correction to my last post: i wasn't 2 hours from Mongolia as i was actually travelling though Mongolia, the Land of the Open Sky, already & just 2 hrs away from Ulaan Bataar, the capital. as it turned out this was a little optimistic as we arrived another 5 hrs after that. everyone was getting excited as we drew near even though we couldn't see much due to the sandstorm outside. as usual in these situations some irritating backpackers decided they wanted more of the action and opened a window so that the sandstorm quickly invaded the carriage & we were all immediately covered in a light layer of red dust and sand. great. Mr Plutonium heaved himself up and went to look in the corridor. he was a little on the plump side which meant that everytime someone went past he had to suck his stomach in and place it on the window ledge whilst the person passing by had to quickly deviate into our cabin before continuing on. these unexpected guests were happening a little too frequently for my liking but i'm sure Mr Plutonium liked people squeezing past him. it was a little bit icky. the last stop before UB we pulled into a run-down place that looked as if it existed at the end of the earth. which in some ways it did. a group of kids clustered outside the windows with an empty egg carton full of stones which they started yelling were valuable gems. i went back to my sand-covered rucksack and got out some little toy koalas i'd bought for such occasions and threw a couple out the window. the kids ran for them like you wouldn't believe and the gemstones went flying. they didn't bother to pick them up. gemstones or koalas - which are the more valuable?. evidence seemed to point towards the latter rather than the former. ce la vie. time inched forward slowly and so did the train but eventually a huge sprawling city appeared through the sandstorm on the horizon: UB, at last. we got off the train with no trouble and i said a fond goodbye to Mr Plutonium, then Nash and Giggler, giving the last 2 a fluffy koala each. Nash looked a little moved and spat gently on the ground. Giggler giggled, we shook hands and then said goodbye ...
almost immediately i ran into somone holding up my name which was great - my hostel was very organised. i'd been worried as, due to the big fesival of Naadam, i'd had problems booking a suitable place. there were really no mid-range hotels but just backpacker hostels or huge intercontinental places. the one i'd chosen, Gana's Hostel, was family run with gers (yurts) on the roof. it'd looked good. so i said 'hello' to my hosts and was taken off down the platform and into the carpark. we walked round the carpark twice and then ended up back on the platform where i'd started from. marvellous in 32 degrees heat and carrying a 20kg backpack. it turned out we were looking for other tourists which eventually we found and then were off. the hostel wasn't too far away: just down the road from one of the major temples and just 5mins from the city centre. however for those who've been backpacking before you know what its like when you've gotten used to slumming it aross various countries; you get used to the dust, flies and dirt. however, coming nearly straight from Australia, i need to acclimatise a bit more. its not that the place was flea-ridden as the fleas were already packed and ready to leave. lets just say it wasn't as nice as that pictured on the website. however, in for a penny in for a pound and it was only for 6 nights... might as well go with it. i dumped my bags, quickly showered and changed clothes and went out exploring. on first impressions UB was grey, crumbling and dirty. the sun was hot but this stirred up more dust from the mud lining the streets and everything, just everything seemed covered in dust. crossing the streets was an experience as the cars didn't stop for pedestrians - they sped up! i'd had my time in India negotiating many a tricky road-crossing but this was entirely different and felt a lot more dangerous. i found out later that the reason they sped up was to warn you that a car was coming. like i had no eyes.
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