Beijing

Our five nights in Beijing were spent just wandering around the Hutongs, Tiananmen Square, The Forbidden City, bullet train (295 kph) to Tianjin for the day, the Great Wall of course, and just chilling out. It was very hot and humid but great to get a taste of China, and a taste of Peking Duck!  Delicious.

We're home now - hope you've enjoyed following our travels.

Trans-Mongolian Train - Ulaanbaatar to Beijing

Our train left from Ulaanbaatar at 7.15 am and arrived in Beijing at 2pm the following day.  We chose "first class" which gave us a cabin with bunk beds, a little table and a separate seat, as well as a wash basin room that we shared with an adjoining cabin.  There was a "kettle" at the end of each carriage which we used to make cups of tea and make instant noodles for our dinner. The scenery changed from rolling green steppes to the never-ending Gobi Desert which was great to see.  We awoke the next morning to the misty mountains of China with glimpses of the Great Wall, endless market gardens, mountains, streams, donkeys - all giving us a hint of the Chinese way of life, so different to Mongolia. The border crossing took about five hours - as China has a different gauge track they lift the whole train up and change the undercarriage with a whole new set of wheels!  This all happens at about 11pm.

The Dining Car on the train

The Gobi

The new under-carriage waiting to be attached to our train for the China section of the trip.

The "Kettle" - 24 hour boiling water (yes, a coal fire!)

No Blog Access

We don't have access to our blog in China so there wont be anymore blog posts for the remainder of our trip...

Terelj National Park

We found out on return to Ulaanbaatar (UB as the locals call it) that if we couldn't get seats on the plane from Olgii we would have been evacuated by army helicopter.  That would have been exciting. We stayed one night in UB then headed to Terelj Park where we did a mixture of hiking and horse riding over 4 days.  It didn't quite match what we missed out on but we still had a great few days. We are back in UB now for our last night with our group, and Ray and I have one more day in UB before catching the Trans Mongolian train into Beijing.  Mongilia is a fantastic country to visit, the people are amazing. Wherever you went they would invite you into their ger to share either a meal or a bowl of mare's milk.  So generous. The way they live their nomadic lifestyle in what can be harsh conditions in winter when the whole of Mongolia is covered in snow is quite incredible.

Milking the yak.  They milk their yaks, cows and goats by hand twice a day. The herding families' diet consists of meat and milk.

Turtle Rock in Terelj National Park

Lunch on horse riding day.

Ghengis Khan statue

More Aysha Pics

 Enjoying a nap next to the couch

First sleep in her kennel....

Olgii Town, Foot and Mouth and Marmuts!!

The drive to Olgii took two days, we camped along the way beside a lake.  Each day was only 200-250km, but the road conditions are so poor that it is slow going.  On arrival in Olgii we were stopped at the outskirts of town by "officials" and had to drive through what looked like a sheep dip.  When the conversation was translated to us, we found out that the area had a foot and mouth disease outbreak, and also potentially Marmut Plague!  As it turned out the person didn't have marmut plague, which we were very relieved about as it would have meant we were in quarantine for at least a month!!  Olgii is not somewhere you want to get stuck for a month that's for sure. However the foot and mouth outbreak meant we couldn't continue to do our three day trek over Tahilt Pass and through the Tsagaan Us Valley which was very disappointing.  The travel company arranged for us to fly back to Ulaanbaatar on Thursday, so we had a day to fill in which we did by doing a day trek not far out of town, and visiting a man who had an eagle.  They have an Eagle Festival here every October, there are about 1500 eagle owners in this area.  We were also treated to a khorkhog.  They heat up stones in a fire, place them in layers in a milk can with the meat (we had goat but it's usually mutton), and also the vegetables, and put it back over the fire for about 45 minutes. They have rearranged our trip so we head off to Terelj National Park tomorrow.

A violent storm just after we set up camp.

The same view the next morning.

Our ger accommodation in Olgii.

