Monthly Archives: April 2014

Crossing into Mongolia

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The next day in Erlian feeling refreshed after our bone feast and a good night’s sleep we set out to find a car to take us across the border. It is not allowed for some reason for you to cross on foot and crossing in a large vehicle is known to cause “trouble”, so there is a local business of drivers that make their living taking goods and people across the border in Monglian licensed vans.

While finding our way to the market where all the drivers hang around in, it was interesting to note that there are parts of town that Chinese is commonly spoken and parts of town that were very Mongolian and people seem to speak very little Chinese. In fact it seemed like people were more likely to know a bit of English than Chinese.

Border crossing crew. Grandpa in front.

Border crossing crew. Grandpa in front.


After asking around a bit we found a tiny grandpa looking driver to take us across for about $10. He was so insistent on taking us- literally grabbing and holding onto my arm and taking me to his car, not letting go until I was halfway in the car- that I thought we’d be leaving right away, but little did we know that we’d be waiting around for almost an hour and half while he went about and rounded up more people and cargo to load up his car with. Eventually he packed his van up to the gills, with 6 people scrunched in and the back filled with boxes (people bring over goods from china where it’s cheaper and resell it in Mongolia) and we were good to go.

The total time to cross the border only took about half an hour, but was filled with almost cartoon like activity. Basically you drive up to the border on the Chinese side, get out and get your passport stamped. Pile back into the car, drive for a few minutes across the border and get out on the Mongolia side, get your passport stamped again, get back in car again, finally you get dropped off at the train station close by at Zamyn Udd.

When all said and done we were finally in Monglia! And about to have the first over night train ride of the trip, from Zamyn Udd to Ulan Baatar. The vast and wild flatness of the Steppes await us now. Sane Baine (hello) Mongolia!

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Erlian border town

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We took a bus from Datong to Erlian which is a small border town in Inner Monglia right next to the Mongolia border to spend the night before crossing into Mongolia.

At the bank, while trying to convert some currency, we were told by the bank employee that they don’t have Mongolian money and we should go to the black market near by to change money. It was a bit funny to be told by a major bank to go to the black market. Alas, we decided to wait until we crossed the border…

For dinner we decided on an all you can eat restaurant that specialized in stewed pork bones. That’s right you heard it, stewed pork bones. The waitress explained that it’s a north eastern specialty. Basically it’s stewed large pieces of hacked up pork bones with some meat still attached to it. The meat on the bone is especially flavorful and very tender. There isn’t
that much meat on each bone but you are given piles and piles of it. You also can suck out the marrow with a straw. The meal also came with unlimited side dishes, fresh dumplings and blood sausage pickled cabbage soup. All this plus 8 beers came to about $7 each. There was a funny moment when I explained to our very nice Chinese waitress that we were heading to Mongolia and she replied- “Mongolia, no it’s not nice there, not nice at all, it’s much better here!”

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Datong – your golden age was 1500 years ago.

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Before heading to Mongolia we stooped for a few days in Datong, a small city 7 hours from Beijing by train.

Yungang Grottoes – 1500 year old caves carved into the mountainside and filled with Buddha statues cut right into the rock, more than 51,000 of them in 43 caves! It was truly an awe inspiring place. The Grottoes are juxtaposed right front of a large coal mine, a reminder of industrial China. We hear that the mine will be closed in a few years though which is really good news.

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The Hanging temple – is also around 1500 years old. They really built some cool shit back then. The temple is built right into the rock cliff and The all wooden structure is supported by wood beams that are inserted into the rock cliff. As I walk through the temple along its narrow pathways with wood creaking under my feet, I thought “this does not feel safe” and wondered how the temple is able to weather strong winds and storms. But of course it does since it has survived for more than a millennia.
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Beijing – Running away from the hat people.

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Forbidden city - wow I forgot how crowded this place was. We got there half an hour before they opened doors on a weekday and already there was a sea of people belonging to tour groups waiting. The tour group people all wear hats of different colors. You've got your red hats group! Greens hats! Faux Burberry hats! At times you feel as if you're being flushed through the palace, carried away by the great horde. The crowd experience was so intense at first that we spent the rest of the time trying to avoid the "hat people". Luckily the Forbidden Palace is a huge place and it's possible find quiet lanes to walk through and actually appreciate the grandeur of the place.

Great Wall - we wanted to visit a less touristy part of the Great Wall so we decided to go to Huanhuacheng Great Wall 2.5 hours out of beijing. After a semi confusing bus trip (getting off at the wrong stop because of a tour operator pretending to work for the bus company that ended with him getting punched in the face by his coworker), we arrived. This section of the wall is next to a lake and a dam and it was nice to see the water in contrast to the mountainous ridges of the wall. When we got there we discovered that the actual wall section was under maintenance and closed to the public. Undeterred, we ended up scaling a part that had a "do not enter" sign next to it and had the wall all to ourselves. Yes, we managed to invade the Great Wall.

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Along the way to the wall we met Jermaine, who is a Maori performance artist from New Zealand. It's not everyday that you get to watch someone do a Maori war dance (haka) on the Great Wall!

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Beijing is now the land of over zealous security checks. Everytime you enter the subways or visit a public attraction you have to go through security checks. Just imaging having to going through airport TSA every time you go somewhere. Getting on the train from Beijing to Datong we had to go through it three times! At times it feels as if one cannot make a bowel movement in Beijing without getting your belongings x-rayed and passport checked.

But we really did have a great time in Beijing. Had some great food as well!
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The voyage begins

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China to Switzerland by ground transportation…at first the idea seemed crazy, I mean it may still be. Yet when I looked at a map and traced where the journey would take me through it was just too epic to pass up when Greg asked if I wanted to join him. So here I am, at the start of our journey in China, ready to make our way from east to west, ready to see landscapes, experience cultures and meet peoples that nestle against each other one by one all the way from China, though Mongolia, Russia, Eastern Europe and ending in western Europe. One by one the culture will vary slightly, with overlaps, new interpretations, riffs. I started my trip with a big bowl of noodles and am hoping to end it with a big pot of fondue. What happens in between I am hoping to share a bit through this blog, although I have no idea how much time I will have to devote to it, but let’s see.

See you at the next stop!