We are off to UB, 12 hours on the bus.The bus will be following the Great Tea Road and will pass through some remote places. The Great Tea Road connected China with European Russia and had been around for nearly 400 years before being replaced by the Trans-Siberian railway in the early 1900’s. The tea was transported with camel caravans that would take about 6 months to travel the entire trip from North China to Moscow and western Russia.
The bus travels south from downtown Ulan-Ude, crosses the Selenga River and picks up highway A-165 which goes to the border town of Kyakhta.
With no toilet on board and little or no foot room we stopped often for toilet and more important for the Mongolians, a cigarette break. Everywhere brown earth, little or no vegetation at this time of the year.
We got to the frontier about 10:30 and then went through all the form filling to leave Russia.......all off the bus..... then all back on the bus .......we cross into Mongolia.....more form filling ......all off the bus. We ended up spending about 2 ½ hours departing Russia and entering Mongolia, but I’ve heard that the same process can take as much as 10 hours on the Trans-Siberian which passes through another checkpoint about 20 miles away.
We continue and pass through the city of Darkhan and then pull into a gas station just south of Khongor. Everyone gets off the bus and stands in line at the outhouse near the gas station. It is a wooden structure with a huge slit, (large enough for a child to fall down), in the floor and a deep, deep hole.
Then on we go through Bayongol, passing more Gers, herds, and stupas on the steppe.
Around 6pm we gradually descend and a dusty Ulaanbaatar becomes visible in the distance. The small 2 lane road we are on is the main road into UB from the north. It takes us more than an hour to get into the city as the roads are just clogged with traffic. We arrive at the stop and in the dark we retrieve our luggage and try to negotiate a price to our guesthouse with the many taxi drivers scrambling for the business.
Ian has been here before so knows the drill. We walk out to the road and put our hand up and a passing motorist quickly pulls in. All cars are unofficial taxis here, they want the cash and about 8kms later we were at the OASIS guesthouse and what a haven it is!
One of the first things we saw was a huge photo on the wall of when Ian rode into the Gobi with a group of fellow bikers last time he was here!
We are spending a week here. Along with sight seeing we have to get our visas for China, which we have heard are not easy as you now have to have a letter of invitation.
A quote from Lonely Planet tells it like it is " UB is a cauldron of concrete and dirt. New buildings are thrown up on any available patch of ground, while Humvees battle Landcruisers and yellow taxis for right of way on pot-holed boulevards. On the high street, tourists and new-moneyed Mongols look for bargains in European fashion shops and Mongolian cashmere boutiques.
Between these chaotic scenes are islands of serenity – quiet monastery courtyards, public squares and the odd beer patio. " it is a attack on the senses....noise, dust, smell, and its getting mighty cold here now!
While in Sukhbaatar Square we saw many groups of visiting school kids. They were so well behaved and that just as well as the classes were at least 40! But it doesn't matter where in the world you are PINK is the colour of choice.
In the background are the statues of Genghis Khan and two of his generals. The kids were getting a history lesson of the greatest Mongolian of them all.
Ulan Bator was the site of demonstrations that led to Mongolia's transition to democracy and market economy in 1990. Demonstrations in Sükhbaatar Square were held accompanied by the forming of Mongolia's first opposition parties. On March 7 1990, ten dissidents assembled in Sükhbaatar Square and went on a hunger strike. Thousands of supporters joined them. More came on March 8, and the crowd grew more unruly; seventy people were injured and one killed. On March 9 the communist Mongolian People's Revolutionary Party government resigned. The provisional government announced Mongolia's first free elections, which were held in July 1990.
So Mongolia has only had 13 years of being out of communist rule. It is so much in the early stages and it obvious everywhere, there is so much building, most of which has begun but is not yet finished.
There has been a huge surge of people to the city and this is the changing face of Mongolia.
Here was lunch being delivered by taxi and a high ranking official picking up the pizzas. He is about to cross the road to the government building.
The ever-expanding ger suburbs still surround the city, offering a glimpse back to before Soviet urban planning.
Spent a day in the National Park about an hour from UB.visited the famous Turtle Rock.
And saw the huge statue of the Mongolian Warrior facing China with a very fierce expression and sword at the ready.
While Ian was climbing to the top (up by the mane), I found this little community of animals living in the edge of the steps. I think they are Gerboas? Or something like that.... Take a look at this .....
My Project from Marg Meyle on Vimeo.
On our way we saw on the side of the road a woman with some birds and what looked like a dog. The German guy that was with us wanted to look so we stopped. They were vultures and eagles and the "dog" was actually a wolf that they had killed and had badly stuffed!
And sitting on its back was a little falcon. I felt very upset as these gorgeous birds were tethered and when one wouldn't stay on the German guys arm she disciplined it by yanking the cord harshly. We were pleased to get back in the car and move on.
Our last stop for the day was an incredible climb in the mountains to a very old monastery.
A beautiful ending to a great time in UB.
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Great account of your travels. You haven't described what you are eating - I remember Ian said everything was goat when he was there.
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