October 8th, 2002
"
So, the second half of my Mongolian adventures... Since half
of travel is in the journey, not the destination, I'll detail the trip from that
point of view this time...
Returned from my failed horse-buying venture, I met up with Marissa, an American
girl. After a couple days in UB, we set out for a 23-day odyssey to the far west
of
An intro to Mongolian roads... There are about 2 paved roads in the country.
Each can get you a few hours out of UB before ending. After that? I've
personally defined a
Conditions in the vehicle? The Mongolians make up for their lack of culinary
creativity by devising ingenious ways to fit incredible amounts of goods and
people in vehicles. No seatbelts, but no matter, as you are effectively pinned
in place anyway.
If you sit by a window, it is your job to close it when a vehicle passes nearby
(which is not often) to avoid filling the works with dust. But it doesn't matter
all that much because your lungs take enough beating from the ambient dust and
secondhand smoke.
The whole experience could be likened to a cheap carnival ride at a county
fair--you know, the one that's monitored by the creepy guy in cut-off jean
shorts and the Megadeth t-shirt and less teeth than fingers who grins as he
takes your ticket as if he knows something you don't and the ride is
uncomfortable and fun but not too fun or maybe more so because you know your
life is actually in danger but don't worry about that because you can't get off
anyway till it
stops... Only difference is length of time--no distance in
From Merriam-Webster's Dictionary, "masochism" is: "pleasure in being abused or
dominated : a taste for suffering." Only a masochist would like this trip. I
loved it. Here goes:
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Segment: 1 | Date: 07SEPT02
From: Ulaan Baatar | To: Altai
Vehicle: Russian van | Number of people: 16
Mileage: 1001 km | Method: Found ride at jeep stand
Cost: T30,000 (~$28) | Elapsed time to destination: 35 hrs
Trip notes: Van filled after waiting 2 hrs. Left at 10:30am, arrived 7:30pm,
plus one day. Kid puked first time, around 3pm, again about 2 hrs later. Several
stops for airag (the alcoholic fermented mare's milk; driver doesn't abstain) in
the evening. Beautiful group-singing after dark, traditional Mongolian songs, I
assume. 2 stops during the night, perhaps 1-3 hrs each. I didn't enjoy this ride
at all. The discomfort was heightened by the combination of the bumpy road and
my birthing pains due to something Not Good that I must've ate back in UB.
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Segment: 2 | Date: 10SEPT02
From: Altai | To: Eev
Vehicle: Isuzu SUV | Number of people: 4
Mileage: 90 km | Method: Hitchhike from side of road
Cost: T3,000 (~$3) | Elapsed time to destination: 2.5 hrs
Trip notes: Tried to find ride to Khovd at market. No luck. Wanted to leave
town, only option hitching. Walked to edge of town. Marissa was in process of
making sign (after ~1 hr waiting) when a sweet SUV stopped, though only going
partway. Actually had personal space (only time in
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Segment: 3 | Date: 10SEPT02
From: Eev | To: Khovd
Vehicle: Russian van | Number of people: 9
Mileage: 334 km | Method: Hitchhike from middle of desert
Cost: T10,000 (~$9) | Elapsed time to destination: 12.5 hrs
Trip notes: Waited 3.5 hrs for ride. In this time, not a single westbound
vehicle passed. Sat in a ger sipping tea and eating, etc. When I heard a
vehicle, ran outside, flagged him down. Came to a halt 100' past me. Negotiated
price. Boarded at 5:30 pm. Van very full of stuff. Stopped once during night for
a meal in a family's house. No real defined "seats" in this van. A free-for-all.
In effect, a very warped 3-D version of the game Twister, with no holds barred.
At one point during night, Mongolian guy rolled onto my lap, asleep with his
face in my crotch. Arrived following morning. Tired.
