Where is the Russia from my Childhood?

Greetings from the belly of the beast. Right now I am in Russia, which is also known as the former Soviet Union. Remember those days? Remember when Rocky fought Ivan Drago in Rocky IV? Remember when Matthew Broderick saved the world in War Games? How about when Dan Aykroyd and Chevy Chase put a stop to imminent nuclear war in Spies Like Us? Does any of that ring a bell? Well, without the Soviet Union we would not have been the beneficiaries of such cinematic brilliance.

But the cold war is over. Apart from the worn-out Lenin statues and the Soviet kitsch being sold on the streets, there really isn't much remaining from the USSR of our childhoods. Really, we just have the cola war now.

Anyhow...We have traveled a long, long way since I last wrote. But I will get to that in a minute. Two things:

1.) Sorry for not writing in awhile. Internet access isn't exactly prevalent in Russia (weirdly).
2.) When it is around it is expensive...which means this entry is going to be short. Leave it to the Russians to charge $6 an hour at an Internet cafe.

Right now I am in St. Petersburg, Russia. This is several thousand miles from Ulaan Baatar, which is where I was last time I had a reliable internet connection. Since then I have done the following:

1.) Left Mongolia
2.) Taken care of two sick friends on the train
3.) Waded into lake Baikal
4.) Slept in a Siberian train station
5.) Had dinner with the Vice Consul of the United States in Yekaterinburg
6.) Spent a month's salary in Moscow
7.) Walked miles and miles through the streets of Russia's spectacularly beautiful, most european city
8.) Learned the Cyrillic alphabet, which has been invaluable...and annoying.

It has been one hell of a trip across Russia. While I don't know exactly how many miles I have traveled, I do know that I have covered around five time zones and have spent nearly 200 hours on trains since leaving Hong Kong. For those of you interested, pull out a map, or better yet, a globe, and measure the distance between HK and St. Petersburg...not close.

And I still have a ways to go.

How do I feel...spent...and by spent I mean poor. Moscow, and its $10 McDonalds meals, really took it out of us. But I also feel great. Over the past couple weeks we have seen a tremendous amount of the world. Whether along the gorgeous shores of Lake Baikal, in the central Siberian towns of Tomsk and Yekaterinberg, in the depths of Lenin's Tomb in Red Square, or from a seat in a Trans-Siberian rail car, we have seen both the Russian landscape and Russian culture literally unfold before our eyes.

But now that is over. Upon arriving in St. Petersburg this morning, we more or less have ended the train travel portion of our trip.

Crazy.

It is only crazy because I have been riding trains since leaving Hong Kong on the 21st of June, about forty days ago.

Here are some of the highlights since I last updated:

1.) Touching the ice cold waters of Lake Baikal from the shore of Olkhon Island. While that was the main highlight, missing our ride to the island, watching a track suite-clad russian woman fight some russian men, and trusting my life to a Red Bull-driven Russian mini-bus driver were all part of the adventure as well.

2.) Seeing Tomsk for about 12 hours before realizing that we had no way to get back to the main Trans-Siberian line to catch our train. Thus, we packed up all our stuff and caught the final commuter train to Taiga, where we spent the night in metal chairs watching dubbed-over english movies and eating pigs in a blanket.

3.) Enjoying both the sights and sounds of Yekaterinburg...but mainly the sights.

4.) Shaving my head in Moscow. I haven't done this...really ever. But I did it a few days ago.

5.) Arriving into Moscow at 4 am and promptly going to an American diner for an ommlette and beer. From there we went to Red Square at dawn. Being more or less the only people around the Kremlin and St. Basil's was one of the highlights of my entire trip.

5.) Hanging out at the US Embassy's dacha just outside of Moscow. It was a nice way to relax and spend the day with some cool people on the outskirts of Russia's slightly neurotic capital city.

Now what?

Well, we are playing with the idea of taking a bus to Helsinki, Finland before dropping into Estonia, Latvia, and Lithuania. From there I am still playing with the idea of burning a path through western Europe to Portugal so that I can say I covered the entire Asian and European continents on this trip. Hong Kong to Lisbon...it could happen. Stay tuned.

PS - The next entry won't have as many bullet-pointed lists. Sorry about that.
PPS - Remember Russkies? A classic Cold War meets suburban Florida movie.

