Well, after a whole heap of last minute stress, anxiety and exams we finally got underway last wednesday. Finding out the night before I left that I had to pack up my entire room the night because of renovations over summer certainly threw a spanner in the works, but after a marathon effort of packing, the room was empty, my bags were packed and I was ready to go.
Erin and I arrived at Beijing train station nice and early on Wednesday morning to take our place on the trans-Siberian train. After not having a great deal of sleep (thanks to packing and exams) it was certainly a good thing that the beds were comfortable because I slept for a fair part of the journey. In all the journey took 30 hours, but we were stopped at the Chinese border town of Erlian for a good 3 hours while our passports were checked, and then again for an hour on the Mongolian side of the border. Eventually though, our passports were stamped and we continued our journey on to Ulaanbaatar. As we crossed the border at night time, it wasn't until I woke up in the morning that I got to see the Mongolian country side. We passed through hours of grasslands before reaching the outskirts of Ulaanbaatar, which are made up of 'ger' suburbs. It is a unique feature of Mongolia that when people move to the towns and cities, they often bring their house with them and just set it up on the outskirts. Needless to say, UB looks like no other city I've ever visited!
Our guesthouse is a great place right in the middle of the city, meaning that everything is just a short walk away. On our first day we checked out the state department store and had a wander around our area, but as it was raining and we were both tired we didn't do anything else. On our second day in the city we walked along peace avenue (the most famous street in UB) until we reached Gandan Khiid, the largest monastery in UB. This monastery, unlike many others in Mongolia, was lucky to survive the destruction of the communist era, and continues to be a working monastery. It sits in a beautiful location atop a hill looking out of modern UB and towards the mountains in the distance. It remains a place of worship for many Mongolians, particularly the statue of Sakyamuni which stands at 26m high and is covered in gold. The original statue was taken by the Russians during the purges of the 1930s (and allegedly melted down to make bullets), so the statue today is new and was donated by a number of countries.
Moving on from the Ghandan Khiid, we then walked to Sukhbaatar square. This is the centre of modern UB and played an important part in modern Mongolian history. It is the sight where Sukhbaatar declared Mongolian independence from the Chinese Empire, marking the beginning of an independent Mongolia. A statue of Sukhbaatar on horseback stands in the middle of the square taking pride of place. Facing him, is an impressive statue of Chinggis Khaan, who watches over UB from the front of the Government building. Around the square are the most important civil buildings in UB.
Jess arrived the next morning after her epic cross-country journey into Mongolia. Finally all together, we headed off first to the Zanabazar museum of fine arts, and then the National museum of Mongolian history. These both had some amazing exhibits on the long and fascinating history of Mongolia from the Huns, to the Turks and the Mongols. The Fine arts museum had some beautiful Buddhist art, particularly by Zanabazar, Mongolia's most famous sculpture. There were golden Buddhas, massive tapestries and huge costumes to see. In Mongolia it is Tibetan Buddhism that is most widespread and it is a very colourful and fascinating religion, though I don't really understand who all the demons, guardians, Taras and Buddhas are!
A lot of people are not big fans of Ulaanbaatar but I actually really like the city. I think it has a good vibe and actually feels quite European, with its beer tents and Russian buildings. After coming from a five month stint in Beijing, it certainly feels good to be in such a relaxed and laid-back city, and its so amazing to be able to see the sky every day! No thick smog to choke you up! The food here is really good too and there is a lot of variety, we've tried traditional Mongolian food, Russian, Korean, Indian and Western while we've been here and its all been great. In all, I don't think UB really deserves its reputation for being dull and boring, especially not when Nadaam is on!
