A Dream Come True: Off to Mongolia (Part 1)

For as long as I can remember, I've wanted to go to Mongolia.  I don't know why - I don't think I grew up knowing someone who went to Mongolia (this is why I fell in love with Russia - a friend of my parents went in the 70s.), and it's not like Mongolia featured big in the movies in the 1980s.  Maybe it was the horseback riding, I don't know.  But it's been on my bucket list since having a bucket list was a thing to do (I started mine when I was 16.)

And we're off!

So I decided to go, and I started my trip in Beijing, which I've blogged about previously, see here if you want a refresher on my first week in Asia.

Dawn over the steppes

Anyway - I arrived in UB on the Trans-Mongolia Train.  I'd spent 27 hours with my travelling companion, Jason, and two Dutch guys who were sharing our tiny couchette.  Thankfully, these guys were chill, and the trip passed quickly.  A few times we headed to the dining car, just to give ourselves a bit of a break, and frequently we zoned out to music and books in our bunks.  We watched the countryside slide by outside the windows - starting off as towering mountains near Beijing, and slowing giving way to rolling hills and farm land, to flat stretches with wind farms and not much else.  Dawn came in a soft purple, pick and yellow, illuminating the Gobi desert as we tracked closer to UB.  We saw the occasional Mongolia rider, and herds of camels (herds?  trains?  caravans?  flocks?  That makes them sound like birds.) but otherwise it was quiet.

We arrived at the train station in UB, and wonder of wonders - there is not only a place to change money (on the second floor of a building to your right as you walk away from the terminal), but on the first floor there is a booth where you can buy Movistar sim cards.  This was great for us, until I realized that it wouldn't work in my phone.  I had gotten a sim in Beijing that worked (plus I've had sims from several other countries that have all worked) but for some reason I couldn't get this sim to work.

Our taxi driver had trouble finding the hotel that the tour company we were using (Intrepid) had booked.  Very unhelpfully, the only address we had was written in the Latin alphabet, and Mongolian is written in Cyrillic.  It took several phone calls, both the driver and Jason, to get better directions to the hotel.

After we checked in and dumped our luggage in our room, we headed out to find me a working sim card and a place to eat.  UB is teeming with restaurants of all kinds - I saw at least two vegan restaurants, several Indian, Korean, and Japanese restaurants, as well as numerous British pubs and American steak houses.  The bellboy at the hotel had marked the location of a cellphone shop on our map, so we headed there first, and with the help of a Mongolian-speaking woman from Florida (it's always Florida) I got a sim that worked with my phone!  Finally, after a week, I had access to Facebook and Gmail and could let the world know that I was ok!  (And fascinating in China.)

We headed to a Mongolian restaurant, Modern Nomads, that looked interesting.  The decor inside would fit in in any trendy, upscale neighbourhood in Ottawa (*cough*Westboro*cough*) and the food was good.  It was traditional Mongolian food, so we ordered a few plates to share.  It was a gentle introduction to our fare for the next two weeks on our tour.



At our first ger camp

Two mornings later we loaded up with the rest of the tour (whom we had met the night before, along with the guide) and headed out.  I chose to ride in the van with the leopard print seat covers (because leopard print, and I was missing my cats) and my first thought was "Dear gods, I'm going to die in Mongolia" as the driver barrelled around other cars, weaving in and out of traffic and scaring the crap out of the tourists in the back.  (It turns out that that's just the way he drives all the time, and after a few hours you just get really into it and start to egg him on.
The tour would follow the same pattern for the next 2 weeks:  we would have breakfast at 7:15, if we were heading out that day, 8:00 if we were staying at that camp.  Dinner was always at 7.  When we were on the road, we would stop mid-morning for a pee break, as well as mid-afternoon.  We would stop in a town somewhere along the way (usually mid-morning, occasionally this was our pee break), and we could stock up on snacks for the rides, as well as water and/or alcohol.  We'd have lunch anywhere from 12:00 to 1:00, depending on if it was in a restaurant or if we were picnicking.  The food also followed a theme - mutton (sheep meat!), potatoes, rice, and carrots, in some kind of combination.  The food was good - it had flavour, it was filling, and it was tasty, but it got a little repetitive after a little while.  Each ger camp has flush toilets, and running water.  Most camps had hot water, although it did on occasion run out.

Amarbayasgalant Khiid

We headed up first towards Amarbayasgalant Khiid, one of the top three Buddhist temples in Mongolia.  We arrived at our ger camp to ominous skies.  After throwing our things in our gers (two people per ger) we headed to the monastery, and did a tour of the buildings and the grounds, before trekking up a set up stairs built into the hill behind the monastery, to turn the multiple prayer wheels.  From there, a small path lead over to another staircase, that rose to a giant, gold Buddha.  It was completely different, yet the same to, the Lama Temple in Beijing.  The elements were similar, but while the Lama Temple felt newer, more in use, this temple gave off a quieter vibe, as if it we had been transported back in time.  This temple appeared to be used less, but with just as devout worshippers.  We walked back to the vans, and drove back to the ger camp for dinner.  We were lucky and missed the rain this day.

