Discover Mongolia

Here is a little story from our second holiday. We are really privileged to have opportunities to travel while Roy is working in China. For our second trip we went to Mongolia to visit my sister, Lenny, who is currently working over there.

The trip started with me leaving site earlier than Roy to have a little shopping and excursion trip with the ladies and Rob (Jenny’s (the GM’s wife) brother who was visiting from Australia). There were 5 of us plus a driver. We were lucky to have a specially assigned car, thanks to Jenny. We left site early in the morning on Monday 3rd of July. It was a beautiful day, sunny and clear. Our first stop was Min Gu, the closest town from site, about 2 hours drive. We wandered around the market area. I bought a few Bu Yi (ethnic group) hand-woven materials. The Bu Yi people use the materials for their hair do. It is quite unique.

From Min Gu we drove to Huangguoshu Falls, the biggest waterfall in China, which is located just off the highway on the way to Guiyang. We only stopped there to have lunch at a restaurant overlooking the waterfall. The others had been there before. Well, Roy and I can visit it next time. Lunch was ordinary but the view was wonderful.

After lunch we drove on and visited a “stone village”, an old village which is now a tourist destination. After years suppression, Chinese people are free to travel now. Interest in culture and old things is back. Many old places that survived the cultural revolution have been made into preserved and renovated old towns for tourists. The one that we visited was very touristy, although a bit of old charm still remained. The streets were lined with souvenir vendors. 

From the stone village, we continued to Guiyang, which was only about 1 hour away. We arrived in Guiyang in the evening and checked into the Regal Hotel. Jenny, Rob, and I went straight to Wallmart to do some shopping so we could sent the stuff we bought in on the bus the following morning back to site. I managed to buy a bit of stuff in an hour, a printer, DVD player, some groceries. It is amazing what one can do in a limited time. We had dinner at the hotel and retired to our rooms.

The next morning we had a full-day shopping adventure. Guiyang is not listed as a shopping destination in China, but there are heaps of shops. We went to an area called Xiao Hong Kong (Little Hong Kong). It was great. There are rows of shops selling everything from clothes, shoes, accessories, wools, etc. We spent probably 4-5 hours there. Poor Rob he couldn’t keep up with us ladies and decided to have a stroll somewhere else. I don’t blame him. We met Rob again at the hotel for late lunch, at around 1:30 pm. John, Jenny’s husband, was there too as he came to Guiyang to present a paper at a conference. 

Our feet were tired, however we pushed on. After lunch we went to the fabric market. I had a few clothes to pick up. Other ladies bought some materials and had quilt covers made. They are so cheap. Last time I went there I had a quilt cover and pillow cases made for 300 RMB, around $A 50. Not bad. We came back from the fabric market at around 6 pm and quickly had a shower. John and Jenny took us all out for dinner at a dumpling restaurant. The food was scrumptious. After dinner, some of us went to a DVD store. I bought a few DVDs and music CDs. They are cheap too. Everything is cheap here…. The land of Crazy Clark….

The next morning we had a company car to take us to an antique market and stationery wholesale shops. I didn’t buy much, but others bought a bit. Roy arrived at lunch time. After packing a bit of stuff to send to site, we checked out from the hotel and said goodbye to our friends. We went to the airport and caught a 4:45 flight to Beijing. 

The flight to Beijing was delayed for an hour due to alleged bad weather in Beijing. We were supposed to arrive at Beijing airport at 19:30, but we ended up in Beijing at 1 am. It was a “long” flight. We left Guiyang at around 6 pm, after sitting in the plane on the tarmac for 1 hour. The plane then had to make a detour en-route because it couldn’t land in Beijing. We had to stop at a small airport in a place called Shijiazhuang (never heard of the place before). By then we were worried. We had to catch an early plane to Ulaanbaatar the next morning. We stopped at Shijiazhuang for more than 3 hours, and nobody was allowed out (except some passegers who “had to” have a smoke). Many Chinese are heavy smokers. Can you imagine sitting in a stationary airplane full of noisy Chinese (they tend to shout at each other while talking) for hours? It was no fun. At last, the plane got clearance from Beijing and we could fly again. Luckily we booked ourselves in at the Capital Airport Hotel, which is only 5 minutes from the airport. Beijing CBD is around 30 minutes away if the traffic is kind. We checked in at the hotel without any further problems.

