SIGH. Well, today is my second day back at work and it already feels like I never went on vacation. By that I mean that slipping back into the day after day humdrum of sleep-eat-work-workout-eat-sleep-eat-work-workout-etc is SO monotonous versus sleep-should I see the Forbidden City or the Great Wall today-eat-explore-get peed on-sight see-eat-milk a horse-sleep-etc.
I actually have to give huge thanks to my co-worker (hi Miranda) for keeping things so well under control while I was gone that I have returned to a very pleasant and stress-free environment. I guess I'm just a wander-lusting vagabond at heart.
Okay, I have some tragic news. This weekend, after downloading 21GB of photos and videos from my trip to my external hard drive and deleting them from the memory cards, I was uploading pictures to Picasa Web when the hard drive got knocked over. Now it makes a horrific grinding sound and the laptop won't even recognize it. I had only got about 90 photos out of about 1000 and zero videos out of about 50 uploaded. All throughout my trip I told people I'd rather have my passport stolen than my camera. You can replace your passport but not your photos and videos. Now they are all gone! I'm just sick to my stomach.
I called around to a few data recovery places and was quoted $1300-$1800 IF they can recover anything!!! OMG!!! I just spent $3500 on this trip and now I'm supposed to spend $1800 to save my photos? I am about to jump off the Aurora Bridge. :(
I asked my computer genius friend Amos if he had any contacts in the data recovery field but he doesn't. He did however tell me I might be able to salvage something by putting the hard drive in the freezer for 24 hours. Evidently this shrinks the metal parts and allows them to run very briefly (20 mins). I just tried it after 12 hours and I got no read from my laptop. So, it looks like I'll be skipping Christmas this year in order to recover my vacation photos and videos. :( Maybe I should just charge each of you $50 to view them. lol
So, if I send in the hard drive tomorrow I might have it back in a week and I will just have to keep my fingers crossed to see what they can recover. When (if) I get anything, I'll let you know when they're posted.
On a lighter note...
Here's a list of things that I'm annoyed by since returning:
* Not being able to leave the house 6 min after showering (having only 3 outfits to choose from was actually a good thing!)
* My time not being my own
* How mundane my life is
* Rain in Seattle
Things I'm joyed by since returning:
* Peanut butter and jelly sandwiches
* Soft toilet paper
* Real ice cream! (the ice cream all through Russia and China tasted odd)
* Clean air! (my nose has mostly stopped running)
* The taco truck!
* My BED and down comforter
* Pedestrian right-of-way
I've been thinking there are some things I might not have relayed during my trip because they became so common to me. For instance, did I mention that throughout Russia and China you cannot flush the toilet paper? Since you could in Mongolia, and Mongolia seems to have FAR worse infrastructure, I don't really understand this one. Also, toilet paper is almost never provided so you *always* carry it with you. I coveted many a roll from the odd times I stayed in a hotel. :) There is also never any soap so you always carry hand sanitizer too. In fact, in China, there's almost never any sink!
>Just as I trained myself to throw the toilet paper in the basket, I returned home. The first day back I kept almost throwing it into my wastebasket. lol
>I can't understand why my fingernails would be dirty 10 mins after getting out of the shower, yet at home, they never are!
>Beijing is HUGE. I was on the subway for 1 hour and 20 mins, and transferred 3 times and was still in Beijing! And when we went to the Wall, we drove for 2.5 hours before the buildings and traffic thinned out!
>All over Beijing there are elderly people who wear arm bands that say 'public safety volunteer'. Now, these are old people - in their 70's and 80's - so I don't think they're going to be taking down any muggers. But I wonder if they do actually act as deterrents to crime because Chinese thugs are more respectful of their elders than other thugs in the world, or is it more of a social thing. Does giving these elderly people a sense of purpose contribute to their mental well-being, and therefore longevity? Very interesting.
>I carried a PacSafe slash-proof pouch over one shoulder and kept all my money, credit cards, iPhone and passport in it. Around the other shoulder I carried my camera, also on a slash-proof PacSafe strap. I looked like the ultimate tourist, but I think it was obvious that everything of importance and value was in there and not in my shoulder bag, so it was useless to slash that or steal it. All they would have gotten is a bunch of used, snotty kleenex. lol
>OH! I know I totally forgot to tell you the story of the French guy I met at the hostel in Irkutsk. He was walking along the road late and night and was hit by a car and it DIDN'T EVEN STOP! A local found him lying in the road and took him to their home for a few days to recover until he could get to the doctor, but then they wanted money from him! When he did finally get to the hospital it turned out his ankle was broken! He was only a few weeks into an 8 month trip but he decided to return home to recover. So sad!
>All the clothes I took on the trip (except my cold weather ones) were bought brand new just before I left. Also brand new were my $85 Merrill cushioned, supportive shoes. After just 4 weeks I want to burn all of them. The shoes looked like they belonged to a homeless person, and I seriously think I flattened the arch support! I threw them in the washer when I got home though and to my great surprise, they actually look pretty good again.
>Things I learned while on this trip:
*Yogurt is completely safe to eat even if it hasn't been refrigerated for a day - or even two!
* Never pass up the opportunity to use a toilet in China - at least if you have TD :)
* Always keep a medium amount of cash on hand in foreign countries
* It is possible to make good friends, even if you don't speak each other's language
* Life is too short and time passes too quickly
* There is a whole lot of world to see!
I'm already planning my next trip for August or Sept 2011. Who's coming with me??!! :)
Tuesday, September 29, 2009
Thursday, September 24, 2009
Sept 24 - Going Home
I was up at 4:30 and really tired! I tried to sleep on the way to the airport but I was too excited. I got there before the check-in counter was even open and started talking to a guy in line. We chatted in the first class lounge and then I went to buy some last minute things - a magnet and tea. I figured I couldn't leave China without buying tea, even if it was in an overpriced airport shop. :)
At the layover in Tokyo, he showed me where the first class lounge was and we looked at my pictures for quite awhile. All the food and drinks are free in the international lounges, where you had to pay in the states. The food wasn't wonderful, but I ate it.
Then I saw they had showers so I took one. It was seriously the nicest shower I had had in over 4 weeks!! The water didn't go from freezing to scalding without touching the knob, the water pressure was better than I have at home even, the towels fit all the way around my body and weren't scratchy and the toilet seat was even warmed!! It was awesome!
Since my ticket was free I had to make a bunch of connections, but with the first class service and lounges, I didn't mind at all. On the flight from Tokyo to LAX, I was on a double decker plane! I was looking for my seat and when I showed the attendant she says 'oh, that's upstairs'. Upstairs! On a plane! That was pretty cool.
There were nice storage bins by the window and they handed out cardigans and slippers! 
But, the blankets weren't as nice as on the flight to Moscow and the seats didn't seem as soft - or maybe I'm just getting used to first class. lol
I had watched the movie 'Angels & Demons' on the flight from Beijing to Tokyo, but we had to put it away from landing with just 10 mins left! It's a suspenseful movie so I was dying to see how it ended and tried to finish it on this flight, but the stupid system wasn't working and they kept having to restart it. At this point, I'd had just 3 hours sleep in the last 2 days, so I told them I didn't want dinner, took a melatonin and crashed.I figured I'd finish the movie when I woke up. Only I forgot!! And now I find out it doesn't come out on video until November so I have to wait that long to see the last damn 10 mins! Doh! Oh, I did get to see Mt Fuji briefly as we were flying out!
I slept pretty good, only waking up a few times. They were serving breakfast when I woke up and I ate. Everyone else on the plane had slept in their clothes, but I had put on my pjs so I went and changed. I don't know why you would pay for all that luxury and then sleep in your jeans!? Since I had slept a good 7 hours, I only had 1.5 hours left when I woke up and breakfast ate up most of that.
We reached LA and customs was a breeze. I had had a banana in my bag but threw it out in the bathroom as you can't bring fruit into the country. There was an agriculture dog and he stuck his nose right in my bag and then sat down, which was his handlers sign that he found something. I explained to her I had thrown it out and let her look and she let me go through. Then, as I was waiting for my luggage, the dog came aroiund again and did the same thing. lol
I sat in the first class lounge and was about to ask for the password for the wifi and then I realized I was on American soil and I could turn my iPhone on! It was quite a strange feeling to be fully connected again, and I actually just kind of wanted to stay under the radar. I don't want to get sucked back into the hectic pace of regular life too quickly. On the last flight, when I saw Mt Rainier, I knew I was home!
I got Shuttle Express home and did a couple of errands, trying to keep myself awake until at least 9:30 or 10:00 to minimize jet lag. I went to the drugstore to pick-up an antibiotic that I have to take after the anti-parasitic in order to ensure it's eradicated from my system. When I got there though, they told me not only did they not have it, they couldn't even get it from the manufacturer! They gave me the name of 3 compounding pharmacies, which are pharmacies that actually MAKE drugs from their chemical components! I called the one in Seattle and luckily they had exactly 60 capsules, which is what my prescription is for. They said that it is a very uncommon one and they won't get in any more now until the middle of Oct! I guess Gobi desert parasites aren't very common in Seattle. :)
Other than that I just went to the library and picked up some movies and the grocery store to restock the basics. I also had a hamburger and fries while opening a month's worth of mail. When I went to pick it up, they literally brought it out in a plastic mail tub there was so much!
I'll worry about laundry and unpacking tomorrow. I'm setting my alarm for only 9 hours sleep as they say to try to get back on your normal sleep schedule as quickly as possible. But boy do I want to sleep for about 16!
At the layover in Tokyo, he showed me where the first class lounge was and we looked at my pictures for quite awhile. All the food and drinks are free in the international lounges, where you had to pay in the states. The food wasn't wonderful, but I ate it.
Then I saw they had showers so I took one. It was seriously the nicest shower I had had in over 4 weeks!! The water didn't go from freezing to scalding without touching the knob, the water pressure was better than I have at home even, the towels fit all the way around my body and weren't scratchy and the toilet seat was even warmed!! It was awesome!
Since my ticket was free I had to make a bunch of connections, but with the first class service and lounges, I didn't mind at all. On the flight from Tokyo to LAX, I was on a double decker plane! I was looking for my seat and when I showed the attendant she says 'oh, that's upstairs'. Upstairs! On a plane! That was pretty cool.
There were nice storage bins by the window and they handed out cardigans and slippers! 
But, the blankets weren't as nice as on the flight to Moscow and the seats didn't seem as soft - or maybe I'm just getting used to first class. lolI had watched the movie 'Angels & Demons' on the flight from Beijing to Tokyo, but we had to put it away from landing with just 10 mins left! It's a suspenseful movie so I was dying to see how it ended and tried to finish it on this flight, but the stupid system wasn't working and they kept having to restart it. At this point, I'd had just 3 hours sleep in the last 2 days, so I told them I didn't want dinner, took a melatonin and crashed.I figured I'd finish the movie when I woke up. Only I forgot!! And now I find out it doesn't come out on video until November so I have to wait that long to see the last damn 10 mins! Doh! Oh, I did get to see Mt Fuji briefly as we were flying out!
I slept pretty good, only waking up a few times. They were serving breakfast when I woke up and I ate. Everyone else on the plane had slept in their clothes, but I had put on my pjs so I went and changed. I don't know why you would pay for all that luxury and then sleep in your jeans!? Since I had slept a good 7 hours, I only had 1.5 hours left when I woke up and breakfast ate up most of that.
We reached LA and customs was a breeze. I had had a banana in my bag but threw it out in the bathroom as you can't bring fruit into the country. There was an agriculture dog and he stuck his nose right in my bag and then sat down, which was his handlers sign that he found something. I explained to her I had thrown it out and let her look and she let me go through. Then, as I was waiting for my luggage, the dog came aroiund again and did the same thing. lol
I sat in the first class lounge and was about to ask for the password for the wifi and then I realized I was on American soil and I could turn my iPhone on! It was quite a strange feeling to be fully connected again, and I actually just kind of wanted to stay under the radar. I don't want to get sucked back into the hectic pace of regular life too quickly. On the last flight, when I saw Mt Rainier, I knew I was home!
I got Shuttle Express home and did a couple of errands, trying to keep myself awake until at least 9:30 or 10:00 to minimize jet lag. I went to the drugstore to pick-up an antibiotic that I have to take after the anti-parasitic in order to ensure it's eradicated from my system. When I got there though, they told me not only did they not have it, they couldn't even get it from the manufacturer! They gave me the name of 3 compounding pharmacies, which are pharmacies that actually MAKE drugs from their chemical components! I called the one in Seattle and luckily they had exactly 60 capsules, which is what my prescription is for. They said that it is a very uncommon one and they won't get in any more now until the middle of Oct! I guess Gobi desert parasites aren't very common in Seattle. :)
Other than that I just went to the library and picked up some movies and the grocery store to restock the basics. I also had a hamburger and fries while opening a month's worth of mail. When I went to pick it up, they literally brought it out in a plastic mail tub there was so much!
