Sunday, September 16, 2007
Saturday, September 15, 2007
I want to ride my bicycle...I want to ride my bike...
Een fiets nemen in Beijing en je wagen in het moordende Chinese verkeer (5000 verkeersdoden per dag). Dat wil toch iedereen?! Idd! Wij ook.
In de hostel huurden we twee aluminium rossen en vertrokken (na eerst Eline's fiets te wisselen, die kapot was...) naar het postkantoor, om het laatste matje op te sturen (dat was echt een dom plan om die mee te nemen), en enkele soouvenirs. Net zoals in Rusland en Mongolie hadden ze echter alweer geen kartonnen buizen, dus mijn poster uit Moskow kon alweer niet mee. Ik was het beu, en we trokken naar DHL. Zij zoiuden dat klusje wel klaren. Na lang zoeken vonden we het minikantoor, waar ze ook geen buizen hadden.... (aaaarggh) Maar niet getreurd! Die DHL man sprong daar in een Chinese furie, nam breekmes, plakband en een kartonnen doos ter hand en en ging woest te keer tot een pakketje van 7x7x... cm onstond dat helemaal was ingetapet. Geweldig!!!! Leve DHL! 'Wanneer komt het aan?''3 working days'. 'Ok...oei....en the price????......' '67euro' (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) G*dverd*mme!!!!!!!!! Nu ja, morgen of overmorgen komt onze poster dus aan, en kost hij 100 euro. Maar hij zal pronken!!!
Daarna eindelijk tijd voor cultuur. De Lama temple was zeer mooi, maar uiteraard ook weer een tempel, en daarna naar de Drum en Bell Towers, die we beide beklommen. Na een pintje en een cola (mijn darmpjes...)
Daarna reden we naar een winkelwandelstraat, en doken een Shoppingcenter in. (wow) Snel werd het tijd om te gaan eten, wat zeer lekker en goedkoop was. Uiteindelijk was het tijd om in te gaan pakken, want die avond vertok onze slaaptrein naar Zhengzou.
Dat station was veeeeel verder dan gedacht, en het werd spannend. We konden direct van de 'gate' (dat station was waanzinnig groot!!!) naar de trein. En dan wordt het weer tijd voor de volgende post.
Fietsen in Beijing viel trouwens zeer goed mee. Alles is er aangepast aan de fietsen, met aparte en brede fietsstroken. Door de verschillende hutongs rijden (kleine straatjes die door de woonwijken lopen) is leuk en verrassend, omdat deze hutongs niet enkel zeer mooi zijn met het vele groen, maar ook omdat ze bruisen van leven. Het aantal fietsen is wel enorm geslonken, ten voordele van auto's en bromfietsen. Op foto's van mijn vader uit '91 zie je nog hele straten gevuld met honderden fietsen. Daar is nu totaal geen sprake meer van. Van het romantische beeld rest jammer genoeg niet veel meer.
If you're affraid, just follow the movement and you will be allright (Nico, de franse kok in Beijing(op zijn Frans Engels uit te spreken uiteraard))
In de hostel huurden we twee aluminium rossen en vertrokken (na eerst Eline's fiets te wisselen, die kapot was...) naar het postkantoor, om het laatste matje op te sturen (dat was echt een dom plan om die mee te nemen), en enkele soouvenirs. Net zoals in Rusland en Mongolie hadden ze echter alweer geen kartonnen buizen, dus mijn poster uit Moskow kon alweer niet mee. Ik was het beu, en we trokken naar DHL. Zij zoiuden dat klusje wel klaren. Na lang zoeken vonden we het minikantoor, waar ze ook geen buizen hadden.... (aaaarggh) Maar niet getreurd! Die DHL man sprong daar in een Chinese furie, nam breekmes, plakband en een kartonnen doos ter hand en en ging woest te keer tot een pakketje van 7x7x... cm onstond dat helemaal was ingetapet. Geweldig!!!! Leve DHL! 'Wanneer komt het aan?''3 working days'. 'Ok...oei....en the price????......' '67euro' (!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!) G*dverd*mme!!!!!!!!! Nu ja, morgen of overmorgen komt onze poster dus aan, en kost hij 100 euro. Maar hij zal pronken!!!
