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Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure

August - September 2019
Our rail journey will start in St Petersburg then to Moscow and Yekaterinburg, across Siberia to Lake Baikal and Irkutsk. Into Mongolia to Ulaanbaatar and flying South to the Gobi, before returning to the train to conclude in Beijing. Read more
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  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
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    Day 18

    Getting to know UB

    September 12, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    We arrived at Ulaanbaatar (aka UB) Station bang on time at 6.50am. Our bright young female guide Davka and our driver, a little old bloke in a flat cap interestingly named Egg (that’s no yolk....sorry I mean joke) were waiting on the platform right by our carriage.

    Egg whisked us back to the hotel by 7:30am (that’s enough of the egg jokes!) and we were checked in to our very nice hotel, showered, breakfasted and out by 9am for a three hour City Tour with Davka and Egg.

    Ulaanbaatar has a population of 1.4 million and to a certain extent feels like any other Capital City. It has some high rise offices and apartments but they don’t totally dominate the vista. One thing we realised quickly was that the traffic is a nightmare. Throughout the day we were either entrenched in or witnessing some horrendous traffic queues and most of the time it was probably quicker to walk.

    However when the traffic does move you are exposed to one of Ulaanbaatar’s greatest dangers...crossing the road! Where there are traffic lights it’s fine but most crossings here are the equivalent of our zebra crossings and in theory the rule is the same as ours - motorists must stop to let you cross. No chance. You literally have to take your life in your hands at an appropriate point and just go for it. Our favoured tactic was to use locals as a human shield so at least we would not die alone.

    After the City Tour, Davka helped us to get Mongolian SIM cards for our mobiles. For 31 pence each we are now covered for calls and internet for the duration of our 9 day stay! Then the luxury of a few hours rest before our first evening out in Mongolia.

    After some research we had a 15 minute wander from the hotel to the ‘Hop and Rocks’ Brewpub for a beer brewed on the premises, then for dinner we had chosen a local speciality, the Mongolian Hotpot which we enjoyed at the well appointed Bull Restaurant located in busy Seoul Street. As we had been warned we had to wait a while for a table and were pleased to see we were the only foreigners in the place. Mongolian Hotpot consists of sitting at a table with an induction hob built into the the glass table top which heats a boiling pot of stock. You are then presented with an array of vegetables and noodles, together with our chosen selection of beef, which you submerse in the broth for varying amounts of time before eating, using a selection of dips from the choice presented. We chose the local draught beer ‘Legend’ to go with it. It was great fun to eat this way and the quality of the ingredients was great - we were delighted with our choice.

    So we went to bed content and with the chance of a good sleep before Thursday’s trip to the Terelj National Park. Davka was again our guide and our driver remained the same although his name seemed to have adjusted overnight from Egg to Eggy!

    Now Davka is a real character. She is 38 and speaks great English, which, after completing University in Mongolia, she travelled to New Zealand to learn. Her time in NZ has certainly enhanced her vocabulary as the occasional use of words such as ‘loo’ and phrases such as ‘pissed off’ shows. She is also very good at letting us know her personal temperature which tends to be ‘very cold’ or more regularly ‘very hot’ to which is normally added ‘Oh I’m sweating so much!’ and on one occasion ‘I’m sweating so much I hope I’m not smelly’ (which she wasn’t by the way). She is a self confessed non-conformist to Mongolian culture. We have spent much of our time here laughing and joking with her and also with Egg/Eggy once Davka had explained to him what we were laughing at.

    The trip to Terelj National Park lasted all day and we travelled 70 km North from UB to get there. This Park is part of the Mongolian Steppe and very different from what we will be seeing in the Gobi. It is a vast expanse of grassland with wide flat areas surrounded by hills. It is teeming with Mongolian livestock, that is primarily Cattle, Yak and Horses, together with dwellings and the occasional ‘resort’ hotel to blot the landscape a little. We spent time just looking at the wonderful scenery through the car window and having the occasional walk to look at a landmark. Lunch was a ‘Tour included’ gargantuan Mongolian feast of various meat related dishes at a 4* Hotel deep within the National Park which was unexpected and extremely filling. An enjoyable journey back was frustrated by hitting UB at rush hour so arrival at our Hotel in the City was around 6pm. We have decided that the traffic in UB is the worst in the world.

