China, Mongolia and Hong Kong
Shanghai, China
We have are having a fantastic time!! Our first stop has been
Shanghai which revealed the joys of a stable banking system, six ATMs and no money but at each one we are told happily that this is the case
and we are best to try another floor. Taxi negotiation and a warp speed taxi
ride from the airport, revealed that having got the Fl Grand Prix the
locals all believe that they now have a chance for qualification, with no
police or no police interested in the speed of cars I do believe that there are some
solid contenders.
Shortly after arrival had the pleasure to have a guide being one
of our TANDBERG friends, Franky, a sales person for Shanghai, our guide
and educator of Shanghai etiquette. A brilliant character, the journey was
to begin with how to find and order food, including where to find cheap DVDs
and concluded with a brilliant meal and directions to the bars.
Typical rules of where to eat do not apply in Shanghai with, huge
skyscrapers everywhere they hug the skies with pristine roads. In and out
of skyscrapers which would have been office blocks in Sydney the search
was on for the right place. Some of the biggest restaurants I have seen were
all booked out or had tables that were not in a suitable position for
Frank, so the perfect host we were treated to Franky organising
restaurants and staff to his liking as we enjoyed such delicacy's as Duck's
Tongue, Squid, Goose, and much more all fantastic food even if a bit strange.
So the enormity of shopping here is impossible to describe, Hong
Kong has been close but Shanghai is not limited by being on a island. For
night life we visited the French quarter where Chris experienced Chinese
hospitality, chatting to a girl in a bar, it was quiet so we decided to go
somewhere else, a university student, on leaving she informed us she would
not be going home tonight, and if she found someone nice going home with them .......Chris was quite amazed......and happy.
We spent the night in a small three level bar which was packed
with people dancing on the bar and drinking, a fantastic night, there was
no shyness as locals and foreigners drank the place dry, once again Frank
had guided us well!!
While really loving all aspects of Shanghai it has been a fast
push to Mongolia to try and beat some of
the cold, so we left today and are now in Beijing.....tomorrow .........Mongolia ....
Mongolia
22nd December 2004
So far no roads (well not the way we would define roads....or the way they do in Back to the Future),
no land ownership, no street addresses, no trees, no pets (accept the odd
horse), no McDonalds, no KFC or Pizza Hut, no public phone network
(accept people run round with house phones that have antennas attached.....the
new mobile, watch out Nokia) no buildings above 5 stories, and apparently
though yet to experience no power intermittently (Russia
turns of the power if Mongolia forgets to pay their electricity bill).
The people are friendly and fantastic, obviously there is a bit of
European influence with 35% unemployment, people are remarkably well
dressed. Also despite the road conditions some people drive
some pretty nice cars. All in all an untapped Mecca for Video
conferencing, Phil I shall write a report on my return!!
Our trip through Bejing was very brief as more time will be spent
there on the way back, at -2 degrees though it was freezing and the
thoughts of facing upto -30 degrees scary indeed. Arriving at 6 o'clock in
the dark, the hostel was easy to find and a quick meal out, then to bed.
Our flight to Mongolia left Tuesday at 9:20 and while waiting at
the airport we started chatting to a local
Mongolian who worked for Intel, he was giving us a run down
on what to expect, and continuously asking the question,
"why Mongolia in winter?" I am forced to admit that I still have
no plausible response.
The flight from Beijing to Ulaan Bataar is over literally miles
and miles of breathtaking mountain ranges then flat open farm lands and
dessert in between, the flight was spent with my head stuck on the window
looking out, with the odd changeover for Chrissy. Landing on a small runway we were
impressed, one by the airport having chandeliers and, two that despite wearing
only a jumper we were still alive.
Naran our new Mongolian mate, moved us quickly through customs and drove us to the center and to a
guesthouse. He was also happy to tell us that they are having a warm
winter!! (Current temperature -23) he however was not nearly as
happy as I was to hear that it is a warm winter. In chatting to him it
turns out he was a butterfly swimmer in the 2000 Olympics, the first swimmer in
the history of Mongolia, known more for competing in sports such as
Wrestling, Boxing, Judo.....and any other sport that involves inflicting
pain. It is after all, important to specialise.
The language here is.......well special, alot of hocking and
hucking, thankyou alone requiring the mastering of the local alphabet and
an operation to swap the lungs and throat round. Thus unlike the three
words I know of Chinese my brain stubbornly seems only able to process one
Mongolian word.