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Segment: 4 | Date: 15SEPT02
From: Khovd | To: Olgii
Vehicle: Russian truck | Number of people: 5
Mileage: 211 km | Method: Hitchhike from side of road
Cost: T8,000 (~$7) | Elapsed time to destination: 8 hrs
Trip notes: Again, failed to land a ride in 2 hrs at the market, so opted to
hitchhike. Found ride within an hour, with a family hauling a motorcycle in
their produce truck. When they stopped, they indicated they had no room for us.
I said, "Yes, you do," and pointed to the back of the truck. 5:30 pm. Only room
for one in front, so Marissa rode up there. I hopped in back. Beautiful scenery.
So dusty I needed to wrap bandana around my face to
breathe. Stopped at a ger to unload motorcycle. Replaced it with 10 large sacks
of potatoes. Continued on. Kid (boy around ~8 yrs old) wanted to join me in the
back of truck. Fell asleep curled up in my lap. Sun fell. Got cold. (Smart) kid
returned to cab. I slowly froze. By perhaps 10 pm, I had curled up into the
fetal position, wrapping a tarp around myself. Cursed more-or-less constantly.
Life dragged, body core temperature dropped. 1:30 am pulled into Olgii, got
hotel. Thawed, over time. By morning, I believe my body temp was back near 98.6
deg F.
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Segment: 5 | Date: 18SEPT02
From: Olgii | To: Bayan Nuur
Vehicle: Russian jeep | Number of people: 6
Mileage: 120 km | Method: Public jeep, from park office
Cost: T3,000 (~$3) | Elapsed time to destination: 5 hrs
Trip notes: Jeep not good. Stalled a lot.
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Segment: 6 | Date: 23SEPT02
From: Bayan Nuur | To: Olgii
Vehicle: Russian jeep | Number of people: 7
Mileage: 120 km | Method: Public jeep, from town square
Cost: T3,000 (~$3) | Elapsed time to destination: 5 hrs
Trip notes: Walked to town from the family we stayed with, 1 hr. Sat in
someone's ger drinking tea and vodka, 1 hr. Went to town square; waited for a
ride, 3 hrs. Before we left, stopped in another ger for tea and to load 3 large
sacks of goat parts into the back of the jeep next to our packs. 7 people is a
lot to have in a jeep.
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Segment: 7 | Date: 24SEPT02
From: Olgii | To: Ulaangom
Vehicle: Russian truck | Number of people: 6
Mileage: 310 km | Method: Hitchhike from side of road
Cost: T5,000 (~$5) | Elapsed time to destination: 12 hrs
Trip notes: Really enjoyed last couple hitchhiking rides, so decided not to even
attempt to do otherwise. Found ride in ~1.5 hrs. We, 6 adults (including a large
Mongolian woman), jammed into the cab of the truck. Seats 3. Sound tight? It
was. But at least it was only for 12 hrs. The driver and his wife insisted we
stay at their apartment upon arrival in Ulaangom. They gave us their beds and
slept on the floor. Fed us for a day and a half. Expected nothing in return.
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Segment: 8 | Date: 26SEPT02
From: Ulaangom | To: Ulaan Baatar
Vehicle: Russian van | Number of people: 14
Mileage: 1336 km | Method: Found ride from market, eventually
Cost: T25,000 (~$23) | Elapsed time to destination: 65 hrs
The Grand Finale--
Getting the ride: Marissa and I were now quite confident in our ability to
hitchhike and loved the fun things that happened whenever we hitched (okay,
forget the time I almost froze). So again, we didn't even try to look for a ride
at the market, instead hiking to the SE side of Ulaangom, and sitting on our
packs, actually looking for a ride to
Trip notes: 65 hrs is not a typo. Day 1, fairly uneventful. Stopped twice during
night for breaks, once for an hour, another time for 2 hours. Day 2, one flat
tire. Bumped my head on ceiling many times. Stopped by police and recruited to
help fight a forest fire. Carried buckets of water. Picked up shovels to help
dig, but they wouldn't let us. Our moods when sour. By Hour 36 or so, I was
really pissy. We had stopped for a 5 hr break overnight, a mass of people
sleeping on a bunch of beds mashed together in an unheated building, spooning
from one side to the other. Back sore, freezing, tired... Day 3, had to get out
once, as van couldn't get up a hill with us all
inside. Arrived in Tsetserleg, Marissa's destination, ending her journey at
about 50 hrs. Continued on. I reached a state where I didn't care anymore.
