Last Day in Mongolia July 14, 2006
We awoke in the Chinggis Ger Camp to another beautiful morning and after a quick breakfast; we decided to climb a nearby hill. (We had moved from the Steppe Nomads Camp the day before). Muugii hesitantly opted to go on the walk with us and I believe his motivation was that he did not want to be the first guide to lose tourists this year.
The climb to the top was up a four wheel drive road through fields covered in purple and yellow wildflowers. When we reached the top, the view of the valley and rolling hills beyond seemed to go on forever. With so few trees and so much open space on the steppes, I get the feeling of standing on top of the world and not being enclosed or encumbered by buildings or trees.
We made our way across a ridge and then down to camp after a couple of hours so that we could shower and pack as we have a train to catch at 7:30 tonight. TomA drove us back to Ulaanbaatar and after lunch, Holly pulled out her “to do list”. With 4 hours before train time a visit to the post office to mail cards, grocery shopping to add to our food cache for the Russia leg of the trip, stopping at the square to take a picture of the new Chinggis Kahn statue, and finding a cashmere sweater for me were all on the list. We checked off all the items only missing an optional stopper for the train sink which we were advised to get if possible. We could not find one. I had better luck with my sweater at the Cashmere House. A place that Muuggii said had the best prices in town. Mongolia is the second largest exporter of cashmere and the shops here have a good selection of cashmere goods for very reasonable prices. I settled on a 100% cashmere crew neck sweater for US$50. It should help keep me warm when we get to Scandinavia.
A new adventure began when TomA and Muugii dropped us at the rail station. We boarded the train, found our second class cabin and met our roommates for the next 36 hours. Lilly is from Finland, but has lived in Australia for the past 20 years. Andreya is from Milan, has just graduated from university and wanted a little experience away from his mother and girl friend. They both seem to be very nice people and are quite talkative, sharing with us their history and plans for the future.
We are on the local train which makes many stops and is slow. The car we are on is full and no one gets on or off our car as the train rolls to a stop at yet another platform in another small Mongolian village. As the train moves through the countryside we see many local ger camps both large and small surrounded by horses, sheep and cattle. The grasslands here look as if they could feed the world’s animal population.
Our car is a beehive of activity. One cabin has several musicians that are playing local instruments and one man is a throat singer and the whole car reverberates with their music as we roll along through the Mongolian darkness. As I stand next to an open window in the hall way of the car an Asian looking gentlemen starts explaining to me that he is Russian Mongolian in very broken English with a heavy Russian accent. I think, he is telling me that the trip is very long and that he has made it many times. A very friendly man, it seems he just wants someone to talk to.
We end the day in cabin 5,6,7,8, (the berth numbers) taking turns rummaging through luggage and setting up the berths for the night as there is very little room in the cabin. I’m glad this is for a short time only as it is quite cramped. The big question is will one of my traveling companions take offense to my snoring and commit some violent act upon me as I sleep. If this is my last posting you know that is what has happened.
Holly here, just want to add a couple of comments to this blog. Just so you can get a more complete picture of what traveling on this train is like – we have 2 Mongolian women who basically are like tsarinas, they run this joint. As soon everyone boarded, they came around and distributed sheets, pillow cases and a small hand towel for each person. The do not speak any English.
A few minutes later, they came around with clear plastic bags that contained our dinner: a bottle of water, a bun, a sealed bag of a variety of meats, a bag of cylindrical shaped snack chips and a huge sugar cookie with a smear of strawberry spread that was barely discernable.
There is a female toilet at one end and a male toilet at the other. The tsarinas keep the female toilet looked for their own personal use, so everyone in this car have to share the male toilet. They lock the male toilet 30 minutes before and after every train stop, so you really have to pay attention to your bladder and not delay.
There is supposed to be a pot of boiling water available at all times, however, when the urn runs out, it runs out. There are only a few windows that open and they are locked so can only be opened by the tsarinas.