The following morning, Thursday 6th July, we flew to Ulaanbaatar. The plane left on time, which was a bonus. Lenny already warned us that Air China often delayed or cancelled their flights to UB. In UB we were greeted with a blue sky, a big change from Beijing which is almost always hazy. After getting our visas, going through immigration and picking up our luggage, we made our way to the exit. Lenny was waiting for us with a big smile on her face. It was so good to see her again. We also met an old friend from Kelian who is now Lenny’s colleague at Borroo Gold, Paul Manester. He was on the same flight with us, but he was in Business Class so we didn’t see him. What a small world. The airport is about 20 minutes away from the city centre. Lenny’s apartment is in the CBD. It was great. Everything is within easy walking distance. We were so tired when we got to Lenny’s apartment. We had lunch together, then Lenny went back to work and we just relaxed. 

In the evening we went out for dinner at Ikh Mongol. We met Lenny’s Mongolian friend, Jackie (her real name is very difficult to pronounce). She is lovely. She met Lenny in Beijing when their Air China flight was cancelled. She just finished studying in Hong Kong. Jackie is fluent in Mongolian, Russian, English, and French. She grew up in Paris when her father was working in the Mongolian Foreign Ministry. Jackie ordered everything for us. It was so much easier as we didn’t know what to order. The food was excellent, but not really Mongolian food as the Chef was a German. After dinner, Jackie drove us all home for an early night. The following morning Lenny went to work, and we slept in. Actually we slept in most of the time when we were in Mongolia. Roy had a relaxing holiday where he didn’t have to do anything or go anywhere. He said it was great.

Ulaanbaatar is a nice but by no means picturesque city. It has a European feel about it although the people have Oriental faces (don’t say to them they look like Chinese, they really hate it …neighbour rivalry I guess). Buildings and city layout reminded us of Bulgarian cities. It may be because both countries used to be under Russian influenced communist regimes. You can see all of central Ulaanbaatar in one days easy walking. However we took our time to explore the city since we were going to be there for a few days. We visited most of the interesting sights in the city (not very many actually). The centre of UB is Sukhbaatar Square. There is nothing special about it, only a square with a statue of Sukhbaatar (a hero in the liberation movement) in the middle, but it is always crowded with people day and night. We really didn’t know what they were there for. Around the square there are a few museums, opera house, Parliament House, Stock Exchange, Central Post Office, and commercial buildings. Lenny’s office is just across from the square. We visited the National Museum and the Natural History Museum. They were interesting but there is nothing to write home about in them. The Natural History Museum has some dinosaur skeletons (great for the Jurassic enthusiast, but not me…) and lots of stuffed animals. 

A word of warning… UB is not a place for pedestrians as the drivers are crazy and show very little regard for other vehicles - let alone anyone unlucky enough to step out in front of them from the footpath. Every time you crossed a street, you had to be very careful. Likewise, you had to be careful walking along the footpaths, as manhole covers have often been removed (street kids live in the sewer system in winter in order to survive the cold). If you are not careful you can find yourself suddenly plummeting several metres into the darkness, breaking some bones in the process.

The first weekend we were there, Lenny organised a trip to Terelj, the closest national park from UB. There are lots of holiday accommodation camps over there. We went with another couple, Greg and Jane. We stayed in a Ger camp (a ger is a traditional dwelling for Mongolians - It is like a huge round tent with a stove in the middle) whose guests are mostly Mongolians, not a place geared toward foreign tourists. Lenny’s friends suggested this. It was an experience. The facilities were quite limited. There were no share toilets and bathroom close by (Mongolians don’t wash everyday). Luckily, Lenny also booked a room in the hotel that had a private shower and toilet. The camp/hotel was near the river, and it boasts an 18 hole golf course. Greg and Jane (as well as us) were expecting somewhat more comfortable accommodation, however once over the surprise (shock for some) we enjoyed ourselves as much as possible. The accommodation did turn out to be very cheap however, which was good as it wasn’t worth paying much for. 