    Now tomorrow (Friday) we leave UB for a few days to travel to the Gobi. Yesterday we were informed that our flight there was timed at 6.20am and that we would be picked up from our hotel at 4am. That can safely be described as a very early start!

    We were also advised that the guide and driver who are looking after us in the Gobi have already set off as they are driving there to be ready and waiting for us. It takes them more than a day to drive the 700 km plus to get there. There is certainly a lot of commitment from the travel company to give us a good holiday.

    So after the lunch we had there is no need for any dinner, just a wander out from the hotel for a couple of drinks then bed by 9am for a 3am alarm call. The weather has been mixed today but the forecast looks very good for the Gobi (fingers crossed please). We are hoping that our Mongolian phones will be able to transmit the blog while we are there but nothing is guaranteed and we potentially have ‘radio silence’ for our four days away from UB.    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
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    Day 18

    Terelj National Park

    September 12, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ⛅ 4 °C

    Here’s some photos from Thursday......

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
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    Day 20

    Into the Gobi Desert

    September 14, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ☀️ 21 °C

    It’s Friday morning and our alarm goes off at 3am (ouch!) for a 4am pick up to UB Airport for one of the highlights of our journey, a four day trip to the Gobi desert. We only have a small weight allowance for the flight so the bulk of our luggage will remain at our UB hotel for our return. Eggy is ready and waiting for us in the lobby and everything works well as after a good flight we arrive in bright sunshine at Dalanzadgad Airport, in the middle of the Gobi, on time at 7.50am. Our guide NK and driver Choijo are waiting at the airport, having driven 700 km yesterday from UB.

    Our accommodation throughout the four days will be in Gers which are the traditional homes of Mongolians and can be seen all across the country, even close to UB. Ours will be in Tourist Ger Camps which gives decent comfort whilst allowing you to stay in remote parts of the Gobi Desert. These Camps have around 20 Gers and two shared buildings, one a dining area and the other containing toilets and showers.

    Our first night will be in Camp 1 then we will travel in a loop through the Steppes and Mountainous areas staying at two other Camps before returning to Camp 1 on the last night before flying back to UB on Tuesday morning.

    We had a great cooked breakfast at Camp 1 before going through our itinerary with NK and then having a couple of hours sleep. After lunch we travelled about 40 minutes from the Camp to walk the Eagle Gorge. There are three tarmac roads on the Gobi but the majority of driving has to be done off road which is challenging but provides constant spectacular views.

    Photo’s cannot do justice to the scale of everything we will see here. This afternoon as we drove to Eagle Gorge there were shadowed mountains to our left and on the other side perfectly flat Steppe to the horizon, punctuated by occasional nomadic Ger (always white) and herds of various animals.

    We will run out of superlatives during these four days but the walk through the Gorge was fantastic. From the car park it begins about 80 metres wide but narrows down gradually until after about an hour it is just a few metres from side to side, before gradually opening up again. A stream runs through the Gorge and has to be negotiated via natural stepping stones and we kept dry. The narrowest point was tricky to negotiate but achieved and we walked a bit further past this point and then returned to the car after a well paced three hour walk.

    At the wider points of the Gorge we encountered several Yak herds, there were lots of gerbils running around (nest building for winter) and plenty of horses. We also saw a number of Golden Eagles (hence the name of the Gorge) and also Bearded Vultures, Mongolia’s biggest bird with a wingspan of over 9 feet.

    We had a bizarre incident as we wandered through the Gorge. There were occasional hikers, but then we happened upon three Mongolian men one of who was staggering around. It quickly became apparent that he was completely drunk and extremely aggressive. One of his friends was trying to hold him back and the other one looked drunk but stayed in the background. The very drunk one approached NK, slurred some kind of insult and looked like he was going to take a swing at him, but his mate caught him in time. We had some concern but managed to divert past them and continued to the Gorge, whilst the drunkards walked towards the Car Park. Our driver later told us that he saw these people pick an argument with the local horse trek guides who gave them all a good thumping. That was good news!