Across the Mongolian Steppe on a Horse Named Roger

I am not nearly as sore as I thought I would be. I expected three days of riding across the Mongolian steppe on a horse to cause a bit more pain than it did. Maybe I am tougher at 29 than I thought?

I have been in Mongolia for about a week now. While some of that time has been spent in Ulaan Bataar, the better part of the past week was spent on the back of a horse named Roger on the Mongolian steppe. A little background...



A few years back I read an article written by a guy who had ridden horses through the Mongolian steppe. He wrote about galloping across the vast grasslands of Mongolia, meeting local nomads, and living, for at least a short time, like many Mongolians have for centuries. Well, me being the hopeless romantic that I am, became very much attached to this story and made it a goal of mine to visit this vast country and ride, uninhibited, across the steppe as well.

Done.

A few days ago Kyle and I left UB for the countryside. By means of an organization named Stepperiders, we were able to book at three day trek that would take us through a national park, to a Buddist monastery, and across the vast grasslands of central Mongolia. While we hoped to travel for a bit longer, the three days was plenty of time to see some remarkable landscape, meet some interesting people, bruise the heck out of our bums.



Here are a few notes from the trek:
1.) The Mongolians didn't name my horse Roger, I did. However, I hope it sticks.
2.) We were able to camp for a few nights and we also stayed in a ger, which is a traditional nomadic home...it kind of looks like a yurt...which is like a fancy tent.
3.) There was an American couple at the ger camp when we returned from our trek. After talking for a bit I found out that the guy is actually an english teacher at Webber Junior High School back in Fort Collins. As I should have known, Webber Panthers are always doing big time things!
4.) One of the highlights of the trek was having the opportunity to meet nomads in the steppe. While one meeting was planned, we were able to interact with several families and herders during our time in the countryside.
5.) While we did eat some mutton, we were not served NEARLY as much as I had expected. I don't know if I am disappointed or relieved.



So now we are back in Ulaan Bataar for the Nadaam Festival, which starts tomorrow. The festival is essentially the Nomad Olympics, consisting of wrestling, archery, horse racing, and lamb ankle bone throwing. Yep, ankle bones.

Finally, beer is again being served in UB. Thank goodness, my stories aren't nearly as funny without beer involved.

Oh, and yep, that is a Mongolian corn dog. Happy Birthday Paul!

The Fourth of July, Mongolian Style

Happy Fourth of July!

Right now many of you are waking up, preparing for a day filled with hot dogs, guacamole, beer, and fireworks. On this side of the world I am sitting in an Internet cafe in Ulaan Bataar writing about what I am doing for my Fourth of July...which is nothing. Really, this would have been a great place to celebrate the independence of the United States. Mongolia is one of the strongest democracies in the region, and based on the lifestyles of the youth here in UB, they are lovers of western culture as well. Moreover, the weather here is incredible and there is an abundance of pubs and bars which would have been ideal places to have celebrated this wonderfully American day. But then this happened:

Ulaan Bataar on Fire

The result was a state of emergency here in the capital. What that really means is that everything closes early and no beer is being served for four days. Yep...no booze. Our founding fathers would have been pissed.

Instead, Kyle and I ate dinner and are now just surfing the Internet, waiting until bedtime. Happy Fourth!

So Mongolia...this place is BEAUTIFUL. And that is after only being here for a day, and that day being spent in the not so attractive capital city of UB. However, judging by the scenery we saw from the train, and the mountains which surround UB, this country has a lot to offer...and if all goes well, we will be taking it up on that offer in the form of horseback riding through the steppe for the next five days. If everything goes right we will be heading out tomorrow and riding for five days across the open Mongolian plains and through some gorgeous Mongolian mountains.

A couple more things about Ulaan Bataar:
1.) This city, while note attractive whatsoever, has a wonderful vibe. People are extremely friendly and the weather is wonderful. It is definitely a place one could settle for awhile...until winter of course.
2.) Believe it or not, there is a Mongolian BBQ here in UB, just like the ones we have back home. I find it funny that there is a restaurant here serving non-traditional (at least in the contemporary sense) Mongolian food to Mongolians. I even read an interview with the owner. He spoke about having to sell Mongolians on this new type of food and an American type of service model Does anyone else find this at all bizarre?

That is it for now...stay tuned for stories from the steppe, and of course, the famous Nadaam Festival that will take place upon our return to the capital. MONGOLIAN WRESTING!