I arrived in Mongolia earlier today, around 8am local time after a day on the Trans-Siberian from Irkutsk. It was a more interesting train journey this time, because not only was the carriage full of Mongolian traders but also a fair amount of foreigners. Along with the 3 Brits and I there was a Finnish man, a Swiss woman, a couple Canadian women and a couple Dutch guys. We all got along well and it was nice to be able to have full conversations in English in contrast to the limited English the locals speak, though the Mongolian traders were entertaining. They were extremely busy during the day, ferrying about all sorts of boxes and bags full of random products. Since there was only myself and one trader in my sleeper, it soon became full of stock. When we reached the Russia-Mongolia border and the customs officials came on board either end it soon became apparent pretty much everyone on board (besides the foreigners) was in on the deal. Even the provodniks were helping the traders cheat their way through customs, they were seen carrying around wads of cash after the officials left. It was quite funny.
The border crossing itself was a pain, though. We had to fill in about 3 seperate forms and about 5 customs forms, which was confusing enough because neither side labelled whether they were customs forms for Russia or Mongolia. The Russians then took our passports for 4 hours, in which time the toilets were locked and the restaurant carriage was taken off the train so it was very boring waiting around for so long. After finally getting our passports back it wasn't long before we had to do the same at the Mongolian side of the border around midnight, though they thankfully were a bit quicker than the Russians.
There was some amazing scenery during the train journey but unfortunately I've no pictures or video footage; I took one picture but the windows were so dirty it was hard to see out of. The Mongolians were definetely friendly enough people as were the westerners so it was a good journey overall.
Arriving in Mongolia after shower and a trip to an Asian bathhouse I was taken around the sites of Ulan Bataar by my guide. The man that existed 800-900 years ago is still worshipped over here, he has a whole building specially built for him:
The first picture is a close up of the middle statue of Gengis Khan.
This memorial in front of Genghi's Khan's building is to the leader of the 1921 People's Revolutionary Army.
I was next taken to the Gandan Monestary. Mongolia is 95% Buddhist so it's got a very special significance over here.
Pigeons over here, instead of being seen as pests and vermin, are fed seeds as they are beleived to be good for the soul or some such.
The stone beds in front of the temple are for people to lay on and pray.
Going in to the temple it was interesting to walk around with the air heavy in incense as Buddhist monks chanted and hit drums. You must always walk clockwise around Buddhist temples and photos are prohibited inside, unfortunately.
The next temple I was taken to is the biggest in Mongolia I believe, called the Eyes Wisdom temple and housed a huge 27m statue. Walking clockwise round this you can spin prayer wheels for good fortune, as many people did. The statue was surrounded by 6,000 smaller Buddha statues, which are believed to protect the large statue. At the altar at the front was burning incense and a framed picture of the Dalai Lama. He is a very respected man over here and seen as a great inspiration to people.
Unfortunately this entry has been a bit rushed since I am next off to the Mongolian countryside for a few days to live in a ger homestay. I'll be back in Ulan Bataar for one more day after that before boarding the final Trans-Siberian train bound for China and I'll probably be able to update then.
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