Government crackdown

After getting home from the post office last night, I received a call from Alex. She was informing me that her attorney would be dropping by with some paperwork for me to transport. I waited a couple hours, and "Luke" showed up. He gave me the paperwork and said something about "I fear for my country." I asked what he meant, and he said people were protesting the results of the elections. "Oh, I saw a large group at Sukhbaatar Square this morning. Is that what they were doing?" I asked. He noted it was still going on. I asked Luke what happened, and he said the communists had won the majority, but it was totally unexpected, and people were unhappy. I thanked him for the information, then went back to my room. I had several thoughts about going to the Square. What's the harm in observing a little protest, I thought, but my rational self prevailed, and I stayed in my room. Good decision. By nightfall I could here the crowds, horns honking, and general mayhem. Throughout the night I heard loud bangs, some sounded like concussion bombs, some like firecrackers. The noise didn't subside until 2am or so.

I was picked up for the airport at 4am. We drove one-half block and were stopped at a police checkpoint. They took the driver's papers. Looking at me the officer said, "English?" "Yes." "Pass," he demanded. I grabbed my bag and found my passport. In the meantime he looked in the backseat and searched the trunk. Suddenly he opened my door, so I handed over my passport. He examined it thoroughly, then returned it. There was a brief discussion with the driver, then we were permitted to leave. As we rounded the corner near the Square, there were streams of smoke breaching the dawn sky, an ambulance drove by and a tank rolled north toward the Square. Maybe this was a little more serious than I thought. At the outskirts of the city, there was another police checkpoint. It was less intrusive, and we were on our way a little quicker. We were stopped again just outside the city to allow several tanks to turn in front of us. At this point, I was very glad to be on the way to the airport and out of UB. Unfortunately, after waiting an hour for the ticket agents to arrive, I was advised the 6:30am flight was delayed to 4:30pm. It didn't take long to decide to stay at the airport. Call me paranoid, but I didn't think the city was a good idea, and there were no tanks at the airport.

I finally got some information from a Swiss guy. He said the city was under a state of emergency for the next four days. What I had heard last night was gunfire (albeit rubber bullets) and tear gas canisters in police efforts to disburse the crowd. Apparently the crowd had gone to the communist party building, demanding the members come out and speak with them. When the communists refused, the trouble started. The crowd broke windows and torched the place. They looted a liquor store, the alcohol fueling their rage, then the half-empty bottles were thrown to fuel the fire. Tear gas ensued and another building went up in flames. More tear gas and rubber bullets. As the Swiss guy talked, I could not believe the level of civil unrest I heard last night. I was very grateful not to have wandered down there to satisfy my curiosity. With my luck, I would have been waking up in jail today. Luckily, I was stuck at the airport for 10 hours instead.

I still had my luggage, so I pulled out the inflatable bed roll, my pillow, and earplugs. I made a little nest and managed a three hour nap. I went through an entire book of Word Find, having nothing else to do. Swiss guy called his travel agent in UB to see about waiting out the delay in the city. She indicated there was no traffic allowed, and the only thing in or out of the city was public transportation. It wasn't until 11am the TV began to broadcast images from last night. Oh my goodness! I had no idea the extent. I visited and photographed one of the burnt buildings earlier in the day. I will have to take an "after" photo when I return next week.

In the meantime, I thought I'd try a Mongolian milkshake before boarding the plane. They take things literally. I watched as she squirted chocolate syrup into a martini shaker. Next, she poured milk, then ice. Viola! Shake vigorously and you have a milk shake. It wasn't until the last few drops that I realized the ice probably wasn't the best idea. Hopefully it's from purified water, otherwise I'll be looking for an Etiquette Bell.Meer informatie