This past week, I had amazing adventures in Mongolia. But it didn't start out so amazing. My friend Spencer and I decided it was time to go to Mongolia because this week was a National Holiday for China, and flights everywhere else were too inflated. Plus, one of my mission companions is from Ulaanbaatar.
Here's the story! Sunday, after church, we headed to Shanghai and stayed the night with church friends. Monday morning, we arrived at the Pudong airport in time to check in and take off on our first flight to Beijing. Unfortunately, at the check-in counter, we were informed that we were at the WRONG AIRPORT! How does that even happen? Shanghai has two airports, but I've only ever flown out of Pudong. Huge mistake on my part. The Pudong and Hongqiao airports are about 90 minutes from each other, and we did not have that much time. But we ran as fast as we could, took a really fast train called the MagLev and then grabbed a taxi (for 400 RMB... so unfair) to try to make our flight. We missed it by minutes! Luckily, Air China got us on the next flight, an hour later. But then... we missed our connecting flight. Our first flight landed the same time as the flight to Mongolian stopped check-in. So what happens then?
Well, airport information sent us to a sort-of-secret area of the airport to search for the MIAT airline office. There we sat and waited about an hour for a nice MIAT staff member to show up and help us figure out how to get on the next flight. We were told by this staff member that MIAT only flies from Beijing to Ulaanbaatar once a day /: The next flight was for the next day at 9 p.m. So sad, but we were told we were definitely on the flight, so we stayed the night at a Super 8 in Beijing. We may or may not have eaten mostly candy for dinner and then for breakfast the next morning.
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| Will we ever make it?! |
On Tuesday, we went to the check-in desk 3 hours early and were told the flight was full. NOOOO! After waiting 2 more hours, we were told that we are "very lucky" and got our stand-by tickets. This was seriously a miracle. I felt so defeated and didn't think my dream of visiting Sister Dashjav in Mongolia would ever be realized. But God is good and helped it work out. And what a beautiful sight! When we landed, it was snowing!
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| Can you see the snow falling? Look closely! |
The next morning, we planned a trip to go visit some statues and a national park, but first, I visited Dashmaa at work! She's now a wife and mother. I was so touched throughout the trip with her generosity. She kept giving her time and energy to help me. I couldn't have pulled off this trip without her.
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| She's my mission baby (: |
Spencer and I joined 3 other tourists (two girls from Finland and a guy from Spain) to go see some sites. Our first stop was some Soviet statue. I'm not exactly sure it's purpose. I think something about how the Soviet Union helped Mongolia retain independence from China during WW2 times. I think...but I'm not sure. Anyway, the statue was cool, but even better was the view from the top and the snowmen some locals made. The view doesn't look great due to pollution and deserted buildings, but it was still cool to see the whole city from that location.
Next was a giant silver statue of Chinggis Khaan! The Mongolians are very proud of him. The statue was cool because you could go inside a building under it to see Mongolian artifacts as well as climb to the top. As seen below. Other great thing about this site, getting to hold an eagle!
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| A traditional Mongolian instrument |
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| This hat was a gift from my older brother, circa 2006 AD |
After that little adventure, we told our driver that we wanted to eat Mongolian food. He knew just the place. He took us to a ger (also known as a yurt) restaurant! We weren't exactly sure what was on the menu, but it was pretty interesting. I'm pretty sure the dead animal that fed us was in that ger... Saw the sheep skin. Anyway! It tasted okay, but it isn't my favorite cuisine.
After lunch, we headed to the gorgeous Gorkhi-Terelj National Park where we enjoyed taking pictures and riding camels. This was a first for me! Spencer's 2nd time this year.
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| These yellowish/orange pine trees were my favorite |
Spencer and I decided to stay the night in the park, while our new friends went back to the city. It was one of the top things on our list to stay a night in a ger - and we did it! We wanted to go the more authentic route and stay with a family (gers dot the city and countryside), but this was more of a campy/eco tourism type ger. Inside it was furnished with beds and even had electricity so guests could charge their cell phones. We were told that we would freeze when sleeping in a ger, but we were actually quite toasty due to a wood stove in the center of the ger. A sweet old man came by every hour or so to stoke the fire and add more wood, and I even did that a few times. Felt like I was in Little House on the Prairie or something! There was a nice family who lived right next to the gers, and they had the cutest little girl and took good care of us with delicious meals.
The next morning, we went on an hour-long horseback ride. What adventure in Mongolia would be complete without riding horses and eating breakfast in a ger?
And now the trip was almost complete. After finishing our horseback ride, we headed back to the city to look for souvenirs, cheap-ish cashmere and to see a few more must-sees.
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| Chinggis Square |
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| Campaign signs were all over the place. Most of them said 2020 on them. Too soon? |
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| Buddhist Monastery |
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| It means a very cold welcome |
I really did feel welcome in Mongolia. Several strangers approached us and asked where we were from. Even a taxi driver rolled down his window just to ask. Once our ger-fire-stoker man knew we were Americans, he kept saying things like "New York?" "Michael Jordan?" and so on.
And of course, Dashmaa was so welcoming. She had to work and couldn't go on the adventure with us, but Thursday night, she and her husband and precious little baby (Ermu, or just Moo) took us to dinner at a delicious Korean restaurant. They also helped Spencer find some cheaper cashmere and me find some souvenirs. Dashmaa's husband was able to drop us off at the airport the next morning, ensuring that we made our flight in plenty of time (:
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| Mongolian babies/kids all of the cutest cheeks and poofy winter clothing |
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| but sometimes they don't like me. |
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| but I like them(him) |
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Can you find the baby? (Answer, under the green coat, sleeping)
I LOVE Mongolia! After Haiti, it ties with Thailand for my favorite trip so far. I love the people and cultures in all the countries I've been to, but I was able to do more fun activities in Thailand and Mongolia - both with mission companions. I HIGHLY recommend that you add Mongolia to your list of places to visit. Just go to the right airport.
Love, Ash
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