Interlude #3 - Inner Mongolian Museum

This museum was pretty cool. I particularly liked the Inner Mongolian natural history section. It was  on the first level, which was all palaeontology, there were heaps of dinosaurs, including the protoceratops,

I think there was a triceratops too, but memory can play tricks.

and a Nurosaurus

This is a huge dinosaur and is two stories high (12 metres) and 23 metres long. I think it's the largest Chinese plant-eating dinosaur.

as well fossils of many ancient animals such as the mammoth

Despite common belief the mammoth is actually bonier than me.

and prehistoric ancestors of the elephant and rhinoceros.

Elephant ancestor - hilarious.

The second level was dedicated to current Inner Mongolia and included exhibitions spaces for the environments of Inner Mongolia (including animals),

Rudolph with his own kind.

the extensive mining industry,

Look! Rocks! I have enough geology friends that I had to include this. To get the really riled up call them geographers. The results are explosive.

and the Chinese space program, which is based in Inner Mongolia. With the exception of the space program you could be forgiven for believing you were in an Aussie museum. The landscape is used for farming, mostly sheep and cattle, and the minerals mined seemed similar to Australia too. The third level focused on the history of Inner Mongolia, including the development of is civilisation as nomads, through to its occupation by China, Mongolia (under the great Khans), and by China again.

As the climate of the area cooled from hot and wet to cold and dry farming became untenable and the nomadic lifestyle of a herder more sustainable.

Lots of pottery, metal work, hand weapons, and horse technology.

Weapons of the Inner Mongolian clans, bow and arrows, broadsword, horsewhip, and a pistol.

There seemed to be a translation error with the weaponry as the swords were all called knives.

In the immortal words of Crocodile Dundee, "This is a knife".

They even had some Inner Mongolian gambling tools on display.

They must have known Goof was coming.

It finished with the modern history of Inner Mongolia such their involvement in the Great Wars and politics.

The war tents (Gers) used by the Mongolian generals whilst they conquered the world.

The fourth level had food areas dedicated to art. An author/poet/calligrapher, a display of plates painted to represent Germany by some famous artist, etc. We looked, but you know, there were no swords so I didn't take any photos (we've all seen plates and Chinese calligraphy before).

Here is a photo of a giant dinosaur boner instead.

Entry into Siberia

We had been warned, Russians are unfriendly and never smile. Our first interaction was with our train attendant. First she insisted on $20 USD so that we could have our train booth to ourselves, otherwise we were sharing with the very large drunk guy behind (yeah, so our second interaction was with a drunk Russian). So we paid our first Russian bribe before we had even left Mongolia. Very soon after she came back with souvenirs.

I jokingly asked our Mongolian Honcho how big our TV would be in the train, she looked shocked as she replied there will not be a TV in the train - well, jokes on you Aika. Also, Rudolph's on TV.

They were not very good and overpriced. She insisted we buy one each. After at least five minutes of saying no Andrew and I capitulated, we did need her to assist us through the Russian border after all. Soon after she returned, offering her assistance as a tour guide and her friends house for accommodation once in Siberia. We are fairly certain these would not have been particularly cheap options, but we took down her phone number to appease her. 

Look! An ACTTAB on the Mongolian/Russian border.

Many hours later we arrive in Ulan Ude, our first Russian stop. It was about 11pm. We met Svetlana, and older lady who I believe is one of the bosses of the Ulan Ude tour company. She took us to our hotel and then to the only place she could think of that would still be serving food - an English pub. I can not emphasise this enough, contrary to what we were told every single Russian we have met since leaving the train has been awesome. Svetlana even insisted she would cook dinner for us if the pub was no longer serving food At the pub Svetlana introduced us to her son, who was there drinking with mates. It was late and she wanted to go home, but she insisted he would help us get back to the hotel. Another Russian (Ivan) overheard the conversation Svetlana had with the bar staff. He sat down at our table spoke with us in very broken English for a few minutes, then returned with his friends.

Its the biggest head of Lenin ever! It was part of our impromptu night Tour.

He taught us some Russian and a few hours later he and his wife took us on an impromptu tour of the area around the pub before walking us back to the hotel. This was about 1 or 2 in the morning. Sensational!

Mongolia

Mongolia was better than I expected, and I had high expectations. It wasn't as developed as I thought, nor as cold (note, it was still cold), but what surprised me the most is that the herding community are still nomadic. The land is not owned by the farmers, instead they just follow there animals around, which are cattle, sheep, camel, goat, and horse.

A ger, surprisingly warm.

They live in large circular tents, called gers, which can be easily packed up. The farmers move about four times a year with the seasons but they don't really pick the destination. That responsibility they leave to their herds.

Goof and I spent a couple of nights in here, a typical ger. The fridge is run from solar power, or sometimes a car battery. The stove in the middle is for warmth and cooking.

The Mongolian landscape kind of reminded me of the Australian desert. Flat, treeless, but with hill/mountains in the background.

 

View from the top of high hill near our camp.the camp can just be seen behind the rock in the background.

