Around the World in (Approximately) 80 Days: Day 21: Ulaanbaatar, Capitol of Mongolia

Thursday, October 6, 2016

I was super impressed with the Mongolian train from the Chinese border to Ulaan Baatar. $16 including a bed. The train wasn’t full, so a Mongolian guy and I had the bottom bunks in our own compartment. The family who Vladimir and I rode with across the border were few compartments down the hall. They seemed to be pretty well off, judging from the nice name-brand clothes and the fact that they took a hotel room at the train station to rest until our evening train left.

First views from the train window while the Mongolian guy slept. Vast and gray. I was looking for nomads and yurts, but only saw occasional livestock grazing.

Every train on the Trans-Siberian Railway offers unlimited free boiling water from a samovar. I had never heard the word before, but it's supposedly English.

The sinks looked pretty cool, but I turned the knobs and no water came out. Luckily, I kept refilling my metal water bottle from the samovar, so I used that water to wash my hands and brush my teeth.

Notice my foot flushing the toilet, which basically opens the bottom and dumps the contents onto the tracks. For obvious reasons, it is not permitted to use the toilets in the train stations.

I still had no adapter for this kind of European plug. Fortunately, laptops and iPhones are all 220 these days, so no chance of frying them from the stronger current.

I'm always the first one up on the trains. There's my famous $255 diary on my bed, including the cost of the train ticket I lost because I was writing instead of paying attention to my train.

Finally, a sign of life. Village in the background. Lone man herds his cows. It became pretty clear why meat is the main part of the Mongolian diet.

That's our long green train coming around the bend.

A white yurt in the foreground of this village.

Turns out, this guy spoke some English...way better than I speak Mongolia. He explained that he's married to "one woman" and has two children. I thought maybe he was Muslim and therefore was just getting started on the wives, but he confirmed that he's Buddhist like most Mongolians. I think it was just a language thing. I thought he gave me his email address, and I thought I wrote to him, but if I did, he never answered, and I can't find it in my "sent" folder. Anyway, he was very nice. His wife met him at the station and they gave me a ride to the corner near my hostel.

In case you don't read the Cyrillic alphabet, that says Ulaanbaatan. At least the "A" are the same. Did I learn the Cyrillic alphabet in advance, as many friends advised. Heck no! I'm learning it from the seat of my pants, like everything else I do in life. It sure would be helpful.

Train station parking lot. Nearly every passenger returning from China came with huge packages, all wrapped in plastic. I never got a chance to ask what they import, but another thing they all brought was fruit.

Just when I wondered if I was in the right place or not, I looked up and saw these welcoming signs for Taiga Guest House. Like I've said before, I use Booking.com and generally get a better price than if I showed up in person with cash in hand.

My kind of hostel, very casual. A bunch of bunks in a room, centrally located, free breakfast included (sometimes just bread and tea or coffee, but the first morning the woman made French toast), great wifi, hot water, and free washing machine (you provide the soap). All for $5, and I got a bottom bunk.

After that big Mongolian feast at the border with Vladimir, I decided to go for something lighter.

Sushi sounded perfect. and it wasn't bad. Just a surprise hot dog in the middle. At a baptism in the Philippines I even helped make sushi with hot dogs. I'd just forgotten, so I was caught off guard.

Sure enough, there's the sushi with hot dogs included with other foreign fast foods at another cafe too. I did not sample the fried chicken, burgers and fries, or hot dog on a bun since I don't eat those foods at home anyway.

Ulaanbaatar is a city of over 1 million people, in a country with total population of 3 million. Approximately 60% are Tibetan Buddhists, a resurgence since Socialism ended in 1990 in Mongolia. 25% still consider themselves aetheists.

Prayer wheels

Not sure what he was selling, but at least he just smiled at me, no pressure to buy.

Even a closer look gives me no clues to the value of these objects for sale outside the temple.

Novice monks leaving their classes....or at least that's my guess.

Gandantegchinlen Monastery has been restored since the revolution in 1990. Its name means "Great Place of Complete Joy."

Gandantegchinlen Monastery in olden times. Notice the yurts outside the city walls.

I get excited every time I see a yurt. I had hoped to ride a horse in Mongolia and visit a nomadic family. Unfortunately, I didn't realize until it was too late that it's possible to do that AND ride a camel all on a day trip from Ulaanbaatar, but since the only English-speaking staff member at my hostel disappeared shortly after I arrived, and since the other backpackers were doing week-long treks into Gorki-Terelj National Park area, I bought a ticket onward the next day.

I thought Tibetan writing was the same as Sanskrit, but a quick look at Wikipedia states it is something unique.

This is a brand-new building that was being worked on while I was there. But the style is definitely traditional.

Trying out the self-timer on my camera since a volunteer photographer cut off my feet and photographed mostly sky.

Best purchase of the entire trip so far. Three pairs of camel wool socks for 5000 Mongolian Tugriks, or about $2.

These camel wool socks are the warmest and softest socks I've ever owned. Sorry, American friends. If I'd known I would have filled my suitcase with them as gifts.