Amarbayasgalant Khiid from the hill

The next day we were back on the road and drove north towards the Selenge River, with a stop off in Erdenet, for lunch and a quick visit to the carpet factory for some cashmere and, in my case, yarn.  We stopped off at another ger camp, and our luck ran out - the rain started as we headed towards Uran Uul, an extinct volcano that we were to climb.  The lot of us donned our rain gear, and set off up the slick path...that is, once the driver of the second van managed to get unstuck from the mud along the track road that led to the beginning of the trail. 

storm off in the distance

I reached the ovoo at top, and began a clockwise walk along the crater, when I saw flashes of lightening off in the distance.  Used to the vistas at home (if you can see it, it can hit you) I sped up and jogged along the trail up top, hoping to reach the trail headed back down before the storm got any closer.  This was my first lesson about Mongolia - the sky is so wide, and so open, that often you can watch storms rolling across the sky that are nowhere near you.  This storm would hit us in earnest in about 3 hours, so I had lots of time.  Because I was so quick to head back down the trail, I missed the double rainbow that the others saw by the time they made it up.  Oh well, there's always another rainbow.

During dinner that night, we watched the storm from the restaurant's windows.  The lightening jagged through the sky, and lit it up.  The rain where we were had stopped at this point, so we thought the storm was moving off.  In fact, it rolled closer and closer, and finally broke around 10:30, right over our camp.  The thunder was so loud that it shook the ground, and rain pelted our gers.  Thankfully, the felted wool of the ger is incredibly tight and waterproof, not to mention warm, so I fell asleep to the sound of the rain on the roof, thinking "this isn't anything like a tent."

At our first homestay - families, drivers and tourists

The next day we went to visit a family, where we would stay for the night.  We actually stayed with two, related, families who had gers close together.  Half of us would sleep with one family, half with the other.  When we arrived, the woman at the main ger was making internal organ soup - which she offered to let us taste, if we wanted to.  Rather than bite into intestines or lungs, I decided to try to find the "toilet" - a ditch about a 10 minute walk from the ger.  Having grown up camping, peeing outside is never an issue for me.  Thankfully, the ditch added some privacy from the road; not that there was much traffic anyway.

Pointing at (beside) the peak we climbed

We had some time to kill before dinner, so I hiked up the hills behind the gers, with two others from the tour.  The grade was steep, and the ground was loose shale, with thin patches of grass in spots, so it was slow going.  Then it steepened even more, and the lady with us decided to call it quits there and just enjoy the view.  The guy and I pressed on, carefully as it would have been easy to lose our footing.  We finally hit a small crest, and walked along a short ridge line to the rocky summit.  The view was incredible - you could see gers dotting the landscape, sitting in valleys between the hills, and spread out in nearly every direction.  There was little sign of human habitation - other than the white dots of the gers, one paved road and several dirt tracks, there was nothing.  No cars hummed along the road, no motorbikes roared down the tracks, no hydro poles got in the way of a good photograph.  We spent a while just soaking it all in before making our way back down to the ger camp.

View from up top

My climbing partner while in Mongolia

Setting up "camp"

The other members of our group had spent the time reading, playing with the children, or visiting with the parents, with our tour guide as interpreter.  After dinner, cooked by the guides, and on the urging of one of the other girls on the tour, she and I set up our bed rolls and sleeping bags on the group just outside the gers.  The drivers helped us rig up mosquito netting, and we prepared to sleep outside under the stars.  Besides our sleeping bags, I had a fleece, hat, long pants, and a sweater on....just in case.  It was too bad the moon didn't cooperate - it was near full, and dominated the sky.  No stars for us.  However, it was great sleeping outside, on the steppes.  We were both a little dew-soaked in the morning, so we hung our sleeping bags on the van doors to dry off while we had breakfast.

Lake Khovsgol

That day we drove over the Selenge River taking a break by the river to take photos of the landscape, and stopped off in Mörön to pick up a picnic lunch and mail off any postcards we wanted to send.  From there we headed north to Lake Khovsgol, stopping off at a small market set up by the reindeer herders, before heading down to the lake shore, and our ger camp.

We had two days to spend at Lake Khovsgol, and we planned to make the most of them.  The first thing I did upon arrival was pack up some dirty clothes to have the staff launder for me - between Beijing, the train ride and the few days on the tour, I needed most things washed, if I wanted anyone to sit next to me at dinner.  A few of us decided to walk along the shoreline, passing a few other ger camps, and families on the beach enjoying what we found out was an unseasonably warm day.  I have to admit - I had expected the Mongolian temperatures (especially this far north) to be cooler, but every day it was over 25C.

Even the yaks needed to cool off

Ovoo on the island

The second day at Lake Khovsgol, we all boarded a boat that took us to an island not far from shore.  Somewhat amusingly, no one (that I saw) wore a seat belt, but we all had to put on life jackets.  We sped across the water, somehow staying dry, to a small dock that I swear could not fit any more boats, but somehow we squeezed in.  A short but steep hike up the rock, down into a short flat col, and over to the spit at the end of the island brought us to an ovoo, where we could make an offering, walk around it clockwise, and make a wish.  The view was incredible from this vantage point, but unfortunately we were sharing the tiny piece of real estate with two other groups.  It made for some jostling around, as we all tried to manoeuvre and not fall.  Thankfully, the other two groups there left shortly after we arrived, so we had some time to pose for photos, and enjoy the views before heading back to the boat and back to camp.

