Big Cities, Bright Lights

26/6/11 - 6/7/11

Just one more week in China before we left for country number 3. We spent our last days exploring Beijing and Shanghai, as much as my dodgy leg would let us!

We had teed up a Couch Surfing host in Beijing, not far from the host's place we stayed at last time we were in the city. Unfortunately, due to a plane delay, our mobile being pickpocketed, my leg slowing us down and a very confused taxi driver we didn't arrive at their apartment til after midnight and weren't able to ring and warn them. We tentatively knocked on their apartment door and after some clunking sounds the door opened to two very bleary eyed and half asleep people - whoops! We felt really bad but Adam and Laura were very hospitable and welcomed us in.  

Cuandixia

Beijing was steaming hot, and our shared single bed in the lounge room was a bit like sleeping in an oven. Still, it was a good place to relax for a couple of days, without the expense of a private room or the lack of privacy of a dorm, and give my leg a chance to heal. We got to catch up with Manon and Arnaud, the French couple that we got along well with in Mongolia, in Beijing, and take them to "Mr Shi's Dumplings", a great little joint in one of the hutongs.  Adam and Laura also included us in their regular Couch Surfer all-you-can-eat pizza and movie night, different to have a totally western style evening.

We did a day trip out of Beijing, about 90km west to a little town called Cuandixia. Getting there was a bit of a challenge, the train was easy but finding out where the bus left from while trying to stay dry in an absolute downpour was more difficult. It was worth it though, a lovely village on a sloping hill set against a backdrop of mountains with stone houses set around quaint courtyards, all about 400 years old. As with most places in China, local tourists are a given and the village caters for it, but there were less crowds than many places and we had our lunch undisturbed in a quiet courtyard served by a sweet Chinese lady who spoke no English but made a real effort to understand our charades. We even got fresh picked zucchini from her garden. 

CRH - Beijing to Shanghai

My leg wasn't really behaving in Beijing after the Op, maybe because of the humidity, so we took it pretty easy to avoid it swelling up too much (and potential explosion??), which meant missing out on going to the Great Wall - very disappointing. We checked out the Police History Museum instead, more interesting than it sounds though we would have liked to have been given ALL the translations in English instead of the ones that the powers-that-be thought we should have. We did some wandering around the hutongs as well and tried some fried bananas from tourist food stall - yum!

The next day we left for Shanghai. We tried to get cheap train tickets but only the more exxy ones for the new China Rail Highspeed (CRH) were available for the date we needed them. Travelling on the new bullet train was pretty cool and only took 6 hrs to travel over 1000km, going at speeds up to 300kmh! The digital display even told us how exactly how fast we were going at each moment.

We arrived at our next couch host's place at a much more reasonable time. This time we'd organised to stay with a local professional couple and their two kids in a gated community about 40mins outside Shanghai central, by train and foot. We were asked not to tell anyone in the community that we were couch surfers because apparently the locals were worried about any strangers in the area and we were very obvious being the only white people around. The kids, Mickey 6 years old and Renee 11 years, were both completely fluent in English and fun to hang out with. Renee taught us how to use a Chinese abacus to do equations and Mickey showed off his mental arithmetic skills - smart kids!

Strangely doctored looking pic of Pudong, its not!

Shanghai was even more humid and ridiculously hot than Beijing, around 36c during the day but the worst thing was that it didn't cool below 30+ at night, yuck! Lucky we had air con in the room we stayed in plus a bamboo bed cover (surprisingly comfortable), kindly lent to us by Mickey.

The first touristy thing we did in Shanghai was a Big Bus tour of the Bund and Pudong areas. It was a good introduction to Shanghai and we were amazed at how different it was from everywhere else we'd been in China - clean, ordered, tidy but definitely not as much character! We also checked out the Shanghai Art Gallery.  

Tongli

The next morning we were up early and caught the Metro and a bus to Tongli, a town/tourist attraction about 125km from town. It was the hottest day yet and my leg was quite swollen so we took it pretty easy but we did manage to check out some gorgeous old palaces and the Sex Culture Museum which was housed in a gorgeous garden surrounded by lovely old stone buildings. We had some yummy Korean food for dinner, thanks to the english speaking waitress who kindly translated the menu for us.  

Sightseeing tunnel, talk about odd!