    Despite this minor blip we had had a memorable walk in the Gorge in the most perfect weather. It was a totally blue sky. Warm in the sun but very chilly when in the Gorge in the shade of the surrounding mountains.

    Although we have already been to locations with big annual temperature swings, nothing matches the Gobi. Summer maximum can hit +50C and just to give it some symmetry the winter temperature can fall to -50C. Quite incredible.

    We drove back to our Camp across the Steppe with the sun going down and arrived back just as the full harvest moon was rising above the horizon.

    We enjoyed a hot shower, dinner (delicious spaghetti bolognese - something we weren’t expecting in the Gobi!), a beer and an early night. Janet had noticed a small mouse in our Ger (not really a surprise in our location) when we were getting ready for dinner so we mentioned it to our guide. We were presented with a solution which was a ‘sticky mouse trap’ to put under the bed which would glue the poor mouse’s feet to a glue pad when it ran over it. We decided we could not be that nasty - and didn’t mind sharing our accommodation - so we abstained from using this primitive execution equipment! We only saw the little thing once more before bed time and we think it slept as well as us.    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
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    Day 21

    Day 2 in the Gobi

    September 15, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ☀️ 10 °C

    It’s Saturday so day two in the Gobi and we spent the morning driving from Camp 1 to Camp 2 across the Steppe. Now many people think that the Gobi is a desert of all sand, like the Sahara, however the Gobi is a mixture of sand, grass Steppe and mountains, the latter two of which provide us with the backdrop to this mornings drive.

    The whole three hour journey is off road on gravel or dried mud tracks and we come across herds of goats, a large herd of horses running across us and some more horses being herded by motorcycle (which happens often here). We also saw our first camels, with the local variety being Bactrian’s which have two humps. All of these animals roam freely although they are all owned by somebody, somewhere and will be branded or marked in some unique way. Dwellings are at a minimum this morning with once again occasional nomadic Gers dotting the landscape.

    Our most interesting find today was a remote watering station pumped by a generator where a herdsman was watering his horses. NK spoke to the herdsman and he has three horse herds which exist as separate units each under the control of one Stallion. We watched as the three large groups took it in turn to water, with one group moving in to the trough immediately one group withdrew. The Stallions do not get on and there were a couple of brief sparring sessions whilst the watering process took place.

    We arrived at Camp 2 around 1pm and as it was 4 hours since breakfast (the maximum time allowed between meals apparently) they presented us with a huge lunch of salad starters and a full Chinese meal for main. This Camp is similar to the last in layout but more remote and we look across the Steppe to the horizon on all four sides. Our Ger is also much the same as previous. The weather is again blue sky and sun but it is very, very windy and by the time we reach Camp quite difficult to walk against. The animals and people here have a tough life.

    We always eat at a table for four with NK and Choijo, with the former having an appetite beyond what we’ve ever seen before. He eats things in an interesting order too, e.g. breakfast can be bread and jam, followed by a cream cake, then bacon, sausage and egg with a milk and cereal completion. At some point in each meal he advises us that he is so full he can’t possibly eat any more, then 5 minutes later is piling up his plate again. This process is repeated until every plate on the table is empty. He then disappears to have a few cigarettes.

    This afternoon we head to two locations near to our Ger Camp. The first was a forest, something extremely rare in the Gobi. Although it is called a forest the unique Saxaul trees are actually only about six feet in maximum height but they have roots that go 20 yards under the ground to the water level. This is the biggest collection of trees in the Gobi at 5 x 1 miles in size.