Rocky ledges and endles vistas

That afternoon, five of us hiked up the three hills behind the ger camp - it was a short walk up to the first summit, where (another) ovoo awaited, this one with horse skulls clustered in between the ribbons and poles.  We did the obligatory clockwise walk around, and paused to enjoy the sun and warmth.  After a bit, we did the short hike along the ridge line to the second summit, this one with a couple of rocky ledges jutting out.  We took turns posing on the rocks, some of us more daring than others, and admired the views of the lake from our new vantage point.  We could see several ger camps spread out below us, but not many more signs of human habitation.  We quickly took off for the third, and final summit.  Then it was down the back of the hill, into the forest, and along a path until we came out in the field beside the camp, where we spent some time admiring a mare and her foal.  In all, we had spent nearly two hours hiking over the hills and through the woods.  Dinner couldn't come soon enough! 

Herding sheep along the road

We stopped over in Mörön again the next day, before heading to our second, and last, family stay, near Shine-Ider.  As we pulled up to the family ger, the driver motioned towards the stables, and asked if I wanted to sleep outside there, before breaking into laughter.  It was another moment to bring home how comfortable everyone was together - not just us, the tourists, but the guide and drivers as well.  We all meshed together as a group nicely.

Once at the family ger, and unpacked, We played a little with the kids, and again headed up the hill behind the family ger - this one was much larger than the others, and we made it to the first crest, about half way, before deciding to call it.  We sat and took in the view, before heading down for dinner.  If I had known that this would be one of my last "hiking" excursion, I may have decided to press on to the top.  Unfortunately, hindsight is 20/20.

Volcanic crater

The following day we arrived at White Lake (Khorgo Nuul), and Jason and I decided to jump into the lake.  Or rather, slowly ease ourselves into the lake - it wasn't particularly warm at first.  But it was much like lakes at home - once you're in, the water starts to feel a little warmer.  This was another two day stop, so our drivers and guide took us to another extinct volcano, which helpfully had a few concrete steps leading to the top!  We could again walk around the rim, so a group of us set off, joking around as we came to "cliffs", taking turns having photos taken of our feet dangling over the edge.  At one point we lost the trail, and split up into different groups as we all tried to find the easiest (for us) way back.  We all made it back at roughly the same time, and hiked back down to the waiting drivers.


I spent a bit of time on rocky ledges this trip

On our way back to camp, we stopped off at a small shop for water, and a few of us got out of the vans and decided to walk.  Our guide told us to just follow the road and we'd arrive at the camp in about a half hour.  We slowly made our way back, stopping off to climb Turtle Rock.  It was a warm day, and clouds were building in the sky.  Dark, ominous clouds.  So we picked up our pace as we started back to camp, expecting rain to fall shortly.  Thankfully, the clouds moved off, and we got to watch the storm on the opposite shore while we sat out on the beach, enjoying the sun.


Storm on the opposite shore of White Lake

These are some bumpy roads

Back on the road, we had found our groove.  We shared snacks (deciding that the driver's needed bowls so we could put our food offerings to them there, instead of on the console) and bounced around as drove down the dirt tracks.  If they were muddy, we could encourage the drivers to fishtail, resulting in more fun than I wish to admit.  When we were on paved roads, it was easy to fall asleep, but the bumpy dirt tracks can make it hard to do much of anything, other than chat with the others.  There was once when the roads were bumpy enough that one of the taller members knocked their head against the light on the roof.



Museum in Tsertserleg

On our way towards the Tsenher hot springs, which I think we were all looking forward to, we swung through Tsertserleg, for lunch, a stop at a museum, and some free time. The museum featured Mongolian history - a tradition ger, a stuffed horse (whose seams were coming apart), and various parts of daily life on the steppes - cooking pots, utensils, Buddhist shrines, and horse saddles.  Upstairs was a collection of musical instruments, clothing and hunting weapons.  Another building contained various games that children would have played, as well as history of the ruling parties of Mongolia, including the Communists under Soviet rule, and a brief history of the sole Mongolian astronaut.  There was also a section devoted to nadaam festivals. ,

After the museum, the tour guide took some people to the local market, while I headed to Fairfields for some coffee and baked goods.  Slowly everyone else dropped in after their visit to the market, and we all walked back to the meeting place for the journey to our ger camp for the next two nights, which was located near some hot springs.  The ger camps near the springs pump the water in their mini-pools - closer to a rather large hot tub than a pool.  Our ger camp had two side by side - one with warm-ish water and one with hot water.  A soak here was a wonderful way to end a bumpy day. 

Our horses await!

Our second morning here saw our tour group split up as we all decided to do something different.  Some took a walk through the nearby forest towards the source of the hot springs, some signed up to get a massage at a nearby ger camp, and 4 of us got on horses. I took riding lessons as a kid in Canada, and I went horseback riding in Iceland, so I felt somewhat confident....until we had to sign a waver.