This little chap weighed 10kg. I could barely hold my arm up.

Our day trek just out of Olgii

The Glacier

We were meant to have a two day hike to the glacier, but as we had lost a day due to the river crossing incident we were driven closer to the glacier and did a day hike.  It was about 20 km over very rough ground so it was hard going, but the scenery was stunning. And the wildflowers were fantastic.

The Drive to Turgen Mountain

11 and 12 July

We set off early for the drive to Turgen Mountain.  We started off on what we would call a road, but it soon became a journey over vast fields of magnificent mountainous country, much of it covered in rocks.  There are no fences in Mongolia, the herders just pick up their "ger" and move it to another area when they need more pasture for their animals. No-one owns land.  We camped along the way near Uureg Lake.

Unfortunately on one of the many creek crossings, the vehicle I was in didn't quite make it.  Ray was in the first vehicle so was able to take some photos.  I spent about half an hour in the car while they tried to tow it out, but the two very short tow ropes the drivers had broke, and the car began to slew sideways with the strength of the current.  The battery, which was behind the driver's seat behind my seat, also started smoking so the six of us in the car decided to abandon ship.  Those on land formed a human chain out to the car so we could get out the door on the side opposite the current.  By this time it was starting to get dark and we were still a long way from our designated campsite, so we left the vehicle in the water overnight and set up camp nearby.  The drivers found a ger that had ropes and somehow managed to get the vehicle out by the next morning. Quite a feat really, we had no phone coverage so unable to call the RACV!!

Ulaangom, Kokh Lake and Nadaam Festival

8, 9 and 10 July.
We flew to Ulaangom where we were to see the Nadaam Festival and visit Khokh Lake.  The Nadaam Festival is held annually and competitors show off their skills in wrestling, archery and horse racing.  Every village and city in Mongolia celebrates, it coincides with Independence Day.

The wrestlers. They keep eliminating opponents until the two strongest remain.  The "big" guy was last year's champion.

We found a seat in the shade in front of the Governor's viewing box. The police tried to move us on but the Governor told him we could stay.  They even shared their fermented mare's milk tea and dried curd and bread with us.

The horses ride at full gallop for 27 kms!!  Amazing sight.  Many of them rode bareback.

So cute!

Ray getting a lesson from the champion archer.

They start young! I wanted to bring her home with me.

Ulaanbaatar

I have spent two nights here in Ulaanbaatar, the capital of Mongolia, and Ray returned yesterday afternoon from his build.  You'd be excused or thinking you were somewhere in Russia post WWII, the buildings are totally uninspiring, however along the heavily potholed road from the airport the houses looked like something out of Noddy, the houses are painted every colour imaginable, and the city is surrounded by beautiful rolling green hills dotted with sheep and goats.  We leave shortly for Olgii which is a four hour plane flight over to the west near the border with Russia.  I think this might be the last time we have internet for a while so there won't be any updates for a while.  We were treated to Mongolia BBQ for dinner last night, and a 1.5 hour performance by a variety of acts including the Mongolian Symphony Orchestra, throat singers, a contortionist (I had to look away), horse headed harp players, opera signers - all absolutely brilliant.
Our fellow trekkers are a nice group of people, only 8 in the group which is good.  I was a bit concerned last night at dinner when they introduced me to the doctor who is accompanying us on the trek. But also comforting to know that if we do get sick then she's there on the spot as we will be a long way from anywhere.
Cheers

Aysha photos

Her new toy the dinosaur from puppy school

Last Day on the Build and Goodbyes

Today we finished and said our goodbyes to the family and local Habitat staff. We were invited to the family gur and had freshly killed and boiled mutton, potatoes, carrots, mares milk, vodka, and beer. They were very grateful for our help.

The family.
Although we did not finish the house we built it to a stage where it will be finished so they can move in before winter when temperatures get down to -40C. There are three generations in this photo all of whom live in the gur now.