Date:         Tue, 11 Nov 2003 12:48:32 -0500
Reply-To:     Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Sender:       Vanagon Mailing List <vanagon@gerry.vanagon.com>
From:         Kenneth Wilford <kenwilfy@COMCAST.NET>
Subject:      Trip Report Ulan Bataar, Mongolia
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"Sign-by no" (Mongolian for Howdy!)  Some of you may have noticed that
lately I have not been posting to the Vanagon List as regularly as I used to
(every day).  Basically for the last couple of months I have been getting
ready for a trip to Mongolia and then last month I took that trip and then
this month I have been trying to get back into the swing of things.  Now
that everything has settled down I thought the list might want a short
account of the trip.

Purpose of the trip:
Mongolia had been a Communist country since the thirties or forties (the
first after Russia).  At that time the Russians came in and killed almost
all of the Buddhist monks and burnt down all but a handful of monasteries.
Then they publicly proclaimed that there was no God and so the people have
been without freedom of religion for over 50 years.  In the early 90s when
the USSR collapsed, Mongolia was cut loose.  Suddenly the people there had
freedom to learn about God and many religious groups have come into the
country.  The Christian church has grown very quickly in Mongolia but
because of the poverty of the people there are no training centers for
pastors, teachers, etc.  We went to Mongolia to train church leaders to do
their jobs more effectively.  If you want to know more about this aspect of
the trip please p-mail me and I will go into detail.  I know some folks here
are offended by even the mention of God, but I thought I had to at least let
you know why a sane person would travel to the other side of the planet.

JFK Airport to Moscow SVO Airport Oct 8th:
If you are going to visit the Moscow airport on your way to anywhere else,
please, please, please get a Russian visa.  This was our first international
trip.  Our friends who are world travelers (but always fly from France) told
us a Russia visa would be not needed as we were just transitioning to our
next flight through the Moscow SVO airport.  The first thing that they asked
us at the Delta check in was if we had a Russian Visa.  Because we didn't
they said we couldn't take our flight!  They said that they could not check
our bags through to Mongolia, so we had to pick them up in the Moscow Air
Port.  This would require us to leave the "transit" area and we could not do
this without a Visa.  I calmed asked what we should do (my wife was freaking
out).  They said we could go if we only took our carry ons.  What followed
was a mad rush to stuff anything that would fit into our carry ons and then
call our friends who had dropped us off and left, to come back and get our
bags.  As you can imagine this was highly stressful, but we lived through
it.

Next we arrive at Moscow's beautiful SVO airport.  It was anything but
beautiful.  It looked like a throw back to the fifties in design, etc.
Because we didn't have Visas again we were forced to sit in the Airport for
the next 10 hours.  It was midnight our time when we arrived and I wanted to
try to get some sleep, but there was no comfortable place in the airport for
sleeping that I could find.  When we did find a spot that was seemingly
deserted a flight came in from Pakistan and we were immediately surrounded
by scowling Pakistanis who came looking at us and saying things I didn't
understand with the word "American" tossed in here and there.  Very
disconcerting at the least.

Moscow to Ulan Bataar Mongolia.
We were so happy that after five hours of tension our friends arrived from
France.  We sat together and had some dinner together and the crappy SVO
airport at least seemed less menacing and bearable.
We boarded Mongolian air and again things were looking up.  The plane was
newer than the Delta plane we had arrived on and it was only half full.  No
more bumps in the road, just a direct flight to UB.

Ulan Bataar:
The spelling of this city varies from person to person depending on who is
writing it.  I guess that is why most folks call it UB (even those that live
there).  It is a medium sized city of a little over a million people.  The
Russian version of heaven is in full form here in UB.  Twelve story tall
apartment buildings, each apartment with an identical floor plan.  You visit
one UB flat you have almost visited all of them.  The city looked like it
had been under a bombing raid and was just now recovering.  Buildings were
either damaged and dilapidated looking or brand new.  The skyline is full of
heavy cranes everywhere you look, trying to put the city back together
again.  No bombs fell, only the steady decline of communism which did about
as much damage or more.

Traffic and Roads:
The roads are fun to drive on.  I never drove myself, but it looked like
fun.  All of the drivers play a game called pot-hole dodge.  This game is to
totally ignore pedestrians, or other cars.  As long as you dodge the very
large and plentiful pot-holes you win the game (hopefully others around you
are playing "let's not crash" so you don't have an accident).

One of our missionary friends over there said that he was standing next to
his car one day, well away from traffic and with his back to it for some
reason.  There just happened to be a pothole nearby that he didn't notice.
A driver came along playing pot-hole dodge and successfully dodged the
pothole, but at the same time swerved and lightly smooshed our friend
between his car and the drivers car.  To show you the attitude that driver's
have toward pedestrians the offending driver then pulled over, got out our
his car and started to curse out my friend in Mongolian for being in the
way.  He was surprised that my friend (an American) could speak Mongolian.
When he starting yelling back, the man quickly switched to perfect english.
"Sir, I am a Surgeon, if you are injured would you allow me to examine you
and attend to your injuries?"

