The rockingest Ger in the Gobi...

Leaving UB we discovered that driving in Mongolia takes some talent... thankfully, our driver had plenty...

Outside of UB you quickly enter the Steppe - a landscape of plains. If you flick to your desktop, this was essentially what it looked like. Soon we were stopping by Mongolian horses, more Gers, and very soon, kettles (had to look this one up) of buzzards and vultures were flying above and venues (again had to look it up) were on the ground . These birds were huge and not nearly as ugly as I had imagined. They were graceful but lifting their own weight looked difficult. Stopping for photos, we did not lay down to watch them.

Back to the roads. The dirt roads were in better shape that hte bitumen but pot holes were everywhere. As we drove through the Steppe, the sand below had droppd away. There were no signs on which track to go, in fact, I think people work out which direction they need to go and just start driving straight. Somehow, Dean, the miracle sleeper, managed to fall asleep whilst everyone else on the bus was reenacting the bouncing around of the Starship Enterprise under attack. He eventually awoke to us laughing. At him:). Three hours into the drive we were starting to wonder why our guide was pointing in anohter direction to our guide.... all good. Within an hour we arrived at our accomodation. Twelve Gers in the middle of the Gobi. The pictures will give you an idea, i'll just add that it was stunning. Just a few dasy ago we were surrounded by the frenzy of Beijing and its noise and now, silence, for miles and miles. It was awesome.

Taking a walk in the desert, as you do, Dean and I saw the remains of a horse, bones spotless from our vulture friends... until Dean kicked up a hoof hidden under the sands.... ew.

In the middle of the desert, it is always handy to have a cook - we ate very well over the next two days... still no drinks though - the previous guests had drank all but a couple of bottles of beer!

The days in the Gobi were hot and in the evenings we had a wind storm one night and rain on another. Nothing like curling up in a Ger or playing cards and being silly with new friends.

There was a family looking after us here and they had two little kids - Tukso and Saka. they managed to keep us all amused. Tukso was kind enough to show me stinging nettle... if only I understood not to touch it rather than reaching to pick it up... Doh!

To entertain us, we had a choice of a camel or horse ride. Being Mongolia (and having enough of camels in India) Dean and I opted for the horses. Quite a good choice since the camels were a little... floppy.... We rode our horses to an adjoining village/family in a Ger where we watched them herd the goats and milk them, build a Ger in 11 minutes, and the others on tour got to enjoy milk curd (they looked so happy about it too). We were all loving the Gobi. I personally could have chilled out there for a couple of more days. In fact, all I wanted to do was keep heading west...

Without smog protecting us, Dean and I were finally picking up a traveller's tan too.

It was time to return to UB. Back past the vultures, buzzards, some white-tailed gazelles, Microsoft backdrop and a temple stop which was nothing too spectacular. Farewell Gobi.

Gecko's Trans-Mongolian Tour: Departing Beijing

Seven Aussies, three Kiwis, one Saffa, and an American decide to take a train from Beijing to St. Petersburg ...

This blog could take a little while ...

The Chinese highlight (outside of the meals which were still delish), was the Great Wall. This time, Dean and I were taking the cruisy tour option, ie. a cable car to almost the top. This time our challenge was to escape the village people. The 'Village People' are locals who want to 'assist' you on the wall and 'take nothing for it'. They are said to knock back all offers of tips until you reach the end where they persist, hassle and aggressively demand that you buy a book for around $30. Screw that. When met by the herd awaiting us (no shit, at least 20!), we all used our sternest "No Thanks" in Chinese. Turns out i can be very convincing.... if not scary to the people who had just met me on tour.... but it worked nonetheless and we were able to climb the Simatai section in piece. Charlie, our local guide then took us along the wall explaining the different parts. The views were clearer today also so there were photos a plenty.

Going back a little, the Kiwis as we come to know them, decided to walk to the top, and seemed a little surprised that we would not. Anyways, when we reached the top, we were surpised to see Geoff, the 'refined' elder of our group charging along the wall, calves pumping. Apparently he just likes walking.... hope i can do that in another 40-odd years...

Time to get the train.

Compartments of four found four little aussies in compartment-sharing bliss. Mutual love of vodka, beer, eating lots, playing shit-head and a lack of snorers made for a great compartment lasting thousands of kilometres. But more on that later.

The first trip was to take us into Mongolia. Leaving Beijing, we headed North through the provences of Hubei where we went through mountain ranges, and we got to see some blue sky again (yayayayayayayay). Mountains, tunnels and rivers characterised the first few hours. Soon we were heading into Inner Mongolia (still in China but used to be Mon.) and the green faded to dust. Quite literally. This was fought-over territory for a long time. As the night came upon us so did the beaurocracy. Leaving China takes longer than getting in. No one could work out why, but it took most of the night of Chinese customs doing who knows what and then a short trip to Mongolia. And, in today's wisdom, the Chinese and Moingolian's have different track widths, so in hte middle of cutoms fun, the train was taken away, jacked up, and the bogey's changed. Was cool to watch actually. The Mongolian customs staff were all women over 6 foot who liked to wear hats with giant peaks... stunning women but really, quite scary! Around 2am we were offically through and i did a little happy dance whilst everyone else was just happy to sleep.

Next morning I awoke in miniature upon a train set. Blankets of green fields, old signals, miles of tracks and that lovely smell of diesel. Everyone was up and sticking their heads out the windows. Soon enough we were watching Ger huts (or Yurts) appear. These were the huts of the nomadic Mongolians. They are still common, altough now many people settle near town centres.

Our destination in Mongolia was Ulaan Baatar. Arriving around 4pm, we were met by Ioona. Again, a stunning Mongolian woman. The boys on tour were pretty happy. Ioona delivered some shattering news. Just two days before our arrival there had been an election and people did not believe the results. There was a riot and people were killed. I think you may have seen this on the news. Anyways, the government had called a state of emergency. 'Could be interesting' we thought, then in our own selfish little way, we were shattered when Ioona told us this meant that there was to be no alcohol for 4 days. There was also a 10pm curfew. Dean and I could not believe we were subject to a second alcohol ban after Poland was trying to be impressive when the Pope was in town a couple of years back. Those who had shopped at duty-free at some stage on the border were feeling pleased with themselves.

Soberly, Dean and I did some quick afternoon sightseeing. We went to the natural history museum where we saw some very heavy meteorites and some excellent dinosaur fossils, including my favourite, a pair of terradactil legs and claws - huge!!!! Very cool to check out if you ever get the chance. We also went to a small Lamma temple which had not been preserved as well as the Chinese temples and for this, it had much more charm. The heavens then opened and we hid in a cafe. Mongolian food in UB is not recommended and whilst in this cafe we could have been anywhere in the world. It was a reverse culture shock. Four Mongolian super-models/locals were having a Sex in the City afternoon and I was feeling suddenly very under-dressed. We were so far out of Asia in here. The food was delicious though. Chargrilled vegetables never tasted so good and there was no bok choy in sight:) It was a happy meal:)

Time for a little more adventure...