Sitting pretty during a break

Mongolian horses are semi-wild, but the ones we were on felt tame.  The guide picked up the leads of two of the horses, and myself and another guy were on our own.  We headed off at a sedate pace, past the ger camps and family gers, to an open meadow, where we picked up our pace to a trot.  (Unlike in Canada, to get a Mongolian horse to go, you say "chooo".)  We eventually got to canter and gallop, as we went around and over a hill, and then back towards the camp.  We had all managed to stay on, and by half way through the four of us were all going solo.  My horse and I had one minor disagreement - it felt that it might just be more stubborn than me.  Alas, the horse had never been told "Don't argue with a Barrett girl" and we quickly came to the agreement that when I said "turn around and go go go" we turn around and go go go.  A quick gallop back across the field, a turn that would make barrel-racers jealous and a race back to camp were definitely highlights of this ride.


Erdene Zuu Monastery

Erdene Zuu Monastery

By this point we were getting towards the end of the tour.  Things were still going well - everyone got along great, we were still having fun, but we were getting tired of being on the road.  So when we packed up and headed out, I think we were all glad that this would be the last stop before going back to UB.   On our way to the ger camp in Bayan Gobi, we first stopped by the Erdene Zuu Monastery, near the site of the ancient Mongolian capital Karakorm.  This is a UNESCO World Heritage Site, and seeing as I have a dream of visiting as many World Heritage Sites as my age....well, I was in heaven.  Plus - old stuff!  Fun!
We were given a tour of a few of the buildings, and then given time to walk around by ourselves.  Erdene Zuu Monastery was built in the late 1500s, and stones from the former capital were used in its construction.  We were taken into a long, low building, that had been seperated into small rooms - these are prayer rooms, where monks would sequester themselves to pray.  There's also another building dedicated to the Dalai Lama, and several temples.  A ger is set up, where you can have a Buddhist monk pray for you; and near the enterance is a small gift shop, coffee shop and western toilets. 

Prayer flags at the monastery

Stone turtle

I headed out to the gates to see the turtle, one of two that are the only remaining structures from the ancient capital.  It's a short walk along a dusty road (follow the road and you can't miss it) about 200 yards from the walls surrounding the monastery.  Set up near the turtle and several tables where people are selling various souviners, mostly Buddhism inspired, but also jewellery, statues and trickets that were Chinese in style.  The turtle itself is somewhat anti-climatic, but still worth the short walk. 

This is one heavy bird

Walking back out to the van, I saw hunting birds, eagles and falcons that had been brought in by some eagle hunters, for tourists to pose with.  At only 3000MNT, or a little less than $2CDN, I decided to pose with an Golden Eagle, otherwise known as a Steppe Eagle.  They wanted to give me a little falcon, but I was having none of that.  I wanted to hold the bird that was bigger than me.  Weighed more than me, too, for that matter.  That was one heavy bird!

After our visit to the World Heritage Site, we stopped by a camel herder's ger to take an hour long ride.  We were each helped onto our camels, and given the lead to another camel, forming a train that snaked over the land and towards a small sand dune not too distant.  Much laughter ensued as we adjusted to their unique gait. At the sand dunes we were lined up, and the camel guide gathered all of our cameras to take photos.  And wouldn't you know it, during the photos with my camera, my camel decides it's time to sit.   After posing for the photos, we were led back to our waiting vans, and then it was off to our ger camp.

Camel rides (and sits)

At camp later that evening, a few of us sat out enjoying the sunset.  Having heard the news about Robin Williams' death just the day before, we stood, Dead Poet's Society, on a picnic table.  The sky is absolutely amazing in Mongolia - it seems to go on forever, with nothing to block it's view.

Monastery ruins

The next day Jason and I went horseback riding again, more confident this time than last.  It was just us, our guide and a horse guide, who spoke quite good English.  After a brief visit with the family, we hopped on the horses and were off, first at a walk, but quickly switching into a faster pace.  I should note that these horses were a bit more "wild" than our first set - most people choose to ride camels here, rather than horses. The time flew by, our hour was shortly up, and we walked back to the camp to join the others for a visit to another monastery, this one having been destroyed by the Soviets.  It has since been rebuilt, but the ruins remain.  The new monastery is building onto the cliff, so we gingerly walked up the steep, winding path, and then back down to the ruins.

New monastery on the cliff

The next day we woke up incredibly early to head back to UB.  Our drivers had told us we should leave at 6, but we (I) argued for 6:20.  My tip to you:  leave at 6.  We got stuck in traffic in UB, and since drivers in UB think that the lines on the road are suggestions, it makes for some interesting moments...and a nearly lost right arm, in my case.  That night we had our farewell dinner, treating our guide and drivers to dinner, and then drinks at the Blue Sky hotel, which has a lounge on the 23rd floor with amazing views of the city.

Last three standing!

