that he would not join us.
Martin and I tried cleaning ourselves up a little before it was time to head
downstairs for drinks.
The restaurant appeared to have closed even though reception had informed us earlier that it was open till midnight. She
hurried over to tell the bartender that she needed to stay for another 30
minutes. We had a drink and used that
time to exchange particulars. We did not want to keep the bartender up for too long so we decided to end the meeting. We said we would be down
to say goodbye in the morning. We also passed around an envelope for tips for Bolor and the driver.
We left Martin to clean up and pack as he had to leave at
7.30 am whereas we would have much more time.
Bolor said that he would come for us at 9.30am. We hit the bed before too long as we were
tired. This would be the last night that
Martin will be our room mate. We would miss our new travel brother who had been such a great companion since we met in Petersburg. We had earlier said to Rob and Toni that we had been really lucky that Martin
and we had worked out well probably because we are both well traveled folks. Otherwise, the entire holiday have been challenging. We are really glad for the
friendship that we have forged.
7 July, Thursday
We were woken up by the alarm.
Although not quite ready to wake, we went downstairs to breakfast so that we could spend the time with our group that were all leaving. Toni and Rob joined Martin and us shortly. We tried to keep the table next
to us for Paul and Wendy but they were so late coming down that the space was taken. When they came down, they sat at
a separate table. Later we went over to
get their address and discuss tips. At
that juncture, Paul started to walk away saying he was going to get fresh
air. We did the exchange with Wendy, who
gave me all her Tugriks for the driver. We went outside to get Paul’s particulars but he went into the van and said that
is it, Bye. Just like that. A curt termination of everything we shared along
the trip without so much of an explanation or anything at all. We were not even sure what
happened. Anyhow, we slipped the driver
his tips and went back to say good bye to the rest. Wendy had loaded in after
Paul.
Martin went upstairs to the room when we were still downstairs. We gave everyone else a goodbye hug Just before he
left the stairs, he gave us another hug and said to my travelling companion : You are one of a kind. And then he made the same sign like Nikolai at Baikal. We saw him waved goodbye to us as the van pulled away. We will miss our room mate on the Trans Siberian. He will always be a
special brother to us.
In two days of interacting with Bolor, we have also learn a lot about the Mongolian people, their culture and the way they think and do things. They are indeed a very unique group of people.
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