Daarna eindelijk tijd voor cultuur. De Lama temple was zeer mooi, maar uiteraard ook weer een tempel, en daarna naar de Drum en Bell Towers, die we beide beklommen. Na een pintje en een cola (mijn darmpjes...)
Daarna reden we naar een winkelwandelstraat, en doken een Shoppingcenter in. (wow) Snel werd het tijd om te gaan eten, wat zeer lekker en goedkoop was. Uiteindelijk was het tijd om in te gaan pakken, want die avond vertok onze slaaptrein naar Zhengzou.
Dat station was veeeeel verder dan gedacht, en het werd spannend. We konden direct van de 'gate' (dat station was waanzinnig groot!!!) naar de trein. En dan wordt het weer tijd voor de volgende post.
Fietsen in Beijing viel trouwens zeer goed mee. Alles is er aangepast aan de fietsen, met aparte en brede fietsstroken. Door de verschillende hutongs rijden (kleine straatjes die door de woonwijken lopen) is leuk en verrassend, omdat deze hutongs niet enkel zeer mooi zijn met het vele groen, maar ook omdat ze bruisen van leven. Het aantal fietsen is wel enorm geslonken, ten voordele van auto's en bromfietsen. Op foto's van mijn vader uit '91 zie je nog hele straten gevuld met honderden fietsen. Daar is nu totaal geen sprake meer van. Van het romantische beeld rest jammer genoeg niet veel meer.
More Beijing
After the Forbidden city, we got a bit overambitious, and we walked to the famous temple of heaven park, which was ...quite... far... Fortunately, the park was still open. Due to our infamous no-preparation syndrome, we looked for the Temple of Heaven among all the paths, squares and halls, only to find ot somewhat later that there is no one temple building. The whole complex is called the Temple of Heaven. During our walk we also saw our first sexshops (not that we were looking for them, but a LonelyPlanet author mentioned that Chinese cities were being saturated with them (which isn't true(only where he hangs out ;)), as 70% of ALL sextoys are manufactured in China(70%!!!!!!!!!!!!)).*
We took a taxi to the hostel, had a beer (we deserved it, as we were exhausted), and met back up with Igor, the Russian dance teacher who had judged an international Walz contest in Macau, and he invited us to the European Championships he organises in Omsk next year.
Beijing Duck is probably China's most well known dish, next to Babi Pangang, kroupouk and numbers 12, 45 and 78 on the chinese restaurant menus. So we had to try it, which was an experience. The duck was nice, although I had expected more of it (Eline loved it though). During our meal, Suddenly the waiter put 4 bowls of cabbage on some tables, and we didn't know whom they were meant for (maybe for the next morning...), after half an hour, we knew: personnel of course! 25 chinese people came out of the kitchen with a piece of bread and started eating. The restaurant had about 50 places, and 20 people where in there when we came in. The same remark goes for the shops. There's always at least 5 people working in every shop. How will they do it if China ever modernizes its infrastructure and gets more efficient, like we had in the West during the later 20th century? How many jobs will their communist system have to create?
Afterwards, we had more beer, and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the duck made a casualty: my intestinal flora...
*More percentages: At the moment China absorbs 50% of the world's concrete and 33% of its steel production.
We took a taxi to the hostel, had a beer (we deserved it, as we were exhausted), and met back up with Igor, the Russian dance teacher who had judged an international Walz contest in Macau, and he invited us to the European Championships he organises in Omsk next year.
Beijing Duck is probably China's most well known dish, next to Babi Pangang, kroupouk and numbers 12, 45 and 78 on the chinese restaurant menus. So we had to try it, which was an experience. The duck was nice, although I had expected more of it (Eline loved it though). During our meal, Suddenly the waiter put 4 bowls of cabbage on some tables, and we didn't know whom they were meant for (maybe for the next morning...), after half an hour, we knew: personnel of course! 25 chinese people came out of the kitchen with a piece of bread and started eating. The restaurant had about 50 places, and 20 people where in there when we came in. The same remark goes for the shops. There's always at least 5 people working in every shop. How will they do it if China ever modernizes its infrastructure and gets more efficient, like we had in the West during the later 20th century? How many jobs will their communist system have to create?
Afterwards, we had more beer, and went to sleep. Unfortunately, the duck made a casualty: my intestinal flora...
*More percentages: At the moment China absorbs 50% of the world's concrete and 33% of its steel production.
