In Ulaan Battar, on her way to East Mongolia for a two week jaunt around the countryside. Are we jealous or what?
She asked me to come and I was seriously considering it, only I'm having trouble getting a China Visa - thanks to getting robbed up in Guangzhou in May. Don't know how China thinks this is my fault but it does. And you can't get a Mongolia Visa without having a China Visa, so ...
And speaking of stupid things, I've only realised I have been fined TWICE for losing my passport in that robbery. There was 800 yuan fine when they gave me my emergency passport and another A$800. fine on my replacement passport. I've only just realised because the Insurance Company is refusing to pay the second fine. Guess this is something I need to check out.
But Ulaan Battar! Two weeks jaunting! That is just so unimaginably cool ... which is the single reason why I'm glad I'm not there. It's autumn and I see the temperature is already -5 centigrade. Brrr!
Yesterday's front page. Snow storms up north.
All I know about Ulaan Battar is that our friend John lives there, that Mongolians are crazy about Aussie Rules Football, they all have great home-made shoes, and there are zillions of orphans since the Chinese threw out the Catholic orders of nuns who ran orphanages. Thus ...
... did you ever see Ewan McGregor and Charlie Boorman's TV series "Long Way Round"? Incredible and compelling and terrific! And in Ulaan Battar, they went into the underground heating systems to meet street kids; former inmates of the Catholic orphanages mostly. The Han Chinese are really bizarre, aren't they. Threw out the nuns, shut down the orphanages, but never did anything about setting up new ones. Guess they think they have no remit over people who aren't "of their own", or else it's that Buddhist/Confucius thing about not helping others, in which case why on earth toss out the Catholic nuns who DO have a remit for helping others. I don't get it!
Let me see if youtube, purveyer of all things, answerer of all questions, solver of all problems, has that clip: YES!!!
Go UNICEF!
But anyway, Aussie Christine is up there for the next two weeks, with a car and a driver/translator, sightseeing, and I'm sooo jealous. But hopefully she'll share her photos with me, and I can show them to you too.
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2 comments:
That is not true that you can't get Mongolian visa without a chinese visa. you could go via South Korea. there is a direct flight to UB
That is not true that you can't get Mongolian Visa without CHinese visa. you can fly via South Korea or Japan. It is more expensive, but less problem
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