Mongolia
09.09.95 - 06.10.95
Sukhe Bataar - Ulan Bataar
Ulan Bataar-Erdene
Erdene - Zamuud uud
400 Km by train
600 Km
120 Km by train
Visa
A mongolian visa is difficult to get. The rules are the same as for Russia (you need an invitation or an organized tour), but the mongolians are stricter. You can't just "buy " a visa from a travel agency. At the consulate in Irkutsk they wouldn't give me a visa, so I tried in Ulan Ude. After I explained to the consul that my russian visa was expiring in 2 days and that I just wanted to go to Ulan Bator to get a chinese visa and go to china as fast as I could, he gave me a 7 days visa(50 $). From the border to Ulan Bator I took the train. The roadborder at Ka'chta is closed for non-mongolians and non-russians. So from Naushki to Sukhebataar you have to take the train anyway (20 Km) . In Ulan Bataar I couldn't get a chinese visa because of the women's conference in Beijing. I had to wait 3 weeks. A visa extension wasn't possible. It might be possible with the right connection and / or money. After I got my chinese visa I cycled to Erdene. The visa was expired anyway. From Erdene I took the train to the border and crossed it by train as well. I wasn' t sure if the landborder was open so I wanted to cross it by train. Trains go only twice a week, so if I had cycled all the way to the border I would have had to wait another 2 days. At the border I had to pay 50 $ for a new visa and 15 $ fine.
Money
Tugrug 1 $ = 450 Tugrug In Ulan Bator there is a bank that accepts all creditcards.
Roads
From Sukhebataar to Ulanbataar it's paved. Don't know how good since I was sitting in the train. From there on it's not paved anymore. 30 Km outside Ulan Bataar the paved road stops and it's hard to find the right track. Once you found it it's easy. It always follows the railway lane, often there are even tracks on both sides. The track is good: no stones, no sand easy to ride. And the wind always comes from northwest.
Traffic
South of Ulan Bataar almost nothing.
Accomodation
In Ulan Bataar there are many hotels. Other tourists told me that in summer some schools function as dormitories, which would be the cheapest solution. In my hotel I paid 11 $ a night for a single with shared toilet. After a week a mongolian rented me an empty apartement for 5 $.
Food
There isn't much: Flour and mutton. Typical mongolian food is: Booz (dumpling), khushur (sort of salty mutton omelettes) and noodle soup. In Ulan Bator you can find other stuff as well. Some fruits, vegetables and even imported cheese, but not in the countryside, you have to stock up in Ulan Bator. Milk products are easy to find. Yoghurt, Airag (fermented horsemilk), Arkhi (never had it but it's alcoholic around 25 % and Aroll (very hard cheese. The mongolians dip it in tea to make it softer. On the way to the border Saynshand is the first place where you can buy food again.
People
I didn't like the people in the capital very much. Compared to Russia they seemed very aggressive. Queuing is not known, to buy something you almost have to fight (even if there is enough), if 2 people want to come out of a bus and 2 want to go in, in Mongolia that's a very complicated affair. I had the impression that the mongolians were very nationalistic as well: "Gengis Khan is the best, Hitler is good because he wanted to copy Gengis Khan. Today your country is strong, but 600 years ago you were nothing while Mongolia owned the whole world. Without the russians Mongolia today would be strong. Burjatja (Russian region around Ulan Ude) Inner Mongolia, Xinjiang (western china) and Tibet all want to join Mongolia" That's some of the stuff I always heard. but maybe I talked with the wrong people. In the country I liked the people much better. There weren't many, but if somebody came we talked a bit shared some food or cigarettes and went our own way again.
Language
I didn't learn any mongolian. Almost everybody still speaks some russian, and I met more English. french or germanspeakers in Ulan Bator than in Russia. The script was cyryllic but they wanted to go back to their old mongolian script.
Price
Fresh fruits and vegetables are more expensive than in Russia, the rest is a little bit cheaper.
Bicycle parts
To my big surprise I found a bikemechanic who gave me a new front axle. So you can find things, just ask a taxidriver to bring you there. I saw quit many racing bikes on the road.
Dangers
Again there is a big difference between Ulan Bator and the countryside. In the country I didn' t have any problems. In Ulan Bator there are a lot of pickpockets, in Buses and specially at the blackmarket. At night don't walk around alone. I always was with a mongolian friend, without him I would have had problems more than once. There are many drunks around. During the day it's safer. Once I went to the railwaystation and was more or less robbed by the police. But they only took the Tugrug and left my dollars. Mongolia is a Machocountry. I wouldn' t go there alone, if I was a women. At night there are a lot of prostitutes around the big hotels.
28.2.98/chs - all pictures by Christoph Sauser
