Some gypsy-punk-balkan "Wonderlust King" - Gogol Bordello
Doesn't it just make you want to dance?
Aug 31, 2009
Fun Facts Part I
* Taken mostly from the Lonely Planet "Trans-Siberian Railway: A Classic Overland Route" and Lonely Planet "Mongolia"
-Bring yer own: toilet paper, plug for the sink, and a short length of hose to fit to the sink tap for a makeshift shower...
-"refusing a drink can be very difficult...the only tested and true method of warding off all offers is to say "ya alkogolichka" (the feminine version) - 'I'm an alcoholic'"
-Time: in Russia, the train always runs on Moscow time, even though my last stop in Irkutsk is 5 time zones away, while all of China is on Beijing's clock, and Mongolia has 2 different time zones:
-Lake Baikal - the "pearl of Siberia": world's largest (in volume), deepest, and oldest freshwater lake, containing 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water and is 20 million years old (many freshwater lakes are only around 20,000). "Over half of the 2,615 plant and animal species found in the Baikal region are endemic." from the Tahoe Baikal Institute. It is possible to see down into the lake as far as 40 m. (LP)
-Ulan Ude (my last stop before Mongolia) is the capital city of the Buryat Republic - the Evenks (Siberian indigenous tribe) and the Buryats (Mongolian indigenous people, now reviving Mongolian/Tibetan buddhism) put up a strong resistance to Cossack and Soviet rule. Ironically, the largest bust of Lenin ever built is located in Ulan Ude.
-Currency in Mongolia is "togrog" (T) - the dollar is worth more than a thousand T. Mongolian GDP is $1,840 per capita, ranking Mongolia as 175 out of 200 countries.
-The 1st phrase listed in a top 10 Mongolian survival phrase list is: Nokhoi khorio! (hold the dog!) Mongolian is a member of the Ural-Altaic family of languages: including Finnish, Hungarian, Turkish, Kazakh, Usbek and Korean. Traditional Mongolian script looks like Arabic turned 45 degrees, but in 1944 the Russian cyrillic alphabet was adopted.
-"Spitting in China is only slightly less popular than badminton. Although it is technically illegal in Beijing, everyone does it everwhere, loudly and flamboyantly." LP
-Bring yer own: toilet paper, plug for the sink, and a short length of hose to fit to the sink tap for a makeshift shower...
-"refusing a drink can be very difficult...the only tested and true method of warding off all offers is to say "ya alkogolichka" (the feminine version) - 'I'm an alcoholic'"
-Time: in Russia, the train always runs on Moscow time, even though my last stop in Irkutsk is 5 time zones away, while all of China is on Beijing's clock, and Mongolia has 2 different time zones:
"none of the people on the train knew what time it was. Some people traveled on Moscow time but operated on local time, if you can figure that out. But half the people were on Beijing time and one diplomat said he was on Tokyo time, which was the same for some reason as Ulan Baatar time. Our Chinese porter changed his watch 15 minutes every few hours or so, but this was a system of his own devising..."
Mary Morris, Wall to Wall-"Irkutsk was founded in 1651 as a Cossack garrison to establish authority over the indigenous Buryats. In the 1700s, it was the springboard for expeditions to the far north and east. Under trader Grigory Shelekhov, expeditions even went across the Bering Strait in Alaska (referred to at that time as the 'American district of Irkutsk')" LP
-Lake Baikal - the "pearl of Siberia": world's largest (in volume), deepest, and oldest freshwater lake, containing 20% of the world's unfrozen fresh water and is 20 million years old (many freshwater lakes are only around 20,000). "Over half of the 2,615 plant and animal species found in the Baikal region are endemic." from the Tahoe Baikal Institute. It is possible to see down into the lake as far as 40 m. (LP)
-Ulan Ude (my last stop before Mongolia) is the capital city of the Buryat Republic - the Evenks (Siberian indigenous tribe) and the Buryats (Mongolian indigenous people, now reviving Mongolian/Tibetan buddhism) put up a strong resistance to Cossack and Soviet rule. Ironically, the largest bust of Lenin ever built is located in Ulan Ude.
-Currency in Mongolia is "togrog" (T) - the dollar is worth more than a thousand T. Mongolian GDP is $1,840 per capita, ranking Mongolia as 175 out of 200 countries.
-The 1st phrase listed in a top 10 Mongolian survival phrase list is: Nokhoi khorio! (hold the dog!) Mongolian is a member of the Ural-Altaic family of languages: including Finnish, Hungarian, Turkish, Kazakh, Usbek and Korean. Traditional Mongolian script looks like Arabic turned 45 degrees, but in 1944 the Russian cyrillic alphabet was adopted.
