Im back with part 2 of my gigantic travel by train all the way from China to Holland. In my previous blog you could already read about my initial idea about why I only wanted to fly a 1-way ticket, and not a roundtrip because I do not like flying at all. Also you were able to read about all kinds of stuff that I visited in China.
Did you miss the blog?? Here was the link again
https://steemit.com/travel/@karinxxl/8000-km-by-train-a-trip-from-china-to-holland-part-1
Mongolia
Leaving Datong behind me, the train was travelling up north towards the city of Ulan Baator. the trip was about 24 hours so it also had a night of sleep in the train in it. In the endless green landscapes of northern China I saw the most fantastic sunset, because the sky was so clear and. Seeing this from a steadily bumping train, in combination with a midnight beer was enough for me to drift off in a comfortable sleep. When I woke up in the morning the landscape had changed. It was more dry all of a sudden, and gradual slopes were the new scenery. The train had entered Mongolia, through the Gobi desert on they way towards its capital.
Just a random view in Mongolia, spacious, so calming, so pure
Mongolia has a very specific land climate. In the summers the temperature during the day is around 20 degrees Celsius, and throughout the night the temperature will drop below just below zero. In the winters however, the day temperature often does not reach higher than -15, combined with a staggering night temperature of -40 degrees. I was here during the summer, so especially in the city of Ulan Baator the climate during the day was very nice.
Ulan Baator
Ulan Baator as a city itself on the contrary, I didnt like it at all. Actually, the city has some nice temples and a beautiful central square, but the criminal rate is crazy high. In general I am talking about pick pocketing and thieving, not heavy crime. But still if you are walking around, and everyone looks at you like you are a walking ATM, it's not really cool. Also adding to this that I actually experienced someone trying to steal something from my bag. Im just walking to the store down on one of the main roads, and I feel my little backpacky moving. I turn around, and there is a kid in his 20s with his hand in my backpack. My initial reaction is so yell at him in Dutch, that went over to English and I ended up punching the kid. In retrospect this might not have been the smartest thing to do, considering the kid could have had a knife or something, but hey it did the trick. Also the roads in Ulan Baator were a disaster because of the great range in temperatures. So sometimes you would have potholes in the road from a meter in diameter. You car can almost disappear in one of those holes, and that on a 4 lane road. Think about what kind of dangerous situations this is giving. Also my lonely planet was not very enthusiastic about Ulan Baator. It said something like that if you would have a medical emergency in Mongolia, just get the hell out of the country, before you have a chance to die there from the shitty healthcare.
Mental note: no more Ulan Baator ever again
Mongolia Countryside
As soon as possible it was time to hit the Mongolian country side. Because that is where its real beauty is to be found. I can tell you, this is not something to do by yourself, please go in a group and use guides. The country of Mongolia has somewhere in between 2 and 3 million residents, and it is big as hell! According to Wikipedia it has a nice average of 2 residents per square kilometer. The capitol Ulan Baator resides about 1 million people. In other words, the countryside has miles and miles of endless landscape with a single soul on it.
Our van with a group of 8 with a guide who spoke English left the capitol only to see that after just after a couple of miles the pavement stopped. The first offroad pieces of this trip were like awesome. We all applauded, not knowing that this was nothing compared to the lands we would be driving on for the rest of the two weeks. There were no road any more, only two tracks through the grass. If a car wouldnt drive there for a week, the tracks would be grown over again, so the routes change often. Drivers look at the mountains to see where they are, not at signs. Rivers had to be crossed, landscapes passed us by. It was beautiful!!!!
In the back you can see 'the main road' AKA two tire tracks. The main road also passed through water, this was as easy every time as it looked
Gers
In the evenings we would sleep by nomadfamilies. These nomads stay in certain spots to herd their livestock for several months until the livestock is hungry again and then they move. As housing they have very decent tents called gers. It takes about a day to set up a ger and insulate it with grass. It has a stove in the middle that also works as a heater for the nights. All these families were so super friendly even though we were invading their privacy. Ofcourse most likely they get payed to house us, but they were also so sweet. As you can imagine Mongolian is not really a language you are familiar with, so the guide was very convenient as a translator. Also playing universal games like Rummikub and Uno can apparently be done in any language. That is cool to notice, no matter where you are from, games unite people.
