Sain be nuu. So this is how you say hello in our newest town, Ulaanbaatar! We arrived here yesterday afternoon, after a 30 hour train ride from Beijing, through the Gobi desert. We boarded at 7am on Tuesday in Beijing, and arrived at 1pm on Wednesday in Ulaanbaatar. I um, don’t recommend it. Thanks to the wisdom of our friend Wan Wei in Beijing, when we return to Beijing it will be by plane. Partly the ride was hard because for the first 20 hours or so, we were riding through a dust storm. Dust got in through the cracks in the window and coating everything, including our lungs. Walking down the train’s corridors, you could see the fog made by all the dust particles. It did make for a beautiful orange sunset, however.
After sunset, the board crossing began. It took six hours. That means starting at 8:30, one customs officer after another came onboard the train and to each little cabin to check passports and board crossing documents. China had 3 forms, and so three different people came. They came about 30 to 45 minutes apart, so just when we had fallen soundly asleep, our door would be flung open and the light turned on and a new demand made. “Passport!” “Baggage form!” “Health form!”. Around midnight, we were through China’s customs. But then there was about an hour of hard core train lurches. I was having some kind of traveler’s stomach virus (love those), so I didn’t leave my bed, but Eric got up to see what was going on. Looking out the window, he saw another train beside us. Something was funny though, and suddenly he realized that he recognized the people in that other train! He walked to the end of our car, and realized that we had been disconnected from the rest of the train and jacked up in to the air. When he return to our cabin, our cabin-mate, a Chinese civil engineer (aged 28), told us that they were changing the wheels on the train. You see, in China, the wheels on the train are 1.2 meters apart. In Mongolia, they are 1 meter apart. So at the boarder, all the train cars have to have their wheel sets changed. For this reason and customs, it takes about 6 hours to cross the boarder. After the wheels were changed, we lurched to Mongolian customs. More doors opening, “passport!” “baggage form!!” you get the picture. Around 2:30 it finally quieted down, I think. I was kind of delirious and not getting a whole lot of oxygen since I was breathing through my bandana.
Aren’t you all so jealous? Do you know what I was thinking about at this time? I was thinking about how my entire family: mom, dad, Amy, Andi, Dani, and little baby Eva, were all probably sipping on pineapple fruit shakes and nibbling on a breakfast pastry on the side of a pool in the Dominican Republic. Tell me truthfully- which situation would you prefer?
In the morning things were much better. The storm was over, and we were under the blue skies of Mongolia. We watched out the window as we passed through the dessert and on to the steps. In the distance we could see some kind of animal, and as we squinted to try to figure it out … I think they might be camels… suddenly there was one right beside the train, with a Mongolian rider on top, wearing the traditional bright colors and wool wraps. We also saw some kind of almost white deer, many horses, and more camels. A totally wild countryside. When we went to the dining car for breakfast, we found that it had been changed as well in the middle of the night- instead of the Chinese canteen, we found a Mongolian dining car with shields, bows and arrows and swords decorating the walls. Quite a change. I was feeling better then too, so everything was a little brighter.
When we arrived at the train station, it was a typical Asian-transportation scene. People everywhere, bags everywhere, people asking us to take their taxi or go to their hotel or what have you. We got scooped up by our hostel and whisked away to a little oasis of sorts in the middle of the city. Its great- it feels kind of like a small international college dorm. There are probably 25 of us in the hostel, all young backpacker types. Last night we all watched “walk the line”, piled on couches in the main room. It was a nice break- amazing how when you’re watching a movie you can forget where you are. I had no idea that June Carter’s parents played such a key role in Johnny Cash’s rehab. Who knew.
Anyway, today we met Oyun, our host in Mongolia, at about 10am. She is an OBGYN doc, and got her masters’ in public health at Boston University. Very cool woman. She introduced us to some people who are very high up in the health ministry, and the executive director of a new association of public health professionals who are working to guide the creation of Mongolia’s public health system. There is SO much going on here- and yet it is just the beginning. They are still recovering from the soviet approach to health care, which is basically be quiet until you need surgery or some kind of major medical care. Almost no primary health care. But many changes are a-foot, and all kinds of international investors have showed up to stake their claims. Unfortuntely, the tobacco industry has been here long before public health investors, so that battle will be somewhat uneven. But the people we met are very optimistic and well-trained. Oyun, our host, was able to study at BU because she got a grant from George Soros. For those of you who don’t know the Soros foundation, it is the bomb-diggety. They fund all the good stuff. So Oyun is quite a rock star. More on that next week, I am sure.
Tomorrow we leave for a 3 day trip into the country side. It could be quite a cold experience- they say a rain or snow storm is coming. I tried to buy some warm clothes today, but being a tourist, and this being a city (and so not as cold), it was quite difficult. They have a lot of cashmere here, and its about 1/3 the price of cashmere in the US. But I haven’t been able to find the invincible down coats or even thick wool coats I was hoping for. I settled for a gorgeous moss-green cashmere scarf for $40. It will do. If the guides say I need something warmer, we’ll hit up the Mongolian market, which is pretty far from here, but where you can get pretty good rip-offs of North Face and the like.
So that’s the latest. I hope everyone is doing well!
Xoxo
Betsy and Eric
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