Bodog: "this authentic "Mongolian BBQ" first involves pulling the innards out of the neck of a goat or marmot. the carcass is then stuffed full of scalding rocks and neck cinched up with wire. The bloated animal is then thrown upon a fire (or blowtorched) to burn the fur off the outside while the meat is cooked from within. Furthering theadventure, it's worth noting that the bubonic plague can be passed by handling marmot skins. There is less a chance of catching the disease between mid August and mid October" (so that works in my favor. whew.)
-"Spitting in China is only slightly less popular than badminton. Although it is technically illegal in Beijing, everyone does it everwhere, loudly and flamboyantly." LP
Aug 27, 2009
я приподю - I prepare
Good news yesterday: my visa application is officially through the Russian consulate (after the requisite 11 business days when it was presumably scrutinized for possible delinquency of human character, terrorist inclinations, or just made into copies in triplicate to fuel the cranky remains of soviet bureaucracy). At any rate, they've decided to let me into the country... which I was a little nervous about, considering the complexity of the application. Now I'm just waiting on approval from the Chinese consulate (no visa needed for Mongolia) and I'm almost there!
The idea: long time coming. The travel bug hits hardest in Kodiak midwinter, when I first started researching, but I've wanted to take the Trans Siberian railroad to Lake Baikal and Mongolia ever since spending six months in western Russia during high school... I'm really looking forward to eating lots of my favorite russian foods - pelmeni (siberian dumplings) and black bread, to dusting off my fading russian language skills over a glass or two of vodka in the dining car, and to finally crossing all that wide expanse of world - by train, by horse, by rusty jeep, maybe even by camel.
The Route:
September 13: Moscow
September 15: Board the Trans-Siberian Railroad to head East
September 19: Arrive in Irkutsk and spend a few days exploring Lake Baikal area
Then: to Ulan-Ude and some exploration of a local Buddhist monastery and the Buryatia culture. Catch a local train or the Trans Mongolian down to Ulan Baatar, capitol of Mongolia. Spend a week hopefully in the countryside, possibly at another monastery and at Ger (yurt) camps in the north or central area of the country.
Last week: catch the last bit of the Trans-Mongolian train into Beijing, check out the Forbidden Palace, Great Wall, and try not to get hit by a bus while bicycling through the historic hutongs. Will meet up with an Italian friend from the Russia exchange, who is now studying business in BJ. Flying out of Beiing on October 11.
This blog: I have no idea if I'll be able to maintain it while traveling. It may be just a few text entries, possibly an iphone photo or two if I can get on wireless... the difference in technology since I've last traveled is so changed that I don't know what to expect - a satellite dish outside a nomadic Mongolian ger wouldn't surprise me in the least.
The idea: long time coming. The travel bug hits hardest in Kodiak midwinter, when I first started researching, but I've wanted to take the Trans Siberian railroad to Lake Baikal and Mongolia ever since spending six months in western Russia during high school... I'm really looking forward to eating lots of my favorite russian foods - pelmeni (siberian dumplings) and black bread, to dusting off my fading russian language skills over a glass or two of vodka in the dining car, and to finally crossing all that wide expanse of world - by train, by horse, by rusty jeep, maybe even by camel.
The Route:
The Trans-Mongolian, also known as the Peking Express, route of the Trans-Siberian Railroad, 7,855 km total from Moscow to Beijing.
(The Red Line is the Trans-Mongolian route, to get a closer view, click the map)
Originally, I wanted to do the epic overland route from Moscow all the way to Singapore by train, as shown on this map:
Someday, but not this time.
The Itinerary: Lots of research, very little definition. The great thing about traveling solo is the freedom to be a bit of a vagabond. This is what I know so far:
(The Red Line is the Trans-Mongolian route, to get a closer view, click the map)Originally, I wanted to do the epic overland route from Moscow all the way to Singapore by train, as shown on this map:
Someday, but not this time.The Itinerary: Lots of research, very little definition. The great thing about traveling solo is the freedom to be a bit of a vagabond. This is what I know so far:
September 13: Moscow
September 15: Board the Trans-Siberian Railroad to head East
September 19: Arrive in Irkutsk and spend a few days exploring Lake Baikal area
Then: to Ulan-Ude and some exploration of a local Buddhist monastery and the Buryatia culture. Catch a local train or the Trans Mongolian down to Ulan Baatar, capitol of Mongolia. Spend a week hopefully in the countryside, possibly at another monastery and at Ger (yurt) camps in the north or central area of the country.
Last week: catch the last bit of the Trans-Mongolian train into Beijing, check out the Forbidden Palace, Great Wall, and try not to get hit by a bus while bicycling through the historic hutongs. Will meet up with an Italian friend from the Russia exchange, who is now studying business in BJ. Flying out of Beiing on October 11.
This blog: I have no idea if I'll be able to maintain it while traveling. It may be just a few text entries, possibly an iphone photo or two if I can get on wireless... the difference in technology since I've last traveled is so changed that I don't know what to expect - a satellite dish outside a nomadic Mongolian ger wouldn't surprise me in the least.
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