TL:DR version
The Intrepid Wild Mongolia Tour includes
- hot water, flushing toilets, except for the 2 homestays
- the two homestays are close together, at the beginning of the tour
- gifts for homestay families that went over great were toys (balls), food (tea, onions, potatoes), toothbrushes/toothpaste, stickers, crayons, notepads
- waivers to sign if you want to ride horses
- lots of food.  Lots and lots of food.
- but it's almost all mutton
- lots of monastery visits
- a guide who speaks excellent English and crazy drivers

Mongolia is good to visit because
- wide open vistas, with little to no signs of human habitation
- friendly, welcoming people
- things to climb
- horses and camels
- gers

Mongolia may not be good to visit if
- you are vegetarian.  UB has vegan/vegetarian options, outside the city even 'Vegetable soup" includes meat.  Rice, potatoes, carrots, eggs, cucumbers, and bread were plentiful though.
- gluten-free?  Definitely bring rice cakes to supplement the meals.  While most things were GF (hard to go wrong when it's all rice, carrots, potatoes and sheep) there were occasionally 'thick' sauces and wheat noodles
- you're not so big on mutton
- you're not too big on nature,
- you don't like bumpy roads and long car rides

Summer Vacation Part 1: Beijing

Earlier this year I had decided that my trip this summer would be to Mongolia.  The majority of the flights (that is, the cheapest) had me connecting to a flight to Ulaan Baatar (UB) in Beijing; this of course led to one my famous “Let’s make this bigger!  Turn it up to 11!” moments.  I decided to do a multi-city flight – Ottawa to Beijing, and then UB to Ottawa for the return flight.  I would arrive in Beijing in the afternoon of July 31, and leave in the morning of August 5, taking the Trans-Mongolian Train to UB from Beijing.  This would give me a few days to take in the sites in and around Beijing, and give me time to get over any jet-lag I might have.  (For future reference:  So far, I have not experience jet lag.  Even with the 12-hour time difference between Ottawa and Beijing.)  This time, I was travelling with a friend from university.

Our flight to Beijing was uneventful.  We flew from Ottawa to Detroit, where we had a short layover, and then onto Beijing – a 13-hour flight that passed quickly.  Upon arrival in Beijing, we found a taxi (that we probably overpaid for.  So, note for next vacation:  contact hostel/hotel/B&B and ask how much a taxi from the airport to their front door should cost).

A hutong street scene

We were staying at a hostel located in the Dongcheng district, down a very narrow hutong street.  There were times where we thought the taxi would get stuck, but no – he made it all the way to the hostel.  (Our tour guide would have us meet him outside the hutong, as the roads are actually that narrow).  Our hostel was clean and comfortable, and the staff were friendly, but we were mislead on one feature – the reason that we booked the hostel we did, was because they advertised that breakfast was included in the price.  Upon arrival, we found out that breakfast was NOT included.  (We were not the only travellers who noticed this, so it wasn’t a problem of simply reading the advert wrong).  Breakfast wasn’t that much – 15 to 25 yuan, but I did end up wondering if there would be any more surprises in store.

My travelling companion had wanted to book a tour guide for two of the days we would be in Beijing, so upon recommendation from a coworker of his, we had booked the services of Beijing Mike – he would pick us up in the mornings, and drive us to various sites, as well as act as guide and interpreter.  After a few emails back and forth, we settled on

                Day 1 -  Tiananmen Square, Forbidden City, Temple of Heaven, tea house, rickshaw tour of hutong

                Day 2 – Great Wall (Mutianyu Section), and the  Summer Palace, driving by the Olympic buildings. 

Both days included lunch, and water, as well as all entry fees.

From Tiananmen Square looking towards Forbidden City

Our first full day, Mike met us at the front door of the hostel, and led us out of the hutong to his car.  (The next day we met him outside the hutong, in order to leave early for the Great Wall).  We headed the short distance to Tiananmen Square, where Mike walked us through and explained the buildings, and the architecture (there’s a lot of Feng Shui involved).  

For those planning to see Mao (having previously seen Lenin and Stalin in Moscow, I wasn’t too interested in seeing Mao), Mike advised us to arrive early.    Jason had planned on going one morning, but early is....well, early, and we were busy enough (and the one day we had nothing planned, it rained) that he ended up skipping the visit.

We walked through the Square, and were promptly pulled over for pictures with a few Chinese tourists.  This would be a feature of our stay in Beijing - children asking for our autographs, parents wanting pictures, teens wanting to practise their English. (And one time where a young boy screamed 'HELLO' in Mandarin in Jason's face)

Statues in the Forbidden City

From there we walked into the Forbidden City.  It was interesting listening to the history that Mike was telling us, as he led us through the maze of buildings.  At first it's really impressive, then it begins to lessen - all the buildings are the same style/colours/architecture....you become immune to the grandiosity of it.  Still, it was interesting seeing items that residents had used in times past.  Everything is well preserved and well presented, if a little crowded.  (To be fair, all of Beijing is crowded.)

Park surround the Temple of Heaven

We exited the Forbidden City and walked back to the car, and went to the Temple of Heaven.  If I have one piece of advice, it's to break up the Temple of Heaven and the Forbidden City.  By the time we got to the Temple of Heaven I was in architecture overload.  The only way I can tell the pictures apart in my gallery is the colour of the roofs - the Forbidden City has yellow roofs, the Temple of Heaven blue. 

Still, it was nice at the Temple of Heaven - the park surrounding the buildings has far fewer people (it's still noisy - the cicadas were near deafening) and it was cool in the shade.  The park portion is open (and free) to everyone - residents of the city gather here and visit, or exercise.  The portion with buildings is the tourist part, with an entry fee.  Every time tickets needed to be bought, Mike would point out an area where we were to meet him, and he would go and buy the tickets.  It was nice, especially on the first full day in Beijing, to not have to deal with language barriers, or trying to understand where to line up,  which wicket for was what, and if there was a tourist/national price difference.