I'll worry about laundry and unpacking tomorrow. I'm setting my alarm for only 9 hours sleep as they say to try to get back on your normal sleep schedule as quickly as possible. But boy do I want to sleep for about 16!
Wednesday, September 23, 2009
Sept 23 - The Great Wall of China!! and Eating Weird Things
I can't believe it's my last day! We got up early and left for the Great Wall at Jinshanling, which is a 3 hour drive outside of Beijing. When we finally got there and got started on the trial to the actual Wall, there were a number of hawkers of souvenirs, but I have heard there aren't nearly as many as at Badaling, which is why I didn't go there. They would say 'I walk with you. You buy book (or t-shirt) later.' We had to say over and over, 'no book. no t-shirt. no souvenir. no later. non. no. no.' It was a little annoying, but as soon as they realized we really weren't going to buy anything they dropped back.
As we got our first glimpse of the Great Wall I got really excited! Now that I'm home I can post a picture to show you. :)
Once we got to the Wall the climb became steep and pretty much never quit. It was steep up and steep down. The guidebook said that it is a 70 degree incline in some places. 90 is vertical! Here are some pictures that try to capture that.
This is trying to show that most of the steps were almost as tall as my knees!
Here are some pictures that try to give an idea of how AMAZING the Wall is, but truly, you have to experience it for yourself.
This section of the wall is also less repaired so we had to be very careful.
The Wall is the most amazing man-made thing I've ever seen. It just goes on and on, as far as you can see.
At all the watchtowers, there would be people selling drinks and snacks. I don't know how in the hell they got them up there because most of them were older and liquid is heavy! This guy even had wine and champagne for sale!
As we were getting towards the stopping point at Simatai, I started walking slower and slower. Not so much because I was tired (although I was), but because I didn't want it to end. I will definitely be back on the Wall someday! I used to think I wanted to hike the entire thing, but now I'm thinking 2 weeks would be enough. :)
We saw the tourist umbrellas and we knew we were close to our stopping point.
As we approached, we saw there was a suspension bridge we had to go over to cross the river - and of course we had to pay a fee, even though there was no other way over the river!
I had read there was paragliding from the Wall, but I didn't see it so we settled for zip lining instead. You get strapped into a climbing harness and then zip over the river and get boated down the river to the parking lot. It was really fun, but I was so worried about getting a video I kind of forgot to be in the moment. I wanted to do it again, but I was too exhausted to climb back up to the zip line. Just another reason to go again!
The driver was waiting for us and we drove back to Beijing. But, it was rush hour so it took longer. We all agreed to meet for dinner since it was my last night. I still hadn't made it to any markets and Patrick told me about the food market near my hostel. I showered quickly and headed there. It was a string of stalls where you can get just about anything and every animal on a stick and deep fried. They had slug, sea cucumber, silk worms, dragon fly larvae, squid, scorpions, snakes, seahorses.... I ate the snake first and they had put a bunch of spice on it so I couldn't get a true taste, but it was probably for the best.
I had been talking about eating a scorpion since before I left, so I had to find it. Turns out there was only one guy so he wouldn't bargain the price. It was 15 RMB, which is only about $2, but I love bargaining. :) He told me to the little ones were better so I said ok. I ate the first one quick without trying to taste it and the second more slowly. My first thought was literally, 'it tastes a little bit like chicken'. lol I'm serious! Then it just tasted like fried crunchy stuff. But, I ate it! I can't get the f-ing video to upload and I think it's because I have used up all my free data storage with Google, so I'll have to buy more before I can post it.
I didn't eat the seahorse however because he also wanted too much and I thought it was a waste if I was going to eat just one. Plus they're kind of too cute to eat.
We went and met Ida and Niklas for dinner and we ordered a ton of food again. But the bill was only $14 per person!
We thought we ordered dove, but ended up getting something that we called 'a bowl of chicken feet' because there were literally 5 or 6 chicken feet in it. And a whole chicken head, eyeball and all! And a few things that were unmistakeably cock's combs. Weird!
After dinner we all could barely keep our eyes open and I still had to pack for the 5:15am taxi pick-up. Yet, I found myself strolling slowly back to the hostel because I didn't want my vacation to be over. I packed until 1:15 and then got about 3 hours of sleep.
As we got our first glimpse of the Great Wall I got really excited! Now that I'm home I can post a picture to show you. :)
Once we got to the Wall the climb became steep and pretty much never quit. It was steep up and steep down. The guidebook said that it is a 70 degree incline in some places. 90 is vertical! Here are some pictures that try to capture that.
This is trying to show that most of the steps were almost as tall as my knees!
Here are some pictures that try to give an idea of how AMAZING the Wall is, but truly, you have to experience it for yourself.
This section of the wall is also less repaired so we had to be very careful.
The Wall is the most amazing man-made thing I've ever seen. It just goes on and on, as far as you can see.
At all the watchtowers, there would be people selling drinks and snacks. I don't know how in the hell they got them up there because most of them were older and liquid is heavy! This guy even had wine and champagne for sale!
As we were getting towards the stopping point at Simatai, I started walking slower and slower. Not so much because I was tired (although I was), but because I didn't want it to end. I will definitely be back on the Wall someday! I used to think I wanted to hike the entire thing, but now I'm thinking 2 weeks would be enough. :)
We saw the tourist umbrellas and we knew we were close to our stopping point.
As we approached, we saw there was a suspension bridge we had to go over to cross the river - and of course we had to pay a fee, even though there was no other way over the river!
I had read there was paragliding from the Wall, but I didn't see it so we settled for zip lining instead. You get strapped into a climbing harness and then zip over the river and get boated down the river to the parking lot. It was really fun, but I was so worried about getting a video I kind of forgot to be in the moment. I wanted to do it again, but I was too exhausted to climb back up to the zip line. Just another reason to go again!
The driver was waiting for us and we drove back to Beijing. But, it was rush hour so it took longer. We all agreed to meet for dinner since it was my last night. I still hadn't made it to any markets and Patrick told me about the food market near my hostel. I showered quickly and headed there. It was a string of stalls where you can get just about anything and every animal on a stick and deep fried. They had slug, sea cucumber, silk worms, dragon fly larvae, squid, scorpions, snakes, seahorses.... I ate the snake first and they had put a bunch of spice on it so I couldn't get a true taste, but it was probably for the best.
I had been talking about eating a scorpion since before I left, so I had to find it. Turns out there was only one guy so he wouldn't bargain the price. It was 15 RMB, which is only about $2, but I love bargaining. :) He told me to the little ones were better so I said ok. I ate the first one quick without trying to taste it and the second more slowly. My first thought was literally, 'it tastes a little bit like chicken'. lol I'm serious! Then it just tasted like fried crunchy stuff. But, I ate it! I can't get the f-ing video to upload and I think it's because I have used up all my free data storage with Google, so I'll have to buy more before I can post it.
I didn't eat the seahorse however because he also wanted too much and I thought it was a waste if I was going to eat just one. Plus they're kind of too cute to eat.
We went and met Ida and Niklas for dinner and we ordered a ton of food again. But the bill was only $14 per person!
We thought we ordered dove, but ended up getting something that we called 'a bowl of chicken feet' because there were literally 5 or 6 chicken feet in it. And a whole chicken head, eyeball and all! And a few things that were unmistakeably cock's combs. Weird!
After dinner we all could barely keep our eyes open and I still had to pack for the 5:15am taxi pick-up. Yet, I found myself strolling slowly back to the hostel because I didn't want my vacation to be over. I packed until 1:15 and then got about 3 hours of sleep.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Sept 22 - Olympic Stadiun, Summer Palace, Peed on On the Subway and Opera
I am happy to report that I think my little worm is dying. I only went bad toilet once today and it wasn't 90% water like it has been up to now. Yay!
I changed hostels and then set off to do as many things left on my list as I could. Yesterday had been kind of a waste so I still had the Olympic stadium, Summer Palace, Mao's mausoleum, local markets and the CCTV tower on the list. I knew I wouldn't get to all of them in one day so I prioritized. I went to the Olympic spaces and walked around. It was nice, but really just a bunch of buildings. They did have a nice photo exhibit though from the Olympics.
Then I took the subway to the Summer Palace. It was nice, but I still think Beihi (not spelling that correctly) was nicer. There were a few cool artifacts and art though. I didn't spend too long there because I did kind of want to see Mao's Mausoleum and I the book said it closed at 4pm (like almost all tourist destinations in Beijing). I tried to get a taxi back to the subway but all the cab drivers wanted 20RMB when the fare from it was only 10. So being stubborn, I started walking, even though I didn't know where I was going. Luckily a rickshaw came along. He wanted 30 but took 20 and I got my firsat rickshaw ride!
The subway took an hour and 20 mins and I had to transfer 3 times. (Beijing is definitely bigger than Moscow!) While I was on it I saw a woman opening the zipper of a boy about 3 or 4 years old. I wondered what the hell she was doing because she was pulling his little penis out of his pants, right there on the subway. Then she points to a corner and the kid PEES into the corner of a packed subway car! Un-fucking-believable I think! I've seen people holding their kids under the legs in huatongs so they can pee in the street (forgot to mention that earlier) but this was unreal. I'm standing there thinking that in America (or any other civilized country) the mother would tell the boy to hold it, or she would get off the subway to find a bathroom.
As I'm standing there, I feel something wet hit my foot and reflexively jump back. I look down and the people I'm standing in front have their 1 1/2 year old sitting on their lap, and he's just peeing right on the floor - and my foot! I look at them incredulously and they just kind of smile back. No gestures of apology or embarrassment. Un-fing-believable!!!
I went to Tienanmen Square to see if Mao's Mausoleum might still be open, although I didn't expect it would be, and it wasn't. So, seeing one dead guy (Lenin) on this trip will have to be enough.
I went back to the hostel, scarfed down some American food and met the Swedes (it's probably time I told you their names lol. They are Ida (pronounced E-da) and Niklas) and the Swiss (Patrick) to see some Chinese Opera. Ida and Niklas and gotten the tickets from a tour director and she had told them that even though it started at 7:30, we should leave a 6:00. And we found out why.
We tried to get a taxi for 40 min! Getting a taxi at rush hour in Beijing makes getting a taxi in Manhattan in pouring rain look like a cake walk! Finally a driver pulled over and the 4 of us happily piled in. We showed him our paper that had the address of the opera house written in Chinese, he looked at it for a min, then shook his head no. I was livid. This had happened to me before where it seemed that a driver just didn't want to take you, maybe because you were a foreigner or because the fare wouldn't be enough. But this time it had taken us so long to get the taxi I dug in my heels. I said I wasn't getting out and to illustrate, I locked my door. He kept shaking his head no and Finally Niklas called the tour director and she talked to the driver for awhile. Turns out he didn't know the area. So we got out and went back to trying to find a taxi. All four of us spread out to the four corners of a major intersection and finally got another one. We piled in again and showed him the paper, holding our breath. When he nodded his head okay, we all cheered and I'm sure he had idea why. lol
We made it to the opera with time to spare and watched the performers putting on their make-up. Turns out the opera was in a hotel, which i wasn't thrilled about, but I just sat back and waited to see what it was all about. When the first act started, and the singer started, I almost burst out laughing. It seriously sounded like someone had stepped on a cat's tail. The costumes were great, the music nice and with the translation you could understand what was going on. Although, some of them were quite comical.
It was just over an hour and then I headed back to the hostel.
I changed hostels and then set off to do as many things left on my list as I could. Yesterday had been kind of a waste so I still had the Olympic stadium, Summer Palace, Mao's mausoleum, local markets and the CCTV tower on the list. I knew I wouldn't get to all of them in one day so I prioritized. I went to the Olympic spaces and walked around. It was nice, but really just a bunch of buildings. They did have a nice photo exhibit though from the Olympics.
Then I took the subway to the Summer Palace. It was nice, but I still think Beihi (not spelling that correctly) was nicer. There were a few cool artifacts and art though. I didn't spend too long there because I did kind of want to see Mao's Mausoleum and I the book said it closed at 4pm (like almost all tourist destinations in Beijing). I tried to get a taxi back to the subway but all the cab drivers wanted 20RMB when the fare from it was only 10. So being stubborn, I started walking, even though I didn't know where I was going. Luckily a rickshaw came along. He wanted 30 but took 20 and I got my firsat rickshaw ride!
The subway took an hour and 20 mins and I had to transfer 3 times. (Beijing is definitely bigger than Moscow!) While I was on it I saw a woman opening the zipper of a boy about 3 or 4 years old. I wondered what the hell she was doing because she was pulling his little penis out of his pants, right there on the subway. Then she points to a corner and the kid PEES into the corner of a packed subway car! Un-fucking-believable I think! I've seen people holding their kids under the legs in huatongs so they can pee in the street (forgot to mention that earlier) but this was unreal. I'm standing there thinking that in America (or any other civilized country) the mother would tell the boy to hold it, or she would get off the subway to find a bathroom.
