Yet again, a blog and
podcast is more then overdue! We have navigated our way through the deserts of
Mongolia, circumvented the world’s second largest saline lake in Kyrgyzstan and
arrived in the home country of Borat, Kazakhstan. The Earthbound Astronauts have
truly landed in Central Asia, pleasantly overwhelmed by antics!
To listen to the podcast click Here!
Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
- May 12th – May 14th
We both had heard
differing opinions of Mongolia, yet all negatively portrayed the capital, Ulaanbaatar,
ironically coined “The city of nomads”. We, however, were determined to arrive
in Ulaanbaatar with an open mind unhindered by prejudices formed by others or
by our interesting experience in the border town. As we arrived, it became
evident as to how hard that would be; presented with a city that was a jungle
of concrete and dirt, completely void of any positive emotion. It was our first
encounter of a former soviet state and, unfortunately, the soviet influence had
definitely left its mark. Not only was there an aesthetic unfamiliarity but as
the predominate second language was Russian, communication became just as
foreign.
We decided to stay in
Ulaanbaatar just long enough to apply for Kazakh visas. As it was the weekend,
we had a few days to explore. Surprisingly, on Sunday, Ulaanbaatar was
completely lifeless. For those that listen to the podcast, you would know that
we had our first run in with an opportunistic thief trying to ’liberate’ my
wallet from my pocket, not helping improve our already fragile opinion of Ulaanbaatar.
Heading straight to the Kazak embassy the following morning, we somehow had our
incomplete applications accepted even though the embassy employee was shocked
as to why we even wanted to visit Kazakhstan especially without an invitation.
Elated to have the opportunity to escape the capital, we began to devise a plan
to leave. To our pleasant surprise, we serendipitously teamed up with the aforementioned
Dutch couple, Frans and Sien, and a Finnish/Swiss stallion, Nik, deciding to
head to Dalanzadgad, the capital of a southern province and the gateway to the
largest of the 32 Gobis or deserts. A day before leaving, Casey, Nik and myself
ventured out to a nearby town to visit a small monastery. This is where Casey
and I had our first taste of hitchhiking as we jumped into the back of a truck
to get to the monastery. We were then offered a lift returning us to the
capital, which was our first true glimpse of Mongolian hospitality. Sadly,
after being in Tibet so recently, we had been partially desensitized to
monasteries, and this one certainly lacked intrigue.
Leaving Ulaanbaatar
was a true saga as if we were stuck in a malicious gravitational field. After
first going to a bus station that did not have buses to
Dalanzadgad,
we were mislead by ‘taxi’ drivers that kept our friend’s packs hostage until we
paid multiples of what was initially agreed for a ride to the correct station.
After finding the robust soviet van heading to our destination and being told
we had five hours to wait, even after we offered to pay for the remaining seats
to leave then, we waited next to the “Black Market” for almost four hours
before being told our negotiated price was now acceptable, even though the van
was now full of people. Miraculously, we finally departed for Dalanzadgad
arriving the following morning, but not before enduring two flat tires and a
five-hour breakdown.
Dalanzadgad &
tour - May 15th – May 19th
Dalanzadgad was a
small town situated amidst incredibly arid terrain. Finding a hotel for the
night and having a tour organised twenty minutes after arrival marked the
beginning of our amazing adventure in the Gobi. Amusingly, as we just arrived
in our hotel room our van driver’s friend followed us into the room used our
toilet, took a piece of our salami, smiled at us and then left to the
bewilderment of us all. This town did however contain a few hazards that Casey
and I both seemed to encounter. I stepped on and partially entered a poorly
secured manhole and Casey, whilst venturing back from attempting photography of
the stars, plummeted into an unmarked pit, protecting his camera, but losing
the key to our hotel room…
We were collected the
following morning by our driver in a Russian van identical to the multitude of
others we’d seen. We drove through some incredibly diverse terrain, roads and
signage a non-existent luxury, relying on the instincts and experience of the
driver to navigate through this extremely foreign environment. Arriving at our
first ger (tent or “yurt” in Russian) camp situated next to an immense sand
dune, we all decided to climb the sand wall to inspect the other side and
visualise the landscape we had just traversed. We struggled up the deceptively
sheer dune where at the top we marveled at the sand dunes on one side and the
incomprehensible greenery on the other. Racing down the dune proved to be the
easiest part of the trek, and the most enjoyable, especially as I witnessed
Casey trip and hit his face in the sand. The day was then completed by an
anticlimactic camel ride that involved our uncontrollable camels relishing the
opportunity to eat, prompting the guide to make us grab the reigns of the camel
behind, forming a caravan of camel riding shame. Returning to the ger camp
surrounded by goats we spent our first night in a Mongolian ger.
