The Big Trip

By Charlie

In order to counterbalance the bitter posting below, here’s something happier. It is a note that I sent this evening to the Luce Scholars who will spend two weeks in Mongolia this July.

Have you ever wondered what it might be like to drive around Mongolia for two weeks? This note will give you some idea.

You can download the itinerary by clicking this.

TO: Luce Scholars

FR: Charlie

RE: Mongolia Trip

DT: 30 May 2006

Dear Horde,

Ladies and gentlemen, it snowed last night in Ulaanbaatar. For real. It fucking snowed on May 29. Before the snow, there was a lot of rain. The clouds are now lifting and blowing south towards China, but it is still pretty chilly. The good news is that all of the rain and snow will give us some nice green scenery to look at during our adventure.

Right. Enough pleasantries. Please read the rest of this message for important information about the trip.

I know that everyone has had their own kind of special adventure this year, but two weeks in the Mongolian countryside will likely test everyone’s endurance and humor. It will be wonderful, but not always easy. The purpose of this message is to prepare you for the reality that is Mongolia.

WHAT TO BRING

Everyone needs to bring:

Sleeping bag
Tent (or an agreement to share a tent with someone else)
Mug
Bowl
Spoon or Fork
Small towel

The weather will hopefully be pleasant and mild, but it could be cold (not below freezing). It could also rain. Layers are good, since the temperature fluctuates wildly. All of your clothes should fit in a small daypack. I plan on bringing a pair of shorts, a pair of pants, a swimsuit, two T-shirts, a sweatshirt, a light jacket and three days worth of socks and underwear. We can wash our own laundry along the way.

In the footwear department, I will bring heavy duty hiking boots plus Tevas.

People should definitely not bring computers. They will likely be destroyed by the heat, dust and rough driving. Also, there is almost no internet outside of UB. Cameras are fine, but bring a good protective case. iPods are okay, but it will be hard (or impossible) to charge them. I haven’t ever brought my iPod outside of UB.

As you pack lightly, remember this: The more stuff you bring, the less comfortable you will be in the vans. If everyone brings a fully stuffed camping backpack, then we’re definitely fucked. Please pack lightly and get yourself psyched up for wearing some dirty clothes.

FOOD

Rachel and I have studied the itinerary and figured that we will be responsible for 12 meals. The meal planning spreadsheet is attached for your review. (Click here to see it: Download horde_menu.xls.)

During our recent one-week trip to the Gobi, we got a good sense for what works in the food department. Much as we love pork and eggplant, Lao Style, it’s just not practical for Mongolian car camping. (See this entry for details.) The biggest challenge is in transporting our food. We learned that the food must travel well and must not take up a lot of space.

Whenever we are in ger camps, meals are provided by the ger camp. Whenever we camp in tents, we are responsible for cooking our own food. The one exception to this is in Tsetserleg, where we will visit towards the end of the trip. Tsetserleg has restaurants where we can eat while we camp outside of town. There is apparently a lovely little bakery run by a British couple!?

In addition to all the meals listed on the spreadsheet, Rachel and I will also buy snacks and water. But everyone is also encouraged to bring their own snacks – either to hoard for personal enjoyment or to share with the group. Ditto alcohol. Ger camps all stock plenty of booze, which can be bought to go.

All the meals that we have planned are vegetarian friendly, but Mongolian ger camps don’t really get it about vegetarian eating. They will provide vegetarian meals wherein the main meat course is replaced by raisins or nuts. Serious vegetarians should be prepared for this.

We will carry most of our food from UB, but we will hope to supplement the staples with whatever we can find along the way in terms of eggs, vegetables, potato chips and, of course, alcohol.

FORMALITIES

Americans visiting Mongolia do not need a visa. However, non-China scholars who will transit Beijing will need single-entry Chinese visas. You can get these at the local Chinese embassy or consulate. Hopefully you will find the Chinese staff to be as helpful, pleasant and humorous as their colleagues at the Chinese Embassy in UB. (Not!)

Dave, Jenny, Matt, Liz, Jason and Lauren should all have their MIAT tickets from Beijing to UB. Jonathan and Mirra should make plans to get their ticket from Lauren.