We left Suzie's place the next morning to spend our last night in China in a dorm room at Ming Town Hiker Hostel which was closer to the city. We spent our last full day wandering around the tourist bazaar in Fuyuan and then walked along the Bund. The smog had got worse so we only got hazy views of Pudong across the river. We then took the Tourist Sightseeing Tunnel under the river in a small unmanned electric rail car, a strangely surreal experience of psychedelic lights, random voice overs and inflatable dolls. Even though a storm was brewing we decided to head up to the flashy Cloud 9 Bar in the Jinmao tower on the 87th (top) floor. We weren't exactly dressed for the location but we paid their exorbitant drinks prices so they didn't mind. It was crazy to be up that high, like the view from an airplane rather than a building! The storm looked pretty impressive from up there, we took our time with our cocktails and got an even better view when the rain stopped. 

The next morning we headed to the airport, picking up some delicious rambutans on the way, and said goodbye to China!

View down into Cuandixia

Thresher in Cuandixia

Shanghai shopping!

View from The Bund

Shanghai World Financial Centre

[Hospital] Room With A View

25/6/11 - 26/6/11
Tours over, flight back to China impending, with a couple of last days in Mongolia to relax and buy souvenirs. Tim and I decided we really should use some of the time to get my still swollen leg checked out.

Since the horse incident my leg had been swelling up whenever i did anything active or even if I just sat for long periods without my foot elevated. Visually there didn't seem much wrong with it, just a couple of small wounds that seemed to heal ok, although one not completely. It didn't even hurt much. But we decided a month was long enough for it to heal and that i should probably get it checked and maybe get on some more antibiotics before China. 

After waiting for an hour in the waiting room of a Korean owned hospital in UB, unsure whether we were waiting in the right place or not but not able to find anyone who spoke English, we were getting a bit restless. The conversation went something like this: 

CB: This is getting ridiculous, its probably nothing anyway, it doesn't hurt so nothing serious can be wrong surely??

Tim: Yeah. The Dr will probably just say give it some more time... I'm sure nothing is really wrong. 

CB: Yeah. So lets go. 

Tim: Yeah... but we've waited so long.

CB: Yeah. 

Tim: Probably should wait

CB: Yeah.

Tim: Yeah.

After a few more minutes we couldn't wait any longer and we busted into the door that most people seemed to be going through and, surprise surprise, were actually pointed into a seat to talk to a lady who spoke a smattering of English. Not sure WHO she was but she sent me to another room to actually see a doctor. He looked at my leg, poked it (ouch!) and said (in English, phew!) "Lots of fluid, probably need an operation now... First, bloods, xray, ultrasound." 

View from my hospital room

So off i went for my tests (where i very nearly had a chest xray instead of a leg xray, not sure what was going on there) and then back to the Doc - "Yes, need an operation. We will cut leg open, take out fluid and put in drain. Very important, could get abscess very soon if no operation. Bad infection possible, must do it now." ACK! You can imagine my reaction, an operation, in a foreign country, with a flight booked for the next afternoon and 7 more weeks of backpacking in China and Borneo to come - I really didn't want to have to have an operation. But the doc was very convincing and pulled all sorts of strings to have the operation happen that day even though the hospital had technically closed for the weekend, so my first ever hospital experience was to be in Mongolia. He also promised i could make my flight the next day. He gave me one choice, local anaesthetic or a needle into the spine (epidural-ish) - local please, don't you touch my spine!


Before i knew it i was hospital-gowned up and lying on the operating table waiting to be cut open. The Doc was pretty good, he seemed to understand that i was shit scared and made some attempts at making me more comfortable. Although the technique, which seemed to be hospital wide i realised when the nurse later did the same thing, for warning me of an impending needle was "Needle, pain, pain, sorrysorrysorrysorrysorry". Still, at least he tried. The operation itself went to his satisfaction, because i just had a local I could feel pulling and cutting the whole time but only pain once, when the Doc touched my bone with the scalpel (ouch!). He showed me the fluid that came out of my leg, about 500ml of yellow gunk that i really didn't need to see!

Post Op

So all finished and drain inserted i got wheeled back into a room - a totally surreal experience staring up at the ceiling having no idea where you're headed. Turns out it was quite a view from the window, right down into the heart of UB and into the hills behind. I had to stay the night but Tim kept me company for as long as he could, this turned out to be a bad choice because as he was heading back to our guesthouse for the night at around 9.30pm he got pickpocketed and it was bye-bye mobile phone. Guess it could have been worse, at least there was no violence!