    Straight after this we head to the Flaming Cliffs which are a dramatic collection of sand/rock formations which are famous for reflecting the setting sun. We have to spend around 30 minutes walking over a narrow ridge across the top of the cliffs to get the best sight lines of the spectacular vista. At points this is quite precarious, particularly due to the gale force wind blowing that hits us whenever we reached points that don’t have any cover. Definitely a ‘bum twitcher’ at times due to the sheer drop on one side. Health & Safety would never have allowed this walk back home.

    This site is famous for one of the World’s most important discoveries of dinosaur bones, eggs and fossils by the American explorer Roy Chapman Andrews firstly in 1922 with further discoveries in subsequent years.

    The views were memorable but we were glad to return to lower terrain and then Camp 2 for sunset, moonrise, dinner and bed. It’s been a good day.    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
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    Day 22

    The Nomads of the Steppe

    September 16, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ☀️ 18 °C

    We’re writing this on Sunday evening after a magical day in the Gobi. This morning we set off at 8am from Camp 2 towards our next overnight destination Goviin Anar (we will call it Camp 3) - a journey of around 120 km, all off-road.

    NK had told us that at some stage on the journey he would select a nomadic Ger settlement and head off the track to allow us to see what life is like for the nomadic people. He explained that the nomads were always welcoming to guests and told us that these days most nomads have a summer and winter camp which are fixed Gers that they leave in place all year and move between the two in May and October. In past times the nomads would move their Gers from site to site.

    After a couple of hours drive across the Steppe we saw a Ger, however when we got there we could see that the nomads were working around 400 yards away from their home so NK decided to move on.

    When we came across the next encampment (they appear around very 5km or so) we struck gold. There were two Gers and a herd of horses milling around close by. When we stopped the vehicle NK spoke to a man standing in the doorway who was happy to welcome us - after he had secured one of his dogs who he told NK might attack us!

    We went into the Ger and there were four men eating noodles from bowls. The three year old son of the owner was also there and was fascinated by us (NK said he may never have seen a westerner before). Their wives were all out some distance away tending to the goat and sheep herds whilst the men had work to undertake with the horses. The Ger was extremely basic and as could be expected in the middle of the Gobi had no running water or mains electricity.

    We were asked to sit on what was obviously the owners bed (everyone else sat on the floor) and as is customary with the arrival of guests in Mongolia a large bowl of fermented mares milk was circulated for everyone to sip from. This is an alcoholic beverage and the main money earner for this encampment. Yes they make booze from milking horses! It actually tasted OK and was followed by a small bowl each of cows milk tea and goats cheese sweets which was also acceptable. We would have loved to show the inside of the Ger but felt it was too intrusive to take any photos.

    The nomads then left the Ger to set out on their work and we followed, first checking with NK that we were following the correct protocols. NK spoke to the men who said that they had to separate and catch two horses from the herd. The owner saddled and mounted what was obviously his tethered horse and took up a long pole with a looped rope on the end.

    He then rode in amongst the herd of horses and what we then witnessed was exhilarating as he selected a horse he wanted to secure and then a chase commenced. The horsemanship and control was amazing as at some speed he chased down his selection, which ran frantically around the herd and sometimes through it. Once he had managed to secure the loop around it’s neck it still took some time to settle the captive down until it reached a point when one of the other men could gather the horse and tether it. This was repeated until the two captured horses and his own were tied in a line.

    At this stage the voyeurs wondered why these two horses had been selected. If you are eating your breakfast please read this later! NK was told that these two horses had been selected for castration which would take place later that morning. Some people from the nearest large town, Dalanzadgad, would be travelling out for lunch and guess what? Their lunch would be a great Mongolian tradition of raw horse testicles served still warm from the body.

    We decided not to hang around to watch this process progress, however we did witness something quite special as the owners son was then made ready to ride out with his father to check how the women were getting on with the other animals. He was quickly changed into appropriate clothing and took his bridle to a horse that had already been prepared with a small saddle. He and his father then mounted and the pair of them headed away from the settlement across the Steppe. Hard to believe he is only 3 yet looking so comfortable on a horse. NK is certain that this child’s grandfather, great grandfather and many more past generations will have been master horseman on the Gobi.