The major difference here of course was the snow. It is spring time and it still snows, which we found out about on our second day at a ger camp.

The next morning the landscape looked like this.

We arrived in Ulaanbaatar at about lunchtime where we were greeted by our lovely Honcho, Aika, and our driver, Mende. and after lunch we visited their parliamentary building, which, unsurprisingly, has a massive statue of Chinngis Kahn out the front. This was followed by a lookout that is dedicated the liberation of Mongolia from China and a visit to nearby statue of Buddha with a drum we could play for good luck.

  Australia: big merino, big pineapple, big guitars, etc. Mongolia: Giant Kahns.

The next two days were spent dead-set in the middle of Mongolia, about 300 kms from Ulaanbaatar, in the previously mentioned ger camp. Mende drove us out there and we got to ride camels, visited a nomadic family, and Mongolia's first Buddhist temple at the site of their first capital city, Karakorum, established by Chingis Kahn in the 13th century. It was razed by the Chinese in 1388 but the monastery has been rebuilt (parts are still under construction).

The monastery is still in the process of being rebuilt. Some temples have been completed, the accomodation for the monks, and a museum but there is till lots of space for more additions.

It was quite relaxing and a good way to see the countryside. We played an few Mongolian games that use sheep knuckle bones. I lost pretty badly on the first night, but after ingesting the power of the bull (read really, really cheap Chinese vodka) I won on the second night. Goof and I then modified their version of horse racing with the knucklebones to sheep racing with Mario Kart-esque short cuts.

These are much bigger than I expected. I'm not one to give advice world conquerers, but I reckon the Mongolian cavalry should have used camels instead of steppe ponies.

Upon returning to Ulaanbaatar we took in a cultural performances that showcased Mongolian throat singing, traditional dances and music, and a contortionist who wouldn't have been out of place at the yoga world championships (YouTube it, but not while you're eating). As it was Aika's birthday Goof and I took her to an all-you-can eat restaurant, because that's the type of guys are.

Happy Birthday Aika! Once again Rudolph proves to be a social embarrassment.

We ended the visit with a trip to the National History Museum. Leaving was tough, but Goof and I have vowed to come back. During summer this time.

 Statues of Great Kahns everywhere and we come across this. Given the size of the Mongolian empire I would not be surprised at all if the predator was involved.

Interlude # 2 Bird and Reptile Park

Sim and I went to the bird and reptile park in Bali. I mainly wanted to see a Komodo dragon, but other highlights included crocodiles, a bird of prey show and two tortoises going at it (no photos, I gave them that amount of respect). The latter was hilarious, the male was making all sorts of noises while the female seemed thoroughly disinterested.

This was the first owl I ever saw and I was not disappointed.

The bird of prey show included eagles, owls, kites, and I think falcons. They would fly in and the presenters would throw food for them to catch.at one stage, to demonstrate the agility of one of the birds, the presenters brought a member of the crown forward, put some meat on her head and the bird snatched up without disturbing the volunteer.

Some silly tourist kept on putting her hand the enclosure. A part of me wanted to see the bird attack.

Sim and I also got up close and personnel with some Macaws. They tried to steal my sunnies and Rudolph.

I was in constant fear one of them would poop on me.

The reptile park was a bit sad. Maybe it's just because reptiles don't move much but all the crocs looked dead, one even had a large tumour-like growth on a hind foot.

They are scary and smelly and I would hate for one to get out.

There were lots of snakes and lizards and it was good to visit. Not sure I trust the lock holding in the Komodo dragon in the Reptile park though.

Am oversight I hope, but of all the enclosures only the Komodo dragon did not have the latch padlocked.

When I came across this guy wandering the park I wondered if a youth Komodo had escaped.

Not sure what this animal but it looks awfully Komodo-like.

Also, flamingoes!

All of them using two legs to stand, once again television has lied to me.

Hohhot - Inner Mongolia

From Beijing, Goof and I caught an overnight train to Hohhot, a city of 2 million people in northern China in a province called Inner Mongolia. Our Honcho here was called David and while his spoken English was good, his ability to understand us was not at the same standard and so communication was quite stilted. Luckily I had my notebook and often I would write words for him instead.

A statue of Altan Khan, the founder of Hohhot and grandson of Chinngis Khan.

Our first destination was the Museum of Inner Mongolia. It was massive there were with four levels; one dedicated to Natural History (dinosaurs, yeah!!!!),  one to current Inner Mongolia, one to historical Inner Mongolia, and one to artistic items from famous authors and artists. 

Goof meets an Iguanadontia. I didn't want to get that close as it looked hungry.

For those who are unaware the Mongolian regions were a favourite roaming ground for dinosaurs and, as a result, it has been a treasure trove of prehistoric fossils. This was my first time with the dinosaurs and it was pretty amazing. The biggest issue with the museum was the limited English. Our guide was really good here and either knew lots of history or was memorising the plaques around him an translating them to English.

This is an ancient astronomical chart. I've always been fascinated by the mapping of stars and constellations by early man. It's actually in the five pagoda temple but it would not look out of place in the museum. 

