ulaanbaatar (UB) part one
Finally, the train journey is over. It's 7.25am and it's minus 28. Ouch! I enjoy the sensation of inhaling through my nose as the walls of my nostrils stick together momentarily. I'm met at the station by a bloke from the hostel. This is pretty convenient. The city itself is in poor condition. The legacy of communism and it's recent conversion to the temple of mammon. The hostel is centrally located and well run. There are a few Yanks in residence so I remind myself to avoid politics.
A shower. Heaven. I embark on some quick sightseeing and in search of an ATM. I drop by two dozen banks and only find one. It's not compatiable with my debit card. Fortunately, my good friend who manages my UK banking had sent me a stack of cash while in Helsinki. Without this I would have been stuck. I had arranged a tour of Mongolia prior to my arrival and all that remained outstanding was to get a guide. She was due later so I went off for lunch. I ordered a meat soup and chilli beef. The waitress said it was too much so I dropped the beef order. The waitress was right. The soup was gigantic. A casserole dish worth. Practically contained the meat of a young calf. I struggled to finish it although it tasted good.
The guide came and tried to upsell another tour. The hostel owner is on holiday so I figured it was a case of the the mice playing when the cat was away. I refused. But the Mongolians are a kind hearted, gentle people. There is widespread knowledge of English. They are very much within the American orbit though. Euros are an alien currency.USD rules sadly. I can understand their alliance with the Yanks. If you have China below and Russia above then you really need a powerful friend.
I have observed too that the Mongolians have a keen sense of fun. Occasionally I thought a fight was breaking out on the street and more than once. It's a kind of horseplay. They like giving each other a dig and running off to be chased by the victim with the sore arm. It's all affectionate though. Must hark back to their warrior days. Tonight while I was ordering my bill at the bar, someone gave the waitress an almighty slap on the a*se and ran off into the kitchen, laughing all the way.
On the way back to the hostel I noted some blokes wrestling in the compound. I wanted to join them but realised it might be a risky thing to do at midnight. I quickly left the hsotel when I saw all theYanks were in watching US movies. I was careful to remove all valuables and went off to join the locals who I knew would offer better entertainment than some inane Hollywood film. They were good lads and very good wrestlers.It is a national pastime. One even demonstrated his 'breakdancing' skills to me which wasn't breakdancing at all. It involved running, and flipping 360 degress in the air and landing on his feet. Bear in mind how cold it is, bear in mind the icy conditions, bear in mind it was dark. A hardy lot.
The war of the rib appears over apart from some skirmishes. These take place at night. The ear remains blocked though.
A shower. Heaven. I embark on some quick sightseeing and in search of an ATM. I drop by two dozen banks and only find one. It's not compatiable with my debit card. Fortunately, my good friend who manages my UK banking had sent me a stack of cash while in Helsinki. Without this I would have been stuck. I had arranged a tour of Mongolia prior to my arrival and all that remained outstanding was to get a guide. She was due later so I went off for lunch. I ordered a meat soup and chilli beef. The waitress said it was too much so I dropped the beef order. The waitress was right. The soup was gigantic. A casserole dish worth. Practically contained the meat of a young calf. I struggled to finish it although it tasted good.
The guide came and tried to upsell another tour. The hostel owner is on holiday so I figured it was a case of the the mice playing when the cat was away. I refused. But the Mongolians are a kind hearted, gentle people. There is widespread knowledge of English. They are very much within the American orbit though. Euros are an alien currency.USD rules sadly. I can understand their alliance with the Yanks. If you have China below and Russia above then you really need a powerful friend.
I have observed too that the Mongolians have a keen sense of fun. Occasionally I thought a fight was breaking out on the street and more than once. It's a kind of horseplay. They like giving each other a dig and running off to be chased by the victim with the sore arm. It's all affectionate though. Must hark back to their warrior days. Tonight while I was ordering my bill at the bar, someone gave the waitress an almighty slap on the a*se and ran off into the kitchen, laughing all the way.
On the way back to the hostel I noted some blokes wrestling in the compound. I wanted to join them but realised it might be a risky thing to do at midnight. I quickly left the hsotel when I saw all theYanks were in watching US movies. I was careful to remove all valuables and went off to join the locals who I knew would offer better entertainment than some inane Hollywood film. They were good lads and very good wrestlers.It is a national pastime. One even demonstrated his 'breakdancing' skills to me which wasn't breakdancing at all. It involved running, and flipping 360 degress in the air and landing on his feet. Bear in mind how cold it is, bear in mind the icy conditions, bear in mind it was dark. A hardy lot.
The war of the rib appears over apart from some skirmishes. These take place at night. The ear remains blocked though.
posted by Ciarán at 1:53 p.m.
1 Comments:
Glad to hear you survived the train trip.Just arrived home after 5 days in Perth .Lots of sun and warmth.Come to Australia.You would love it.Kieran says hello
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