Part II - The Execution - Entering Mongolia

The Execution

Of course, there are plans, and then there is what happened.  Here's how we did the trip the "fun" way.

In the end, while the experience was challenging, we did it our own way.  We made it with a sense of achievement, great memories, and having met good people (one of whom I almost poisoned with some disgusting Chinese rice wine) and for a significantly lower cost than buying direct train tickets through CITS. 

The Bus Station - Muxiyuan

Starting by getting lost lost on the way to Muxiyuan Long Distance Bus Station in Beijing, we engaged help of a lady out shopping and a street cleaner who entered into a 5-10 minute debate on which way is the fastest way to the bus terminal.

The Bus

Due to the fact you cannot book the bus and they don't formally sell tickets for this trip from the actual ticket windows at Muxiyuan, we wandered about the back bus park trying to find a red bus and match up the characters on the business card we picked up from 365 Inn.  

Upon finding the bus a dramatic scene ensued where for about 5 minutes, I was trying to speak basic levels of incomprehensible Mandarin to the driver until I realised that he was a Mongolian at which point in time I switched to Mongolian which was so bad he got a passenger to start talking to me in Mon-glish.  With many hand gestures, shouts and good natured laughs we discovered that the bus was full.

With hands up in an "I surrender" gesture, the driver told us to wait; what for we had no idea, but wait we did.  Within 10 minutes, a new Mongolian man arrived and escorted us to strange new bus park hidden behind a warehouse, as we wondered the whole time, "should we be doing this?", we desperately tried to track our location using the GPS in Kat's iPhone.

Despite the new Mongolian man assuring us that the bus would go to Zamin-Uud, we learned from the new driver that the bus was not going to Zamin-Uud but to Erlian.  Upon receiving multiple assurances via hand gesture that we would truly be able to get to Zamin-Uud one way or another, we bought tickets to Erlian (for a little cheaper than we had expected for Zamin-Uud).

Told that the bus was leaving at 4.30pm, we grabbed lunch and patiently waited.  At about 5pm, it became apparent that the passengers were not the most important cargo but instead the black plastic bags with duct tape were; and boy is duct tape a hot commodity.  Not only can it be used for taping things up, but for security, patching holes and for making handles!

Comfy bus cots (assuming you are no taller than 5 feet)

Settling in for a long night on the bus

At 6pm, the packing continued, and in such a way as to make any holiday maker cringe.  We never got to the bottom of why it took them so long but it seemed to have something to do with the guy doing the packing waiting for instructions, and the guy giving the instructions not knowing that was his role.  By 6.30pm we were definitely on our way (to a traffic jam). A plus was driving right past different sections of the Great Wall as the sun went down. It isn't every day that you get a surprise Great Wall at sunset moment!

Never far from a misunderstanding, our dinner consisted of a hot chocolate (and not the expected instant noodles!) and some sugary buns.

When noodles become hot chocolate!

At 3.30am, I woke up to discover that the bus is parked on the side of the highway and the driver was asleep in one of the cots!  With no one else surprised or seemingly disturbed, I rolled over and went back to sleep.  Kat later confirmed that the bus had been parked since around 1am. At 6.30 we pushed on for arrival at Erlian by 7am. Determined not to be influenced by touts, and yet quickly realising that's the only choice we had to get anywhere, we accepted the services of a man who would take us to Zamin-Uud.  At 7.10am we arrived at his hotel where we would "rest" until 10am when the jeep would come to take us over the border.  Haha, for a small 10 yuan, we didn't complain as it presented the opportunity to have a shower and a coffee.

The Jeep

On the jeep journey to Zamin-Uud, we again realised that we were not the most important cargo, with the team taking at least an hour to pack more black plastic bags secured with duct tape into the ancient Russian jeep.  "Stacking" four passengers into a space for one brought its own laughs, and we came to know some new travel companions, Ocka and her brother Perov, Mongolians who had been holidaying in China.

Passing through some Chinese armed guard checkpoints, we were instructed to get out and walk through Chinese border control.  The driver kept our bags and promised (I suppose) to meet us on the other side.  Luckily we had Ocka to help as she spoke English pretty well.

Now was time for the old switcheroo.  In order to avoid paying for an additional visa, I was leaving China on my Australian passport but entering Mongolia on my British one (there's a HUGE list of nationalities from which Mongolia does not require a visa until 1 Jan 2016, Australian is not one of them).  I had been quite nervous about the switch, but there was no reason to be, there's a big space between China and Mongolia, and the Mongolian border official took no time at all and didn't even blink at the fact my British passport had zero stamps in it.