Thursday, September 13, 2007
Great Wall and The Forbidden City
This one will be in Dutch, with a quick English Summary: The great wall was great. We hike about 8km on the wall from Jinshanling to Simatai. It was though yet rewarding. The forbidden city was enourmous and impressive, yet crowded.
Tijd om nog eens wat te bloggen in het Nederlands. Onze trouwste bezoekers (mamsies en papsies) stellen het waarschijnlijk op prijs om toch nog eens te kunnen controleren of hun kroost nog wel zonder fouten kan schrijven in de Nederlandse taal. (met dit qwerty-toetsenbord kan ik echter niks beloven)
Na enkele dagen niksen in Beijing, waarin we de week na Beijing regelden, werd het tijd om eens tot actie over te gaan. We boekten een tour vanuit de hostel die ons naar Jinshanling bracht, waar we zouden vertrekken voor een 8km lange tocht over de muur naar Simatai. De twee andere, meer bekende plaatsen, Badalin en Mutianyu, zouden veel te druk zijn. (Laatsgenoemde zou zelfs speciaal zijn gerenoveerd en toegankelijk gemaakt om Badalin wat te ontlasten). Het was een zware tocht in de vlakke zon, met af en toe zeer zware klimmen. Het concept 'trap' hadden die Chinezen vroeger niet echt door. Er zijn veel trappen, maar de treden zijn soms wel 40cm of hoger, en vaak was de trap ook vervallen. De Muur is waanzinnig indrukwekkend, en het was adembenemend om op die muur door zijn dramatisch omgeving te wandelen. Door zo lang te wandelen, kreeg je ook een beter beeld van hoe impressionant hij nu in feite is. Hij is wel niet met het blote oog vanuit de ruimte te zien (dat is een fabel), maar het is wel degelijk een wereldwonder. Voor de Mongoolse nomaden waartegen hij in feite was bedoeld, moet het een schok geweest zijn om vanop de heuvels kilometers in de verte die muur te zien lopen over de horizon, op de hoogste punten van het gebergte, zo ver als het oog reiken kan. De drukte viel ook goed mee, en vaak liepen we met zijn tweetjes. Dit stukje kunnen we dus enkel aanraden. In elke toren zaten uiteraard wel Chinese oudjes die 'koo wada' verkochten (cold water), en na een tijd hadden ook wij een 'gids' die meeliep om op 't einde souvenirs te verkopen.
Eenmaal aangekomen namen we een ENORME deathride naar beneden, en kregen we een zeer late lunch. We hebben elk 2 liter water gedronken op die 4 uur. Neem dus zeker voldoende mee.
De verboden stad was ook enorm. We waren zelfs zo stom om na de eerste poort al een ticket te kopen, want de verboden stad begon eigenljk pas 500 meter verder. En die was op zich al onmetelijk groot. (dat eerste ticket was voor de eerste poort).
Een mooi beeld van hoe het er vroeger moet hebben uitgezien krijg je in een film die ik zag tijdens mijn laatste Vlerick weken (ik ben de naam kwijt maar kom er nog op). Omdat ik deze beelden al had gezien, maakte dat de indrukken des te sterker. De Verboden stad bestaat uit een ommuurd paleizencomplex dat vroeger de ambtelijke woonst was van de keizer. Er zijn dus tempels te over, en daarnaast nog honderden vertrekken, die nu gerestoreerd zijn en tentoonstellingen huizen. Het is echter moeilijk om een impressie te schrijven (het is ook al lang geleden) , en ik kan enkel aanraden om het zelf te zien. Eerlijkheidshalve moet ik er wel bijzeggen dat we er graag vertrokken, omdat het de drukste plaats is van heel China. We werden gek! Dus enkel de grootsheid is een mooie herinnering. Een tip is om onmiddellijk de zijkanten van de Noord-Zuid as te bezoeken, en de pleinen en paleizen op de as te bewaren voor de namiddag, toen het iets minder druk werd. De film heette Curse of the Golden Flower.