Temple of Heaven

Mike lead us through the park to the gate, and took us through the different areas telling us about the ceremonies and rituals.  We wandered through various arches, along several buildings, and up a giant, circular dais that has nine levels of nine steps, and each dais has a multiple of nine tiles around.  When we came to the actual Temple of Heaven (which includes not a single metal nail) we even came across a bride having her photos taken.  The pace here felt less hectic than it had at the Forbidden City, but the smog and heat had gotten worse, so we didn't last too long.

After the Temple of Heaven, we stopped by a tea house, where we were taught how to hold the cups, how to sip (no more or less than three sips to finish the cup) and which teas require which type of pot.  We got to taste five different teas, and most importantly - sit inside, where the a/c cooled us down considerably.

Rickshaw ride through a hutong

We quickly pressed on to the bicycle tour of the hutong.  This area wasn't too far from where we were staying (we would walk back on one of our solo days in Beijing), but it was interesting to see how this hutong was different from the one we were staying in.  We had a guide (who disappeared more often than we saw him) and a "driver" - a man who did all the real work - pedalling us around the streets in the humid temperature.  I was impressed that he could manage to get us up some of the inclines - it was really hot, and I'm sure two adult passengers weigh enough to give anyone pause!

We visited one of the original homes in this particular hutong, getting a brief history lesson on who (grandparents, sons, daughters, etc.) lives in which building and why (hint: feng shui), and got to tour the family's house - which are still in use.  We didn't see their private homes, but rather open public areas - an artist's studio, and a formal living room.  It was interesting to imagine how it would have been even a hundred years ago.  Members of the family were the ones to give us tours of their buildings, which gave us a greater appreciation of the history that we were walking through.

So smoggy!

But it sort of cleared

The next day we drove to the Great Wall.  There are several sections you can visit, the Badaling section is probably the most visited.  We went to the Mutianyu section, and we arrived early.  This is key - the earlier you arrive the quieter it is.  We were sharing this section with about 10 other people, for the first hour or so.  We took a chair lift up which was terrifying for me because I hate heights.  However, for those of you that aren't - you get some great views of the mountains!  Even if you are, it's a (relatively) quick way to get to the wall.  Mike came up with us, and explained a few historical points to us up at the top.  Then he left, back down to the parking lot, giving us a few hours to walk along the wall. 

 We wandered down to Watchtower 1, which is at the end of the tended (maintained) section of the wall.  From there, we sneaked out a window (no glass, so nothing to prevent you from doing this) to an "untended" section of the wall.  These sections are overgrown and the rocks are tumbling down.  It's wonderful.  We walked along a path that had been worn into the dirt/stone, being careful - there are parts where the wall has eroded so much, you swing out over nothing to step on the next section of wall.    We had seen one other person sneak out ahead of us, but he was long gone by the time we came strolling through.

Untended section of the wall

Tended section of the wall

We saw  a lot of lizards, butterflies and (ugh) centipedes on this part of the wall, but didn't manage to get many photos -they were quick to scamper/fly away....except for the centipedes but there was no way I was getting a picture of one of those.  We followed the path quite a way, wondering what else we might see, before deciding to head back to the tended section and exploring in the opposite direction.  We sneaked back through the window (which was harder, because more people had arrived by this point) and headed back down the steep stairs.  Definitely make sure to wear comfortable walking shoes - you don't need hiking boots or trail shoes, but something with a good grip, and is comfortable is definitely key.  

We walked on, dodging the groups that had arrived while we were off exploring.  The heat was starting to get to us - we ended up stopping several times in the watchtowers to cool off in the shade.  We walked on, but decided to head back down to the parking lot (and Mike) after two and a half hours of exploring.  The crowds, the heat and the smog were really starting to annoy us.  So we headed to the "toboggan" ride.  It's really a sled on wheels, with a break.  You slide down the mountain, a ride that lasts a few minutes.  It's a lot of fun, and the brake allows you to slow your speed if you feel nervous.  (In fact, the brake is in a constant 'on' position, by pushing forward on it, you release the break.  Anytime you let go, the brake comes back on.)

Taking a break

Summer Palace

After lunch, we headed to the Summer Palace.  You should definitely arrive early in the day.  By the time we arrived, it was incredibly crowded.  We bought tickets for a boat ride across the water, and walked back to the beginning.  We walked through a covered walkway, that caught a nice breeze of the water, and watched a portion of a Chinese Opera.  Mike continued to explain the significance of various statues, trees and buildings.  But we were definitely running out of steam by this point.  In retrospect, we could have visited the Summer Palace on our own.  While it was nice to have a guide - we didn't have to figure out where to buy tickets, where to line up, what were the most important parts to visit - it was also the kind of place perfect for wandering around and discovering.

Lama Temple

The next day we had to ourselves, so we walked the few blocks between our hostel and the Lama Temple after breakfast.  We got there early, and quickly got tickets and entered.  We were handled bundles of incense, for the smudging ceremony that was going on near the first temple.  We burned our incense and watched the people - it was clear that this was a mix between devout Buddhists, and tourists.  From there we walked through the different temples and courtyards, slowly as each building was packed with people.  If you plan to go to the Lama Temple go early, and don't go on a weekend - not only will it be packed with tourists, but also with devout Buddhists.  I felt a little intrusive as I walked around, watching people trying to prey, having to push through throngs of tourists to do so.