BIG TIP!  If you are doing this trip, the driver takes much longer at Mongolian border control than China, there's a cafe/lounge area upstairs where you can buy lunch, snacks and drinks and go to the toilet - you would never know because it is not signposted.  We spent a half an hour here sharing some food and a coffee with Ocka and Perov, and learned a little more about them.

With a bit more shoving and pushing amongst the black plastic bags, we were dropped nearby the Zamin-Uud train station.  This wikiTravel post gives good instructions on where to go to buy train tickets.  We bought ourselves tickets in the same berth/cabin/koupe as Ocka and Perov and relaxed for the rest of the afternoon doing some grocery shopping and picking up a SIM card, until train departure time. 

The Train

All aboard!

Inside the train - hard sleeper car

Our hard sleeper berth was tight but not uncomfortable and you could securely store bags underneath the bottom bunk (someone would have to lift you off it to get at them!) with space above for less valuable things.  Ocka was fairly quickly asleep, but we took the opportunity to take in the VERY late sunset while Perov played cards with the boys in the berth adjacent.

Settling in for a(nother) long journey

Our stewardesses, in two minds about being photographed

Wood powered boiling water

Perov, Ocka and Kat in our shared "hard sleeper"

Just after I had rocked off to sleep amidst the clackity-clack, I was woken to insistent tapping on my hip.  All I could think was "it's finally happened!  I'm being mugged!", I turned to see Perov's smiling face.  With a tray in one hand and a bottle of vodka in the other he said "HORSE!" and rubbed his belly.  He had bought some horse-meat with potato and 3 slices of carrot at the last stop and wanted to share it with me. Perov and I shared in a midnight indulgence of horse-meat washed down with vodka ("makes inside good," Perov says).

HORSE!
Rob and Perov enjoying a moment

The views we enjoyed in the morning were amazing, and I don't think we could have enjoyed the trip any more had we taken the train all the way from Beijing.  It was a really enjoyable (although slightly hair-raising) way of making the journey! This was our very own brand of Trans-Mongolian! 

Our first Bactrian camel

Sunset from the train

Travel dream uniquely realised!

Part I - The Planning - Entering Mongolia (Travel Dream!)

The key is flexibility!

I've heard too many horror stories, and experienced a few too, so we really wanted to make the Chinese to Mongolia border crossing an enjoyable but painless one.  If I were to rate the desired experience on a scale, I'd put it "somewhere on the scale of nothing like Thailand to Vietnam" and "more adventurous than Vietnam to Cambodia" (which it seems we never wrote about).

Originally, we were to traverse the great Eurasian continent by train, from Beijing to Ulaanbataar to Irkutsk to Moscow and Saint Petersburg.  Timetables and our own deadlines dictated that we would have only spent 5 days in Ulaanbataaar, something with which we were always a little uncomfortable.  In a strange set of circumstances, what with the Russian visa development, [maybe] meeting Oliver in Helsinki, Christine in Dublin and having already purchased tickets to connect the two; AND the Great Chinese Firewall standing between us and a functioning PayPal account* (needed to buy Beijing-UB train tickets from CITS), we made the decision to spend the period of time between our Chinese visas expiring (late May) and our flight from Helsinki to Dublin (early July), in Mongolia.  The Russians [sort of] didn't want us, so this plan really was the only semi-logical one that had the bonus of allowing as much longer in Mongolia than originally planned.

While making our plans to get to Ulaanbataar, we realised that the "Trans-Mongolian" itself was a rather loose term that we could redefine to meet our own needs.  As it was a travel dream, we decided that as long as we actually saw some of Mongolia by train, we could still say we did the Trans-Mongolian, even if not from Beijing and even if not literally to cross the China/Mongolia border. 

Thanks to the amazing help of this wikitravel article and TripAdvisor contributors, we managed to get ourselves to Ulaanbataar from Beijing through a combination of public bus, metro, long-distance sleeper bus, dodgy hotel, jeep, train and a right-hand drive car (Mongolians have both left and right-hand drive, depending on whether they are Japanese or Russian cars!).

As far as booking trains through China, Mongolia and Russia goes, there is a lot of fear and a lot of misinformation (some of it intentional and some of it not).  The process is so different and so confusing that Lonely Planet even have a book dedicated to the Trans-Siberian Railway and how you navigate the fear and confusion.  We wanted to avoid some of the high prices charged by the likes of Real Russia and Vodka Train - although I am sure they do a great job of making it easier for you.  Besides the high prices, we never had a fixed address to have anything mailed to, which seemed a pre-requisite for these services. PLUS who doesn't love trying it the "independent" way?