At minimum, you will need $100 in USD cash. This will cover meals in UB before and after the trip, plus your share of the food that Rachel and I will buy for the group. But if you want to buy stuff while you are here or if you plan on doing a lot of drinking, you will need more like $200. There is a somewhat reliable ATM in UB, but it’s easier to bring USD cash and change it into tugrugs.

I assume that everyone has sent their check to Nomadic Expeditions. I have asked them to confirm receipt of our payments, but they have not yet done that.

Don’t count on buying anything in UB before we leave town – except for alcohol. UB is a horrible town for shopping. Whatever you might be looking for, you probably can’t get it here. And on the off chance that it might be available, it will be hard to find. So – please – arrive with everything that you need.

Also remember that we are all responsible for our own hotel accommodations when we arrive in Penang on the night of Saturday, July 16. Our Luce Foundation reservations at the Shangri La Golden Showers Resort begins at 2 PM on Sunday, July 17.

UB

We have an enormous apartment that can easily accommodate everyone on the floor. Despite everyone’s enthusiasm for sleeping on our floor, we tried to book you all into a hostel for the night before and after the trip. No dice. The hostels have been booked since NOVEMBER! That gives you some idea for how insane it will be here. The president of the Asia Foundation is coming here for Naadam and they couldn’t even find a room for him and his entourage. TAF Mongolia will get around this problem by hiring a plane (my idea) and flying the president and his entourage to the countryside.

The main issue with our place is that the plumbing is problematic. While we usually have water, it is not always hot. The water pressure is sometimes low enough that showers are impossible. Considering that all 13 of us will want to take showers upon our return to UB, we have contracted with the UB Fire Brigade to meet us after the trip hose us down in the muddy parking lot outside our building. Just kidding. We have rather decided that it would be best for us to repair to the Gobi Sauna, where there is plenty of hot water for everyone in a communal shower environment. Sorry, it’s not coed. Entry is 10,000 tugrugs ($9) and includes shower, hot tub, sauna and a lot of strange Korean stuff that I don’t understand. You can even spend the night if you want to – and many people do.

Sadly, we don’t have the capacity to do laundry for 13 people. You can leave some clean clothes in our apartment that you can wear for the trip to Penang.

You can also secure extra luggage, computers, baby elephants, fancy clothes for wrap-up and whatever else in our apartment.

Meals in UB are freeform. We can eat together or branch out to sample all the fine cuisine on offer.

ALSO: Ardith has beseeched me to remind everyone that UB is not a safe town. People who stay out until 3 AM and get trashed beyond comprehension can expect to be robbed. Just stay close to Rachel and you’ll be fine. The thieves are scared of Rachel.

GENERAL THOUGHTS

The 13 of us will share two vans with a guide and two drivers. This means that we will have 8 people per van. Given my experience, I cannot imagine being in one of these vans with any more than 8 people. But a Fulbright Scholar friend recently drove across most of the country in one of these vans with a total of 22 people!

It would be AWESOME if someone (Matt?) could bring a pair of those little walkie talkies so that we can maintain secure comms between our two vans. “Camels, 12 o’clock, bearing two-zero-niner!”

Bring a book or two. Rachel and I have found that it is possible to read in the Russian vans – once the thrill of the amazing scenery wears off. We’ll bring a stack of New Yorkers to share.

Anyone with a hankering to fish should bring a rod and reel. The fish up north are reportedly amazing. We just ate one the other day that was caught in the Selenge River, not far from the Russian border. It was delicious.

Oh yeah: The central government has reportedly ordered all local authorities to cancel their Naadam celebrations to show respect for the main (and awful) celebration in UB. This is all part of the ridiculous hype around the 800th Anniversary of the Great Mongolian Nation. This is pretty typical behavior for the horrendously bad Mongolian government. This is like telling Des Moines, Peoria, New York City and every other town in America to cancel their 4th of July parade in order to honor the big (and not terribly good) parade in Washington, DC. A Mongolian friend assures me that local Naadam celebrations will continue, though perhaps without financial support from the central government. Whatever. Welcome to Mongolia!

FINALLY

Since last fall, Rachel and I have traveled east, west and south of UB. This past weekend, we traveled north for the first time. This is the direction that we will travel when we leave UB on July 2. Holy crap, it was beautiful – unlike any other place we have ever seen. The people were friendly and it was one those experiences that reminded me why this country is worth all of the hassle.

Za,
Charlie