Jason had rented an audio guide, which he found somewhat useful.  I preferred to just wander around on my own.  If you're interested in the history of the Temple and in Buddhism, then the audio guide is a good investment.  If you're like me, and just want to wander and soak it in, then it's not as worthwhile.  He's also much more interested in learning about the religion, and the history of the buildings, I just wanted to soak in the atmosphere!

Smudging Ceremony

 With a final visit of a museum inside one of the buildings, we headed back out to the street and started walking towards the hutong we had visited the day before.  To the north of the hutong is the Bell Tower and Drum Tower, to the south Beihai Park.  The hutong itself is situation around Shichahai Lake.  That area had plenty of restaurant and bars, many with roof top patios overlooking the Lake.  Along the way, we came across a small street market, so wandered down through there as well.   

People watching from a rooftop

We had no plan as to where to go (but we did have a map!) so we just wandered, turning right or left depending on what we saw.  We eventually ended up at a major road, and managed to find it on our map.  We were not to far from the hutong we wanted to visit - we walked one block south, cross the road (quickly!  The cars don't stop) and walked along the water until we came to the area with shops, bars, and restaurants.

Most things seemed closed, so we continued to wander around, finally stopping off at one restaurant for lunch, before heading back towards the water.  By this time some of the bars and cafes had opened, so we sat on the roof top patio to people watch.  It was a crazy mix of people, cars, rickshaws, and bicycles.  But somehow they made it all work - it was incredibly impressive!

Confucian Temple

The next day was overcast and raining, so we started out late.  We went to the Confucian Temple, close to the Lama Temple that we had visited the day before.  Instead of being on the right of Dongsi Beidajie, you continue to head north until a small street called Guozijian Jie, and follow it for a few minutes.  The Temple is on your right.  As with the Lama Temple, we had no trouble buying tickets, and we filed in the gates in the walls.  You enter into a square, surrounded on all sides by long one-storey buildings, with a few taller, thinner buildings in the square, as well as a few trees.  We wandered around the square a bit, before the rain started again in earnest, so we headed into the buildings, which were museums, detailing the life of Confucius in one building, and the history of the religion in another.

The museums are interesting, if only for some of the comments about how popular Confucianism is in other parts of the world.  I personally found the history of Confucius himself to be the most interesting part of the Temple.

The next day we packed up our gear, checked out of the hostel, and walked to the road to catch a taxi.  Make sure you give yourself enough time!  It took a while before we managed to flag one down.  It was a quick ride to the train station, and then a bit of a hassle trying to figure out where to go - it's the mass of people in the middle who are going through turnstiles.  You show your ticket, go through the turnstile, then through a metal detector (and send your bags through an xray machine) before going to a lobby to wait.  We were a bit "late" (we were told to be there an hour before our train left, we arrived 40 minutes before it left), so we hustled off to where the train was waiting.  It was a bit of a mad dash, but we finally got there, got on, and got ready to start the next part of our vacation - Mongolia!

TL;DR version:
- always ask your hotel/hostel how much a taxi should cost from the airport to the hotel/hostel
- don't do Forbidden City and Temple of Heaven in one day
- The Mutianyu section of the Great Wall is great, if you arrive early
- chair lifts are terrifying
- but toboggans are fun
- Lama Temple and Confucian Temple can be done in one day
- give yourself lots of time to flag down a taxi if heading to the train station
- the entrance to the train station is in the middle, where the crush of people is
- you're told to be there an hour before, there is wiggle room with that.

The Most Epic of Plans to Ever Plan

Recently, I took a ride in a biplane from the Canadian Aviation and Space Museum.  I have this thing about aircraft - I'm kind of in love with flying over things in small aircraft.  I love the adventure of it, and I'd never been in a biplane before.  It wasn't cheap - $85 for 15 minutes, I believe, but it was an incredibly experience. 

This renewed a thought my BF had had previously:  to get his pilot's licence.  Nothing fancy, he has no designs on flying a 747, but a private pilots license (ppl) has been an idea of his for a while.

So the other night, he says to me...the Ottawa Flying Club does introductory flights for $150.  What do you think?  (He doesn't say a lot, does my man.)  As I said, I like flying over things in small aircraft, so I was all for doing an introductory flight.  My BF explained that he'd like to get his private pilots license, and then maybe we could take some trips to places that it is extremely expensive to visit - like say the Canadian north. 

All of this sounded great to me (really, I didn't need the explanation, I was all for flying) so we set up our intro flights for this weekend, and started to dream.

This is maybe where things went a little....far.

The other night, while enjoying a pint, the BF starts telling me about information he's been reading, and blogs that he has found.  It turns out that a) you can fly from Ottawa to Iceland in a Cessna (obviously making stops along the way) and b) someone flew themselves to Africa from North America. 

Which pretty much settled it for me:  Why not do that ourselves?  (I have never done things halfway, and I have always run before I could walk - ask my mother.  I went from crawling to running; I skated backwards before I could skate forwards; I'm planning a trip around the world before I have a ppl).

