En route, I had a swift look at the Gandan Monastery in Ulaanbaatar. It has a 26.5 metre tall Buddha statue inside the main temple, made of copper, silver and gold, and is very significant as it was the only monastery that survived the Russians' attempt to eradicate Buddhism in Mongolia in the mid 1930s.
The tourist camp was very relaxing. I had my own ger and there was a restaurant/bar, and most importantly, showers. There were very few people there on my first night, but I met another group comprising Aussies (Michael and Julie), Norwegians (Eric and Elizabeth) and the Irish (Ross and Sarah-Jane).
The food was very good, prepared by Kumar, an Indian dude from Delhi. He doesn't often (ever) have Indian guests, so treated me to chai (proper Indian tea) and some Indian pickles. It was the first spicy stuff I had had since London as tasted great.
The next day turned out to be the most action-packed of my trip so far. I went horse riding in the morning, and for only my second time (first time was 7yrs ago). I started off with only one guarantee, my bottom would be very sore afterwards. It turned out to be brilliant fun. I found cantering too painful so galloped most of the way to a 28 metre tall Chinggis Khan statue that is still yet to be completed, but very impressive nonetheless. I even felt like I had some control over the horse for the first time in my horseriding career.
My 16yr old horseriding guide then surprised me when he asked me if I want to do some shooting. It turned out to be clay pigeon shooting in the middle of nowhere and the place also had a dart board and table tennis table, which was all good fun. They were surprised by my accuracy on the shooting (thanks to UBS/Heinz corporate events).
On my return to the camp, I played some archery, but it was the evening that proved most entertaining.
By now, the tourist camp was very busy with 50 or so tourists. When offered, Michael, Ross and I accepted, the chance to wrestle Mongolian wrestlers. Silly, and it got worse, as they provided us with local, traditional, skimpy costumes to wear. Brilliant fun and I think I won my fight, but very embarrassing (wait for the pics). We then played volleyball, but with a violent twist. Many people in a circle and if you fail to keep the ball in the air, you sit down in the middle and have to try and catch the ball as the game continues. The local experts had a great way of avoiding those in the middle catching the ball - they would hit the ball with force directly at those in the middle to avoid them catching it - it was fairly brutal!
Then followed a fairly heavy night of drinking, led by Claire, Helena and Elizabeth.
We would return to Ulaanbaatar the next morning for one night. As we walk into the hotel, CNN is on the TV in the lobby, and what do I see - Robbie Keane in a Liverpool top! I am overjoyed, and all the locals in the lobby thought I had gone mad.
That evening Ross, Sarah-Jane and I went to a Mongolian cultural show, which was excellent. There was a fashion show, traditional music and some really entertaining dancing. We then had a Mongolian barbeque to top of a fantastic 6 days in Mongolia.
The early morning train the next day to Beijing was packed full of tourists, many of which we had come across on previous trains through Russia and Mongolia. The quality of the train was amazing - wooden doors, a shower, TVs for each berth and the option of playing DVDs! Michael had a few DVDs and so we watched Bourne Supremacy and Death of a Funeral.
The border crossing was a fairly traumatic experience for all. They locked the loos about an hour before we reached the Mongolia border before any prior warning, and they were to remain locked for the next 6hrs, during which time we were not allowed off the train!
Leaving Mongolia was fairly straightforward, but entering China was not. I thought three forms and a thorough check of my bag and books was bad enough, but then some Chinese official came on and tested whether I was really a Brit Indian by asking me trivia questions about India, some of which were in Hindi. I was shocked, but passed the test. After changing the "bogies" on the train, we were on our way again.
The scenery changed from Mongolia's flat, sandy desert, to China's lush green valleys growing all sorts, but lots of corn and rice. There were beautiful mountains and rivers to see for miles as we headed into Beijing. By this time I couldn't wait to get into the city.
I will put some photos of my final few days in Mongolia soon, but right now I'm having to much fun in Beijing to spend time in an internet café, especially thanks to Erika and Whitney, but also Forrest and Cici, who are off to Vancouver and New York, respectively. Both these cities better watch out!
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