A typical ger-tent, including the signature chimney sticking out on top
I realized I would be a terrible Mongolian nomad. In the nights you have to keep your fire going because of the freezing conditions. But most of the time I was so tired in the evenings I fell fast asleep, waking up to a dead fire. You can imagine how cold this was with an outside temperature of -20 Celsius. During the day we would find wood for the fires. Also milking the Yaks was a daily task. A yak, you ask? Yeah yaks, a crossing between a cow and a sheep it looked most to me. Not the cutest of animals but rather friendly. In a climate THAT cold its hard for vegetables to grow (or any other stuff actually), so the nomads main food source are products of the Yak. Milk, cheese, soupbroth, meat, the nomads diet is not very variable. So their yaks are very important to them, and so they treat them will real care. That was cool to see, especially compared to where I grew up with those mega-farms where cows are just a number. Most disgusting Yak product: fermented Yakmilk, like a alcohol beverage, however it does keep you warm throughout very cold nights :)
When reaching back in Ulan Baator, I noticed I smelled like crap. I didnt bath proper for two weeks, because I found it too chilly outside so it was only small washes here and there. Also all the Yak food doesnt make you smell nice at all, haha. I was happy to be back in 'civilization' again to get to some different food. I took a pizza in city, it smelled funky again. Guess what was on it, Yak cheese of course :) YUKKKKKKK
There was also enough to chill during the day when the temperature was nice. In the back you can see the small ger tents scattered around in the landscape
The countryside of Mongolia was beyond all expectations, so calming and such a different world. Its was beautiful to see how people live and I saw so much rawness of nature. The countryside of Mongolia YAY, the capitol of Mongolia Ulan Baator NAY .
Curious how the rest the trip from Beijing to Holland went by train, travelling through Russia? More to follow soon!
One way tickets are more expensive than round trip. Even if you are not going to use it do the math first and then decide if is better to buy a round trip even if you are not going to use the returning flight.
Thanks for the content and sharing so we know the places even when never have been there.
I remember getting these tickets through some deal somewhere, so in the end it wasnt expensive at all, even if it was a one way ticket.
But true, most of the time round trips are way cheaper!
I've heard about the hoodlums in Ulan Baator. I wonder what the government is doing to curb their excesses. By the way, you have some patience to travel such long distance by train. I can't stand staying on the train or in a car for long hours. It gets me sick easily.
They are really notorious. Everybody warns you for them, but still you have to walk outside sometimes. It really make the city dis encouraging, also curious if they tend to tackle that problem as well.
I love train travel to be honest, the slow bumping makes so calm and peaceful. Yeah if you get sick in trains, this for sure will be the worst trip of your life hahaha!
Sounds like an amazing adventure and I am absolutely hooked.
I haven't ever travelled by train but I imagine it'll have all the positives of a road trip but less of the hassles.
It was an adventure indeed! Such a long trip with so many different aspects, going from a big city like Beijing to the emptynes of Mongolia all in the same trip is something really special.
To me if you compare train travel to airtravel trains are the king. Not too much custom-crap, easy going, a nice stare outside. It like watching TV only the land passes you by
Wow, saw your thumbnail and immediately KNEW that was a picture of Mongolia! This is my favourite place in the world! Have been in Ulanbataar for 3,5 weeks and some trips to the countryside. Mindblowingly beautiful <3 Will take the time to write about it later, but thanks for sharing your story and pictures :-)
Oe Im really curious how your experience of the city was! I found it terrible ! hahaha
Yeah please share your stories, take me back to this fantastic place!
It was... interesting ;-) I definitely will take you back! First Scotland and then...
Yes, everything in its time and place :)
I'm happy this series didn't disappear into the masses of my feed. I know where you are coming from. I too suffered from fear of flying. The first few times visiting London I would either go by train/boat. Great idea to do it the opposite direction :) I'd love to one day take a trip like you did!! I heard that the seats on these trains are made for tiny people. Is that true?
nehhhh not true at all! you have different sorts of coupes, I was in a sort of private one (two beds), it was really easy to do. Yes if you are 2.10 meter, its more annoying, but I guess every bed is annoying for you then hahaha.
But there are also like public coupes, where everybody sleeps like in a major dorm, those are kinda stinky and not very safe for your stuff, so Id pay the extra bit (it wasnt THAT much more expensive)
Yeah the flying to start with was smart, because then you dont have to worry about it anymore and you can just enjoy the rest of the trip :))
Ah, that is a relief! I'd also go for the more luxurious option :) I had my private "bedroom" on the Amtrak too. Was a lot more expensive, but it's a vacation so you shouldn't kill yourself over an upgrade.
Do you notice that flying becomes easier after you have done it a few times?
It does get easier...
living on an island makes you fly a lot to be honest.
sometimes i still freak out for no reason at all on a flight, and some flight are like im sitting in the bus. dont know why that is
and dormicum, on long flights i take dormicum, it makes you forget stuff, and makes you fall asleep.. winning!
I now only get nervous when landing in bad weather. But that took me about 100 flights, I think ;) I tried chill pills once and they made me feel even worse. Glad they work for you!!
Oh I missed this one.. great blog with great pictures again! Looking forward to the next ;-)
yeaahh... it put out the next one yesterday, all the way towards home!
Ok gonna read it :-)
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Wow nice and cool post ,,it been a while we've been waiting for you about gigantic, thanks for sharing to us upvote and comment @waldoros
Thanks for sharing.motivating post with motivating photo.
Nice
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