Trains from Beijing to Ulaanbataar only leave once a week, on a Wednesday.  However, from Zamin-Uud, a tiny border town in Mongolia, they leave for Ulaanbataar daily, all we needed to do was get to the Mongolian border via long-distance bus. For inexplicable reasons, I don't think you can book the bus online or over the phone but with the help of TripAdvisor and the ever helpful "King Kong" and "Sharon" from 365 Inn (our Beijing hostel) we hatched a plan.  

The Plan

1. 27 May - Muxiyuan Long Distance Bus Station, Beijing, China

2. 27 May - overnight bus to Zamin-Uud, "Outer Mongolia" as the Chinese refer to the Mongolian People's Republic.  We were very desperate to ensure that we took a bus to Zamin-Uud and not to Erlian, the Chinese border town; our understanding was that border processing would be a lot easier if we could just stay on the bus (you cannot cross the Chinese/Mongolian border on foot).

3. 28 May - overnight train to Ulaanbataar train station.

4. 29 May - pickup from Sunpath Mongolia (one of THE GREATEST organisations we have come across on this trip).

For "The Execution" you will need to read Part II of this entry!  Stay tuned!

*In a horror story that is still not resolved, PayPal suspended access to both of our accounts due to "unusual activity", a situation we were not able to resolve even with 2 weeks in Japan (outside the Great Firewall) and meant that we were unable to pay for our train tickets from Beijing to Ulaanbataar online.  I highly recommend anyone planning to go on a trip like this, that you setup multiple PayPal accounts, just in case they arbitrarily decide to freeze your account.  Here is a link to a discussion about where this has had nasty consequences.

Westeros...I mean Beijing

Beijing was great, especially as Sarah the China Fairy met us there for a wonderful week of travel. It wasn't long into our trip that we realised that perhaps we had wandered into Westeros instead of Beijing.* 

If you haven't seen or read the Song of Ice and Fire (AKA Game of Thrones), this post will make no sense to you.  In which case, you probably have better things to do.  One strong recommendation would be to immediately stop what you are doing (ie. reading this) and go and read the books NOW...there's only 5 of them, get to it.

We spent our week exploring...

The Summer Palace (King's Landing)

Where we learned about the Empress Cixi and her nasty, manipulative and probably murderous rise to power.  Empress Cixi (which we imagine sounds a lot like Cersei) ruled as "regent" over a large period of the Qing dynasty.  She forced her son to marry against his will, declared war in the early 1900's on everyone around (including some pretty significant world powers at the time: the UK, France, Germany, Japan, Russia and the US).  She was probably involved in the deaths of many political opponents, was resistant to reforms and lived an indulgent life in the Summer Palace and, towards the end of her rule lived in a time of mass unrest that ultimately ended in the collapse of the Qing dynasty, not long after her death.  Probably a significant warning at the current time for a certain Cersei Lanniser of King's Landing.

The view from the Summer Palace/Red Keep

Summer Palace

How the rich live in both kingdoms

Hutongs (Fleas Bottom)

Exploring the Hutongs of Beijing was not dissimilar to Arya's early exploration of the alleyways of Flea Bottom in King's Landing, where she chased cats to work on her reflexes.  The weaving streets, the touting shopkeepers and the constant throng of people here and about, it was easy to draw the comparison.

Sarah to the Hutong Cat Cafe as Arya to the alleyways of Flea Bottom

The Great Wall of China (The Wall)

The Great Wall...well this is an easy one isn't it?  I mean, there's a huge wall in the north of Westeros.  There's a huge wall in the north of China.  Both were built to keep out a terrifying enemy.  Frozen zombies in one case, marauding Mongolians in the other.  And further, remember that Daenarys is told of a prophecy, involving a three-headed dragon.

THE WALL

The three-headed dragon!

Castle Black after the battle with the Wildlings!

The Forbidden City (Meereen)

The Forbidden City's sister would be Meereen, a stretch we'll admit...but its intimidating structures and lack of any kind of colour will have to do.

Formidable

A hot climate paired with lots of concrete!

The journey

On our voyage we were constantly met by intimidating protectors in the form of dragons, lions, stags (and probably wolves, although to be perfectly honest, we couldn't find a single one to back this theory up).  These animals all represent the strongest families of Westeros, and and there are plenty of other animal sentinels used in China that could relate to other smaller houses.

Targaryans standing guard

Baratheon on the watch

Lannisters all dressed up

Then we ventured over the border into some grassy lands.