As I'm standing there, I feel something wet hit my foot and reflexively jump back. I look down and the people I'm standing in front have their 1 1/2 year old sitting on their lap, and he's just peeing right on the floor - and my foot! I look at them incredulously and they just kind of smile back. No gestures of apology or embarrassment. Un-fing-believable!!!
I went to Tienanmen Square to see if Mao's Mausoleum might still be open, although I didn't expect it would be, and it wasn't. So, seeing one dead guy (Lenin) on this trip will have to be enough.
I went back to the hostel, scarfed down some American food and met the Swedes (it's probably time I told you their names lol. They are Ida (pronounced E-da) and Niklas) and the Swiss (Patrick) to see some Chinese Opera. Ida and Niklas and gotten the tickets from a tour director and she had told them that even though it started at 7:30, we should leave a 6:00. And we found out why.
We tried to get a taxi for 40 min! Getting a taxi at rush hour in Beijing makes getting a taxi in Manhattan in pouring rain look like a cake walk! Finally a driver pulled over and the 4 of us happily piled in. We showed him our paper that had the address of the opera house written in Chinese, he looked at it for a min, then shook his head no. I was livid. This had happened to me before where it seemed that a driver just didn't want to take you, maybe because you were a foreigner or because the fare wouldn't be enough. But this time it had taken us so long to get the taxi I dug in my heels. I said I wasn't getting out and to illustrate, I locked my door. He kept shaking his head no and Finally Niklas called the tour director and she talked to the driver for awhile. Turns out he didn't know the area. So we got out and went back to trying to find a taxi. All four of us spread out to the four corners of a major intersection and finally got another one. We piled in again and showed him the paper, holding our breath. When he nodded his head okay, we all cheered and I'm sure he had idea why. lol
We made it to the opera with time to spare and watched the performers putting on their make-up. Turns out the opera was in a hotel, which i wasn't thrilled about, but I just sat back and waited to see what it was all about. When the first act started, and the singer started, I almost burst out laughing. It seriously sounded like someone had stepped on a cat's tail. The costumes were great, the music nice and with the translation you could understand what was going on. Although, some of them were quite comical.
It was just over an hour and then I headed back to the hostel.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sept 21 - First Real Chinese Meal
I returned the train tickets to Xian today. Two girls in my room said they thought it had been a disappointment, and still having TD I didn't really feel like being on a train for 2 nights anyway.
I've heard that they had to teach the Chinese people the concept of waiting in line in preparation for the Olympics last year, and I think they've already forgotten. You have to keep a constant vigilance on your place, lest people just step in front of you. I also saw a guy that tried to go right up to the window and bypass the 15 or so people in line. Then they opened a new window and people literally ran to get into that line. The guy that had been trying to cut the line tried to step in front of me so I elbowed him good in the side and said 'you were behind me'! Not that he understood me, I'm sure but he definitely got the message!
So, I'm embarrassed to admit that I broke down and ate McDonalds today. I just needed something my stomach could handle. But perhaps it's good that I did because it was gross and bland, and now I really don't feel like I'm missing anything. One funny thing was that Maria Carey's song 'Always Be My Baby' was on single repeat. I think it's their way of getting people not to linger because I could only take about 6 cycles before I had to get out of there.
Then I went in search of the long distance bus station to get info getting to the less touristed part of the Wall. I had also gotten a refund for this tour from the hostel because I hate being on tours and someone else's time schedule. I found the station but there was no info desk. I was tired so I gave up and took a taxi back to the hostel. After a 2 hour nap I felt a whole lot better!
The Swedish couple and another guy from Switzerland and I all went out to dinner. We accidentally ordered SO much food! I think it was mostly because we wanted to try everything. Since I don't think I'm going to get a chance to have a roasted duck, I at least ordered some duck breast. There was also donkey on the menu so you know we had to try that! Everything was very good - except the donkey, which was dark and strange tasting and my stomach just wasn't ready for too much wild food. This is the first truly Chinese meal I have been able to eat, and it was nice. When the check came, it was only $11 per person!
On the walk back to the hostel I stopped at another hostel that is in the same alley (called huatong) and inquired about hiring a car and driver to wall. They said it would be 800 yuan round trip and with 4 of us that's he same as the tour price. I liked this hostel a lot better and it's cheaper, so I think I will move tomorrow.
I've heard that they had to teach the Chinese people the concept of waiting in line in preparation for the Olympics last year, and I think they've already forgotten. You have to keep a constant vigilance on your place, lest people just step in front of you. I also saw a guy that tried to go right up to the window and bypass the 15 or so people in line. Then they opened a new window and people literally ran to get into that line. The guy that had been trying to cut the line tried to step in front of me so I elbowed him good in the side and said 'you were behind me'! Not that he understood me, I'm sure but he definitely got the message!
So, I'm embarrassed to admit that I broke down and ate McDonalds today. I just needed something my stomach could handle. But perhaps it's good that I did because it was gross and bland, and now I really don't feel like I'm missing anything. One funny thing was that Maria Carey's song 'Always Be My Baby' was on single repeat. I think it's their way of getting people not to linger because I could only take about 6 cycles before I had to get out of there.
Then I went in search of the long distance bus station to get info getting to the less touristed part of the Wall. I had also gotten a refund for this tour from the hostel because I hate being on tours and someone else's time schedule. I found the station but there was no info desk. I was tired so I gave up and took a taxi back to the hostel. After a 2 hour nap I felt a whole lot better!
The Swedish couple and another guy from Switzerland and I all went out to dinner. We accidentally ordered SO much food! I think it was mostly because we wanted to try everything. Since I don't think I'm going to get a chance to have a roasted duck, I at least ordered some duck breast. There was also donkey on the menu so you know we had to try that! Everything was very good - except the donkey, which was dark and strange tasting and my stomach just wasn't ready for too much wild food. This is the first truly Chinese meal I have been able to eat, and it was nice. When the check came, it was only $11 per person!
On the walk back to the hostel I stopped at another hostel that is in the same alley (called huatong) and inquired about hiring a car and driver to wall. They said it would be 800 yuan round trip and with 4 of us that's he same as the tour price. I liked this hostel a lot better and it's cheaper, so I think I will move tomorrow.
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Sept 20 - Chinese Acrobatics and Amebiasis
I got up early to meet my friends (turns out they are Swedish, not Norwegian. Oops) at the Lama Temple. It was nice but eventually I felt like I did in Europe - I don't care if I ever see another pagoda or temple (or baptistery, or duomo) again. I also still had TD so wasn't
having the greatest time. After the Lama Temple we went to Bahai Park and it was beautiful! The Chinese National Day is Oct 1 and they are decorating things and building floats and beautiful art with flowers, so it was quite spectacular.
It had rained all night so the air was clear (for Beijing anyway) and it was a really nice day. You could actually see that the sky was blue and couldn't look directly at the sun. (I took a picture of the sun the day before where it looks like the moon because of the smog.) You should NOT be able to take a picture of the sun, let alone look directly at it on a "clear" day!!!
We climbed to the top where the white pagoda was, but the view wasn't
as good as at Jinshan Park the day before. We took a wooden ferry
across the lake
and then went to an acrobatic theater to buy tickets for that night. Then I went in search of the SOS clinic. This was the third day of TD and I just want it to stop!
The night before I had the hostel staff write down the name and address in Chinese so I could show the taxi driver, but he still didn't seem to understand. So I fumbled with the map, got out in the general vicinity and then spent another 30 min asking and asking until I finally found it. Being Sunday only the emergency clinic was open, but there was no one else there so I was in to see the doctor quickly.
She checked my vitals and then, in a cool mix of Western and Eastern medicine, she looked at my hands and my tongue and said I was quite dehydrated so she wanted to give me IV fluids. She also took a stool and blood sample and came back about 40 min later and confirmed I did
indeed have amebasis, not a bacterial infection. So the strong antibiotic I am taking - which turns out to be an antiprotozoal actually - is the correct medication. But since I've taken it for almost two days and am not much better, she gave me one dose of something stronger to try and stop the diarrhea. But I need to take the full 7 day course of the other to make sure it kills it all. She
said it was possible that the steroid shot lowered my immune response, but most likely it was drinking untreated Gobi water since this takes about a week to show symptoms and I got it 6 days after I started drinking the water. Guess I don't have such an iron stomach after all. Note to self: well water in the Gobi desert is NOT the same as well water in America! Lesson learned the very hard way unfortunately. She also gave me a prescription for pro-biotics to replace the good flora of the intestines after the medicine kills everything. I always do this at home and I wish western doctors would do it too!
Since I wasn't going to have time to go back to my hostel before the show, she gave me a dose of the medicine I have from home. But I hadn't eaten in quite a few hours and you have to eat with the medication, so the nurses made me toast. When I asked if I could have more jam they brought in the whole jar! Lol They treated me very well. (I had made the mistake of taking it before bed on an empty stomach once, and was woken up about 30 mins later with rolling waves of intense nausea!)
The doctor said at first she only ordered 1 litre of fluid, but because my standing to lying blood pressure was 20mm lower, that indicated more severe dehydration so I got 2 liters. She said she was very surprised that I wasn't dizzy with that much dehydration. She asked if I am fit and I said yes, I work out at home a lot. She said that probably helped a lot because most people get dizzy with just a 10mm drop. So it's good to know that I'm fit because I sure haven't felt like it recently.
This is the doctor (right) and nurse that helped me!
Its hard to believe that a single-cell organism, the lowest form of life on earth, can wreak such havoc! I've decided that I'm going to start calling it 'my little worm' because 'my little ameboa' my just doesn't have the same ring. Lol
You know those t-shirts that say 'my grandma went to X and all I got was this lousy t-shirt'? Well, I paid $937 and all I got was a lousy band-aid (from the IV). Okay, I got a few medications too, but those were minimal. The big cost was the office visit, the rehydration ($300+ for 2 litres of saline!) and the lab tests. Seriously, thank goodness for travel insurance!
After the doctor I went to the acrobatics show and it was unbelievable! Ever seen 12 people ride one bicycle? I have now!
There was plate spinning, hoop jumping, contortionists... absolutely amazing. I bought 2 DVDs and can't wait to watch them!
I went back to the hostel intending to have some dinner, but the kitchen was closed so it was a couple of packages of crackers for dinner. Oh well, it's probably better for the worm. He's really
fighting back though, because I think I've already lost at least half of the fluid I got at the clinic, in just 4.5 hours! The doctor gave me oral rehydration solution but said that if I can't keep well
hydrated I can come back in for more fluids before I fly home. Since flying also dehydrates you it could be dangerous if I'm already dehydrated when I start.
I decided that to have a better attitude I will list the things i am thankful for:
* that the toilets in the hostel are western, and the stalls small enough to rest my head on the door while going
* that I brought 12 packs of wet wipes
* wearing a dress when you have raging TD in the land of squat toilets (think about it)
* my worm ensures that I don't absorb many calories, so I can eat all the M&Ms and ice cream I want
* that McDonald's ice cream tastes the same around the world
* free toilet paper in the hostel
* that fancy shopping malls have western toilets, and that there are a lot of fancy shopping malls in Beijing
* English speaking medical clinics
* travel insurance
* that I live in America
having the greatest time. After the Lama Temple we went to Bahai Park and it was beautiful! The Chinese National Day is Oct 1 and they are decorating things and building floats and beautiful art with flowers, so it was quite spectacular.
It had rained all night so the air was clear (for Beijing anyway) and it was a really nice day. You could actually see that the sky was blue and couldn't look directly at the sun. (I took a picture of the sun the day before where it looks like the moon because of the smog.) You should NOT be able to take a picture of the sun, let alone look directly at it on a "clear" day!!!
We climbed to the top where the white pagoda was, but the view wasn't
as good as at Jinshan Park the day before. We took a wooden ferry
across the lake
and then went to an acrobatic theater to buy tickets for that night. Then I went in search of the SOS clinic. This was the third day of TD and I just want it to stop!The night before I had the hostel staff write down the name and address in Chinese so I could show the taxi driver, but he still didn't seem to understand. So I fumbled with the map, got out in the general vicinity and then spent another 30 min asking and asking until I finally found it. Being Sunday only the emergency clinic was open, but there was no one else there so I was in to see the doctor quickly.
She checked my vitals and then, in a cool mix of Western and Eastern medicine, she looked at my hands and my tongue and said I was quite dehydrated so she wanted to give me IV fluids. She also took a stool and blood sample and came back about 40 min later and confirmed I did
indeed have amebasis, not a bacterial infection. So the strong antibiotic I am taking - which turns out to be an antiprotozoal actually - is the correct medication. But since I've taken it for almost two days and am not much better, she gave me one dose of something stronger to try and stop the diarrhea. But I need to take the full 7 day course of the other to make sure it kills it all. She
said it was possible that the steroid shot lowered my immune response, but most likely it was drinking untreated Gobi water since this takes about a week to show symptoms and I got it 6 days after I started drinking the water. Guess I don't have such an iron stomach after all. Note to self: well water in the Gobi desert is NOT the same as well water in America! Lesson learned the very hard way unfortunately. She also gave me a prescription for pro-biotics to replace the good flora of the intestines after the medicine kills everything. I always do this at home and I wish western doctors would do it too!