After a night and morning of drips and needles (painkillers and IV antibiotics), a little bit of discomfort but nothing too horrendously painful and lots of Discovery channel it was time to clear out so we could get our flight to China. Apart from being swollen and looking disgusting with a drain hanging out of it my leg was ok, a bit sore but with it all covered up I could walk and that was the main thing!  

Ewwwww

Holiday in Mongolia: Part 3

13/6/11 - 26/6/11

It was hard to decide where else to travel in Mongolia, so much country and so little time! We ended up deciding on Eastern Mongolia because it sounded different from the Central tour we'd already done and because of the lack of tourists who go that way. The style of tour was also quite different and this time it was just Tim and I (plus driver and guide).

So after a day off in UB to get our clothes washed and give our selves a chance to recuperate, we met up with our tour guide from Tseren Tours, Baskaa, and our driver and his little blue Russian jeep. And it was time to leave UB again, this time heading East. Not far out of UB we stopped at an Ovoo and a conveniently placed tourist-trap of Eagle-on-pole and Reindeer-under-awning. It costs, of course, to take pictures so i was happy just to say hello to the Reindeer and get a hand lick in return. Apparently Reindeer become unhappy and actually get sick being away from their natural habitat in the higher, colder areas of Mongolia but the locals continue to exploit them for the tourist dollars... i wonder, if tourists were better informed would it still go on?

Turtle Rock,
Gorkhi Terelj NP

After our last tour spending meals sitting on the dirt or rocks and eating off our laps we were pleasantly surprised to find that we had folding chairs and even a table supplied. Also the guide did all the cooking and cleaning, there was an esky to keep things cool and  the meals were very westernised  - we felt like we were cheating but yay to no more boiled goat!

Local kids in the horseman's Ger

We stopped at some odd rock formations at Gorkhi Terelj NP and climbed up for a view. More beautiful Mongolian scenery. Our driver also helped out some young locals who'd run out of fuel by siphoning some out of our tank, and off they went, 7 people in a little 3 door hatch! Next we drove thru some pretty deep river crossings (good driver!) to get to the Ger settlement of our horse guide. Of course once we arrived we got the usual salty milk tea to welcome us - though this stuff was actually a lot less salty and quite tasty.


We set up camp for our first night on a stream bank close by to the Gers and amongst the livestock. Locals joined us pretty quickly and the obligatory bottle of vodka was handed around the group until it, and its friend, were finished. We had some good chats with our driver who it turned out spoke better english than Baskaa - who we learnt later had been warned by Tseren that her english had better improve pretty quickly or she'd lose her job, warning warranted i think, lovely girl but really needed to work on her English skills.

Tangent, Munchie and me!

The next morning was the start of our 3 day horse riding trip into the Khenti Mountains so we sorted our gear and the packhorse was loaded up, such a funny little horse, making whining, grunting and groaning sounds which had us a bit worried that she was over-loaded. But apparently she makes these sounds even when not loaded up, the oddest sound i've ever heard from a horse! We also got given some cardboard leg protectors, not exactly fancy but they were leg savers.

Our sweet, strong, groany little pack horse



Pretty pony

The next three days we spent riding in a big loop, over the hills and thru the valleys, camping and lunching next to streams - no roads but plenty of livestock, some yaks and a few Gers. One night the horseman  got us some local cow milk vodka to share (tastes like watery, alcoholic yoghurt - drinkable and not very strong) and then promised, if we came back to visit, he would gift our firstborn one of his best foals! Lovely guy and very generous. especially with vodka under his belt. It was a great experience being off the roads and riding thru the countryside though three full days of riding on russian saddles was quite hard physically! The most fun riding was through the rivers to meet up with our jeep at the end of the trip - too deep for him to come thru to meet us so we went to him. 

Tim being useful

Back in a new jeep with a new driver (a male Oogii) and reunited with our folding chairs (ah, comfort) we hit the road again.  Over the next couple of days we did a lot of driving and a few stops, to look at a big coal mine (Mongolia's natural resources are only just getting tapped into), some local towns (which reminded us of wild west outposts), a Temple in a pretty valley and lovely lunch stops and campsites. Apart from one flat tyre which was quickly patched by Oogii with some help from Tim, all went pretty smoothly (we did have two more before the trip was finished though). 