I haven’t been able to change clothes since yesterday and to be honest, my feet are slightly less than rose-y.
This is all part of the adventure, but as Gary said, I’m glad this part of it only lasts 36 hours
The climb to the top was up a four wheel drive road through fields covered in purple and yellow wildflowers. When we reached the top, the view of the valley and rolling hills beyond seemed to go on forever. With so few trees and so much open space on the steppes, I get the feeling of standing on top of the world and not being enclosed or encumbered by buildings or trees.
We made our way across a ridge and then down to camp after a couple of hours so that we could shower and pack as we have a train to catch at 7:30 tonight. TomA drove us back to Ulaanbaatar and after lunch, Holly pulled out her “to do list”. With 4 hours before train time a visit to the post office to mail cards, grocery shopping to add to our food cache for the Russia leg of the trip, stopping at the square to take a picture of the new Chinggis Kahn statue, and finding a cashmere sweater for me were all on the list. We checked off all the items only missing an optional stopper for the train sink which we were advised to get if possible. We could not find one. I had better luck with my sweater at the Cashmere House. A place that Muuggii said had the best prices in town. Mongolia is the second largest exporter of cashmere and the shops here have a good selection of cashmere goods for very reasonable prices. I settled on a 100% cashmere crew neck sweater for US$50. It should help keep me warm when we get to Scandinavia.
A new adventure began when TomA and Muugii dropped us at the rail station. We boarded the train, found our second class cabin and met our roommates for the next 36 hours. Lilly is from Finland, but has lived in Australia for the past 20 years. Andreya is from Milan, has just graduated from university and wanted a little experience away from his mother and girl friend. They both seem to be very nice people and are quite talkative, sharing with us their history and plans for the future.
We are on the local train which makes many stops and is slow. The car we are on is full and no one gets on or off our car as the train rolls to a stop at yet another platform in another small Mongolian village. As the train moves through the countryside we see many local ger camps both large and small surrounded by horses, sheep and cattle. The grasslands here look as if they could feed the world’s animal population.
Our car is a beehive of activity. One cabin has several musicians that are playing local instruments and one man is a throat singer and the whole car reverberates with their music as we roll along through the Mongolian darkness. As I stand next to an open window in the hall way of the car an Asian looking gentlemen starts explaining to me that he is Russian Mongolian in very broken English with a heavy Russian accent. I think, he is telling me that the trip is very long and that he has made it many times. A very friendly man, it seems he just wants someone to talk to.
We end the day in cabin 5,6,7,8, (the berth numbers) taking turns rummaging through luggage and setting up the berths for the night as there is very little room in the cabin. I’m glad this is for a short time only as it is quite cramped. The big question is will one of my traveling companions take offense to my snoring and commit some violent act upon me as I sleep. If this is my last posting you know that is what has happened.
Holly here, just want to add a couple of comments to this blog. Just so you can get a more complete picture of what traveling on this train is like – we have 2 Mongolian women who basically are like tsarinas, they run this joint. As soon everyone boarded, they came around and distributed sheets, pillow cases and a small hand towel for each person. The do not speak any English.
A few minutes later, they came around with clear plastic bags that contained our dinner: a bottle of water, a bun, a sealed bag of a variety of meats, a bag of cylindrical shaped snack chips and a huge sugar cookie with a smear of strawberry spread that was barely discernable.
There is a female toilet at one end and a male toilet at the other. The tsarinas keep the female toilet looked for their own personal use, so everyone in this car have to share the male toilet. They lock the male toilet 30 minutes before and after every train stop, so you really have to pay attention to your bladder and not delay.
There is supposed to be a pot of boiling water available at all times, however, when the urn runs out, it runs out. There are only a few windows that open and they are locked so can only be opened by the tsarinas.
I haven’t been able to change clothes since yesterday and to be honest, my feet are slightly less than rose-y.
This is all part of the adventure, but as Gary said, I’m glad this part of it only lasts 36 hours
posted by Gary and Holly Davis @ 7:24 AM
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