    We left feeling very privileged to have spent time here. This was not tourism in the normal sense, just a chance to see life as it has been led for centuries and it is quite hard to believe that thousands of families in Mongolia are still living in this way.

    We have some good video of this but can’t post it yet due to our remote location.

    Leaving the settlement we drove towards Camp 3 to arrive in time for lunch and had to go through a mountain pass to get there. NK said there was a chance to see Ibex there (large mountain antelope with huge horns) and our driver spotted a group of about a dozen high up on rocks some distance away. We got out to look and than another tour vehicle pulled up. One of the people in the van was a westerner wearing full camouflage gear (jacket, trousers and hat) who introduced himself as Larry from San Francisco. He certainly didn’t lack self-confidence and passed John his high powered binoculars to look at the Ibex. He told John that they were exactly 475 metres away and he knew that because there is a range finder on these binoculars that he uses when he goes hunting! We immediately had a downer on him for that, particularly as Janet then heard him proudly boast that he had shot Ibex previously. His vehicle (containing him, his guide and a driver) then developed a mechanical problem and wouldn’t start. As much as we would have like to have left them stranded (especially him after his hunting boast!) we had to give them a push to get them going.

    We then continued through the pass to Camp 3 where lunch and a beautiful old fashioned Ger awaited us. We were told to expect an interesting afternoon......    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
    Day 22

    Walking on the Dune

    September 16, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ 🌙 12 °C

    Our Sunday afternoon activity was based around a visit to the nearby Sand Dunes. Now we told you there is actually little sand in the Gobi Desert but these huge Sand Dunes run for 180 km through the middle of the region.

    We had asked if we could ride camels and were taken to a spot close to the Dunes where a Mongolian Ger Camp have a herd of Bactrian Camels (two humps) which can be hired for riding. Cutting a long story short our Camels were prepared by being saddled and kneeling on the ground but John’s back problem meant that climbing on board was almost impossible for him and he found himself three quarters of the way onto the Camel physically unable to either sit down or get off, being stuck between the two humps. He was in absolute agony in this position but with the help of the Camel herder, Janet and NK was eventually able to fall away from the Camel to safety. So Janet decided that she wouldn’t ride alone. We had passed the cash over before starting, however the Camels owner, who was involved in John’s rescue, sympathetically returned the money and we rewarded them with a healthy tip. John’s Camel riding days are over before they begun!

    Despite the Camel loading problem John felt fine to walk and this was very necessary as we embarked on the main event of the afternoon, which was an attempt to climb the highest point of the Gobi Sand Dunes named Khongoryn Els.

    Now from the base to the peak is a walk of around 300 metres which does not sound much of a distance but after a gentle start of around 100 metres the face of the Dune becomes almost sheer and every two paces forward in the soft sand results in one pace back. As we looked up to the summit and saw those on top looking like dots the task was daunting and Janet’s view was that she would probably be able to complete a third at best. John was hoping to make it but was not totally confident.

    Our trusty guide NK, after giving us a bit of a warning about potential health risks, told us that we should try to complete the walk but that we should take it slow and easy. He said that once the slope really steepened we should consider taking about ten steps before stopping, sitting for a few minutes and then completing another 10 paces. He recommended us not to adjust our climbing style by trying to move on all fours (we saw several people trying this method) as this hindered rather than helped progress. There was no hurry he said. He always kept about 20 yards in front of us, encouraging us and bit by bit we made our way up, at times feeling we were not moving forward despite our efforts. We then realised that the size of people on the summit was such that the end point seemed achievable then found ourselves within touching distance. After about 75 minutes climbing we finally made it to the top with a sense of real achievement. Once we had celebrated we looked around us and could not believe the view. It was stunning across 360 degrees and most definitely worth the effort. Big thanks to NK who said he was very proud of us.