Walking round the city seeing the Soviet block shopping centers
and struggling to spend more than AU$1.50 on a three cause meal with a
drink has been great. Although walks have been more well timed runs due to
the varying temperature in what I have been told is the world's coldest
capital. Though the down jacket I purchased in Shanghai has paid for
itself many, many times over.
From here it is unlikely that you will hear from either of us for
the next 6-8 days, and to the best of my knowledge this will not be
because of the sophisticated phone system going down (or the
power going of). We have managed to hire a jeep and a driver and
will be heading on a 7 day adventure out west. First 3 days west to the
old Mongolian capital, across into what the lonely planet describes
as "breath taking landscapes" then a horse ride into some remote monasteries
before turning round and heading back through the Gobi
Desert, some Steppes and Volcanic mountains and back to Ulaan Bataar, where will link up with our train which will take thirty hours to go to Bejing,
part of the Trans Siberian.
29th December 2004
Whether it was that the locals saw our tent and
word spread or our arsenal of tradeable goods (koalas,
highlighters and mini Australian flags) or our drivers negotiating skills we
managed to spend
almost every night hauled up with various Mongolian families in
their Ger's. So our journey took us to the Ogu Lake then further west to
the White Lake, where we climbed a dormant volcano, road horses across the
Mongolian plains, then onto the old Mongolian Capital and Monasteries. Then of
course the trip through the Gobi desert on camel and the odd go on a motorbike.
In order to appreciate Mongolia Chris and I learnt a number of
valuable things. The first was the art of negotiation, similar to what is
done in Sydney only a few things change the coffee is replaced by horses
milk, the muffins are replaced by one of the hardest substances I ever
encountered (biscuits) and the cafe replaced by a Ger (tent). At about -25
degrees outside these are some of the most pleasurable negotiations I have
had.......with the exception of the biscuits. Most things were chatted about
over a cup of horse milk, the hospitality of the locals amazing.
Two. Staying in the Ger's, incredible, this has been what the
Mongolians have used and still use for as long as they can record, into
the BCs. Basically a tent, they all now have a wood oven in the middle that
acts as stove and heater. Rare has it been that I have had such affection for a
inanimate object, for when this was not going it was a similar temperature
to outside........cold! !
To fuel this, they use wood or in the gobi desert where there is no wood they burn ........ shit....literally.
Other than that the Ger's varied, most were pretty basic, a couple of beds,
possibly as hard as the biscuits, there was a mini battle between my
brother and I over who got the floor. Pictures, some had a sink and
a few tables, one Ger way above any other we saw had the biggest stereo I have
ever seen, along with TV and DVD player, however there was no reception on
the TV, but the DVD played dubbed Mongolian shows.
However what really warmed the Ger's was the hospitality of the families, wherever we managed to stay the families could not do enough, every meal was prepared by hand, basically consisting of noodles and either horse or beef. Sometimes the noodles were a dumpling .........but I digress. With 10 odd people living in about three Ger's, the standard night after negotiations normally began by playing with the kids, who were incredibly curious, every little object, a torch, pen...koala brought endless fascination, and we ended up mucking round with them for a couple of hours as dinner was prepared.
Following dinner typically it would be rounds of Mongolian cards,
thrown in was the odd game of Draughts or any other game we had brought
along. Then bed. Added to this was that if we did anything like a local,
eg ride camels, they would all come out to have a good laugh!!
The transport, even after seven days, I still can not work out,
how do the locals navigate more than an inch of Mongolia. The basic
premise for a road seems to be defined as somewhere something has been
before preferably a vehicle, needless to say we spent a fair bit of time
plastered on the roof as our fearless guide looked off into the sparse
land before taking a hard right ...... dodging a horse, scaring some
sheep, upsetting a flock of birds and yelling "Maybe this way!! !!!!!"
The identifiable forms of transport seem to be ten people in a kombi van, three people on a bike, two people on a horse or one person walking. So much so that directions are given in distances of by car, horse and walking. All very special in such temperatures. It is this that leads me on to one of the scariest things I have ever seen............a Mongolian putting on gloves! ! The standard dress in these temperatures that regularly went to below -35 is a big coat, a furry hat, and big boots....no gloves. Our standard dress when riding by horse, camel or anything else not sheltered, was thermals, shirt, windstopper, down jacket, Mongolian jacket, three pairs of gloves, balaclava, scarf and a beanie. Preparation was gauged by our driver, who used the words "maybe cold" to represent under -30.