Since I wasn't going to have time to go back to my hostel before the show, she gave me a dose of the medicine I have from home. But I hadn't eaten in quite a few hours and you have to eat with the medication, so the nurses made me toast. When I asked if I could have more jam they brought in the whole jar! Lol They treated me very well. (I had made the mistake of taking it before bed on an empty stomach once, and was woken up about 30 mins later with rolling waves of intense nausea!)
The doctor said at first she only ordered 1 litre of fluid, but because my standing to lying blood pressure was 20mm lower, that indicated more severe dehydration so I got 2 liters. She said she was very surprised that I wasn't dizzy with that much dehydration. She asked if I am fit and I said yes, I work out at home a lot. She said that probably helped a lot because most people get dizzy with just a 10mm drop. So it's good to know that I'm fit because I sure haven't felt like it recently.
This is the doctor (right) and nurse that helped me!
Its hard to believe that a single-cell organism, the lowest form of life on earth, can wreak such havoc! I've decided that I'm going to start calling it 'my little worm' because 'my little ameboa' my just doesn't have the same ring. Lol
You know those t-shirts that say 'my grandma went to X and all I got was this lousy t-shirt'? Well, I paid $937 and all I got was a lousy band-aid (from the IV). Okay, I got a few medications too, but those were minimal. The big cost was the office visit, the rehydration ($300+ for 2 litres of saline!) and the lab tests. Seriously, thank goodness for travel insurance!
After the doctor I went to the acrobatics show and it was unbelievable! Ever seen 12 people ride one bicycle? I have now!
There was plate spinning, hoop jumping, contortionists... absolutely amazing. I bought 2 DVDs and can't wait to watch them!I went back to the hostel intending to have some dinner, but the kitchen was closed so it was a couple of packages of crackers for dinner. Oh well, it's probably better for the worm. He's really
fighting back though, because I think I've already lost at least half of the fluid I got at the clinic, in just 4.5 hours! The doctor gave me oral rehydration solution but said that if I can't keep well
hydrated I can come back in for more fluids before I fly home. Since flying also dehydrates you it could be dangerous if I'm already dehydrated when I start.
I decided that to have a better attitude I will list the things i am thankful for:
* that the toilets in the hostel are western, and the stalls small enough to rest my head on the door while going
* that I brought 12 packs of wet wipes
* wearing a dress when you have raging TD in the land of squat toilets (think about it)
* my worm ensures that I don't absorb many calories, so I can eat all the M&Ms and ice cream I want
* that McDonald's ice cream tastes the same around the world
* free toilet paper in the hostel
* that fancy shopping malls have western toilets, and that there are a lot of fancy shopping malls in Beijing
* English speaking medical clinics
* travel insurance
* that I live in America
Saturday, September 19, 2009
Sept 19 - Miserable in Beijing
I slept 12 hours last night and feel much better. I changed to the hostel today and bought tickets to the Wall and Xian to see the Terra Cotta Warriors. Then I went out to see the Forbidden City and Tienanmen Square. I am absolutely shocked at how much air pollution there is here. I am being dead serious when I say it makes the air in LA look as clear as Mt. Everest. All day long it looks like it's approaching dusk and all of my pictures look like they are taken through a window screen. And one of the girls in my hostel said she's surprised how CLEAN the air is compared to 5 years ago! She said then you couldn't even see the skyscrapers 50 meters in front of you. I
have no idea how people live here, and Asian people are known for their longevity! It's really incomprehensible to me.
At the Forbidden City I bought the audio guide, but then didn't have enough cash for the deposit so I went in search of the ATM. Turns out it was VERY far through the FC and when I finally reached it, it wouldn't take my card.
I'm going to whine for a minute here, so bear with me. I have raging diarrhea in a land of a hole in the ground, I have to blow my nose literally every 4-5 min, I walk for almost 30 min not understanding anything about the stunning things I am seeing, and when I finally get to the ATM, it won't give me money. I seriously almost cried. But, I knew my experience was all about my attitude so I bought an ice cream cone and just tried to appreciate the things I was seeing, even if I didn't understand them. As I was walking along enjoying my ice cream cone, I took a lick and the entire top dropped off the cone. With my cat-like reflexes I somehow managed to grab the ice cream before it hit the ground, but now my hands are totally sticky and full of ice
cream. %*#@!!!!!!
I finished my walk through the FC and when I exited I saw this beautiful pagoda on the hill so decided I needed to go there. I also read in the book that it provided sweeping views of the FC, which it did.
BTW, this picture was taken at about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon on a day with no clouds in the sky! THIS is how bad the air pollution is!
It was a lovely park and I strolled through to the other entrance and took the bus to Tienanmen Square. It was quite interesting to compare Tienanmen to Red Square. I think Tienanmen is much larger.
I lucked out and happened to get there a sunset (although you couldn't tell with the smog) when they lower the flag and a bunch of guys in uniforms march around. This seems to be a big deal in Beijing because there were throngs of people gathered around the flagpole. I actually handed my camera to a girl up on a man's shoulders to take a picture for me.
During this time they also close the huge main arterial street behind the flagpole. The process takes about an hour and they do it as sunrise and sunset EVERY DAY!
After that I wanted to get something to eat so went in search of a restaurant recommended in the guidebook. I had a good map and was sure I was in the right area, and asked numerous people, but I never found it. So I ended up going back to the hostel and just having dumplings.
have no idea how people live here, and Asian people are known for their longevity! It's really incomprehensible to me.
At the Forbidden City I bought the audio guide, but then didn't have enough cash for the deposit so I went in search of the ATM. Turns out it was VERY far through the FC and when I finally reached it, it wouldn't take my card.
I'm going to whine for a minute here, so bear with me. I have raging diarrhea in a land of a hole in the ground, I have to blow my nose literally every 4-5 min, I walk for almost 30 min not understanding anything about the stunning things I am seeing, and when I finally get to the ATM, it won't give me money. I seriously almost cried. But, I knew my experience was all about my attitude so I bought an ice cream cone and just tried to appreciate the things I was seeing, even if I didn't understand them. As I was walking along enjoying my ice cream cone, I took a lick and the entire top dropped off the cone. With my cat-like reflexes I somehow managed to grab the ice cream before it hit the ground, but now my hands are totally sticky and full of ice
cream. %*#@!!!!!!
I finished my walk through the FC and when I exited I saw this beautiful pagoda on the hill so decided I needed to go there. I also read in the book that it provided sweeping views of the FC, which it did.
BTW, this picture was taken at about 2:00 or 3:00 in the afternoon on a day with no clouds in the sky! THIS is how bad the air pollution is!It was a lovely park and I strolled through to the other entrance and took the bus to Tienanmen Square. It was quite interesting to compare Tienanmen to Red Square. I think Tienanmen is much larger.
I lucked out and happened to get there a sunset (although you couldn't tell with the smog) when they lower the flag and a bunch of guys in uniforms march around. This seems to be a big deal in Beijing because there were throngs of people gathered around the flagpole. I actually handed my camera to a girl up on a man's shoulders to take a picture for me.
During this time they also close the huge main arterial street behind the flagpole. The process takes about an hour and they do it as sunrise and sunset EVERY DAY!After that I wanted to get something to eat so went in search of a restaurant recommended in the guidebook. I had a good map and was sure I was in the right area, and asked numerous people, but I never found it. So I ended up going back to the hostel and just having dumplings.
Friday, September 18, 2009
Sept 18 - I AM IN CHINA!!
I woke up with all the activity at 7:30 and was feeling better. I tried to find something I could eat and ended up eating some slightly sweet bread I had with me. The Chinese countryside is really pretty. There are a lot of farms and the train followed along a river for awhile, and I took some nice pictures. But, it's hard to take pictures from the train because the windows are so filthy. The Russian trains were much cleaner. To get the good pictures, I opened the window and stuck my head out.
I found the nice Norwegian couple and I decided to share a cab with them to see if I could also share their hotel room and split the cost. Taxis are dirt cheap here. We drove for probably 15-20 min and it was 19 Yuan, which is about $3! They charge 2 yuan per kilometer and none for waiting time (like in NYC).
It's also more of a pedestrian friendly city. There are separate lanes for bikes - and there are a lot of bikes! There are regular bikes, electric bikes, motorized bikes, mopeds, rickshaws... masses of them.
And when they need to cross lanes of traffic, or a bus or taxi comes into their lane to stop they just deftly steer around it. If a bike is coming too close to a car, or if the car needs to turn across the bike lane, the car just beeps the horn. The bikes do the same for pedestrians. It seems to be an efficient system, as I have seen some crazy antics - bikes going against traffic down the middle of the street and pedestrians standing in front of an oncoming bus - and haven't seen any accidents yet.
At the hotel it turned out I couldn't share their room because it only had two small beds and no room for a rollaway. I had been planning on staying in a hostel that was 65 yuan ($10) and to get my own hotel room was 198 yuan ($30) but I was so exhausted I just stayed there for one night. There was a little bit of a fiasco in getting a non-smoking room - or rather, a room that didn't reek of smoke. See, there is no such thing as non-smoking in China, except perhaps at a 5-star hotel. I had to sniff 4 rooms before finding one that had enough room deodorizer sprayed to mask the smoke smell. The Norwegian couple had a 'no smoking' sign in their room and I tried showing it to the hotel staff, but it didn't seem to do much good. Later, my friends told me they read the sign more closely and it only says 'no smoking IN BED!' I can't believe they have to have a sign for that!
I went to take a shower and the shower curtain had so much mold on it I showered without it and let the floor get soaking wet. There was a drain in it so I figured it wasn't that bad.
We went to eat and just kind of picked the first one that looked good and like it would have an English menu. It had some of the items in broken English and lots of pictures. I still had a bad stomach so I tried to order mild food. That's very difficult in China! I ordered broccoli and scallion pancakes and a soup that looked like just broth and vegetables. Yeah, pictures can be deceiving! The soup turned out to be seafood and the only thing I recognized was shrimp. Luckily the Norwegians were hungry and adventurous eaters and the tried the soup. The described one of the things in it as 'fish chewing gum'!
I barely ate and I had to hit the toilet again. This was a nice restaurant in a nice looking hotel, so I was surprised to find a squat toilet. Let's just say a squat toilet is not what you want when you
have TD. But I learned that some squat toilets are very fancy. This one had an automatic flush! We now call these 'fancy shit holes'. Lol
My new friends decided to walk around a bit as it was only 6:30, but I wasn't feeling good so I went back to the hotel. Since I'd had the TD for 2 days now, I started taking antibiotics. I fell asleep at 7:30 and they stopped by at 8:00 to make plans for us to get together on Sunday. After they left I went back to sleep but woke up 3 hours later with another raging TD episode. This is when I decided it was time for the stronger antibiotics!
I found the nice Norwegian couple and I decided to share a cab with them to see if I could also share their hotel room and split the cost. Taxis are dirt cheap here. We drove for probably 15-20 min and it was 19 Yuan, which is about $3! They charge 2 yuan per kilometer and none for waiting time (like in NYC).It's also more of a pedestrian friendly city. There are separate lanes for bikes - and there are a lot of bikes! There are regular bikes, electric bikes, motorized bikes, mopeds, rickshaws... masses of them.
And when they need to cross lanes of traffic, or a bus or taxi comes into their lane to stop they just deftly steer around it. If a bike is coming too close to a car, or if the car needs to turn across the bike lane, the car just beeps the horn. The bikes do the same for pedestrians. It seems to be an efficient system, as I have seen some crazy antics - bikes going against traffic down the middle of the street and pedestrians standing in front of an oncoming bus - and haven't seen any accidents yet.At the hotel it turned out I couldn't share their room because it only had two small beds and no room for a rollaway. I had been planning on staying in a hostel that was 65 yuan ($10) and to get my own hotel room was 198 yuan ($30) but I was so exhausted I just stayed there for one night. There was a little bit of a fiasco in getting a non-smoking room - or rather, a room that didn't reek of smoke. See, there is no such thing as non-smoking in China, except perhaps at a 5-star hotel. I had to sniff 4 rooms before finding one that had enough room deodorizer sprayed to mask the smoke smell. The Norwegian couple had a 'no smoking' sign in their room and I tried showing it to the hotel staff, but it didn't seem to do much good. Later, my friends told me they read the sign more closely and it only says 'no smoking IN BED!' I can't believe they have to have a sign for that!
I went to take a shower and the shower curtain had so much mold on it I showered without it and let the floor get soaking wet. There was a drain in it so I figured it wasn't that bad.