Vanagons and Eurovans:
I have to add this content but there were many Vanagons in UB.  I was
surprised to see any, but in all I saw at least 20 Vanagons (some syncros,
even a double cab) and about the same amount of Eurovans.  Apparently many
Germans come to UB for one reason or another and I guess some of these have
imported their vans.  It was good to see a Vanagon amid the sea of Korean,
or Japanese made minivans and cars.  It helped me not to get so homesick:-)
In contrast I only saw two mid eighties Golfs and no Jettas or other VW cars
at all (including Beetles).  I guess the Vanagon is something that some
folks just can't leave home without!

Pollution:
The city had very polluted air.  In the morning you could see a haze rise
over the streets.  Most of the cars and buses are diesel and blowing much
more black smoke than they should have been if properly tuned.  Sometimes an
old Russian dump truck would go by and you would be fully enveloped in a
James Bond style smoke screen.  The city also has one coal burning plant for
electricity and one trash to steam plant.  I sure these don't help.  In
spite of this my wife and I experienced less allergies than we do here in
New Jersey.  Perhaps it is the sparse vegetation or the very dry climate.

The People:
This was the part I loved the most of this trip.  We didn't come to Mongolia
on a sight seeing trip or a vacation.  We came to help people who had asked
us to come.  The typical Mongolian is friendly, and helpful.  If you look at
them walking down the street nine times out of ten they will look back at
you and smile if you are smiling.  After so many years of being trod under
the foot of the Russians, seeing a white person walking the streets of UB is
a non-event.  You don't feel stared at as most people ignore you and go
about their business.

When we visited the country side the folks there were even more friendly and
hospitable.  Many of them still live in large tents called "gears" and ride
horses, and tend livestock as Mongolians have been doing for the past couple
of thousand years.  If you visit a "gear" they will want to talk to you
about yourself, your family, who you are, what you are doing in Mongolia,
etc.  They will feed you, house you, and entertain you without even any
thought of monetary reward.  In fact this would be an insult to them if you
offered to pay them for anything.

The countryside:
We took a trip one day after our work was over into what the Mongolians call
"The Countryside".  I put it in capital letters because it seems that all
Mongolians think of it that way.  Even if they live in the city their heart
is still in "The Countryside" and many of them go back from time to time,
especially in the Summer months.  We took a tour trip via a Chinese jeep.
It was bouncy on the smoother roads of the city (pot-holes and all).  When
we hit the highway the road got much worse.  The road way was buckled by
frost heaves and riddled with pot holes.  Our driver (Jaraar) was either the
best driver in the universe, or an escapee from an insane asylum.  He drove
us at 60 miles an hour down this terrible road, swerving and careening to
miss either pot holes or on coming traffic.  The road was only a two lane,
however many times Jaraar would make his own third lane down the center of
the road so that he could pass slower drivers going our way, and at the same
time avoid large dump trucks coming the other way.  After the first 30 mins
of being scared to death, you got used to insanity and joined Jaraar in
laughing your head off because you just missed being killed by inches.  It
was fun!

We got to the "gear" camp where we were to visit and the landscape changed.
The city sprawl was replaced by a landscape that reminds me of Western
pictures and paintings circa 1850s.  Vast empty spaces.  Small hills of rock
jutting out of the ground all around you.  Large valleys that you could look
down into and see for miles and miles, without another human or dwelling in
sight.  It was an escapist's dream come true.

We entered the "gear" of a small family.  Again the "gear" is a round tent
about 20 feet in diameter, made of off-white felt held up by an inner
framework of wood.  There is a hole in the center of the ceiling in order to
let out smoke and let in light.  The design has remained the same for
thousands of years.  This gear had a small franklin stove in the center for
coal heat.  It also had electricity run to it (I know, I couldn't figure out
the economics of running electrical wire fifty miles to the middle of
nowhere for four "gears" either).  There was also a small fridge in one side
and a 25" inch TV set with DVD/karaoke machine on top!

We had paid for two hours of horseback riding.  The man that owned the
"gear" (Oncle) told us that his horses were away right now staying with a
friend.  However a neighbor had some horses we could use and he would take
us on a small expedition into the hills.  I thought I had enough clothing on
for the trip, but it was bitterly cold outside and the folks insisted that I
add a Mongolian "del" to my wardrobe.  This is a full length trench coat
made of thick wool.  You tie it around the middle with a silk scarf of
varying colors (mine was bright orange).  The women took my wife and put on
some thick wool pants and jacket.  These items they loaned to us for our
excursion and I am so glad they did.  With the wind and the cold
temperatures (probably 25 degrees) we were warm and comfortable.  The
Mongolian saddle is made of wood with a thin padding over it.  Can you say
"saddle sore"?  We had a great trek in to the local wilderness.  When we
returned our driver was signing along to Mongolian traditional music thanks
to the Karaoke machine.  I was surprised what a nice voice he had!

I could write much more, but I guess this gives you an overview and a taste
for what Mongolia is like.  Do I want to go back, yes, very much.  We are
thinking about doing a similar trip next year.  Until then "Bye-Our Tie"
(see ya in Mongolian).


Ken Wilford
John 3:16
http://www.vanagain.com
http://www.strictlyvwauctions.com
Phone: (856)-327-4936
Fax: (856)-327-2242