First impressions of the countryside
We met up with the Intrepid tour group
in our hotel's restaraunt. There were seven of us from Australia, four
from the United States, and one from Canada, plus our Korean-American
trip leader (Patti).
We had dinner at Modern Nomads, where we ran into Gabi's friend Oggi
again. (Ulaanbaatar is a city of more than half a million people,
but the central area isn't that big.)
Tuesday 21st June
Peter's alarm clock was still on Beijing time, so we missed breakfast
with the rest of the group. But we were soon bundled into our transport,
two robust Russian army 4WD vans, and introduced to our guide Chinzo and
our drivers, Naidan and Basraa. We headed out of Ulaanbaatar, stopping
to buy bottled water, chocolate, and petrol.
a generic view from the road |
We spent most of the day driving, with few stops, but as it was our first
exposure to the Mongolian countryside we found plenty of interest: no,
or almost no, fences; open plains with rolling hills; birch mixed with
conifers, scattered willows and poplars; cattle and sheep and horses,
but not in huge numbers anywhere; trucks and tankers coming past us as
we went north on the main road to Russia; derelict checkpoint bunkers
abandoned by the Russian army (often found facing south, presumably for
the expected Chinese invasion); some areas of wheat, managed by what
Chinzo called "privatized economic entities"; and more.
Being in the same van as Chinzo was best for learning — as well as
being knowledgeable himself, as our translator he was our primary means
of communication with other Mongolians.
I think we were much better placed here than most tour groups, however,
as Jamie (and Patti to some extent) spoke Korean, which was useful with
Mongolians who had worked in Korea, while Peter had decent Russian,
which was of some use with most older Mongolians.
There were lots of interesting birds around, with an assortment
of raptors being the easiest to spot from the vans. See my Mongolian birdwatching page for more.
Chinzo tries to explain the menu |
After we left the main highway, taking the road to Erdenet, the surface
was not so good and it was rather dusty; it was also windy. Stopping for
lunch in a roadside restaurant, we ordered separate dishes — from a
menu in Mongolian, with only Chinzo able to translate and with many
items on the menu not actually available. That took ages, and then
people weren't sure which dish was which, so when they turned up they
were grabbed pretty much at random. That was the last time we tried that!
our first övoo |
We crossed the Orhon river, the biggest in Mongolia,
and eventually turned off onto a dirt road. On the grass there were
many parallel roads — what I thought of as "braided roads", because of
the way they merged and reseparated continuously. Along here we stopped
at our first övoo — a mound of stones, with blue cloth pennants —
for the standard good luck ritual, which involves adding a stone to the
pile and walking around it clockwise three times. Övoo are to be found
on most peaks and passes.
We reached the ger camp we were to stay in around 4pm
and had an hour to settle in; it seemed very civilized.
We then headed off for the nearby Amarbayasgalant monastery.
Next: Amarbayasgalant monastery
Previous: arrival in Ulaanbaatar
Up: 2005 Mongolia trip