This was followed by a walk around town and a nap, after which Goofy and I braved a meal and a nightclub on our own. Both were hilarious as no one spoke English. We picked a meal at random hoping it was a meat we would recognise (as its a sheep farming community the odds were with us) and it took 10 minutes to order our first beer at the nightclub (finding the toilet was another issue that we solved using a diagram of a stick figure peeing). 

 This statue depicts Chinese fable about a monkey that wants some fruit. The elephant, monkey, hare, and a bird work together to get the fruit. Similarly Goof and I had to work together to get drunk that night. Ever the opportunist Rudolph tries to share in the spoils. 

Awesomeness ensued as we watched the bartender juggle bottles, met the owner (who supplied us with drinks), and joined in their dice drinking games. Weirdest thing ever - nearly everyone in the club would buy a bottle of Chivas Regal and mix it in a carafe with iced tea.

Pete Thomson could learn a lot from this guy about serving cocktails. That said Goof and I didn't see him pour one drink all night, but he sure drank a lot.

The following day we visited three temples. The temple of the five pagodas is a Buddhist temple with over 1500 images of Buddha carved into the walls. It also has the Mongolia cosmological map showed earlier.

The temple of five pagodas

The Dazhao temple is the oldest building and largest temple in Hohhot. The third Dalai Lama visited this temple in 1586, which led to the temple being the a religious centre for Mongolians.

Animal statues in the Dazhao temple.

and the Great Mosque (there is a pretty big Muslim community in Hohhot).

After Ramadan many Muslims gather in this tower to feast.

We finished the day by relaxing in their town square before jumping on our train to two day train to Mongolia.

The Chinese flag in the Square. Behind it a multitude of kites can be seen, these are all flown by people on the Square.

Beijing - the Start of the VodkaTrain

Arrived in Beijing at 1:00 am, Goofy arrived at 9:00 am and we set ourselves up for three days of sightseeing. On the first the day we wandered around the Forbidden City and Tian 'an men Square.

Goof on the southern gate tower of the Forbidden City overlooking Tian'an men square.

The forbidden city is huge - their are throne Halls everywhere for many types of harmony, treasure rooms, gardens, sculptures, etc. it was too big.

 I could have picked any number if significant cultural photos to insert here, but I love this demon tortoise. It is one of the nine sons of the dragon (god of heaven if my memory serves me correctly). Unfortunately none if the sons, all of whom had different forms, grew into a dragon.

There were also massive crowds of Chinese tourists all been led by tour guides. often our main goal in exploring the city was to search for the less full rooms.

Once again, there are many significant Halls I could have shown where very important decisions were made, however, Rudolph loves the drink and the Pavilion for bestowing wine made it in instead.

We also found a street we dubbed Beijing's Chinatown. It embodied the western perception of China with old style buildings and lanterns hanging from eaves.

This is the monument to the people's heroes, the central feature of Tian 'an men Square.

Everywhere we turned we got swamped with locals offering to be our guide, offers for day tours to the Great Wall, and rickshaw rides. There were also mounds of security guards, police, and soldiers, although even the most smartly dressed unit of marching soldiers becomes infinitely less intimidating when the last two men are holding shopping bags full of food. That evening we met or first VodkaTrain guide (called a 'Honcho), Lily. Her English was really good and she had great knowledge of the area and history. Over the next two days she took us to the Great Wall, the Pearl Markets, an Emperors Tomb, a Kung Fu show, the Temple of Heaven, and the Summer Palace.

One thing we learnt about China: they like to make things big - even when building rabbit- proof fences.

She seemed less than impressed when I insisted we walk to the top of the Great Wall and even more displeased when Goofy and I celebrated the beginning of snowfall by purchasing some beers and drinking them in the snow.

Apparently it rarely snows like this in spring. We were stoked, she was not.

We visited an Emperors tomb, which is not as cool as it sounds. There are quite a few littered around China, but apparently the excavators did such a bad job on this one the Chinese government is not letting the others to be opened up.

This is the best. Once the tomb is ready for sealing this giant pot, which is full of oil, is set on fire and the tomb is sealed. The fire uses up all the oxygen thus assisting in preservation of the bodies and the item they're buried with.

The weather couldn't have been better. The first day was sunny and clear (i.e. no pollution). The second day was snowing but not too cold. Lily informed us that she had ever seen that much snow in Beijing.

  The temple of heaven. The emperor would prey for good fortune for his people, such as good weather, no disease, etc.

It looked pretty awesome. Our final day on Beijing was Sunny, but everything was still blanketed in snow.

  The summer palace. Built by an Emperor for his mother for her fiftieth (I think) birthday. The palace is in the background, but it also includes a massive garden and a man made lake in the shape of a bat.

The food wasn't bad, we mostly took Lily's advice. Peking duck, sweet and sour pork, kung pao chicken, dumplings, hotpot, and Beijing noodles covers most of the meals we had. The biggest issue I had was that my lips started to crack on the first day, and so anything spices hurt them quite a bit.

Jeremiah was a bullfrog, Was a good friend of mine, Never understood a single word he said, But he made some mighty fine tucker.