Ana_Mongolia

First days...
In transit Tues. Oct.3
Train left at 7:40am. The hard sleeper was not that bad this time. It was only four beds in a compartment and they seemed a bit softer. Maybe because it was an International train. Felt asleep right away. Didn't sleep much either the night before. I still managed to fall asleep. Did wake up to do all the paper work for entering Mongolia. The officials would come to your bunk and get your passport. Felt back asleep.


Wed. Oct. 4
Arrived in Ulan Bator at 1:30ish pm. The hostel we made a reservation with had a person waiting for us. We didn't have to worry about figuring it out. I do have to say I don¡¯t stress much anymore, specially when we arrived in the day.

The city looked was bigger than I thought. It's pretty modern, a bit rundown. I just had this idea of seen cows and ger (the traditional huts here) everywhere even in the capital. I've heard is different in the countryside.

UB Guesthouse, our hostel was tiny and crowded. The rooms lucky us had only four beds and away from the noise. The owners Bobby (the wife) and Kim (the husband) so charming!

Met another outgoing girl looking for people to go to the North. But they wanted to leave like the next day. Here is the thing to do. Hire a jeep and a driver and go around either to the Northwest, West or South (the Gobi desert) of Mongolia. And you look for people to share the cost of the car and driver. I was a bit hesitant to go with them they seem a bit hipper and it seemed to fast. We did walked around for few hours finding information.

We had to get a cash in advance to get money out. Another place where the ATMS don't accept Mastercard. But it was pretty easy to get the cash. Went back to the hostel to drop the money. We were warned of pickpockets. Kim mentioned it like 5 five times before we left the hostel. I could see why, a few street kids, looking really scruffy and dirty come up to you and plain out ask for MONEY aggressively. The cling to you! Tim had few kids touching his pockets. While we ate was the same thing. They would come up and beg for money. I¡¯m talking about 7 year old kids. It¡¯s so sad but at the same time they¡¯re annoying. They demand money, not asked for money. Other than that I was great to see the other city people. They girls dress very modern with sassy boots and cute jackets. They accessorized more Western style. It's already cold here, the end of summer. It so nice to change scenery but still feel like an outcast. But you don't get that from the people. You blend in even if you look so different. They don't look at you that much like in China.

Had a nice hot shower before going to bed. I've become a night shower person. Yikes!


Thurs. Oct. 5
First emailed I read that morning - Tita Lina (great aunt) had passed away in Nicaragua. It was soooooo sad to hear. We saw her early this year. She was an amazing woman. Strong with great spirits. I thought she'd live 100 years. She was 92!

Starting the day not so great went looking for more options. I wasn't feeling the whole tour thing. Tim wanted to go to the North, with more forests and lakes. A bit colder too.

We looked for more people to join us. But no luck. Where tossing the idea to go just the two of us. A bit more expensive but weighing the odds, like regretting not doing. I told Tim I was feeling up to anything. I was kinda bla. I know I was having an off day so didn't pay to much attention to my feelings. Had yummy pizza and salad for lunch. Tim loved the toasty bread rolls with garlic bread.


Fri. Oct. 6
Decided to go on the tour to the north just the two of us. Couldn't find more people to share the cost of the van. Tim kept insisting he didn't want to miss the north. I was 50/50. Spoke with Bobby to set up the details. She suggested to buy more warm clothing. It was really cold that morning and she said normally the North is colder than the capital. I didn't like the sound of that. Cold and me is not a good combo. I barely survived Chicago for four years.

Went to the black market to look for boots and thicker pants. Bobby wrote down the address in Mongolian for the taxi driver, they don't speak much English. We got there and it was a madhouse so CROWDED. We paid like 10 cents to get in. Didn't know where to start, massive outdoor market. It was so windy that it was hurting my face. Plus, I didn't have much layers on since they were getting washed. I kept looking at Tim and saying I don't want to go to the North and I'm going to freeze. Tim kept saying he'll get me warmer clothes. At times my face hurt so bad I wanted to cry. I couldn't concentrate to look for stuff. The boots I kept trying didn't fit me. The biggest women size was still too small for my big feet. Finally I started trying on guys boots. I felt my feet so numb at times for taking off my shoes and trying the stupid boots. I couldn't tell if they fitted or not since my toes were frozen. Along the process I kept getting pushed as people walked by me. Here if you're in their way they won't go around you they go through you or push you. I had few times ladies really push me to get through. I felt like pushing back. It's hard to comprehend it's normal here to do that. It's not rude. But at the market it was the worse I've seen so far here. They were doing it to Tim too. So times I would make it hard for them to get through I wouldn't move, just stand there like a statue. After an hour of freezing we found a section of the market indoors. Went there to warm up and to decide what to buy. Tim got his boots first, the lady wouldn't barter that much. We decided to buy it anyways it seemed like it was good prize and we did ask around and the price was consistent. The boots itself were not the best quality but seemed warm and besides only wanted to use it for the North, especially if we did horse riding. I looked like a plumber with the boots. I could barely walk on them. They were flat on the bottom so I had to walk with my feet a part. While I waited inside Tim went looking for pants. He found some ski fluffy pants secondhand but looked warm. He tried them on and they fitted tight but manageable. We went back out to the freezing weather and look for pants for me. I was fast I just picked one and that was it. I even wore them on top of my jeans. I felt warmer. It was cheap too like $4US. We looked for another sweater for me too. Tim wanted to make sure I was warm. He knows me so well and if I'm cold I'm not enjoying myself at all. He knows better. What an experience! Winter here most be sooooooooooo depressing. It's only fall and it's already freezing. Not for me.

Tried to get train ticket to Beijing directly at the train station and were not successful. Although Bobby wrote down again for us in Mongolian what we wanted it was impossible. It took going to four different offices to get a NO. But we're like NO what. NO tickets, or NO we can't buy them ourselves or NO we can reserve. It's so annoying. Apparently the agencies buy a portion of the tickets and charge $40 US more to get them. So instead of paying $60 we would pay $100 each. It's the principle. Plus we didn't know if we wanted to do another trip when we got back from the North. Left our passport numbers we Bobby so she could try for us. She is so sweet and helpful.

Later on that day we bought some food for the trip. It was nice to see more western stuff. We were going to be provided cooking stuff like a small stove, pots and cooking utensils. Bobby did tell us in the gers we'll be staying at they offer food but we might not like it. Bought junk food, pasta, rice, veggies and instant noodles. We found candy bars like M&Ms, skittles and snickers. So bad for you but so good. At least we knew what it was going to taste like.

Ate a Berlin Burger for dinner. It sucked. The burger tasted different. I think it was yak meat. I did like the side salad we ordered carrots and potatoes. They do know how to make good cold salads.