Day 18 – First Class to Beijing

Another early start for the 7:15 Trans Mongolian to Beijing and this time I have firt class tickets. It was not by choice really but all 2nd class tickets were sold out.
The good news is that the train starting in Ulaanbataar is not only cheaper than the train starting in Moscow, for first class, but also nicer. It’s also cool to be able to travel first class for a change as this will not happen often during this trip.

Travelling first class means you only share with one other person and have a toilet with shower you share with the compartment next to yours. Aside from that, there is no actual difference.

The landscape begins to change very soon after the train leaves Ulaanbataar, slowly at first, then very fast until you reach the Gobi area from where it’s mostly the same until you reach the border in the evening and it gets too dark to see much after.

Reaching the border here is even more an exercise in waiting and frustration than when entering Mongolia from the Russian side. Now you don’t have to deal with passport checks but the train gauges get changed here so you will be locked in to our carriage, without power, AC or even toilet access for hours until this whole process is done.

What strikes me here, more than at the Russian border, is the inefficiency of this whole process. If it was possible to do the border and customs checked in the train from Helsinki to St. Petersburg while the train was moving in a less than 30 minutes, this should be possible here.
Changing the train gauges, is such a long and labour intensive process that I would think it easier to jut have people change trains at the border and walk through border control is not only more efficient, cheaper but also faster and less frustrating for passengers.
I mean, who likes being stuck on a train from 19:00 until almost 00:15 before you can get out to get some air and buy food or drinks.

Should I do this trip again in the future, I would have to think of maybe just taking trains to and from the border and crossing it myself. Other than this arduous process, everything went smooth and it as a pleasant journey.

What is always nice on this trip is the different people I meet in the trains and guest houses, everyone has their own motivation and reasons for this trip, same as  everyone has a different starting point, destination and itinerary. This part I enjoy very much and I met some very interesting people.

Tomorrow afternoon I will arrive in Beijing, where I will stay for a few days.

Day 17 – A Quiet Day

What started off as a quiet day, with us playing some football and shooting with bow and arrow, turned into an adventure when we were ready to head back to Ulaanbataar.

It was nice to start the day quiet and just having some fun. Before I knew it though, it was already noon and I hardly taken any pictures. This was quite surprising since I started the day by taking my first picture before 6:00 in the morning. It was not a day focused very much on photography from the looks of it but there was still enough time on the way back and in UB.

Bert offered us a lift back to UB so we didn’t have to be crammed into the microbus again, this sounded like the fastest and most convenient way to get there. Once we had our stuff together and into the car we set off.

The first part of the drive is to get from Bert’s camp to Terelj village, to do this we needed to go over some dirt tracks and through three rivers. It all went well in the beginning and was fun going through the rivers in the car.

This was until we hit the third river, higher than usual due to the recent heavy rain in the area, proved to be a problem and we drifted off from the path and got stuck in the middle of the river. The car did a good job holding off the water at first but after a while water started to come in and we got wet feet.

After calling a old Soviet 4×4 truck to the rescue they towed us out and across the river to Terelj village. The car started up again and kept going, albeit with a whizzing noise, towards UB.

Since we passed by Turtle Rock in Terelj National Park, Bert stopped and allowed us to go out and take some pictures. This was very nice, especially given the trouble before and delay in getting to UB.

But as often the case with ‘Doyle’s Law’ (25th Hour reference here), ‘What can go wrong, will go wrong’, the car did not start up again. The tank showed almost empty so Bert tried to get help and have someone bring some petrol. This took quite a while but we got to enjoy the sunset near Turtle Rock and if you have to be stuck with a car somewhere, a National Park is probably one of the best places.

After quite a Mongolian cars drove past, with some people laughing, Bert’s friend returned with the petrol and we were on our way again. As we would find out later, the problem was most likely not the petrol but some water getting in the tank.
Driving through Terelj at dark is quite an experience as all you have are unmarked tracks through the landscape, interrupted by bits of asphalt and more roadworks without any indication of which way to go around them. The roads in and out of UB were quite busy, despite this being almost 22:00 on a Friday. It took us a while but we got back to UB and the guesthouse there after 22:15 so it meant there was not much time left for anything but having some snacks and of course some beers.

I will have a few hours sleep, before taking the 7:15 train to Beijing tomorrow morning.

Day 15 – Terelj National Park

You haven’t lived if you have not shared a tiny Suzuki microbus with 22 people (4 people per 3 seats) while driving for over an hour over a bumpy dirt road. Still, it’s the cheapest and quickest option if you want to go to the Terelj national park near Ulaanbataar. At last I did not have to do this by myself as I had company from a fellow traveller heading the same way.

Once there you will forget everything about the journey in face of the amazing landscape and sky above stretching for as far as you can see. This is part of what people come to see in Mongolia and you will understand why. Being out here in the park, sleeping in a Ger and being able to go hiking for miles and miles in any direction is something you really do have to experience.

We arrived here around lunchtime with the bus and after a bit of a hike got picked up by Bert, owner of the Ecotourism Ger Camp, to bring us to his place and serve home made lunch. At first I was quite happy to walk after the bus ride and would have continued walking but soon realised that being in his 4×4 was the preferable way of crossing the two rivers on the way.

Bert is quite a character and his camp is away from the main tourist camps but you will have to make do without electricity and running water. So it’s certainly more basic than some other camps but the home made food is very nice and you can feel like a proper nomad.

After lunch it was time to head out hiking and exploring the area. The views are spectacular and you can get an idea of how vast and mostly empty Mongolia is. You feel like you could just set off and walk in any direction for days.

Dinner time provides the best opportunity to talk with the fellow travellers staying at the camp and share experiences and stories about travels or anything else. There is no bar, live music or other entertainment so a chat with tea/coffee or maybe a beer in a candlelit Ger is all you get here but it’s a nice change from hectic life in cities and very enjoyable.

I will be here for the next days so will no only have more time to go hiking and maybe horse riding but also to relax and enjoy the simple life out here.

Day 14 – Ulaanbataar

Most people coming to Mongolia come here for the outdoors and hardly anyone actually stays in Ulaanbataar. In fact, wherever you read about it,it gets describe as an ugly city.

True to that, the first impression does nothing to prove you otherwise but spend more time there and you realise it has it’s charm.

Sure, most of it’s buildings are imported communist blocks from the old Soviet Union and these would not win any architectural prize. There are a few more modern buildings dotted around but neither is really outstanding by any standards. This with the Ger neighbourhoods and derelict buildings dotted about sure makes one want to leave as soon as possible.

Unlike most other capital cities there are no historical buildings or monuments either, just a few statues sitting in squares and on roundabouts but nothing really outstanding.

In fact, the sights you find in guides relate mostly to museums, Sukhbaatar Square and the Gandan Monastery. This is pretty meagre when compared with other big cities everywhere else.

Still, despite this, just wandering around and observing the people and crazy driving you will start to see the charm behind all of this and see that it is indeed worth spending some time here.

You will be forgiven though for wanting to leave to the countryside as soon as you can, especially once you see a glimpse of the mountains just outside the city between the concrete buildings.

I was tempted to leave sooner but decided that I have to see the city and see for myself what it is about. While not my favourite city, I like it enough and think it has it’s charms so would recommend to spend at least a day here if travelling through. Make sure you go for a walk though and don’t just take taxis everywhere a you will be mostly standing in traffic anyway.

Tomorrow, I will leave for the Terelj national park and get to see the side of Mongolia everybody comes here for.