We went to eat and just kind of picked the first one that looked good and like it would have an English menu. It had some of the items in broken English and lots of pictures. I still had a bad stomach so I tried to order mild food. That's very difficult in China! I ordered broccoli and scallion pancakes and a soup that looked like just broth and vegetables. Yeah, pictures can be deceiving! The soup turned out to be seafood and the only thing I recognized was shrimp. Luckily the Norwegians were hungry and adventurous eaters and the tried the soup. The described one of the things in it as 'fish chewing gum'!
I barely ate and I had to hit the toilet again. This was a nice restaurant in a nice looking hotel, so I was surprised to find a squat toilet. Let's just say a squat toilet is not what you want when you
have TD. But I learned that some squat toilets are very fancy. This one had an automatic flush! We now call these 'fancy shit holes'. Lol
My new friends decided to walk around a bit as it was only 6:30, but I wasn't feeling good so I went back to the hotel. Since I'd had the TD for 2 days now, I started taking antibiotics. I fell asleep at 7:30 and they stopped by at 8:00 to make plans for us to get together on Sunday. After they left I went back to sleep but woke up 3 hours later with another raging TD episode. This is when I decided it was time for the stronger antibiotics!
Thursday, September 17, 2009
Sept 17 - Train to Beijing and TD
I had to get up at 6:30 to get a car to the train station, but the owner of the guest house I was staying at had arranged it for us at no charge so that was very nice.
I should have known something was wrong when I didn't wake up starving like I usually do. By the time I got on the train I wasn't feeling great so I slept for almost 4 hours. When I woke up my stomach was turning and churning. I had been so happy that for 3 weeks I had been brushing my teeth with train bathroom water and drinking untreated well water in the Gobi and hadn't gotten sick. Well, that ended today - I got a raging case of TD. (TD is short for Traveler's Diarrhea.)
I will spare you the details, but I was absolutely miserable all day. I couldn't eat anything and was alternating between sweating and freezing. Luckily I had 3 very nice women in my carriage and they were taking care of me. I slept most of the day, took Imodium and pepto and started to feel marginally better. The only thing I can think of where I might have gotten it is the leftover pizza, but it was refrigerated and I warmed it up. But in retrospect, I think it might have been that the steroid shot for my sinuses lowered my immune response. (I got the TD the very next morning after getting the shot.)
At 7:45pm we reached the border and the SIX hour process began. There were of course the forms to leave Mongolia and the health declaration to enter China. But the really ridiculous, and clearly Communist regime, started when the Chinese officials started opening all the lighting and heating vents to check for contraband, and then they checked everyone's bag in each compartment. I was still feeling weak and was not in the mood for this crap, but luckily one of the women in my carriage was a tour director who had done this trip 5 years in a row and was talking to the Chinese officials and joking with them. They looked through 2 bags in our compartment and then I showed them my small backpack (having hidden my medicine bag under my pillow quickly to avoid problems). I also made sure that my bras and dirty underwear were on top of the bag, and that seemed to work pretty well.
He saw that and pretty much didn't look at anything else in my bag. Lol After that he didn't ask to look in any other of our bags either. They were asking if we had any knives and I thought, yeah like I'm going to tell you I have 2 pocket knives.
One of the women told us a story about a woman whose father was a swimsuit maker and she had him make her a bra with 3 cups, and she would put it right on top in her suitcase and officials would open it, see that bra, and slam it closed and let her go. LOL
Then there was the changing of the wheels. Russia and Mongolia use a different rail gauge than China (and almost the rest of the world) so we had to wait for literally 4+ hours while they took each rail car separately, jacked it up, took off the Russian wheels and put on the Chinese wheels. The carriages jerked so hard it would about throw you out of bed! And throughout all of this the bathrooms are locked and you are not allowed to get off the train. I had to pee so bad all I
could do was lay flat so my bladder was stretched out. My stomach was still churning and I was worried I was going to have to do something else too. :(
Finally, the wheels were changed and we went back to the station where they let us off to use the toilet in the station. At that point it was midnight and I was really ready to sleep. With the TD my sense of smell was really heightened and my stomach would churn at everything. Throughout the night I woke up a few times from strange smells. It was also very difficult to get good rest because the seats are so hard. I am ready for my own bed, that's for sure!
One of the women in my carriage was from Texas and was quite the world traveler. She had been to almost every country in the world. She was very nice, but talked and talked and talked!! Especially not feeling good, she annoyed the shit out of me! The woman who was the tour director was annoying me too. I was eating whatever sounded good (because it wasn't much) and she kept telling me not to eat this and not to drink that. Let's just say I didn't have the best day.
I should have known something was wrong when I didn't wake up starving like I usually do. By the time I got on the train I wasn't feeling great so I slept for almost 4 hours. When I woke up my stomach was turning and churning. I had been so happy that for 3 weeks I had been brushing my teeth with train bathroom water and drinking untreated well water in the Gobi and hadn't gotten sick. Well, that ended today - I got a raging case of TD. (TD is short for Traveler's Diarrhea.)
I will spare you the details, but I was absolutely miserable all day. I couldn't eat anything and was alternating between sweating and freezing. Luckily I had 3 very nice women in my carriage and they were taking care of me. I slept most of the day, took Imodium and pepto and started to feel marginally better. The only thing I can think of where I might have gotten it is the leftover pizza, but it was refrigerated and I warmed it up. But in retrospect, I think it might have been that the steroid shot for my sinuses lowered my immune response. (I got the TD the very next morning after getting the shot.)
At 7:45pm we reached the border and the SIX hour process began. There were of course the forms to leave Mongolia and the health declaration to enter China. But the really ridiculous, and clearly Communist regime, started when the Chinese officials started opening all the lighting and heating vents to check for contraband, and then they checked everyone's bag in each compartment. I was still feeling weak and was not in the mood for this crap, but luckily one of the women in my carriage was a tour director who had done this trip 5 years in a row and was talking to the Chinese officials and joking with them. They looked through 2 bags in our compartment and then I showed them my small backpack (having hidden my medicine bag under my pillow quickly to avoid problems). I also made sure that my bras and dirty underwear were on top of the bag, and that seemed to work pretty well.
He saw that and pretty much didn't look at anything else in my bag. Lol After that he didn't ask to look in any other of our bags either. They were asking if we had any knives and I thought, yeah like I'm going to tell you I have 2 pocket knives.
One of the women told us a story about a woman whose father was a swimsuit maker and she had him make her a bra with 3 cups, and she would put it right on top in her suitcase and officials would open it, see that bra, and slam it closed and let her go. LOL
Then there was the changing of the wheels. Russia and Mongolia use a different rail gauge than China (and almost the rest of the world) so we had to wait for literally 4+ hours while they took each rail car separately, jacked it up, took off the Russian wheels and put on the Chinese wheels. The carriages jerked so hard it would about throw you out of bed! And throughout all of this the bathrooms are locked and you are not allowed to get off the train. I had to pee so bad all I
could do was lay flat so my bladder was stretched out. My stomach was still churning and I was worried I was going to have to do something else too. :(
Finally, the wheels were changed and we went back to the station where they let us off to use the toilet in the station. At that point it was midnight and I was really ready to sleep. With the TD my sense of smell was really heightened and my stomach would churn at everything. Throughout the night I woke up a few times from strange smells. It was also very difficult to get good rest because the seats are so hard. I am ready for my own bed, that's for sure!
One of the women in my carriage was from Texas and was quite the world traveler. She had been to almost every country in the world. She was very nice, but talked and talked and talked!! Especially not feeling good, she annoyed the shit out of me! The woman who was the tour director was annoying me too. I was eating whatever sounded good (because it wasn't much) and she kept telling me not to eat this and not to drink that. Let's just say I didn't have the best day.
Wednesday, September 16, 2009
UB Redeems Itself - Kind Of
I woke up at a decent hour today, ate breakfast, showered and set out to see the Winter Palace of one of the important Mongolian Buddhist temples, the current Buddhist temple complex and the Natural History Museum.
I decided to go to the Winter Palace first. I got on the bus indicated by the guidebook as going to the Palace and some nice Mongolian girl saw me reading the book and asked if she could help. She told me what stop to get off on and even offered to walk with me to find it. I said thank you very much, but I didn't want to interrupt her day and I would be okay I thought. She said it was very far to walk - maybe 1/2 mile. I said that I am a tourist and it's okay for me to walk, I like to see the city.
So I got off the bus and started walking. I saw some interesting buildings and took some photos, then continued walking looking for the "6 temples with a large white one on the right", as the guidebook indicted. I walked for what seemed 1/2 a mile, but then I came to the second river, which was not indicated in the guidebook so I stopped some women and asked. They chattered amongst themselves and then pointed ... in both directions! I retraced my steps and went into a supermarket to ask. Again the man was very nice and walked outside with me and pointed in the direction I had just come from. When he went back inside I asked a different man if he spoke English and told him what I was looking for. He seemed very sure of his directions and pointed me in the opposite direction of the store clerk.
This is the conclusion I have drawn about Mongolians... they want to practice English with you, and I think they really want to be helpful, but they also don't want to admit if they don't know something. This is sweet, but very frustrating as you end up wasting a lot of time walking in circles. This also happened to me yesterday when I was looking for a restaurant. A woman saw me looking at the book and the streets and offered to take me to the restaurant, only she started walking in the direction I was sure it was not. After 2 blocks I said I thought it was the other way, so she stopped someone in the street and asked and they said yes, the other way. She offered to walk with me, but I told her thank you, she didn't need to. Eventually I found it about 1/2 block past where she had offered to help in the first place. Ugh! If you ask 5 Mongolians directions, you will get 7 different answers!
So for the Palace... I walk back the way I had come, almost to the bus stop again! But this time I'm on the other side of the street and I see those buildings I took a picture of closer up. I see they kind of look like temples and one is white. Then I see this little gold plaque that says 'Winter Palace'. Yup, it's the place I took pictures of about 35 min ago! Ugh!
So I walk up and everything looks closed. I snap some photos and then push on the door by the closed ticket counter. I figured, hell I came this far, I'm not giving up without seriously trying to see this place! Miracles upon miracles, the door opens! I walk in and there are a couple of guys mowing the grass but no one seems to pay me much attention, so I waltz in and start taking photos. Only, I didn't get far before a guy came up and told me they're closed. I pointed to the sign that says they are open 10-6 but he points to the winter timetable that says closed on Wed and Thurs. Evidently the Winter Palace people decided that winter had come early this year. So I didn't get to see the Palace I had gone on such a search to find. Ugh.
I was still miserable with a stuffed up head and really tired so I decided I would go to the doctor. I got on a bus that I knew at least went to the main square, which would put me closer to the SOS International Medica, and I figured I would catch a cab from there. Only the bus turned at the square, and instead of stopping at the corner, went another 4 blocks before stopping. Double ugh! At this point I was close to the other temple I wanted to see so decided to just go there before the doctor.
I walked around shooting photos and even got some bootleg video of Buddhist ceremonies! It said no photos but it didn't say no videos so I covertly held my camera on my arm and recorded. Shame on me, I know. Then I went to the main temple where there is a Buddha statue that is 87 feet tall!! That' 3 stories! It's gilded gold and is quite imposing. It's only 2.50 to enter the temple but it's 5 to take pictures. This is the case with everything in Mongolia! (Sorry, I am using a wacky keyboard that won't type the dollar sign. It also has the y where the z should be and vice versa. Ugh!) There are hundreds of these round, gold ... pots for lack of a better word, and people walk around the Buddha and spin every single one of them. This is supposed to bring you luck. I twirled a few on them, but not all. But maybe I should have, or the Universe was getting me back for the bootleg video, because as I was standing there looking at this crazy huge Buddha, a pigeon crapped on my shoulder. Guess I better spin some more pots!
After the temple I FINALLY went to the doctor. It did look kind of far on the map, but the traffic also looked bad, and I didn't want to get stuck on the wrong bus again. So I walked. And walked. And walked. And Walked. I swear it must have been 2 miles! That's a beef I have with the Lonely Planet books - their map scale is a load of crap! I was so tired when I got there I just wanted to sleep. The receptionist asked which doctor I wanted to see and I said the American one. She said the ex-pat doctor on staff was actually from South Africa, but he obviously spoke English. I was in and out in maybe 30-40 mins. $147, a shot in the butt and some pills later and I feel much better! :) The antibiotics I took a week plus ago had cleared up the sinus infection, but my sinuses were still really inflamed and clogged. He gave me a steroid shot (prednisone) for the inflammation, and sudafed for the congestion. I had tried like crazy to get sudafed here in UB before leaving for the Gobi, but that's when I came away with just the TheraFlu stuff. Perhaps pseudoephedrine is only available by prescription here? They are worth their weight in gold to me anyhow! Within 20-30 mins of the shot and 1 pill, I was already feeling better. My head unclogged, my headache went away and my drippy nose finally stopped! Of course the drippy and headache comes back when the sudafed wears off, but it's SO much better than it was.