Tijd om nog eens wat te bloggen in het Nederlands. Onze trouwste bezoekers (mamsies en papsies) stellen het waarschijnlijk op prijs om toch nog eens te kunnen controleren of hun kroost nog wel zonder fouten kan schrijven in de Nederlandse taal. (met dit qwerty-toetsenbord kan ik echter niks beloven)
Na enkele dagen niksen in Beijing, waarin we de week na Beijing regelden, werd het tijd om eens tot actie over te gaan. We boekten een tour vanuit de hostel die ons naar Jinshanling bracht, waar we zouden vertrekken voor een 8km lange tocht over de muur naar Simatai. De twee andere, meer bekende plaatsen, Badalin en Mutianyu, zouden veel te druk zijn. (Laatsgenoemde zou zelfs speciaal zijn gerenoveerd en toegankelijk gemaakt om Badalin wat te ontlasten). Het was een zware tocht in de vlakke zon, met af en toe zeer zware klimmen. Het concept 'trap' hadden die Chinezen vroeger niet echt door. Er zijn veel trappen, maar de treden zijn soms wel 40cm of hoger, en vaak was de trap ook vervallen. De Muur is waanzinnig indrukwekkend, en het was adembenemend om op die muur door zijn dramatisch omgeving te wandelen. Door zo lang te wandelen, kreeg je ook een beter beeld van hoe impressionant hij nu in feite is. Hij is wel niet met het blote oog vanuit de ruimte te zien (dat is een fabel), maar het is wel degelijk een wereldwonder. Voor de Mongoolse nomaden waartegen hij in feite was bedoeld, moet het een schok geweest zijn om vanop de heuvels kilometers in de verte die muur te zien lopen over de horizon, op de hoogste punten van het gebergte, zo ver als het oog reiken kan. De drukte viel ook goed mee, en vaak liepen we met zijn tweetjes. Dit stukje kunnen we dus enkel aanraden. In elke toren zaten uiteraard wel Chinese oudjes die 'koo wada' verkochten (cold water), en na een tijd hadden ook wij een 'gids' die meeliep om op 't einde souvenirs te verkopen.
Eenmaal aangekomen namen we een ENORME deathride naar beneden, en kregen we een zeer late lunch. We hebben elk 2 liter water gedronken op die 4 uur. Neem dus zeker voldoende mee.
De verboden stad was ook enorm. We waren zelfs zo stom om na de eerste poort al een ticket te kopen, want de verboden stad begon eigenljk pas 500 meter verder. En die was op zich al onmetelijk groot. (dat eerste ticket was voor de eerste poort).
Een mooi beeld van hoe het er vroeger moet hebben uitgezien krijg je in een film die ik zag tijdens mijn laatste Vlerick weken (ik ben de naam kwijt maar kom er nog op). Omdat ik deze beelden al had gezien, maakte dat de indrukken des te sterker. De Verboden stad bestaat uit een ommuurd paleizencomplex dat vroeger de ambtelijke woonst was van de keizer. Er zijn dus tempels te over, en daarnaast nog honderden vertrekken, die nu gerestoreerd zijn en tentoonstellingen huizen. Het is echter moeilijk om een impressie te schrijven (het is ook al lang geleden) , en ik kan enkel aanraden om het zelf te zien. Eerlijkheidshalve moet ik er wel bijzeggen dat we er graag vertrokken, omdat het de drukste plaats is van heel China. We werden gek! Dus enkel de grootsheid is een mooie herinnering. Een tip is om onmiddellijk de zijkanten van de Noord-Zuid as te bezoeken, en de pleinen en paleizen op de as te bewaren voor de namiddag, toen het iets minder druk werd. De film heette Curse of the Golden Flower.
China
The Chinese are a truly fascinating, yet disgusting people. Where they surprise you when you find hundreds of them in parks at night, dancing, singing and doing Taichi, while kids are playing and riding their inline skates and other fast toys, they fill you with loathing as they flamboyantly spit everywhere and leave their babies just pee on the stairs of some temple (where people were sitting to watch a show), spreading the urine a bit with their foot to make it evaporate faster. They are also incredibly noisy, and the total absense of English, combined with a strong urge to get every penny out of a tourist they can, makes our stay quite frustrating at some points.
Especially the lack of English makes getting around quite hard. The Chinese also won't make any effort to communicate. They just rattle in Chinese and repeat it after giggling when they see you didn't get it.
But we focus on the nice things. People in the streets and hutongs are friendly and curious, (although this curiousness get annoying when it evolves to plain staring (into Eline's cleavage)) and we sometimes notice that they try to make the best of our eating-, drinking- and shopping experience.