    There had been a big festival at the base of the Dunes and a number of Police from the main town (200 km away) had been on duty. At the end of the event they decided to climb the dune and arrived at the summit shortly after us. They were interested in us Westerners and a couple of them practiced a few words of English much to the amusement of their colleagues. The Police Chief was particularly keen to communicate with us and for about 20 minutes NK had to translate a number of questions from him about our views on Mongolia and what the UK is like. NK said it seemed more like an interrogation but then we guess that’s the Police Chiefs job. They were in good spirits and were keen to have photos taken with us as well as singing some traditional Mongolian songs.

    We said farewell and then began our descent which was great fun as you could almost run down in a zig zag manor and it took us around 5-10 minutes to get to the bottom, creating sand avalanches all the way down. You would not believe the amount of sand the three of us dumped from our shoes before we got back in the vehicle.

    It was getting late and we arrived back at Camp 3 just before sunset having seen both Golden Eagles and Vultures close to the roadside on our way. After dinner we were just leaving the dining area when who should walk in but our still heavily camouflaged Ibex murdering American acquaintance, Larry. He was interested in our train journey and gave us his business card so we could email him details of our travel company. He also told us enthusiastically that the rest of his itinerary in Mongolia is a couple of days back in the Capital, UB, and then he is going on a 10 day hunting trip, presumably to bag a few more Ibex, plus some Antelopes, Wolves and anything else that moves.

    We told NK what Larry was up to and he shared our displeasure. It gave us the perfect opportunity to explain to NK what is, and who is, an ‘asshole’!!

    This didn’t spoil another lovely Gobi day and we went to bed happy and exhausted. We have one day left in the desert before returning to the big City.    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
    Day 24

    Goodbye Gobi

    September 18, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ☁️ 9 °C

    Our last day in the Gobi, Monday, was a relatively easy one as we had no specific activities planned and the main event was to complete our circuit with a 5 hour drive from Camp 3 back to Camp 1, leaving at 8am.

    Apart from the last half hour this was off-road and a tough drive for Choijo over difficult, mainly gravel, terrain. It needs full time concentration particularly with some challenging dry river bed crossings to negotiate. Our vehicle is just about OK for the conditions (it’s not 4x4) and each bone shaking journey is fine but most definitely bumpy. As always here there are no shortage of things to look at, Nomadic camps, livestock, herders, mountains etc. We stop every hour or so for a ten minute break, where Janet and I stretch our legs whilst NK and Choijo enjoy a quick fag!

    By the way our mobile internet has surprisingly worked well across the Gobi as long as we don’t use video data and it’s allowed us to keep the blog running to time. A little bonus we found on the internet today was some information about our Rootin’ Tootin’ Shootin’ Camouflage Wearing Ibex Blasting Asshole from California (think there’s a song title there somewhere!) Larry. His calling card alerted us to the fact that he owns a Real Estate business (ironically it should be legal to shoot them) and a web search showed that he had been a very naughty boy in 1998 (aged 45) when he was caught smuggling Cuban cigars into the USA through San Francisco airport (a definite no no). The Newspaper report covered the fact that authorities had him under surveillance as he had previous offences in this area having been caught transporting them back before and posting quantities of them to friends whilst travelling to Mexico. Apparently he was buying them for $5 and selling them for $40. The report was mid-Court case and said he could face up to 2 years in jail but we couldn’t find the outcome. Let’s assume he got banged up!

    Anyway back to Mongolia and we woke at 6am on Tuesday for our Hunnu flight to UB, which was scheduled for 8.20, but actually departed 20 minutes early, which nearly caught us out as all of the hold luggage was already on board when we arrived. When we got to the airport we said a fond farewell to NK and Choijo who have been fantastic companions over the four days. The former, as our guide, has perfect English, however our driver spoke not a word but we all managed to communicate effectively and had a good laugh throughout. As we took off they were starting the long journey back and were hoping that they could be back to UB in about 12 hours with the journey, fortunately, all on tarmac roads.

    We are sad to leave the Gobi but are so pleased to have had the opportunity to see a unique and wonderful place, steeped in traditions virtually unchanged for centuries. Mongolia has a huge land mass, being the 18th largest country in the World. It has a population of just 3 million people, 1.5 million of who live in the Capital, UB, a big city not dissimilar to any modern bustling metropolis in the Western World.