Feeling better, I was able to enjoy UB's other saving grace - the National Academy Dance and Singing Troup. It was only an hour and 15 min but was really good. There were a number of dance acts with beautiful costumes, some awesome throat singers, contortionists, regular singers and an orchestra. I got some amazing video, but now I'm starting to worry I won't have enough GB for the Great Wall and Beijing. I've got 5GB more of memory cards and about 80 pictures on the card I have in now. I may have to buy another in Beijing. Since I came with 17GB that sounds a little crazy, I know.
After the performance I really wanted to buy a CD of the throat singers but I had zero cash. I had to pay to take photos and I didn't even have enough to cover that. The lady just took all the cash I had and said ok. I asked the woman selling CDs if I could run to an ATM and she would wait. She said yes, 10 mins. So I ran 2 blocks to the nearest ATM and ran back just in time. Then I needed to use the restroom and as I was coming out an artist was selling his paintings and seemed like he really wanted me to buy one. They were actually nice and I selected a small one I can carry easily. It was only 5,000 togrogs, which is only about 3.50, but he seemed super excited to sell it and get the money.
After this I went to the grocery store to get food for tomorrow's train. The cashier gave me my change but it was 1 togrog short. I read in the book that almost no one uses the 1 and in fact I know I hadn't received a few before. As 1 togrog is equal to 0.0007 cents, I'm not too worried, but I did want to have one for a souvenir so I asked holding up one finger and said 'souvenir' so she didn't think I was just being a ridiculous tightwad tourist. lol
After that it was back to the guest house, eat leftover pizza and type this blog post. Now I will take a shower since I have to get up at 6.40 already to get the train. (Also can't find the colon sign. lol)
Night night!
I decided to go to the Winter Palace first. I got on the bus indicated by the guidebook as going to the Palace and some nice Mongolian girl saw me reading the book and asked if she could help. She told me what stop to get off on and even offered to walk with me to find it. I said thank you very much, but I didn't want to interrupt her day and I would be okay I thought. She said it was very far to walk - maybe 1/2 mile. I said that I am a tourist and it's okay for me to walk, I like to see the city.
So I got off the bus and started walking. I saw some interesting buildings and took some photos, then continued walking looking for the "6 temples with a large white one on the right", as the guidebook indicted. I walked for what seemed 1/2 a mile, but then I came to the second river, which was not indicated in the guidebook so I stopped some women and asked. They chattered amongst themselves and then pointed ... in both directions! I retraced my steps and went into a supermarket to ask. Again the man was very nice and walked outside with me and pointed in the direction I had just come from. When he went back inside I asked a different man if he spoke English and told him what I was looking for. He seemed very sure of his directions and pointed me in the opposite direction of the store clerk.
This is the conclusion I have drawn about Mongolians... they want to practice English with you, and I think they really want to be helpful, but they also don't want to admit if they don't know something. This is sweet, but very frustrating as you end up wasting a lot of time walking in circles. This also happened to me yesterday when I was looking for a restaurant. A woman saw me looking at the book and the streets and offered to take me to the restaurant, only she started walking in the direction I was sure it was not. After 2 blocks I said I thought it was the other way, so she stopped someone in the street and asked and they said yes, the other way. She offered to walk with me, but I told her thank you, she didn't need to. Eventually I found it about 1/2 block past where she had offered to help in the first place. Ugh! If you ask 5 Mongolians directions, you will get 7 different answers!
So for the Palace... I walk back the way I had come, almost to the bus stop again! But this time I'm on the other side of the street and I see those buildings I took a picture of closer up. I see they kind of look like temples and one is white. Then I see this little gold plaque that says 'Winter Palace'. Yup, it's the place I took pictures of about 35 min ago! Ugh!
So I walk up and everything looks closed. I snap some photos and then push on the door by the closed ticket counter. I figured, hell I came this far, I'm not giving up without seriously trying to see this place! Miracles upon miracles, the door opens! I walk in and there are a couple of guys mowing the grass but no one seems to pay me much attention, so I waltz in and start taking photos. Only, I didn't get far before a guy came up and told me they're closed. I pointed to the sign that says they are open 10-6 but he points to the winter timetable that says closed on Wed and Thurs. Evidently the Winter Palace people decided that winter had come early this year. So I didn't get to see the Palace I had gone on such a search to find. Ugh.
I was still miserable with a stuffed up head and really tired so I decided I would go to the doctor. I got on a bus that I knew at least went to the main square, which would put me closer to the SOS International Medica, and I figured I would catch a cab from there. Only the bus turned at the square, and instead of stopping at the corner, went another 4 blocks before stopping. Double ugh! At this point I was close to the other temple I wanted to see so decided to just go there before the doctor.
I walked around shooting photos and even got some bootleg video of Buddhist ceremonies! It said no photos but it didn't say no videos so I covertly held my camera on my arm and recorded. Shame on me, I know. Then I went to the main temple where there is a Buddha statue that is 87 feet tall!! That' 3 stories! It's gilded gold and is quite imposing. It's only 2.50 to enter the temple but it's 5 to take pictures. This is the case with everything in Mongolia! (Sorry, I am using a wacky keyboard that won't type the dollar sign. It also has the y where the z should be and vice versa. Ugh!) There are hundreds of these round, gold ... pots for lack of a better word, and people walk around the Buddha and spin every single one of them. This is supposed to bring you luck. I twirled a few on them, but not all. But maybe I should have, or the Universe was getting me back for the bootleg video, because as I was standing there looking at this crazy huge Buddha, a pigeon crapped on my shoulder. Guess I better spin some more pots!
After the temple I FINALLY went to the doctor. It did look kind of far on the map, but the traffic also looked bad, and I didn't want to get stuck on the wrong bus again. So I walked. And walked. And walked. And Walked. I swear it must have been 2 miles! That's a beef I have with the Lonely Planet books - their map scale is a load of crap! I was so tired when I got there I just wanted to sleep. The receptionist asked which doctor I wanted to see and I said the American one. She said the ex-pat doctor on staff was actually from South Africa, but he obviously spoke English. I was in and out in maybe 30-40 mins. $147, a shot in the butt and some pills later and I feel much better! :) The antibiotics I took a week plus ago had cleared up the sinus infection, but my sinuses were still really inflamed and clogged. He gave me a steroid shot (prednisone) for the inflammation, and sudafed for the congestion. I had tried like crazy to get sudafed here in UB before leaving for the Gobi, but that's when I came away with just the TheraFlu stuff. Perhaps pseudoephedrine is only available by prescription here? They are worth their weight in gold to me anyhow! Within 20-30 mins of the shot and 1 pill, I was already feeling better. My head unclogged, my headache went away and my drippy nose finally stopped! Of course the drippy and headache comes back when the sudafed wears off, but it's SO much better than it was.
Feeling better, I was able to enjoy UB's other saving grace - the National Academy Dance and Singing Troup. It was only an hour and 15 min but was really good. There were a number of dance acts with beautiful costumes, some awesome throat singers, contortionists, regular singers and an orchestra. I got some amazing video, but now I'm starting to worry I won't have enough GB for the Great Wall and Beijing. I've got 5GB more of memory cards and about 80 pictures on the card I have in now. I may have to buy another in Beijing. Since I came with 17GB that sounds a little crazy, I know.
After the performance I really wanted to buy a CD of the throat singers but I had zero cash. I had to pay to take photos and I didn't even have enough to cover that. The lady just took all the cash I had and said ok. I asked the woman selling CDs if I could run to an ATM and she would wait. She said yes, 10 mins. So I ran 2 blocks to the nearest ATM and ran back just in time. Then I needed to use the restroom and as I was coming out an artist was selling his paintings and seemed like he really wanted me to buy one. They were actually nice and I selected a small one I can carry easily. It was only 5,000 togrogs, which is only about 3.50, but he seemed super excited to sell it and get the money.
After this I went to the grocery store to get food for tomorrow's train. The cashier gave me my change but it was 1 togrog short. I read in the book that almost no one uses the 1 and in fact I know I hadn't received a few before. As 1 togrog is equal to 0.0007 cents, I'm not too worried, but I did want to have one for a souvenir so I asked holding up one finger and said 'souvenir' so she didn't think I was just being a ridiculous tightwad tourist. lol
After that it was back to the guest house, eat leftover pizza and type this blog post. Now I will take a shower since I have to get up at 6.40 already to get the train. (Also can't find the colon sign. lol)
Night night!
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Ulaanbaatar is Disgusting!
After spending 5 glorious days in the sand, sun and wide open desert with clean, fresh air and no annoying insects, UB is a huge disappointment. The air is visibly dirty and there are these annoying little gnats everywhere that make it almost impossible to breathe. I really wish I was going to Beijing tomorrow, but I will make the best of it. I got back at 3.00 and emailed and blog posted until 6 so have only a few hours left in the day anyway.
I bought a ticket to see the National Academy Dance and Singing Troup tomorrow night because it came highly recommended by the American woman on the bus and a Dutch girl staying in my hostel (called guest houses in Mongolia).
After 5 days of eating Tol's delicious Mongolian food, i decided it was time for a change and went to an Italian restaurant and had minestrone and pizza... and Coca Cola Light! Ahhh,the little pleasures in life. :) I was going to have Mongolian/Irish pub food but there was nowhere to sit that wasn't inundated with a smoky haze. The Italian place let me sit in the back room where there was no one else and near the open back door.
After eating I went to the supermarket and got food for breakfast. Then I took a much needed shower and went to sleep. Pretty dull day.
I bought a ticket to see the National Academy Dance and Singing Troup tomorrow night because it came highly recommended by the American woman on the bus and a Dutch girl staying in my hostel (called guest houses in Mongolia).
After 5 days of eating Tol's delicious Mongolian food, i decided it was time for a change and went to an Italian restaurant and had minestrone and pizza... and Coca Cola Light! Ahhh,the little pleasures in life. :) I was going to have Mongolian/Irish pub food but there was nowhere to sit that wasn't inundated with a smoky haze. The Italian place let me sit in the back room where there was no one else and near the open back door.
After eating I went to the supermarket and got food for breakfast. Then I took a much needed shower and went to sleep. Pretty dull day.
The Gobi Desert - Day 5, Sept 15 - Goodbye Arburd Sands
Today is the day I leave Arburd Sands and head back to UB. On one hand I am ready to be on my way and continue my next destination, but on the other I am a little sad to leave the people with whom I have spent the last 5 days with and grown fond of. After breakfast I went and packed ever thing and then went to the library to get a wall hanging I had admired the first day. I also saw a pair of Mongolian wool slippers that were only $14 so i got them as well. I would really have liked to have bought one of the super warm cashmere blankets that say 'Arburd Sands' but they weren't advertised as for sale and it would be so bulky it would be hard to carry for another 9 days. Yes, it's hard to believe I only have 9 more days! But I do feel like I've had quite an adventure, and also quite a relaxing time. And I still have a whole other country (and the Great Wall!!) to go!
It's quite cold today with the wind really whipping. It seems like I've picked the perfect time to leave as it's been getting progressively cooler the last 3 days or so. In fact, next weekend is the final of the season for the camp, and then it closes until next year, opening again in May or June. It was so cold this morning that when I squeezed my tube of Vaseline (for my lizard scale dry lips), it was so hard from the cold that it actually popped the seam of the tube! Good thing I brought along some duct tape!
Before I left I gave each person in camp - the guides, cook and waitress - a small tip and had one of the Norwegians take a group photo of us. I asked Badrakh to tell them I felt like I was leaving family. Then I kissed each one on the cheek and they stood and waved until we were out of sight.
Badrakh was driving me back (in his good 4x that is a *much* smoother ride than the mini bus I came in) and said we would stop at his father's ger. First we stopped at the ger of a family of one of the guides and they gave us curds and aairaig. Then we stopped at Badrakh's father's and he explained that his father was actually coming with us as Badrakh was taking him to the hospital to have a heart condition checked.
His father is 79 and small boned, but when he put on his brightly colored maroon silk robe with black embroidery and a medal pinned to the breast, his large decorative belt and traditional Mongolian wool boots curved up at the toes, he looked like royalty. Then he put on a white straw western cowboy hat and he became a mix of Mongolian and western.
At Badrakh's father's they gave me a bowl of warm milk and I had drunk almost all of it before I remembered that even at home, when I have too much dairy without carbohydrates to help digest it, I get a bad tummy. So on the drive all the way to UB I had the worst gas and Badrakh and his father would always roll the window down for a few min every time I let one. I imagined Badrakh's father saying to him, 'Son, what are you feeding these tourists!?' LOL
I'm now sitting in the Nomadic Journey office posting all these blogs so you are up-to-date on what's going on here in Mongolia! I am feeling better today so have decided to wait until tomorrow to go to the doctor, if I feel crummy again. I don't leave for Beijing until Thursday so I have all day tomorrow. The plan is to sight see in UB and then I will take an 8am train on Thurs.