Especially the lack of English makes getting around quite hard. The Chinese also won't make any effort to communicate. They just rattle in Chinese and repeat it after giggling when they see you didn't get it.
But we focus on the nice things. People in the streets and hutongs are friendly and curious, (although this curiousness get annoying when it evolves to plain staring (into Eline's cleavage)) and we sometimes notice that they try to make the best of our eating-, drinking- and shopping experience.
Tuesday, September 11, 2007
Picture time!
Hi!
In the mean while we climbed the great wall and visited the forbidden city... but more about this later...
We just want to announce that there are some more pictures of mongolia on http://www.flickr.com/photos/alosja
In the mean while we climbed the great wall and visited the forbidden city... but more about this later...
We just want to announce that there are some more pictures of mongolia on http://www.flickr.com/photos/alosja
Sunday, September 9, 2007
Central Mongolia:the Green Route
Before starting to tell you about this amazing trip,first some other remarks.
1. Although we are in a major internet cafe in Beijing, uploading pictures is impossible. You'll have to wait (again)
2. Advice from F&E: Go to Mongolia!!!! all of you,but prepare yourself, and don't make the same mistake as we did. We are happy with the trip that was arranged for us by Tiara tours, but we feel scammed. We paid about E500 each for this trip, only to find out at our hostel that Tiara bought these tours from a local travel company for 250$. So they chrged us more than double. So our advice is to let Tiara just arrange your train tickets and maybe some hostels ( as the transfers and advice from local contacts are very handy), but order your tours by yourself! It'll save you vast amounts of money; precious, precious money...
OK
The tour we made through the Mongolian countryside was magnificent!!!! We were driven in an old communist era bus, which was highly uncomfortable, but sturdy as hell!!!
We had a guide and a driver for ourselves and another great Dutch couple, Wessel and Fiona. We saw amazing landscapes and camels, as well as flocks of hawks (we think they're the local equivalent of pigeons, which makes game theory a bit harder to explain here...(economic insider joke)). We slept in ger tents with our own stove.
The first day was great, but it only got better. The second day, we made a shortcut, and had to ask for directions, which caused us to meet a true nomad family that had never seen a tourist from up close (at leat not the children). We were invited in and had to drink Mongolian tea (with milk and salt) and eat Mongolian cheese (which was aweful.... oh the memories cause sickness). But it was an amazing experience. We had to show to everyone the pictures we made on the lcd screen of our cameras, and the hospitality gave us shivers.
Arriving at the family we were staying for two nights, we never felt happyer. The scenery was beautiful, and being in the middle of the farmer's life of these people was a once in a lifetime experience. The food was great,although Eline and Fiona discovered the environment in which it was cooked the day after, which gave it a strange after taste... (flies, flies, thousands of them!!!! in one small ger tent)
The next day we went horseriding. We climbed the volcano (on Foot!!!) and enjoyed the magnificent view of White lake. I (F) was a bit afraid first, due to my strange relation with horses ( I hate them and they hate me), but everything went smooth, except for the fact that my horse wanted to lay down in a pond to refresh itself, while I was still on it.... (Luckely in the beginning, Eline had insisted on changing horses, as I was given the wildest horse in the beginning. They must have thought that I was the most competent man in the group (they noticed...) )
Afterwards, we treated ourselves with a beer that we chilled in the icecold river behind our tents.... (aahhhhh)
the next day we got shaken up again in the bus, and that evening we arrived at a ger tent that had a hot spring. We enjoyed the warm water that smelled like rotten eggs till we looked like 90year olds.
The days after, we visited the oldest monastery in Mongolia, and we also visited Hustai National Park, where we saw Przewalsky horses, deer and marmots... The ger next to ours was the Royal ger suite of Prince Willem-Alexander and princess Maxima,who were not there of course.
The last day we arrived in UB, where we had lunch at BD's Mongolian BBQ, an American all-you-can-eat restaurant. Although this might seem a tourist trap,and maybe even a pervers concept in a semideveloped country, we must say that we enjoyed it enourmously! Good, safe food!!!!
The last night we slept at the new Dream Hotel. It was great to watch BBC world,especially as it was one day before Steve Jobs would make an announcement, but we didn't dream much, as some Mongol (hehe this joke is getting old) started his bulldozer at 23:40 to clean up a few tons of concrete blocks. (they stopped in the morning).
