Category Archives: Epic Journey 2

UB is a place to be

NOT.

Ulan-Bator’s very own special feature is prevent travellers from leaving the city. People get stuck here for one reason or another. And the kicker is that there is nothing much to do here and in fact it can be very boring at times. Take for example, this Canadian girl who stayed in Khangor hostel for more than a month, because of the lost passport. Or another girl in UB Guesthouse broke her leg – two weeks stay. Another guy spent too much time drinking vodka with locals and as a result got sick. Extended stay too. And so on. My case is more trivial. First I could not leave the city to Terelj National Park, as there were no scheduled buses and then getting a train ticket to the Chinese border proved to be problematic. The next day tickets get sold out for some reason (my guess is that they are cheaper than buying several days in advance), but they put on sale a number of tickets on the day of departure. The cashier’s recommendation is always the same: if you want a ticket for the next day, come tomorrow at 8AM. And so I did only to see the line of more than a hundred people freezing in the morning chill. To make things more exciting a couple of police officers tried to control this wild sensation with the aid of tasers. Bloody nightmare. And this situation apparently repeats itself every morning – business as usual in Mongolia.

On the other hand, being stranded in the city without anything to do shifted the focus from doing things to socializing. I met a woman from Alice Springs, Australia, who stayed in the same hostel as myself. A former transcendental meditation teacher, on her spiritual journey to visit Hindu/Buddhist temples in Asia. Bah, an instant soul-mate. Another interesting encounter is a random local on the street, who offered help finding a bus to Terelj National Park (the bus was never found by the way). A former stroibat and a political dissident, he shared an alternative take on the recent history of Mongolia. According to him the famous democracy movement in Mongolia is a fluke and was initiated by the local KGB in order to stay in power. The process of privatization was not so different to Russia’s one, i.e. the lion share of resources ending up in the hands of few oligarchs. Moscow is still pretty much in charge, although their control is not as obvious as in Soviet years. Apparently a lot of people are dissatisfied with the corrupt to the core government and after-election riots in 2008 only reaffirm this. Interesting indeed – Lonely Planet gives a completely different picture on the state of the affairs in the country.

Anyhow, I am a happy owner of the train ticket to Zamyn Uud and will leave to China today. Mongolia is very beautiful and would love to visit it again, but Ulan Bator is unfortunately not. If I am here ever again, I will be sure to work out the exit strategy right away upon coming into the city.

High hopes for China!

Ulan-Ude two main attractions

There are two things to see in Ulan-Ude: the biggest Lenin’s head statue in the world and Ivolginsky Datsan (Иволгинский Датсан), the largest buddhist temple in Russia. While Lenin’s head is well just a huge head, datsan (temple) is a more curious case. The place is situated some 40km outside the city near a typical Siberian village, providing quite a contrast between colorful architecture and bleak Russian one. Buryat buddhism is of Tibetan branch, which clearly shows in architecture, iconography and rituals. The first thing you notice upon entering the datsan area is numerous souvenir counters selling all kinds of buddhism related things. Furthermore, there is even a pay SMS-based prayer order: you send an SMS with your prayer and after monks do their job, you get an SMS back with the confirmation. Modern and efficient. Both Putin and Medvedev congratulated Datsan on its activities, the proof of which is proudly hung on temple walls.

Monks put out an excellent daily prayer, which is clearly aimed at tourists (with the prayer timetable on the walls). Sarcasm aside, it was a captivating show: six guys chanting, playing percussions and blowing  something like sea-shells. All in their own pace and slightly out of rhythm, but the end result is simply amazing. There is also a library at the temple, but  I only found a closed door. After additional inquiry, it turned out that the library is not yet opened. Strange, as when asking directions everyone gave me without mentioning this simple detail. That is rather deep. I asked one of the monks about their daily routine and particularly meditation and the answer was “We do not meditate around here”. That’s modern Russian buddhism for you. Marketed as the heart of Russian buddhism, it gives an impression of a money-making machine than a real monastery.

Mongolia, a confusing place

When I thought Russia was confusing, I did not know what would wait me in Mongolia. Russia is an example of rationality and systematic thinking in comparison to Mongolia. To quote Lonely Planet Mongolia:

Cynics say that the six most widely heard phrases in Mongolia are medehgui (don’t know), baikhgui (don’t have), chadakhui, (can’t do) magadgui (maybe), margaash (to- morrow) and za, which roughly translates to, well, ‘za’. Za is a catch-all phrase, said at the conclusion of a statement, meaning something akin to ‘well …’, ‘so then …’ or ‘ok’, and is a fiendishly addictive word.

Nobody really knows anything here. Streets have no names. Banknotes are confusing and numerous, with Mongolia’s very own numbers on the front. There are days when Visa is not accepted in stores without any reason. They play gangsta hip-hop (♬let’s get high together♬) on the speakers in public buses. Bus schedules do not exist or are not correct (and nobody knows for sure). Traffic is chaotic, traffic lights are rare, green light for pedestrians is even rarer. And not that anybody would even respect that. Getting anything organized here on your own is an exercise in futility. When asking for information, you get either the usual “don’t know” or a different answer every time. This mentality does not apply only to tourists, but locals seem to get the same treatment. Travelling on your own inside the country is less and less appealing due all the logistical complications, so the best option seems be to book an all-included tour. More expensive, but this way you delegate dealing with all the details of local mentality to other people. On the other hand, all these issues are kind of balanced by the goodwill of local people. When all the hope seems to be lost, a local pops out of nowhere to help you. This is the Mongolian way.

Russia, a confusing place

At times Russia can be a very confusing place, even if you know Russian (as in my case). I was planning to go from Arshan to Slyudanka, spend a night there, see Baikal and continue to Ulan-Ude the next morning. The bus schedule confirmed a bus to Slyudanka at 8AM. That is as far as the theory goes. The practical experience went like this. I came to the bus stop at 7.40 only to find a bus to Ulan-Ude. The driver did not know about any Slydanka buses and the bus terminal was closed (even though it was supposed to open at 7.30). So assuming that the bus will eventually come, I stayed there waiting. Several minutes later a woman working for the bus company appeared out of the blue and told me that there were no morning buses to Slyudanka, but there was one later in the evening. As an alternative she suggested to go to the place called Karantin (carantine in English, a cheerful name for a village,) and get a mini-van connection from there to Slyudanka. Well, screw that, I’d better go straight to Ulan-Ude. So I bought the ticket to Ulan-Ude and hopped on the bus. The real kicker waited for me several hours later, when we passed through Slyudanka, actually made a stop there and some people got off. I do not know whether that was malice, ignorance or plain misunderstanding, but the whole situation was rather surreal. Does not compute.