Will send more post cards (hopefully those of you that I have mailing addresses for have received some already) and will update the blog as more fun things happen! Don't forget to write me!!! :)
It's quite cold today with the wind really whipping. It seems like I've picked the perfect time to leave as it's been getting progressively cooler the last 3 days or so. In fact, next weekend is the final of the season for the camp, and then it closes until next year, opening again in May or June. It was so cold this morning that when I squeezed my tube of Vaseline (for my lizard scale dry lips), it was so hard from the cold that it actually popped the seam of the tube! Good thing I brought along some duct tape!
Before I left I gave each person in camp - the guides, cook and waitress - a small tip and had one of the Norwegians take a group photo of us. I asked Badrakh to tell them I felt like I was leaving family. Then I kissed each one on the cheek and they stood and waved until we were out of sight.
Badrakh was driving me back (in his good 4x that is a *much* smoother ride than the mini bus I came in) and said we would stop at his father's ger. First we stopped at the ger of a family of one of the guides and they gave us curds and aairaig. Then we stopped at Badrakh's father's and he explained that his father was actually coming with us as Badrakh was taking him to the hospital to have a heart condition checked.
His father is 79 and small boned, but when he put on his brightly colored maroon silk robe with black embroidery and a medal pinned to the breast, his large decorative belt and traditional Mongolian wool boots curved up at the toes, he looked like royalty. Then he put on a white straw western cowboy hat and he became a mix of Mongolian and western.
At Badrakh's father's they gave me a bowl of warm milk and I had drunk almost all of it before I remembered that even at home, when I have too much dairy without carbohydrates to help digest it, I get a bad tummy. So on the drive all the way to UB I had the worst gas and Badrakh and his father would always roll the window down for a few min every time I let one. I imagined Badrakh's father saying to him, 'Son, what are you feeding these tourists!?' LOL
I'm now sitting in the Nomadic Journey office posting all these blogs so you are up-to-date on what's going on here in Mongolia! I am feeling better today so have decided to wait until tomorrow to go to the doctor, if I feel crummy again. I don't leave for Beijing until Thursday so I have all day tomorrow. The plan is to sight see in UB and then I will take an 8am train on Thurs.
Will send more post cards (hopefully those of you that I have mailing addresses for have received some already) and will update the blog as more fun things happen! Don't forget to write me!!! :)
The Gobi Desert - Day 4, Sept 14 - Horse Riding, Mare Milking and Yogurt Vodka
I think I have more than a sinus infection because I slept over 12 hours again last night and feel crummy again. I think it's time to see a doctor and there is a clinic in UB staffed with western doctors, so I will go there when I return tomorrow. Thank goodness for health insurance and travel insurance because the book says office visits START at $195!
I didn't wake up until 10:30, but wonderful Tol still made me breakfast. She made a pancake, but to be honest, I prefer the Mongolian yogurt and granola with the yummy jam, and the dark Mongolian bread also with the jam.
I decided that even though I feel crummy I would still go for a horse ride because I leave tomorrow before lunch and won't have another opportunity. The Mongolian horse lives completely in the wild. There are no barns or stables. They sleep in huddled circles with the outermost ones protecting the inner circle from wolves by kicking. They take turns throughout the night shifting from the outer circle to the inner circle.
Badrakh said I would ride to a family's ger and he and two Norwegian tourists who had arrived at lunch would meet us there by car. He said we would be making vodka from yogurt!
They gave me chaps and a helmet and I got on with no trouble. As the Mongolian horse is much shorter than our domestic horse, I didn't need a boost or step. The horses walked pretty slowly across the desert and I wanted to ask if we could go faster but i thought I would wait until the ride back, after I had gotten a feel for the horse's temperament.
We crossed desert with lots of little hills, akin to ski moguls. Every once in awhile the horses would sink into a hole and stumble a bit. The guide indicated that these mounds and holes are made by a desert mouse (which I've seen hundreds of here!) that burrow tunnels and weaken the sand. I think they are more like gophers or prairie dogs, but as small as mice. They burrow and can stand up on their hind legs, and look more like gophers than mice.
We arrived at the family's ger and Badrakh and Tol began making the vodka. They take yogurt that is 3 weeks old and put it in a pan over a fire. Then they put a huge metal container over it and suspend a bucket in it. Then they cover this with another pan and gradually add cold water. As the steam rises through the cooking yogurt and hits the cold water in the metal pan, it produces condensation that drips (or distills) into the suspended bucket and that is the vodka. I'm still not sure how you get alcohol from yogurt, but maybe because it's been fermenting for 3 weeks...? He made the fire the traditional Mongolian way - with dung instead of wood. It said it didn't smell at all (he said the dung they burn is 1-2 years old!) and asked why we didn't use it in camp? Badrakh said tourists don't like it. Although i didn't say it, I think he should use dung and tell the tourists it's both traditional and eco-friendly!
While the vodka was distilling we got an opportunity to witness 'milking of the mares'. This is when they milk the mother horses - and they do it every hour and a half!! They gather all the foals and tie them up and then bring one over to the mare and let it suckle for a couple of minutes to get the mother's milk flowing. Then they take the foal away and milk the mare. (Before I left home I had been talking about milking camels, but evidently I was mistaken since I never saw them milk camels, just the mares.)
I asked if I might try and after a bit they called me over and said I could! I asked the Norwegian guy if he would take a video for me and I have the most awesome video of me milking a mare!! I've already watched it 3 times! Lol
We had goats growing up and I used to milk them, so I kind of knew the process, but mare teats are much smaller than goat's and it's really hard to control where the milk goes. I got it all over my hands and sprayed my jacket a couple of times too. When I was finished I thanked them and then tasted the milk that had run down my hands. It was surprisingly sweet! And as it dried it was very sticky. I have to say that milking a mare has probably been the highlight of my trip so far!
We had the vodka and then started back to camp. After a bit I indicated that I would like to go a little faster and the guide said to get the horses to go you say 'tshu' (pronounced like 'shoe' but starting with your tongue pressed to your two front teeth.) They began to move a little faster. I know Amos will kill me if I get it wrong but I think it was a trot. ;) After a bit more time I was comfortable with this pace and wanted to go faster. I could also see the camp in the distance and knew we were getting close. The guide told me to stand up when the horse galloped and off we went. I have to say that standing up in the saddle was much easier at a faster pace! I didn't bounce around and it was much easier to keep my balance.
We only got to gallop for a short time before the guide indicated we needed to stop because we were close to camp. I still wanted to ride fast so I asked if we could go for awhile more. We turned around and rode at a good galloping pace for maybe another 15 min and then he indicated we should go back because the horses were working up a sweat. We slowed them to a walk for the last few min back to camp. I asked Badrakh if I could give them a sugar cube and he said he didn't think they would take it, but I could try. I took 4 sugar cubes (2 for each horse) and offered one to the horse I had ridden. He kept turning his head away but I opened his mouth and placed the sugar cube in thinking as soon as he tasted it he'd understand. But Badrakh was right, the horse just spit it out. Lol
I gave wash to Tol and then took a shower. Since I was leaving the next day and knew I wouldn't have an opportunity to properly wash again until I got home, I gave her just about everything, including all my warm clothes except my wind breaker and nylon pants. After dinner I asked if the clothes were dry but she said 'tomorrow'. I explained that I needed the warm clothes to sleep in so she at least went and got those, but there was no way the cotton tights were going to dry in time. So, Badrakh had them bring me another set of blankets and I was very warm!
I didn't wake up until 10:30, but wonderful Tol still made me breakfast. She made a pancake, but to be honest, I prefer the Mongolian yogurt and granola with the yummy jam, and the dark Mongolian bread also with the jam.
I decided that even though I feel crummy I would still go for a horse ride because I leave tomorrow before lunch and won't have another opportunity. The Mongolian horse lives completely in the wild. There are no barns or stables. They sleep in huddled circles with the outermost ones protecting the inner circle from wolves by kicking. They take turns throughout the night shifting from the outer circle to the inner circle.
Badrakh said I would ride to a family's ger and he and two Norwegian tourists who had arrived at lunch would meet us there by car. He said we would be making vodka from yogurt!
They gave me chaps and a helmet and I got on with no trouble. As the Mongolian horse is much shorter than our domestic horse, I didn't need a boost or step. The horses walked pretty slowly across the desert and I wanted to ask if we could go faster but i thought I would wait until the ride back, after I had gotten a feel for the horse's temperament.
We crossed desert with lots of little hills, akin to ski moguls. Every once in awhile the horses would sink into a hole and stumble a bit. The guide indicated that these mounds and holes are made by a desert mouse (which I've seen hundreds of here!) that burrow tunnels and weaken the sand. I think they are more like gophers or prairie dogs, but as small as mice. They burrow and can stand up on their hind legs, and look more like gophers than mice.
We arrived at the family's ger and Badrakh and Tol began making the vodka. They take yogurt that is 3 weeks old and put it in a pan over a fire. Then they put a huge metal container over it and suspend a bucket in it. Then they cover this with another pan and gradually add cold water. As the steam rises through the cooking yogurt and hits the cold water in the metal pan, it produces condensation that drips (or distills) into the suspended bucket and that is the vodka. I'm still not sure how you get alcohol from yogurt, but maybe because it's been fermenting for 3 weeks...? He made the fire the traditional Mongolian way - with dung instead of wood. It said it didn't smell at all (he said the dung they burn is 1-2 years old!) and asked why we didn't use it in camp? Badrakh said tourists don't like it. Although i didn't say it, I think he should use dung and tell the tourists it's both traditional and eco-friendly!
While the vodka was distilling we got an opportunity to witness 'milking of the mares'. This is when they milk the mother horses - and they do it every hour and a half!! They gather all the foals and tie them up and then bring one over to the mare and let it suckle for a couple of minutes to get the mother's milk flowing. Then they take the foal away and milk the mare. (Before I left home I had been talking about milking camels, but evidently I was mistaken since I never saw them milk camels, just the mares.)
I asked if I might try and after a bit they called me over and said I could! I asked the Norwegian guy if he would take a video for me and I have the most awesome video of me milking a mare!! I've already watched it 3 times! Lol
We had goats growing up and I used to milk them, so I kind of knew the process, but mare teats are much smaller than goat's and it's really hard to control where the milk goes. I got it all over my hands and sprayed my jacket a couple of times too. When I was finished I thanked them and then tasted the milk that had run down my hands. It was surprisingly sweet! And as it dried it was very sticky. I have to say that milking a mare has probably been the highlight of my trip so far!
We had the vodka and then started back to camp. After a bit I indicated that I would like to go a little faster and the guide said to get the horses to go you say 'tshu' (pronounced like 'shoe' but starting with your tongue pressed to your two front teeth.) They began to move a little faster. I know Amos will kill me if I get it wrong but I think it was a trot. ;) After a bit more time I was comfortable with this pace and wanted to go faster. I could also see the camp in the distance and knew we were getting close. The guide told me to stand up when the horse galloped and off we went. I have to say that standing up in the saddle was much easier at a faster pace! I didn't bounce around and it was much easier to keep my balance.
We only got to gallop for a short time before the guide indicated we needed to stop because we were close to camp. I still wanted to ride fast so I asked if we could go for awhile more. We turned around and rode at a good galloping pace for maybe another 15 min and then he indicated we should go back because the horses were working up a sweat. We slowed them to a walk for the last few min back to camp. I asked Badrakh if I could give them a sugar cube and he said he didn't think they would take it, but I could try. I took 4 sugar cubes (2 for each horse) and offered one to the horse I had ridden. He kept turning his head away but I opened his mouth and placed the sugar cube in thinking as soon as he tasted it he'd understand. But Badrakh was right, the horse just spit it out. Lol
I gave wash to Tol and then took a shower. Since I was leaving the next day and knew I wouldn't have an opportunity to properly wash again until I got home, I gave her just about everything, including all my warm clothes except my wind breaker and nylon pants. After dinner I asked if the clothes were dry but she said 'tomorrow'. I explained that I needed the warm clothes to sleep in so she at least went and got those, but there was no way the cotton tights were going to dry in time. So, Badrakh had them bring me another set of blankets and I was very warm!
The Gobi Desert - Day 3, Sept 13 - Searching for Ibex and Knuckle Bone Championships
Ahhh, there is nothing like waking up to the crackle of a warm fire and the sun shining brightly!
After breakfast I set off with a driver to look for ibex and mountain sheep. He stopped several times and took out the telescope but we didn't spot any. It would have been nice, but the scenery was so beautiful I really didn't care. One of the places we stopped was Sacred Mountain and I tried to indicate to him I wanted to climb it. I don't think he was understanding so I took my hiking boots out of my backpack and pointed to he mountain. He pulled over and indicated that it was very steep. I tried to say I was only going to go part way but I don't think he understood.
I scaled the steep slope quite rapidly and turned around to take photos of the spectacular views. I was about to start back down when I spotted a lake over another mountain ridge, so I continued up a little further. I got a nice shot of an oasis-like lake in the middle of the desert!