We took off at 7 am, and left for Beijing by train.
See you next time...
Miss you!!!!
1. Although we are in a major internet cafe in Beijing, uploading pictures is impossible. You'll have to wait (again)
2. Advice from F&E: Go to Mongolia!!!! all of you,but prepare yourself, and don't make the same mistake as we did. We are happy with the trip that was arranged for us by Tiara tours, but we feel scammed. We paid about E500 each for this trip, only to find out at our hostel that Tiara bought these tours from a local travel company for 250$. So they chrged us more than double. So our advice is to let Tiara just arrange your train tickets and maybe some hostels ( as the transfers and advice from local contacts are very handy), but order your tours by yourself! It'll save you vast amounts of money; precious, precious money...
OK
The tour we made through the Mongolian countryside was magnificent!!!! We were driven in an old communist era bus, which was highly uncomfortable, but sturdy as hell!!!
We had a guide and a driver for ourselves and another great Dutch couple, Wessel and Fiona. We saw amazing landscapes and camels, as well as flocks of hawks (we think they're the local equivalent of pigeons, which makes game theory a bit harder to explain here...(economic insider joke)). We slept in ger tents with our own stove.
The first day was great, but it only got better. The second day, we made a shortcut, and had to ask for directions, which caused us to meet a true nomad family that had never seen a tourist from up close (at leat not the children). We were invited in and had to drink Mongolian tea (with milk and salt) and eat Mongolian cheese (which was aweful.... oh the memories cause sickness). But it was an amazing experience. We had to show to everyone the pictures we made on the lcd screen of our cameras, and the hospitality gave us shivers.
Arriving at the family we were staying for two nights, we never felt happyer. The scenery was beautiful, and being in the middle of the farmer's life of these people was a once in a lifetime experience. The food was great,although Eline and Fiona discovered the environment in which it was cooked the day after, which gave it a strange after taste... (flies, flies, thousands of them!!!! in one small ger tent)
The next day we went horseriding. We climbed the volcano (on Foot!!!) and enjoyed the magnificent view of White lake. I (F) was a bit afraid first, due to my strange relation with horses ( I hate them and they hate me), but everything went smooth, except for the fact that my horse wanted to lay down in a pond to refresh itself, while I was still on it.... (Luckely in the beginning, Eline had insisted on changing horses, as I was given the wildest horse in the beginning. They must have thought that I was the most competent man in the group (they noticed...) )
Afterwards, we treated ourselves with a beer that we chilled in the icecold river behind our tents.... (aahhhhh)
the next day we got shaken up again in the bus, and that evening we arrived at a ger tent that had a hot spring. We enjoyed the warm water that smelled like rotten eggs till we looked like 90year olds.
The days after, we visited the oldest monastery in Mongolia, and we also visited Hustai National Park, where we saw Przewalsky horses, deer and marmots... The ger next to ours was the Royal ger suite of Prince Willem-Alexander and princess Maxima,who were not there of course.
The last day we arrived in UB, where we had lunch at BD's Mongolian BBQ, an American all-you-can-eat restaurant. Although this might seem a tourist trap,and maybe even a pervers concept in a semideveloped country, we must say that we enjoyed it enourmously! Good, safe food!!!!
The last night we slept at the new Dream Hotel. It was great to watch BBC world,especially as it was one day before Steve Jobs would make an announcement, but we didn't dream much, as some Mongol (hehe this joke is getting old) started his bulldozer at 23:40 to clean up a few tons of concrete blocks. (they stopped in the morning).
We took off at 7 am, and left for Beijing by train.
See you next time...
Miss you!!!!
Mongolia: UlaanBaatar
From the moment we woke up in the train after our aweful experience at the border, we were stunned by Mongolia's beautiful scenery. Mist was clearing and the Russian flat silver birch land had faded to magnificent open spaces with high hills, where the first ger tents were showing up in the valleys. After an hour, we arrived in UlaanBaatar(UB), the capital of this enormous country that only counts 2 million inhabitants (of which 800.000 in UB). Although Mongolia might not be very known to us, its history is quite impressive. It was the birthplace og Ginghis Khan, and proof has been found that the original inhabitants of northern America, the Indians, were originally Mongolians that croosed the Bering street in Alaska.