    However away from UB there are 1.5 million people including 230,000 herding families who make up a huge percentage of the rural population and many of these are nomads like the ones we encountered yesterday.

    Livestock numbers in Mongolia are quite staggering and in last years audit numbered 84 million in total, made up almost exclusively of 38 million Sheep, 35 million Goats, 5 million Horses and 5 million Cattle.

    We have never seen a country split so definitively between City dwellers and the countryside inhabitants (they have absolutely zero in common apart from being Mongolian) but fortunately the sheer volume of established self-sufficient livestock herding families should ensure that their traditions are able to survive for several more generations. We really hope so.    Read more

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    Day 24

    Back in the Ulaanbaatar

    September 18, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ⛅ 16 °C

    Back in Ulaanbaatar (UB) we have two days before we take the train to Beijing. As far as the blog is concerned we are keen to complete Mongolia before we leave the country as censorship rules in China may well block FindPenguins. We know that WhatsApp and Google are blocked so we must assume the worst and it could well be that we have little contact with the outside World until we are home on 23rd September. We’ll see.

    So once arriving back in UB on Tuesday we visited the National Museum, then while walking across the square in front of Government House witnessed a number of wedding photo sessions taking place. We discovered that any couple getting married in Mongolia are allowed to have some photos taken inside the barriers around the Parliament and more specifically in front of the Genghis Khan statue. We then did some shopping (including some cashmere bargains for Janet) and had a very nice Indian meal to close the day.

    On Wednesday we had originally been hoping for a free day, however on the flight to the Gobi we realised that there was part of our day tour to the Terelj National Park last week that was not covered, this being a visit to the huge Genghis Khan monument - some way out of UB. We are still not sure if our UK agent or the local tour company were to blame, however this is a key sight and it needed to be done. Unfortunately it was a 2 hour drive there and the same back, so with 90 minutes actually there we lost half a day but it was very worthwhile as the pictures show. This stainless steel monument to Mongolia’s National hero was completed in 2010 and is truly gigantic, dominating the hilltop as Genghis faces the town of his birth some miles away.

    Our guide today was our old friend NK who had only just recovered from his return trip from the Gobi and our driver was another of our acquaintances from the local tour company, Eggy.

    After our trip it was back to the hotel for a packing session as we prepare to leave UB for Beijing tomorrow (Thursday) with the final train of our trip departing at 07.30am and arriving at 2.30pm, 31 hours later.

    As we now have the facility to send videos a couple are included below. You can also view our arrival at the summit of the Dune on this link:

    https://youtu.be/XEEH2AIanm0    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
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    Day 24

    Last call in UB

    September 18, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ⛅ 8 °C

    Just to mention a few things before we close on Mongolia.....

    Brief history of Mongolia. The Mongolian hero Genghis Khan created the biggest Empire the world has ever witnessed in the 13th Century which ran from Poland to Korea. The Khan dynasty eventually collapsed and by the 1600’s Mongolia was overrun by the Manchurian Chinese who ruled the country until 1910. At that time the Chinese were driven out by the Mongolians with assistance from Russia. Mongolia was then truly independent for ten years, however in 1920 the Russian Bolsheviks led by Lenin exerted more control on Mongolia (peacefully) and from then until the break up of the Soviet Union in 1990 Mongolia was ruled from Moscow, with a substantial number of Russian soldiers stationed in the country. In 1990 a peaceful revolution saw the Russians withdraw and Mongolia became an totally independent country again.

    Oddities here include.......The Mongolian language is strange and sounds to us like a mixture of Russian, Pakistani and Welsh! It was a beautifully scribed language, used for centuries, that was written top to bottom rather that side to side. The Russians outlawed its use in 1940 and converted all script to Russian letters which remain to this day. The traditional Mongolian written language is now unfortunately dead.

    Vehicles drive on the right in Mongolia, however their cars are a complete mix of right hand and left hand drive cars, as many of their cars are bought direct from Japan where they drive on the left. This mix and match arrangement certainly does not help the traffic problems in UB and some of the more eccentric driving arrangements we have witnessed outside of the capital.