The surrounding countryside itself was beautiful. As we arrived late, we slept in on Sunday and after breakfast walked up into the hills above the hotel. We were rewarded with beautiful views of pine covered mountains and lush gentle valleys dotted with gers and herds of cattle, goats and horses. It was very nice … but I wouldn’t want to be around in winter! In the afternoon we made our way back to UB, stopping on the way to take a look at Turtle Rock (a rock formation that looks like a turtle).

The next few days we relaxed in UB, checking out the shops, museums, temples, and restaurants. We went one night to a performance at the National Circus. It was a great show with lots of action and horse riding. The Circus is housed in a large enclosed building with a round stage surrounded by the audience in raised rows of seating. The place smells of horse piss when you first enter, and it still smells of it by the time you leave (as does your clothes). Don’t let this put you off seeing the show if you are in UB as it is worth it.

The Nadaam festival was on the week we were there. This is the biggest festival of the year in Mongolia. The main events involve very large (mostly fat) Mongolian men wrestling in very tight and skimpy underpants, archery competitions, and horse racing. Lenny got tickets to the Opening Ceremony in the National Stadium, so we eagerly walked down to the stadium from her place on the first day of the festival. When we got to the stadium, the place was packed with people. We found the gate where we had to enter to reach our seats, however it was closed. We joined the queue, however things then went from bad to worse. Everyone started pushing and shoving, and before we knew it we were in the middle of a mass crowd crush. There were 5 police officers yelling at people, but they still refused to stop pushing. The three of us decided to extract ourselves from the crowd, as we could see that inside the stadium was already packed. Lenny sold our tickets to some other bystanders, and we made our way back to Lenny’s apartment and watched the remainder of the Opening Festival on TV. Some of Lenny’s workmates who were in the queue with us and who decided to stay, eventually made it into the stadium, but said that the crushing got worse after we left (and they had the bruises to prove it). Evi was so disappointed in not getting to see the opening ceremony in person, that it took the rest of the day for her to regain her usual happy outlook.

Not to be deterred, a few days later we got tickets to see the horse races. These take place about 20km outside of UB, out in the rolling green hills. Races are held for different categories of horse ages, and each race can have hundreds of horses running. The cross country circuit for the races is also very long, and so each race takes 4 to 5 hours for the winning horse to complete. Lenny’s friend Jackie and her mother arrived in her car at the apartment, and we were then off out of town. Unfortunately, most of the population of UB had similar plans, so it was a jam packed road full of insane drivers that we weaved our way amongst, for the entire 20km until we reached the designated point where the horse races ended. The actual race that we went out to see the finish of, actually started some time before we left UB. The most exciting time is at the finish, so there is a mad scramble out of UB in order to get there before the horses reach the last run in from the hills. 

It was quite an amazing sight – out in the middle of nothing but rolling grassland, a huge crowd of people were gathered around the finishing line (not to mention the number of cars in the designated parking areas). We walked up along the side of a hill and ended up looking down over the crowd and the finishing line. The first sign of the horses was a faint dust cloud coming from near the horizon, then the horses slowly came into view. We were so far away though, that they quickly disappeared into the swarming crowd when they neared the finish line. It was however quite an amazing thing to witness. People surge around the horses (especially the winner) trying to scrape the sweat off them as this is supposed to bring good luck. All of the jockeys are young boys, and it must take incredible stamina for both horses and riders to complete the race.

After the race has been won, and even before all the horses had finished, the crowd starting making its way back to the various car parks, and then joined in the madcap journey back to UB. Our drive out took us past 4 vehicle accidents, and the way back we went by 6 and narrowly missed being part of a 7th. Jackie showed exceptional driving skills… I wouldn’t have wanted to be the one driving.

As a highlight to our trip we decided to fly up to the north of Mongolia and visit Lake Khovsghol. This lies just south of the border with Russia. A local tour agency advertised 4 day tours to the lake, but we had to cut it back to 3 due to Lenny’s work commitments. The trip ended up being an absolute disaster and a total rip off. The first day we ended up finding out that the flight left UB at 10:30pm. This ended up being delayed, so we ended up landing at Moron after midnight…. only to then find out that it will take another 4hr drive until we will reach the lake. 