As I was coming down I put my hand on a prickly plant and quickly pulled my hand away and pulled the stickers out. But it really stung and I hoped it wasn't something poisonous. I even took a picture of it in case it was and I had to show someone what got me. Now, even hours later, it still stings pretty good but it's not swelling and I can still breathe, so I guess I'll be ok. :)
I knew we were also headed to the knuckle bone shooting championships, which were being held that day, and after another 30 min or so of driving we arrived at a make-shift camp where the games were going on. Badrakh was there and took me around to the different tents and the different games going on. He said it was ok to take pictures so I took many and also videos. I can't wait to share them with you. Essentially, they flick a piece of deer antler at other pieces of deer antler from 8-10 feet away and whomever hits the most pieces wins. To get down to the final champion, the target piece gets smaller and smaller, and at one point they were aiming for a coin the size of a dime.
After a time I asked Badrakh if women cold play too and he said yes, one of the people who would be playing for the championship this year was a woman. So I asked if I could try it and a middle aged Mongolian man indicated to Badrakh that he would like to teach me. Only he wasn't really teaching me, it turned out we were playing a game and whoever lost had to give the winner a bottle of vodka. I'll give you one guess who the winner was.
After I lost Badrakh took us to a jeep that must have been his and gave me a bottle of vodka to present to the man I had lost to. Then we all sat cross-legged in a circle and he poured a shot. Badrakh interpreted that the first shot is thrown into the wind as a gift to the mountains. The next shot the man gave to me and told Badrakh to tell me he was honored as I was the first foreigner he had ever played knuckle bone with. I said I too was honored and asked the Mongolian word for 'cheers' and then drank the entire shot. They all cheered and passed shots around the circle. Most of them put their fingers in it and flicked it onto the air before drinking half and Badrakh told me it was also a gift to the mountains. So I made sure to do this each time I had vodka for the rest of the day - and I did have more vodka the rest of the day! It seems to be the Mongolian drink of choice, which makes sense I guess seeing that they are so close to Russia, and used to be ruled by Russians.
This guy I lost to seemed to take a liking to me and wanted Badrakh to take our picture. He was also kissing my cheek. Badrakh said he told the man he would send the picture to his wife if he didn't behave, and the man replied back please don't send the picture to his wife or she might not let him come to the games next year, and the whole circle roared with laughter.
I wandered around watching different matches and taking photos. I found some kids that had a pet bunny and he let me hold it. The kids were following me around and one spoke decent English. I ended up teaching them to play American baseball and they loved it! We played with an empty water bottle in place of the ball and fashioned bases from something that looked like old roofing tiles and bats from sticks. I was the pitcher for a long time and then one of the boys wanted me to hit so he pitched. It really was fun, and quite a heartwarming experience. I also got a couple of good videos.
I was getting a little bored and ready to go (I had been there probably 4 or 5 hours at that point) but Badrakh told me there was going to be a closing ceremony where they presented medals and drank aairag, which is the fermented mare's milk I'd read about and was determined to try! They had already set-up for the ceremony and the aairag was sitting there in a pot and Badrakh asked if i wanted to try it, but I didn't want to be rude so I told him I would wait for the ceremony. Turns out the ceremony was still a couple of hours away!
I climbed some rocks with the boys I had played baseball with as they wanted to show me some water. They had these small sticks they had sharpened and showed me how they used hem to climb the rocks with. I tried it, but I couldn't keep my balance using the stick, so I told them I would use my fingers. They looked at me a little unbelievably, but when I scaled the rocks with ease they seemed to be somewhat impressed.
We made it to the water and it turned out to be a little tide pool of sorts. They indicated there were 'baby fish' and sure enough, there were. I scooped one up in my hand and offered it to one of the boys who took it, but the other one seemed afraid to hold it. Eventually he did and I think they enjoyed it.
Then I took their picture and they each wanted a picture with me. They really were the sweetest kids. Then they got intrigued by my camera and wanted to take pictures of their families far below with my zoom. I knew I could erase them later so I let them play with it. Each time they took a photo, the one little boy who spoke some English would say "It's good!" and hold his thumb up. Lol
Finally it was time for he closing ceremony and I took some photos of the men getting their medals. After they received their medals they went around the entire circle and shook hands with everyone, including me. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised how warm and welcoming everyone was of me, a foreigner, at a tournament of a game of such national importance. Everyone constantly invited me into their tent for food and into their circles for vodka. The Mongolian people are quite hospitable and warm.
Oh, a side story. All the people shooting knuckle bone sit on these little stools with one knee on a little rug for balance. I really liked the stool and asked Badrakh where I could buy one - if it was collapsible or portable enough to carry home with me. After a time the son of the woman in the championships came up to me and handed me one of the stools that comes apart into 3 pieces so is fully portable. He didn't ask for money or anything, but I asked Badrakh what an appropriate amount was. He said maybe 20, which meant 20,000 tögrög, which is about $14. That's probably a little pricey for a beat-up stool, but I was happy to pay it because I now have a genuine knucle bone chair used by a woman in the championships!
After the ceremony I finally got to taste aairag! It's tart, but I liked it. Actually, I like it more than I do the warm whole cows milk they serve for breakfast, which I think tastes kind of gamey. I find that surprising, thinking milk from a horse would taste more gamey, but maybe it's because it's fermented and therefore tart. They said it was about 4-5% alcohol, and I suppose if you drank bowl after bowl you'd get drunk, but it didn't taste alcoholic at all to me. They also let the littlest children drink it so it can't be that strong.
I'm pretty proud of myself on the food front on this trip. In Irkutsk I had beef tongue and that local fish I told you about. And at the games when I looked at the pot of aairag, it had dust, a couple of gnats and some horse hair floating in it, but I still drank it right down! Anytime anyone asks me if I'd like "x" i say yes, even if I have no idea what it is. I always ask Tol 'is this Mongolian?' so I think she knows I want to try all Mongolian food.
Finally, it was time to go back to camp. It had been 9 hours since we had left that morning and I was quite tired. I took a lovely, and much needed, hot shower, had dinner, visited with the 4 Australian tourists that had come the day before and collapsed into bed before 10pm. Quite a day!
After breakfast I set off with a driver to look for ibex and mountain sheep. He stopped several times and took out the telescope but we didn't spot any. It would have been nice, but the scenery was so beautiful I really didn't care. One of the places we stopped was Sacred Mountain and I tried to indicate to him I wanted to climb it. I don't think he was understanding so I took my hiking boots out of my backpack and pointed to he mountain. He pulled over and indicated that it was very steep. I tried to say I was only going to go part way but I don't think he understood.
I scaled the steep slope quite rapidly and turned around to take photos of the spectacular views. I was about to start back down when I spotted a lake over another mountain ridge, so I continued up a little further. I got a nice shot of an oasis-like lake in the middle of the desert!
As I was coming down I put my hand on a prickly plant and quickly pulled my hand away and pulled the stickers out. But it really stung and I hoped it wasn't something poisonous. I even took a picture of it in case it was and I had to show someone what got me. Now, even hours later, it still stings pretty good but it's not swelling and I can still breathe, so I guess I'll be ok. :)
I knew we were also headed to the knuckle bone shooting championships, which were being held that day, and after another 30 min or so of driving we arrived at a make-shift camp where the games were going on. Badrakh was there and took me around to the different tents and the different games going on. He said it was ok to take pictures so I took many and also videos. I can't wait to share them with you. Essentially, they flick a piece of deer antler at other pieces of deer antler from 8-10 feet away and whomever hits the most pieces wins. To get down to the final champion, the target piece gets smaller and smaller, and at one point they were aiming for a coin the size of a dime.
After a time I asked Badrakh if women cold play too and he said yes, one of the people who would be playing for the championship this year was a woman. So I asked if I could try it and a middle aged Mongolian man indicated to Badrakh that he would like to teach me. Only he wasn't really teaching me, it turned out we were playing a game and whoever lost had to give the winner a bottle of vodka. I'll give you one guess who the winner was.
After I lost Badrakh took us to a jeep that must have been his and gave me a bottle of vodka to present to the man I had lost to. Then we all sat cross-legged in a circle and he poured a shot. Badrakh interpreted that the first shot is thrown into the wind as a gift to the mountains. The next shot the man gave to me and told Badrakh to tell me he was honored as I was the first foreigner he had ever played knuckle bone with. I said I too was honored and asked the Mongolian word for 'cheers' and then drank the entire shot. They all cheered and passed shots around the circle. Most of them put their fingers in it and flicked it onto the air before drinking half and Badrakh told me it was also a gift to the mountains. So I made sure to do this each time I had vodka for the rest of the day - and I did have more vodka the rest of the day! It seems to be the Mongolian drink of choice, which makes sense I guess seeing that they are so close to Russia, and used to be ruled by Russians.
This guy I lost to seemed to take a liking to me and wanted Badrakh to take our picture. He was also kissing my cheek. Badrakh said he told the man he would send the picture to his wife if he didn't behave, and the man replied back please don't send the picture to his wife or she might not let him come to the games next year, and the whole circle roared with laughter.
I wandered around watching different matches and taking photos. I found some kids that had a pet bunny and he let me hold it. The kids were following me around and one spoke decent English. I ended up teaching them to play American baseball and they loved it! We played with an empty water bottle in place of the ball and fashioned bases from something that looked like old roofing tiles and bats from sticks. I was the pitcher for a long time and then one of the boys wanted me to hit so he pitched. It really was fun, and quite a heartwarming experience. I also got a couple of good videos.
I was getting a little bored and ready to go (I had been there probably 4 or 5 hours at that point) but Badrakh told me there was going to be a closing ceremony where they presented medals and drank aairag, which is the fermented mare's milk I'd read about and was determined to try! They had already set-up for the ceremony and the aairag was sitting there in a pot and Badrakh asked if i wanted to try it, but I didn't want to be rude so I told him I would wait for the ceremony. Turns out the ceremony was still a couple of hours away!
I climbed some rocks with the boys I had played baseball with as they wanted to show me some water. They had these small sticks they had sharpened and showed me how they used hem to climb the rocks with. I tried it, but I couldn't keep my balance using the stick, so I told them I would use my fingers. They looked at me a little unbelievably, but when I scaled the rocks with ease they seemed to be somewhat impressed.
We made it to the water and it turned out to be a little tide pool of sorts. They indicated there were 'baby fish' and sure enough, there were. I scooped one up in my hand and offered it to one of the boys who took it, but the other one seemed afraid to hold it. Eventually he did and I think they enjoyed it.
Then I took their picture and they each wanted a picture with me. They really were the sweetest kids. Then they got intrigued by my camera and wanted to take pictures of their families far below with my zoom. I knew I could erase them later so I let them play with it. Each time they took a photo, the one little boy who spoke some English would say "It's good!" and hold his thumb up. Lol
Finally it was time for he closing ceremony and I took some photos of the men getting their medals. After they received their medals they went around the entire circle and shook hands with everyone, including me. I must say, I was pleasantly surprised how warm and welcoming everyone was of me, a foreigner, at a tournament of a game of such national importance. Everyone constantly invited me into their tent for food and into their circles for vodka. The Mongolian people are quite hospitable and warm.
Oh, a side story. All the people shooting knuckle bone sit on these little stools with one knee on a little rug for balance. I really liked the stool and asked Badrakh where I could buy one - if it was collapsible or portable enough to carry home with me. After a time the son of the woman in the championships came up to me and handed me one of the stools that comes apart into 3 pieces so is fully portable. He didn't ask for money or anything, but I asked Badrakh what an appropriate amount was. He said maybe 20, which meant 20,000 tögrög, which is about $14. That's probably a little pricey for a beat-up stool, but I was happy to pay it because I now have a genuine knucle bone chair used by a woman in the championships!
After the ceremony I finally got to taste aairag! It's tart, but I liked it. Actually, I like it more than I do the warm whole cows milk they serve for breakfast, which I think tastes kind of gamey. I find that surprising, thinking milk from a horse would taste more gamey, but maybe it's because it's fermented and therefore tart. They said it was about 4-5% alcohol, and I suppose if you drank bowl after bowl you'd get drunk, but it didn't taste alcoholic at all to me. They also let the littlest children drink it so it can't be that strong.
I'm pretty proud of myself on the food front on this trip. In Irkutsk I had beef tongue and that local fish I told you about. And at the games when I looked at the pot of aairag, it had dust, a couple of gnats and some horse hair floating in it, but I still drank it right down! Anytime anyone asks me if I'd like "x" i say yes, even if I have no idea what it is. I always ask Tol 'is this Mongolian?' so I think she knows I want to try all Mongolian food.
Finally, it was time to go back to camp. It had been 9 hours since we had left that morning and I was quite tired. I took a lovely, and much needed, hot shower, had dinner, visited with the 4 Australian tourists that had come the day before and collapsed into bed before 10pm. Quite a day!
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