    We were surprised to see virtually no bicycles nor motorbikes on the roads in UB. One reason is that it’s too dangerous due to the kamikaze car driving. The other is that no one in their right mind would attempt to ride them between October and May when it is normally below 20C.

    We‘ve been so very lucky to have enjoyed brilliant weather every day whilst in Mongolia with brilliant blue daytime skies and clear starry nights, however we read that Ulaanbaatar is officially the coldest Capital City in the World with an average minimum of -25C in Winter.

    Their currency Is the Tugrik (3,200 to the £). There are no coins and the smallest note is 50 Tugrik = 1.5 pence and the biggest 20,000 Togrik = £6.25.

    It’s now definitely goodnight from us here in UB.    Read more

  • Our Trans-Mongolian Adventure
    Day 25

    Dining Mongolian style

    September 19, 2019 in Mongolia ⋅ ☁️ 24 °C

    So the purpose of this blog is to try to use up the remaining data on our Mongolian SIM card before we cross the border to China so hopefully this will get through.

    Got to Ulaanbaatar Station at 7am not knowing if we would be on a Mongolian or Chinese train as they run alternate rolling stock on this service so it was a 50/50 chance. A quick glance at our platform revealed smartly uniformed Chinese staff (all male) waiting by the carriage doors so we knew we had a Chinese train all the way. We weren’t sure if this was good news or not.

    Our tickets were checked and we found our First Class compartment door. What would it be like? Well we were absolutely delighted to find that our two bed compartment had smart upper and lower berths together with a nice armchair (both berths were quite wide and should be comfortable for sleeping). There was a small wardrobe and then the biggest surprise, our own en suite bathroom with wash basin, shower and a nice clean toilet. The fit out looked pretty new and it certainly won the award for the best compartment of our trip.

    There is a constant boiling water supply available at the end of the corridor and our Chinese Attendant (let’s call him Mr Woo) seems friendly enough although unlike the Russian Provodnistas he seems more interested in remaining in his compartment watching films on his phone, than vacuuming and cleaning. He appeared pleased enough to receive one of our special pens that we hand out to those who have assisted or may be needed to help us.

    We settle down and make our own porridge for breakfast and soon we are out of the City and travelling through countryside peppered with the usual Gers, livestock and horse riding herders.

    After about 3 hours we arrive, about 20 minutes late, at our first stop the small town of Choir. Now this was supposed to be a 24 minutes stop but as we were running late we suspected this would be cut short and this was confirmed by Mr Woo with help of a translation app on his phone, which he seemed quite proud of. Plenty of people disembarked the train to stretch their legs but no one ventured far and a few local ladies peddled their wares to the passengers. After about 15 minutes a call went out along the platform and we were all hastened aboard for departure.

    We had decided to eat lunch in the restaurant and decided to get our half bottle of Russian Vodka back into play with some Schweppes Tonics we acquired in UB, for a pre lunch aperitif with some peanuts and dried cranberries we were given as a freebie by Hunnu Air (we know how to live the high life!).

    Then we went for what we believed was going to be a highlight of this journey. Lunch. Although this is a Chinese train there is a Mongolian Dining car attached until we reach the border and this has a reputation as being one of the most unique train dining experiences. Just look at the photo!

    So we had a nice set lunch in great surroundings (it was busy with tourists) with a couple of beers whilst we trundled through the Eastern Gobi. There were large buzzards flying alongside us most of the time and the landscape became flatter and drier as we moved south. This train travel is not hard work it’s a real pleasure, albeit we have a massive benefit not having to share with anyone as the four berth compartments we walked past on the way to the dining car are really tight and awkward. The supplement we’ve paid for this is well worth it.

    At 3pm whilst we are still lunching, we make our final stop before the border at Sainshand. In just over 4 hours we will leave Mongolia and enter China. We’ll leave it here as our mobiles will lose signal soon.    Read more

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