After this Oogii wasn't so sure of the roads to take - to his defense the roads out this far are basically dirt tracks and there are often half a dozen that seem to be heading in the same direction, no signposts at all. On our way through one of the "hard to navigate" valleys we stopped to look at some deer stones, which are monoliths inscribed with deer motifs dating back to the Bronze age. Amazingly they are still sitting in the Mongolian countryside where they were put thousands of years ago! We also saw lots of Demoiselle Cranes, pretty black and white birds that hang out in pairs on the steppes, eagles, hawks and gophers and marmots running for cover. 

Deer stone

After driving pretty steadily East we reached Dadal, a town close to the Russian border with lots of Russian influences including the wooden cabins that people live in and yummy Russian bread and cheese. We stayed near a river here and Tim and I took the opportunity to have another "bath" - pretty much no showers or laundries to be found outside UB! The next day we headed off with our packs loaded for a one night camp out without the vehicle. Baskaa came with us and it was the first time she'd ever done an overnight trek on foot. It wasn't the best day for it as it was our hottest day yet in Mongolia but we took it easy and followed the river which meant we could cool off with a dip in the evening. Tim and i spotted some wild ducklings and their over protective mother but despite our searching, no bears or wolves. We did have an extended visit from an inquisitive local horseman though, and while Baskaa advised us to hide the vodka and make sure our gear was safe "just in case", he kindly gave us one of the two fish he'd caught in the river that evening (i think he took a shine to Baskaa, probably doesn't see many new ladies around very often).


On our way back the next day to meet up with Oogii and the jeep we saw a Shaman ceremony, basically a whole heap of people running around some bushes after a Shaman - the drumming and chanting was nice but didn't really understand the rest of it. Baskaa and Oogii then took us up to the top of a hill to see Chinggis (Ghengis) Khan's birthplace. It was just a big Ovoo and a platform to look out over the countryside, pretty simple considering how much he is revered, he is like a God to the Mongolian people.

Demoiselle Cranes

We continued to head even further East from here , in search of the herds of Gazelle that hang out on the Eastern steppes. We got lost (AGAIN) and after stopping a few times for directions and a chat Baskaa informed us that Gazelle hadn't been seen in the area this season because it had been very dry and there was no food for them, but that we would keep looking anyway. And what do you know, after a couple more hours of driving, when we were all ready to give up, herds of Gazelle on the horizon!! Woohooo! Man they can run fast. We quietly and stealthily stalked them for a half hour on foot, walking single file so as not to scare them off, and didn't get closer than a couple of hundred metres. Then we abandoned this attempt and trusted in Oogii's skillful jeep driving , chasing them across the steppe off road - we got much closer, totally awesome to see them outrun us although not sure on their intelligence as they would often run parallel to us or across in front of the vehicle!

Yay, we saw Gazelle!

Another camping site,
another sunset!

When it got time to set up camp for the night Oogii informed us he had no idea where the road was, so we just stopped somewhere flat and set up camp on the steppe for the night. Crazy place, no people or buildings in sight, just yellow grass and the rolling steppe - quite surreal. We had our fresh fish from the horseman for dinner, i can't imagine what the lucky carnivore that got the left over fish bits thought, getting fish miles from any water!


The next morning, after drying off some baby moles i found wet and cold in the grass and putting them back in a burrow (who knows if it was the right one!), we found the dirt road and started heading back towards UB. We had our first serious daytime rain and the dirt road soon turned into a muddy swamp, Oogii got us through with no problems though, it wasn't until our tyres got stuck in a deep hole and he jumped out of the Jeep to put the hubs in that we realised we weren't even in 4WD most of the way!

Giant Chinggis

Two more beautiful camping spots and a visit to the massive 40m tall "Chinggis Khan on horse" statue/museum, which we climbed up, and we had all but finished our Eastern Tour. Just one leg to go... kayaking back into UB! We said goodbye to Oogii and Baskaa and met our 2 Kayak guides and took off down the Tuul river. It was a fantastic end to the tour, we saw lots of waterbirds and birds of prey and lots of different countryside on the way down the river. They even had a gourmet picnic lunch packed for us and we stopped on a little island in the river to eat it. Due to the recent rains we didn't have to work very hard going downriver and going through the little rapids was lots of fun - "paddle paddle paddle, change sides, paddle paddle paddle!" - and we were back into UB before we knew it. Again, urgent priorities were showers and washing clothes!

Kayaking down the Tuul

Washing our duds in the river!

Stylin' cardboard leg protectors

Heading off on our overnight trek