Meeting the Mongolians (Dothraki)

Mongolians is where the next surprising association is, although you have to use a bit of your imagination.  Remember the Dothraki?  The people who live and die by their horses, a nomadic people, constantly moving to new pastures and do not trust the sea (modern Mongolians don't even have access to one).  They survive on horse meat and fermented mare's milk.  This is textbook Mongolia!  Except for the fact that the Dothraki are no where near the Wall in Westeros, the relationship between Dothraki and Mongolians is pretty strong.

A nomad with his horse

Westeros, er...I mean Beijing, was impressive and not just for the huge scale of everything in it. It is an incredible place to find yourself for a week.

*Later we found out we were certainly not the first to draw such comparisons between Westeros and Beijing. 

P.S. Interesting also to read about speculation as to why Game of Thrones is censored in China. 

ACCEPTING CHALLENGES TO RAISE MONEY FOR NEPALI YOUTH

For a while Rob and I have been thinking we would like to raise money for those less fortunate in the countries we have visited. It would be great to be able to assist somehow in increasing the educational and vocational opportunities for youth, like those I worked with at the orphanage in Ho Chi Minh. 

Right now we would love to raise some money to aid Nepali youth both for the immediate need now and for their future needs beyond emergency assistance. The devastation that the two recent large earthquakes have caused is incomprehensible. We want to assist in any small way we can. 

We have decided to support UNICEF and will be taking bids and challenges from people for some of our future destinations in exchange for a pledge to give to UNICEF's "Nepal Earthquake Children's Appeal".

"UNICEF is working tirelessly to do whatever it takes to ensure the health and safety of Nepal's children.

The most pressing needs include:

* Shelter for people struggling to protect themselves from the sun and rain,

* Clean water,

* Health – more than 80 per cent of health facilities in the five most severely affected districts have been severely damaged, with treatment taking place outside,

* Support for children who have experienced extreme stress,

* Learning centres and safe spaces to help children get back to a normal routine as quickly as possible."

If you want to support this cause, and see us juggling on the streets of Kyoto, eating squid sashimi, or interviewing strangers in Ulaanbaatar…. Then visit our Facebook page. You can donate directly, or we will accept funds by Paypal or bank transfer and donate to UNICEF's appeal on your behalf. 

Here's a list of our upcoming destinations where you can set us location specific challenges!

• Kyoto
• Ulaanbataar
• Helsinki
• Dublin and around Ireland & Edinburgh

So far we will be 

*Singing the Jamaican bobsled team song on a busy street.

*Spending a day dressed in green and only eating green things.

A big thanks to Christie, DJ and Tim for the donations and challenges!

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More to come!

Hiking in Nepal in February

Oh Japan!

If we have talked to you recently you have probably heard us rave about Japan in one form or another.* Very early on in our time there we established a saying that was repeated several times a day. Mainly it is to do with how convenient, hospitable and accessible Japan is to the tourist. Thought this post will probably just turn into a "things we loved about Japan" and really, if you've been there, who can blame us?

So here goes...

Greeted at airport by offer of free wifi access at Japan hotspots "Oh Japan!"

The seemingly unfiltered Internet^: "Oh Japan!"

(Polite) signs with enough English for you to know that you are not in the wrong place "Oh Japan!"

Communication cards and rest areas "Oh Japan!"

Taxis with doors that open automatically. (We saw one lady get out in the rain and it certainly makes opening an umbrella whilst stepping out a smoother process.) "Oh Japan!"

Dog leash place at convenience stores "Oh Japan!"

Dog and cat cafes "Oh Japan!"
(even though the dog cafe was shut...shh)

Clever and space efficient bike racks "Oh Japan!"

Sake: just its presence "Oh Japan!"

Yakitori "Oh Japan!"

Vending machines (with HOT coffee) "Oh Japan!"

Toilets made exciting "Oh Japan!"

Stunning gardens "Oh Japan!"

Food displays "Oh Japan!"

Hidden alleyways and alluring restaurants "Oh Japan!"

Bento boxes and other great value, tasty food at convenience stores "Oh Japan!"

Incredibly convenient and fast train networks that are cleaned with pride "Oh Japan!" 

I do have to say that there was one instance that went perhaps a bit to far for me. It got a different kind of "Oh Japan!" In H&M in Kyoto I was astonished that they vacuum each change room between customers!

So, have we sold Japan to you yet?** 

To be honest this is just a snapshot of our experience in Japan. The incredible hospitality that we experience is hard to encapsulate in one post. (Even the time in Kanazawa when a lady opened a whole cafe just for us to have dinner does not paint enough of a picture.) 

And, of course, no country is all peaches and cream...but that's not what this post is about! 

* Apologies to our China fairy if we said this a few too many times in Beijing! 
^ Consider the Matrix though, how would you know????
** Japan's tourism board did not get to us in case you are wondering.