So after much near-drunken exclamations about how cool it would be, we have decided:  Our ten year plan is to:

* learn to fly, and acquire, our private pilots licenses.
* save up and buy an airplane - 2-seater at minimum, 4-seater a possibility
* take a year off work, then fly ourselves around the world.

It's a long range plan:  We need to first get our licenses (the license itself is free, however the cost of renting a plane means that the average person pays $10000-15000), and then save up to buy our own plane.  And considering what we wish to do, we'd rather get a newer plane.  Not even taking into consideration that learning how to maintain the plane would also be a beneficial course of action.

Now, thankfully a cousin of mine is an aircraft mechanic at a small airport, so we can pick his brain for an idea of what kind of maintaince an airplane of that size will need in a one year time frame (considering how much it will be flown).

This is my "OH MY GOD THIS WILL BE EPIC! face

Lions and Leopards and Elephants, Oh My!

I went on a five-day safari, through Tarangire National Park, the Serengeti, and the Ngorongoro Crater immediately after I climbed Kili.  Overall, the safari was a wonderful experience.  The people I was with, on the other hand, were a different matter all together.

I left Moshi at 4:30 in the morning.  The safari had actually started the day before, but of course I was just coming down off the mountain.  Daniel, from Tro-Peaks (the company I did the Kili climb with) picked me up and drove me to the campsite, Zion Campsite, just outside Tarangire National Park.  We arrived just in time for breakfast, and I got to meet my travelling companions for the next five days.

I was with 5 Italians.  If they had been dwarves they would have been: Complainer, Princess, Clubber, Insufferable and Nice.  (Yes, one of them was actually a nice person, the others not so much.)  Of course, the first day I didn't know this.  But over the next five days, their personalities became very clear.

We set off for Tarangire right after breakfast.  After registering at the gate, the top of land cruiser was popped open, and we began our game drive.  We saw hundreds of elephants within the first half hour.  (We were also charged by an angry elephant within the first half hour.)  Most of the day was filled with different animals sightings - giraffes, zebras, gazelles, impalas, elephants, baboons, even a lion.

Around 5 we headed back to the camp, and the complaining began.  About the food, about the driver, about the campsite, about the stretch of time in the afternoon that we didn't see any animals.  (As if they can be ordered to appear on demand)

The next day it was off to the Serengeti - a long drive that took us through a few small towns (including a stop for groceries, and to get a fuse fixed so the Italians could charge their phones using a plug in the land cruiser.), and the Ngorongoro Conservation Area. 

The Serengti was indescribable. I'll still try, but it was....one of the spots that you could easily see yourself spending the rest of your life. The light in the morning, when the sun rose was an incredible rosy colour, and at dusk when it was setting, the light seemed to hang in the air. We saw evrything - leopards in trees, more elephants, more lions, cheetahs, zebras, antelopes, a hippo pool. At times the animals were close enough that we didn't need a zoom - we saw a coalition of cheetahs lazing under a tree on the side of the road; at another time we saw a pride of lions (including an adorable baby) resting under a tree, you guessed, on the side of the road.
At night, you could hear the hyenas as they prowled near the kitchens. Thankfully, they were the only visitors (that I know of) to our camp.

Our final morning in Serengeti we woke early to take an early morning game drive through the park. Then it was back to pack up the landcruiser, and head to the Ngorongoro Crater, after a stop at a Maasai village straddling the Serengeti the Ngorongoro conservation area.

At the NCA, we set up camp at Simba camp, the most popular camp at the top of the crater. It wasn't hard to see why - with an elephant grazing on trees and bushes behind the mess hall, and a herd of zebras chilling on the grassy plain of the camp site, we had our fair share of wild visitors.

As in our camp in the Serengeti, we had electrical outlets in the mess halls to charge any electronics - phones, camera batteries, or tablets. Very useful for those of us who had spent more time camping with no electricity than in hotels! If only I had brought my chargers with me...

Our final moring we started the drive into the crater. One word of warning to anyone hoping to do a game drive in the crater, it's cold. Pack several layers of fleece because you will definitely need it. One of the Italians on my trip pulled out her sleeping bag - another solution, but one that leaves you with fewer photo taking options. The Ngorongoro crater was...flat. There were a few trees, but for the most part you could see it stretching out in all directions until it was lost in the early morning haze.

I have to admit that by this point I was a little safaried out. I had seen pretty much every animal there was to see, with two notable exceptions. Servals, a small(ish) wild African cat, and a rhino. There aren't many rhinos in Ngorongoro - there were 18 in 2001 (statistic found here), and the crater itself is 260 km sq, or 100 sq mi. However, withing a very short time of arriving, our driver suddenly changed directions, and began driving off down the road into a great expanse of green. We all wondered what was going - we had just been watching a mating dance between ostriches, and couldn't figure out why we had so suddenly taken off. Turns out our driver had either heard news of, or had seen himself, a rhino off in the distance. And there he (she?) was - lumbering away in the distance. The closest we got was maybe 100 metres (maybe 150 - it was hard to judge the distance) but it wasn't particularly close. With my zoom lens (35x zoom) I got a fairly decent photo.

I never did get to see a serval.