Written Wed 13th Sep, 2000 in Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
Here it is - the much promised e-mail from Outer Mongolia - more specifically, an Internet Cafe in Ulaan Baator, capital of Mongolia. This is the coldest capital in the world (-35 degrees in winter) but its currently beautiful sunshine, and upper 20s Centigrade. It is also said by some (presumably somebody in the West) to be the remotest capital in the world - although from where I'm sitting, its not particularly remote, and its surprisingly modern. The whole country gives the impression of being young, dynamic and enthusiastic to re-emerge with its own identity and culture after 70 years under Soviet rule, and so far it seems to be doing a pretty good job. I have just come back from spending two nights in a Ger tent (yurt in Russian) in a camp about 70km east of Ulaan Baator. I got to try airag (fermented mare's milk), a local delicacy enjoyed by the nomads - and I went horse-riding across the open steppe! The Mongolian people are very friendly - I even made friends with a border guard on the train - I took a photo of him which I will send to him by e-mail! The border crossing from Russia into Mongolia was an experience, as was the whole train journey from Irkutsk to here. First we had the most fantastic views of Lake Baikal (of which more in a moment), and then the constant movement of boxes of goods between compartments by all the Mongolian smugglers trying to hide as much as possible from the customs officers. All sorts of stuff ended up in air-conditioning ducts, under the floor, behind and under the beds, and anywhere else you can think of. I'm sure some of the compartments were like Dr. Who's tardis - bigger on the inside than on the outside, judging by the amount of stuff going in. We seemed to be sharing our compartment with the 'Mr. Big' of the operation, certainly in our carriage. He had pockets full of huge wads of Roubles which he was using to bribe all the customs officers - a large carrier bag with a bottle of champagne, sweets, fruit and other delights also changed hands. Apparently there is a regular trade - Mongolians travel to Beijing, buy loads of stuff, take the Trans-Manchurian railway to Moscow, sell everything, buy more stuff, sell as much as possible on the way through Siberia then take the rest back to Mongolia to sell there. Either the border guards are VERY incompetent, or the bribes help to dim their eyesight! Lake Baikal in Siberia was absolutely stunning, and almost completely undiscovered by western tourists. See it now, before it is. I stayed with Russian hosts in a small village right by the lake, and was stuffed full of unfeasible quantities of very good Siberian cooking. Weather was fantastic, and each day finished with a Siberian sauna (no showers, thats the way they wash there) and a night in the local bar. Oh, and the toilet is in a little shed at the bottom of the garden. The Trans-Siberian railway journey from Moscow to Irkutsk took 4 nights and 3 days - it was very relaxing, an excellent stress cure. However, after 5 time zone changes your body clock just gives up in disgust trying to cope with 22 1/2 hour days. So anyone that doesn't believe you can get jet lag from a train will just have to take my word for it, or try it for yourselfs (which I thoroughly recommend!!). 5191km from Moscow to Irkutsk certainly begins to give you an impression of just how vast a country Russia is - its almost the same distance again from Irkutsk up to the Bering Straits and Alaska. By the way, for all my American friends, Irkutsk is the regional capital of Eastern Siberia and used to control parts of Alaska before one of the Tsars foolishly sold the whole lot to USA for .2m last century. Moscow was a fantastic experience - I really enjoyed my time there. Everyone said the same thing - we have a vision of Moscow as a grey, cold city with images of military hardware rolling across Red Square. Nothing could be further from the truth - apart from a few ugly blocks built in Stalin's era, the city is beautiful and colourful, and on the whole the Russian people are very friendly and welcoming. It helps to know the Cyrillic alphabet though, there are no signs in English anywhere - apparently a local bye-law forbids it. The underground is absolutely amazing - marble pillars and chandeliers in a lot of the stations. In fact, most railway stations were fabulous - I concluded that Russia is the country where the railway stations look like palaces and the palaces look like railway stations. I have made lots of new friends on this trip - people I have stayed with, met along the way or fellow travellers. There is quite a group of us, all booked through the same company, and travelling together as far as Beijing. It was very nice to meet up with some fellow English speakers in Irkutsk after spending most of the Trans-Sib train journey communicating in a mixture of English, a tiny bit of Russian, and occasional sign language or a variation of Pictionary - if you can't say it, draw it - usually causes lots of laughter on all sides, but a highly recommended form of international communication - perhaps our diplomats should try it as well! PS. To all you poor folks back in England, just thought you'd like to know that petrol in Mongolia is about 25p per litre and there are no shortages. Yes, we have cable TV in our nice 4* hotel here so I've just seen the news...