We got into a Russian made 4WD minibus and then proceeded to careen our way through the darkness, along a spectacularly bad dirt track. The drive was so rough there was no way anyone could relax. The track unfortunately got worse as we approached the lake, however we managed to arrive at our Ger camp at 3:30am. It was freezing cold, and thankfully a fire was lit in our Ger before the three of us crashed out in our beds.

We woke late, and had breakfast at 10am. Our “guide” (who flew with us from UB, then informed us that we will be driving to see some reindeer herders after lunch. This left us with an hour to walk down to look at the lake, after which we had a quick lunch then jumped back in to our Russian 4WD. After driving along bad tracks (but through beautiful countryside) we arrived back at the lakeshore further to the north, and arrived where a family of reindeer herders were camped with their reindeer. We stopped for a while and checked them out, but after a while tired of seeing the reindeer tethered to stakes with very short tethers that did not allow them to even stand up. We wandered off down to the lake shore and watched a herd of yaks swimming, then came back and spent more time with the family. It was then back in the 4WD and another 2 hour drive back to our Ger camp. We relaxed when we got back, and after dinner had another walk down to the lake shore as it was still light. Lake Khovghol is the most highly rated scenic attraction in Mongolia. We found it nice….but nothing to write home about (this letter excepted). The night turned chilly as the sun went down (about 10pm) so we made our way back to our Ger, and our nice warm fire inside.

We had breakfast at 9am, only to be told by our guide that we had to pack up straight away and drive back to the airport to catch our flight…. After an uncomfortable 3 and a half hour drive we made it to the airport, to find that the morning flight had left. The only other flight departed at 6pm. We then went into Moron where our guide reconfirmed our tickets at the airline office. She then sent our 4WD away and we spent the next 5 hours basically sitting on a concrete bench in the dismal town square. I do lie… we did have a walk down the main street, but it was so miserable that the dismal town square seemed like the best place to sit. Our guide asked if we could look after her bag as she looked around… we told her that she must be joking. The vehicle turned up at 5pm, and then on the way to the airport it got a flat tyre. As we could see the airport buildings in the distance, we decided to grab our bags and walk the rest of the way.

When we got to the terminal, we then waited for 1 hour to get to the front of the check in counter, only to be told that we did not have confirmed tickets at all, and that we were waitlisted. Well, after 5 hrs in the glaring sun sitting on a concrete bench, Evi and I had lost our sense of humor. For the first time in our traveling adventures, we both lost it with the guide. I was furious, and told the guide that we had been ripped off paying US$1,500 for this tour, and it was a complete waste of time. I then proceeded to threaten to sue her company if we did not get on the plane (the alternative would have been to return to the Gur camp on the lake and come back and try again the next day – as it was the height of the tourist season, odds were pretty high that both flights the next day would have been fully booked). I must have made a scene, as I was swearing a bit and was raising my voice. All the other passengers were all avoiding looking at me as I paced through the terminal to the exit every now and then, when I needed to get some fresh air and to try and calm down so I wouldn’t hit anyone.

Eventually my threats seemed to have worked and we managed to get 3 seats (our guide had to stay behind). So we were absolutely exhausted when we slumped into our seats on the plane. We made it back to Lenny’s apartment in UB with no further troubles, but our stress levels were definitely higher than when we left – not a good trip.

We spent our last day in UB relaxing and trying to forget about Lake Khovsghol. The girls went shopping and I checked out a museum (which ended up being very interesting) We met up for lunch and then had a look through an interesting temple near the centre of the city. I then talked the girls into seeing the museum I looked around earlier. We went to a theatre to see a performance of traditional Mongolian music and singing. It was well worth seeing and we enjoyed it very much. After dinner at a Mexican/Indian restaurant, we packed up and readied ourselves for our departure the next day.

We had a one night stopover in Beijing for a shopping frenzy on our way back to site.

Evi & Roy