After another day
driving in the Mongolian wilderness and viewing a canyon where a copious number
of dinosaur bones had been found, we arrived at our second ger camp, which was
home to a large Mongolian family. Staying in what we believe to be the ‘living
room’ ger, we were introduced to various games using sheep knuckles. Feeding us
like they thought we’d never been fed before, we stomached traditional Mongolian
pasta and rice filled with fat and sand and drank traditional camel milk tea,
of which I am not the biggest fan. Enthused by the kindness of the family,
Casey and Nik were ushered over to help catch baby goats and place them into a
small pen, a highlight for them both. The following day we visited a national
park that contained an ice river where we had the opportunity to walk along the
ice and marvel at the amazing ice formations. This marked the end of our short
tour in the Gobi as we returned to Dalanzadgad in preparation to return to Ulaanbaatar
the following day.
Ulaanbaatar - May 20th
& May 21st
Catching a public bus
rather then an unpredictable Russian van turned out to be a very successful
experience. We did not need to stop for mechanical reasons and the trip, which
had taken us sixteen hours a few days before, only took eight hours to return
us to the capital. It was by this point that the capital was a welcome sight as
we all looked forward to a meal that had either a little more flavour or less
density then food we’d been eating over the previous days. We celebrated
collecting our passports from the Kazak embassy, complete with a visa, a
triumph for us both. This afforded us another three days before we had to be in
the capital to catch our flight to Bishkek, another great opportunity to see
another part of Mongolia.
Torelj - May 22nd
– May 24th
Casey found the
Torelj national park, approximately seventy kilometres from Ulaanbaatar, which
contained numerous tourist ger camps and, the major attraction, a golf course.
Feeling enthusiastically confident about the direction we needed to travel we
started walking with the intention of adopting the common Mongolian practice of
hitching a ride. We walked over ten kilometres before we decided it was time to
raise the arm indicating the desire for a life. Less then thirty seconds passed
before our first car stopped to offer us a ride. The first car travelled about
a kilometre before stopping at a group of houses. Our spirits partially
dampened, Casey sort out a luxury car parked on the side of the road who
quickly offered us a lift to our destination. Dropping us off at the entrance
to the national park, we thanked the driver for his hospitality and continued
following a dirt road adjacent to a beautiful river. After walking for about
twenty minutes we caught our third and final ride. This driver attempted to
communicate with us and even made a call to his English speaking wife asking
her to translate that we would pick her up on the way and that she would
recommend a good location. After picking up our driver’s lovely wife, they dropped
us at Turtle Rock (a rock shaped like a turtle) leaving us with both advice and
her business card incase we needed anything translated.
Walking past Turtle
Rock, heading down a dirt road towards a monastery, we saw a small group of
gers. We approached the camp and were welcomed by an incredibly jolly man who
welcomed us with open arms. We spent the afternoon relaxing looking forward to
the impending golf game the following day. Waking early and walking the five
kilometres to the Chinggis Khan Country Club to play golf, we were severely
disappointed when we discovered a game of golf would cost us $80AUD each, a
price we refused to pay. In defeat, we decided to climb an incredibly steep
hill before travelling overland to return to our ger camp. This saw us
accidently encounter a marsh, which I, unfortunately, was a victim. We left the
following day, catching a ride with a British woman we’d met at the camp, but
not before the man embraced us both, completing our amazing experience in the
national park and solidifying our opinion of the nomadic Mongolian people.