UB is a fascinating city. Although it is dirty and very ugly, you feel good in its streets as sson as you dropped off your backpack and start wandering around. The people are friendly and the level of english speaking people is higher than expected. Unfortunately, we were also confronted with begging street children that live underground next to the pipes of the central heating system, a heritage of Mongolia's communist past. But these kids are not agressive (the first kid was very happy when Eline gave it her icecream), and nor is anything else in UB. What is also interesting is that they're building everywhere in UB (what we would feel later on...),as the country is very wanted by international lending institutions due to its efficient democracy, something very rare among underdeveloped countries.
After having taken some pictures on the main square, we went to Dave's place, an English pub at the main square, which looked like the typical place where westerners hang out in exotic countries in movies: a nice terrass on a public square where an Englishman in a white shirt reads his book by acup of tea or a G&T,depending on what time it is. As it was too late to go cultural (museums were about to close), we went for further exploration and headed to the public park. This was a discovery, that wasn't in the guides. The whole park was huge and in decay, but some children's attractions where up and running. These vibrant colours in that grey scenery were magnificant, and we took loads of pictures. We even risked our lives in a small wheel (reuzenrad)!!!
We had our first G&T in weeks and a pizza at Marco Polo, wrote some postcards and headed home quickly, as a storm came up. While walking, we noticed how dirty and dusty this town actually is, as we had to fight our way to a true 'dessert storm' of sand, dust and garbage.
The following day we visited a museum stuffed with stuffed animals (hehe) and dinosaur skeletons, and.... well that was about it... we wasted the rest of our day by looking for a bar we didn't find and a restaurant we couldn't find either.
The day after we started by hopping into the small monastery next to the hostel. It was great to have a look at this ceremony where real monks did everyday ceremonial rituals for the locals in that neighbourhood. (Buddhism is getting reintroduced in Mongolia after communism. This causes some funny side effects,like monks that read their sms's while chanting, or monks opening their car) As the chanting was getting us in some sort of trance after 10 minutes already, we headed for our first real sight, Gandantegchinlen Khiid monastery. Thiswas a marvellous sight, with an impressive huge Buddha and countless smaller statues around it. There were also many praying wheels, and Eline spinned them all... As this was my (F) first experience with the grandiosity and beauty of buddhist monasteries, I was stunned...
Afterwards we went to the winter palace of the Boghd Khan, whom used to be the spiritual and political leader of Mongolia during the times when chicken still had teeth. Here we saw some great buildings, and it was great to see that some building were not yet restaurated, so we could see how well they were preserved. We refused to pay to take pictures, as it was just too much, and we were followed by the cashier so she could check on us (really!) (bitch...). We took some great shots anyway (Ha!). Then we had a strange experince. We went to an hotel to get money, and the ATM seemed to work but didn't give any money. 3 minutes after complaining at the reception desk, 5 persons of that bank were there to investigate the case. Impressive, but also strange... An ATM that doesn't work well without a warning is indeed the worst advertising your bank can get, and the reaction was surprising but correct.
That evening we met up with Phil and Amy, which was great. After dinner, up to the hotel to catch some sleep,as our Green Route Extension started the next day...
UB is a fascinating city. Although it is dirty and very ugly, you feel good in its streets as sson as you dropped off your backpack and start wandering around. The people are friendly and the level of english speaking people is higher than expected. Unfortunately, we were also confronted with begging street children that live underground next to the pipes of the central heating system, a heritage of Mongolia's communist past. But these kids are not agressive (the first kid was very happy when Eline gave it her icecream), and nor is anything else in UB. What is also interesting is that they're building everywhere in UB (what we would feel later on...),as the country is very wanted by international lending institutions due to its efficient democracy, something very rare among underdeveloped countries.
After having taken some pictures on the main square, we went to Dave's place, an English pub at the main square, which looked like the typical place where westerners hang out in exotic countries in movies: a nice terrass on a public square where an Englishman in a white shirt reads his book by acup of tea or a G&T,depending on what time it is. As it was too late to go cultural (museums were about to close), we went for further exploration and headed to the public park. This was a discovery, that wasn't in the guides. The whole park was huge and in decay, but some children's attractions where up and running. These vibrant colours in that grey scenery were magnificant, and we took loads of pictures. We even risked our lives in a small wheel (reuzenrad)!!!