Didn't sleep. A dormant consciousness. Went straight through that night, didn't
even stop for supper the night before. Got to my place in UB at 7:30 am, ending
my 65 hr trip.
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All in all, it was a great journey. A few of the destinations are probably worth
mentioning...
Altai--Two days. Saw a white guy once. Went to museum. Saw lots of stuffed
animals apparently operated on by a blind taxidermist.
Eev--Had airag (fermented drink) made from camel's milk.
Khovd--Met and ate with some Peace Corps volunteers. Helped winterize a ger
(take it apart, re-level floor, put back together, line walls and roof with felt
before covering with canvas). Camped out on a small mountain. Toured a felt
factory.
Olgii--Stayed with a Peace Corps volunteer. Learned you can make caramel by
boiling sweetened condensed milk (someone please read the side of a can that's
in English and tell me if eating half of it is healthy). Another museum.
Apparently all of
Bayan Nuur--Spent two days in a ger with a Kazakh family, (tried to) help them
round up the goats for milking in the evenings. Fed incessantly. One day ate 6
times. They slaughtered a goat in front of us, as we were guests. [Decided that
goats are one of my favorite animals--they look cool (esp. their beards), make
nice sounds, and taste great.] Crossed a river via camel. Visited an eagle
hunter--they led me hold the eagle. Left them, then camped out on an island so
we would be left alone. But from dawn till dusk we were visited
by Mongolians and Kazakhs. One invited us to stay with him in his family's ger,
so we did. Helped the neighbors make felt from this year's wool harvest.
Ulaangom--Not much.
Closing notes on
It was good. There 47 nights. Paid for 21 nights. The rest, stayed in gers,
camped, or spent on transport. Good thing, too. Here's an excerpt from my
journal, on a hotel I stayed in: "Wallpaper dirty and peeling everywhere,
'carpet' is a series of rugs hodge-podged together. TV doesn't work. Something
resembling a heater (under TV stand) might work, but the plug's been cut off its
cord. Walls are visually not even close to vertical. Doorways similarly skewed.
Plug-ins hanging from wires out of holes in walls. Light in bedroom works--if
you jiggle it. Toilet works, now. Missing tank top. To flush, lift up plunger by
hand. I rebent the float so it kind of
works. Cold water faucets work. For hot, go down the hall, after paying T500 (50
cents). No sheets on bed or pillow. Sleep directly on mattress. This, uncovered
pillow, and blankets are all similarly filthy. Drapes are all falling off their
hooks. Ceiling cracked. Chairs all missing cushions. No knobs left on anything
in room. Plumbing all exposed. Windows not all intact, don't close properly. I'm
going to bed now."
That aside,
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Last Wednesday, I left for
Journeyed to Xiahe, my current destination, a small town in
So, Xiahe is the site of one of the biggest Tibetan monasteries in
Currently in an internet cafe. Only other customers are 4 monks, one playing
Doom (or something similar) on the computer next to me. Last couple days, took
it easy: some hiking, lots of eating, working on a new hat from a sheep skin I
bought. Today, played Chinese chess with a monk in his living cell. His teacher
walked in; I think he might be in trouble now. Heading west tomorrow to Dunhuang
with a Canadian. 6-hr bus ride, then a few hours' layover before a 24-hr-plus
ride. Fun fun...
"I loved the
sweet-smelling meadows and in the evenings I used to wander about and dream. It
was a good life." (-
Away Awhile is hosted by Josh Trutwin.