As we returned to the
concrete capital, it was hard not to reminisce about our time in Mongolia and
the pleasant unfamiliarity of a country and people whom are trying to create
their own identity after so recently being part of such a uniform regime. The
following day we headed to the airport preparing to enter our first ‘Stan’, farewelling
a society, which had sincerely proven that superficial appearances can be
deceiving.
Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan -
May 25th & May 26th
We hesitantly arrived
in Bishkek with an unfortunate stereotype of the ‘Stans’ affixed in our minds.
After leaving the airport and catching a van through an incredibly green city to
a large apartment complex, which turned out to contain our poorly marked hotel,
we were slightly shocked to realise that the private room we had paid $20AUD
each for was in fact a vacated family bedroom/lounge room. This was also topped
off by the fact there was no door on the room and the family was sleeping in
the kitchen. As we walked down the streets of Bishkek, premiering our money
belts, it was obvious that people could see we were tourists and stared at us
with the cold, interrogating stare we’d first met in Ulaanbaatar. Spending an
extra day in Bishkek before we were going to depart for the countryside, we
decided to see a movie, Star Trek 2. After enjoying the incredibly cheap price
to see the movie and the fact that we could bring a beer into the cinema, we
were slightly taken aback when the movie was in Russian… A first for
everything. One positive thing that can be said about Kyrgyzstan though is that
the pastries and breads are amazing! We were told by our incredibly hospitable
‘hotel’ manager that Bishkek was incredibly safe, which filled us with a mild
sense of confidence to venture out and see the city square at night. This was a
great experience as we saw fountains in the square luminesced by surrounding
lights and people roller-skating. Yet again, our predetermined prejudice and
hesitation seemed unfounded.
Lake Issyk-Kul,
Kyrgyzstan - May 27th – May 31th
Leaving the
uneventful capital, we headed to the tourist town, Choplan-Ata, on the northern
side of Lake Issyk-Kul, the world’s second largest saline lake. Amusingly, a
taxi driver asked Casey where he was from. After Casey answered, the taxi
driver exclaimed “What are you doing here?! You crazy!”, a statement that
amused us to no endh. As we arrived at this completely desolate town, we
luckily found a pink hotel down a side street at a reasonable price. Wanting to
explore this beach we had heard so much praise for in Bishkek, we headed to the
edge of the lake. Walking along a dirt road past a plethora of abandoned shipping
containers that had once contained shops foreshadowed what we were about to
encounter. As we found the beach, it was obvious that this potentially once
vibrant and prominent site was now a product of neglect, completely tarnished
by a human presence.
Staying only a night
in Choplan-Ata, we progressed onto Karakol, a town to the far east of the
saline lake. Finding a hostel that was highly recommended by Lonely Planet, we
decided to spend three nights in this sullen town. After spending a day
recuperating we decided to visit the Karokol Valley. We walked about ten
kilometres out of town before we reached the ticketing booth of the national
park. Being prewarned to ensure we received a receipt, we had a very amusing
conversation with a park ranger who attempted to barter a price to enter the
national park without a ticket, no doubt a potential source of his side income.
The valley was extremely beautiful as we walked past rolling hills covered in
greenery and a bubbling brook all incorporated by a backdrop of snow capped
peaks. It was hard to avoid thinking that the beauty of the landscape was
tainted by humanity. In an ironic response to our criticism, we were offered a
lift back into town by a very hospitable family. The following day we caught
the bus back to Bishkek, where in just a few days we had lost the hesitation
and gained the confidence to walk down the street with conviction without
pondering our safety or the safety of our belongings. A true story of growth.
We have just arrived
in Almaty, Kazakhstan, but I’ll leave that for the next blog. That brings us to
now. Entering these two very different yet comparable countries has taught us
both some vital lessons. As we continue to travel the world we see differing
cultures and the hardships they have and continue to overcome on a daily basis.
We are starting to gain an appreciation of why certain cultures seem
superficially cold, abrasive and intimidating unreceptive. Whether it is due to
past necessity or the effects of rapid change, it is obvious that these cultures
we have experienced are true products of both their history and environments. With
this in mind, I cannot avoid personally reflecting upon our own culture, pondering
the differing perceptions people form of us through their varied experiences of
our country and it’s people.
Keep posted.