Had better be off, butwill never forget riding horses across the plains, the response of "maybe" from our driver as we seeked out various things
from nothing in freezing conditions, and the kids as they were the first to greet us followed by the amazing hospitality of the families.......oh and the biscuits .......! will never forget those.
Its dinner tonight with our Mongolian Olympic swimmer friend who
after seeing how tough some of the people are in the country
side, I question if Mongolia really needs an indoor pool. Tomorrow it is a
30 hour train ride through southern Mongolia into Beijing.
Trans Mongolian -> Beijing, China
5th January 2005
From Mongolia we had a thirty hour train ride to Beijing on the
Trans Mongolian. As the plains and hills rolled by ....as well as some of the cold, Chris and I spent most of our time locked head to head in
Mongolian Cards with a group of about 7 Mongolians who joined our cabin. Made
for a great journey.
Beijing was New Years, and as a non Christian country the main
celebration for the locals is the opportunity to sell more stuff to
foreigners. Meeting a few guys in the hostel we hit the expat
area.....from here it becomes a bit blurry ......though involved was a karaoke bar ( I did not sing) alot of
beer, dancing, pissing of some Americans who voted for Bush, an Irish Coffee in
a cafe with some locals working at Deloitte, screaming out a taxi "Ne
Hao" (hello) repeatedly at one o'clock in the morning and assisting
in the 5:30am opening of a restaurant.. .....so.....a pretty good
night!! ;)
Three days in China beautiful capital allowed us to wonder through
the Forbidden City and Beijing's beautiful parks, ride through the
city.....this a adventure in itself if you thought Asian drivers at
home are bad, here you add 60 km/h, remove lanes, traffic lights (they are
there, though not observed) add bikes and pedestrians, shake them all
about and watch people drive through some of the smallest gaps you have
ever seen, then remember there are 13M people here and you have yourself a bit
of fun.
Ohhh and of course there was the markets, the trading crush they
sell antiques or others (the relocating silk markets) where you can buy
anything imaginable with your favourite logo on it eg North Face fleece 30
yuan (AU$5), but with our bags heavy enough, temptation was held back, and
we just enjoyed watching the crush of the last days sale, and Americans and
Russians as they purchase stuff by the truck load. The Chinese still
rubbing their eyes in disbelief.
Night outings in Beijing included 90 minutes of some of the most
incredible acrobatics I have ever seen, its runs every night and is full,
as about 50 performers do things like spin twelve plates while doing back
flips, carrying 20 people on a bike and much much more. Next night was the
Beijing Opera, it was like being screeched at for twenty minutes, which
would have been great accept they had English subtitles that confused me
totally. They started surveying a battle scene for 15 minutes, then there
was something about a sesame cake (this threw me right of) then they were
gone (maybe my ignorance). The second set however was brilliant, the
screeching turned into singing, the story line (with no relevance to
the first bit) became clear and they threw in a hole lot more fantastic acrobatics!!
Final day was our walk along the Great Wall, we elected for the
four hour climb from the old to the new....and with three Aussies and a
Englishmen there was not a dull moment as we managed to do the whole wall
without getting of, including climbing down six foot walls and balancing over
20 foot drops.....in between was a lot of laughs as we were forced to run
from the many sellers who try and sell postcards.
Here we also realised the depths of Chinese hospitality, in the
morning looking for food with no shops, a
family invited us in to share their breakfast. ..and just have a chat!!
Xi'an,China -> Yangzi River
Beijing next stop was Xi'an, another city boasting 6M+ people and is home to the Terracotta Soldiers. These are soldiers made in 200BC to guard the tomb of one of the first emperors. With three discovered pits the first pit is 200 meters long and about 60 meters wide, inside are 6000 2m high perfected shaped soldiers in battle formation. The detail on each indescribable as every hair and armour shackle has been carefully shaped. There are two more pits, and a lot of patient locals with brushes...brushing away.
This brings us to now, in Chongqing the mouth of the Yangtze river about to embark on a three night two
day boat ride up the yellow river, though supposedly some pretty spectacular scenery.
Apparently the worlds biggest damn will soon be constructed and the three
gorges will be no longer. Good timing.
It will bring our means of transport to plane, train, car, bus, taxi, jeep, motorbike, tuk tuk, bicycle, flying fox (known as "the sliding way" at the end of the Great wall), horse, camel.....and now boat!!
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