Here it is - the much promised e-mail from Outer Mongolia - more specifically, an Internet Cafe in Ulaan Baator, capital of Mongolia. This is the coldest capital in the world (-35 degrees in winter) but its currently beautiful sunshine, and upper 20s Centigrade. It is also said by some (presumably somebody in the West) to be the remotest capital in the world - although from where I'm sitting, its not particularly remote, and its surprisingly modern. The whole country gives the impression of being young, dynamic and enthusiastic to re-emerge with its own identity and culture after 70 years under Soviet rule, and so far it seems to be doing a pretty good job. I have just come back from spending two nights in a Ger tent (yurt in Russian) in a camp about 70km east of Ulaan Baator. I got to try airag (fermented mare's milk), a local delicacy enjoyed by the nomads - and I went horse-riding across the open steppe! The Mongolian people are very friendly - I even made friends with a border guard on the train - I took a photo of him which I will send to him by e-mail! The border crossing from Russia into Mongolia was an experience, as was the whole train journey from Irkutsk to here. First we had the most fantastic views of Lake Baikal (of which more in a moment), and then the constant movement of boxes of goods between compartments by all the Mongolian smugglers trying to hide as much as possible from the customs officers. All sorts of stuff ended up in air-conditioning ducts, under the floor, behind and under the beds, and anywhere else you can think of. I'm sure some of the compartments were like Dr. Who's tardis - bigger on the inside than on the outside, judging by the amount of stuff going in. We seemed to be sharing our compartment with the 'Mr. Big' of the operation, certainly in our carriage. He had pockets full of huge wads of Roubles which he was using to bribe all the customs officers - a large carrier bag with a bottle of champagne, sweets, fruit and other delights also changed hands. Apparently there is a regular trade - Mongolians travel to Beijing, buy loads of stuff, take the Trans-Manchurian railway to Moscow, sell everything, buy more stuff, sell as much as possible on the way through Siberia then take the rest back to Mongolia to sell there. Either the border guards are VERY incompetent, or the bribes help to dim their eyesight! Lake Baikal in Siberia was absolutely stunning, and almost completely undiscovered by western tourists. See it now, before it is. I stayed with Russian hosts in a small village right by the lake, and was stuffed full of unfeasible quantities of very good Siberian cooking. Weather was fantastic, and each day finished with a Siberian sauna (no showers, thats the way they wash there) and a night in the local bar. Oh, and the toilet is in a little shed at the bottom of the garden. The Trans-Siberian railway journey from Moscow to Irkutsk took 4 nights and 3 days - it was very relaxing, an excellent stress cure. However, after 5 time zone changes your body clock just gives up in disgust trying to cope with 22 1/2 hour days. So anyone that doesn't believe you can get jet lag from a train will just have to take my word for it, or try it for yourselfs (which I thoroughly recommend!!). 5191km from Moscow to Irkutsk certainly begins to give you an impression of just how vast a country Russia is - its almost the same distance again from Irkutsk up to the Bering Straits and Alaska. By the way, for all my American friends, Irkutsk is the regional capital of Eastern Siberia and used to control parts of Alaska before one of the Tsars foolishly sold the whole lot to USA for .2m last century. Moscow was a fantastic experience - I really enjoyed my time there. Everyone said the same thing - we have a vision of Moscow as a grey, cold city with images of military hardware rolling across Red Square. Nothing could be further from the truth - apart from a few ugly blocks built in Stalin's era, the city is beautiful and colourful, and on the whole the Russian people are very friendly and welcoming. It helps to know the Cyrillic alphabet though, there are no signs in English anywhere - apparently a local bye-law forbids it. The underground is absolutely amazing - marble pillars and chandeliers in a lot of the stations. In fact, most railway stations were fabulous - I concluded that Russia is the country where the railway stations look like palaces and the palaces look like railway stations. I have made lots of new friends on this trip - people I have stayed with, met along the way or fellow travellers. There is quite a group of us, all booked through the same company, and travelling together as far as Beijing. It was very nice to meet up with some fellow English speakers in Irkutsk after spending most of the Trans-Sib train journey communicating in a mixture of English, a tiny bit of Russian, and occasional sign language or a variation of Pictionary - if you can't say it, draw it - usually causes lots of laughter on all sides, but a highly recommended form of international communication - perhaps our diplomats should try it as well! PS. To all you poor folks back in England, just thought you'd like to know that petrol in Mongolia is about 25p per litre and there are no shortages. Yes, we have cable TV in our nice 4* hotel here so I've just seen the news...