We had our first G&T in weeks and a pizza at Marco Polo, wrote some postcards and headed home quickly, as a storm came up. While walking, we noticed how dirty and dusty this town actually is, as we had to fight our way to a true 'dessert storm' of sand, dust and garbage.
The following day we visited a museum stuffed with stuffed animals (hehe) and dinosaur skeletons, and.... well that was about it... we wasted the rest of our day by looking for a bar we didn't find and a restaurant we couldn't find either.
The day after we started by hopping into the small monastery next to the hostel. It was great to have a look at this ceremony where real monks did everyday ceremonial rituals for the locals in that neighbourhood. (Buddhism is getting reintroduced in Mongolia after communism. This causes some funny side effects,like monks that read their sms's while chanting, or monks opening their car) As the chanting was getting us in some sort of trance after 10 minutes already, we headed for our first real sight, Gandantegchinlen Khiid monastery. Thiswas a marvellous sight, with an impressive huge Buddha and countless smaller statues around it. There were also many praying wheels, and Eline spinned them all... As this was my (F) first experience with the grandiosity and beauty of buddhist monasteries, I was stunned...
Afterwards we went to the winter palace of the Boghd Khan, whom used to be the spiritual and political leader of Mongolia during the times when chicken still had teeth. Here we saw some great buildings, and it was great to see that some building were not yet restaurated, so we could see how well they were preserved. We refused to pay to take pictures, as it was just too much, and we were followed by the cashier so she could check on us (really!) (bitch...). We took some great shots anyway (Ha!). Then we had a strange experince. We went to an hotel to get money, and the ATM seemed to work but didn't give any money. 3 minutes after complaining at the reception desk, 5 persons of that bank were there to investigate the case. Impressive, but also strange... An ATM that doesn't work well without a warning is indeed the worst advertising your bank can get, and the reaction was surprising but correct.
That evening we met up with Phil and Amy, which was great. After dinner, up to the hotel to catch some sleep,as our Green Route Extension started the next day...
Wednesday, September 5, 2007
Back in UB
Hi guys,
After a week of shaking around in the most sturdy minibus on the planet (Russian cold war quality: It was excellent!!!!), we found the slowest internet connection on the planet. Therefore we just want to let you know that we're still alive and kissing, and that we'll do the whole story in Beijing. Expect tons of pictures and travel advise, because oh boy, was it magnificent!!!!
kisses and hugs from Eline and greetz from Frederik,
Ciaociao,
F and E
PS: come on! give us the first day at work stories. (how's the Corsa?)
After a week of shaking around in the most sturdy minibus on the planet (Russian cold war quality: It was excellent!!!!), we found the slowest internet connection on the planet. Therefore we just want to let you know that we're still alive and kissing, and that we'll do the whole story in Beijing. Expect tons of pictures and travel advise, because oh boy, was it magnificent!!!!
kisses and hugs from Eline and greetz from Frederik,
Ciaociao,
F and E
PS: come on! give us the first day at work stories. (how's the Corsa?)
Wednesday, August 29, 2007
quickie
OK!!! 6 minute blog.
We have been standing still at the russian border for about 5 hours. In the beginning it looked okay, as we could go on the platform and walk around. But then they called us in, and we still had to wait for hours, not being allowed to use the toilet ( as they just flush it away). When the train left, some girls were really asking for the bathroom, and the provodnitsa (carriage attendant) opened the door. Unfortunately, the Mongolian army spotted it and stopped the train (I'm not making this up!!!), came in and they had a hell of an argument!!! She probably lost her job.
Ulaan baatar is great!!! Very ugly, but they're building everywhere, the bars and restaurants are good and cheap. Saw some nice buddhist things, met up with Phil amd Amy lats night. Have to go!!! Bye!!!!
We have been standing still at the russian border for about 5 hours. In the beginning it looked okay, as we could go on the platform and walk around. But then they called us in, and we still had to wait for hours, not being allowed to use the toilet ( as they just flush it away). When the train left, some girls were really asking for the bathroom, and the provodnitsa (carriage attendant) opened the door. Unfortunately, the Mongolian army spotted it and stopped the train (I'm not making this up!!!), came in and they had a hell of an argument!!! She probably lost her job.
Ulaan baatar is great!!! Very ugly, but they're building everywhere, the bars and restaurants are good and cheap. Saw some nice buddhist things, met up with Phil amd Amy lats night. Have to go!!! Bye!!!!
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