Overland with Kids

Jessica says: (following a visit to Gandan Khiid Monastary in Ulaan Baatar): “It’s so nice and peaceful and relaxing spinning drums here at the Monastary, I’d like to be a Buddhist!”

AJ says: ”Can we turn the car around and drive backwards” (AJ complaining about the sun in his eyes).

AJ says: “This music sounds like the music from Mulan the cartoon” (listening and watching the opening scenes of the Mongolian National Theatre Ensemble)

We arrived evening time to Ulaan Baatar (UB) and were amazed to find gers (yurts) mixed together everywhere among the city buildings and it’s outskirts (it is an incredibly busy city and felt almost like the whole of Mongolia was here). On arrival, we were looking for a guesthouse called Oasis which we knew had rooms with four beds, yurts in the back garden, secure parking and gated security. We’d originally planned to meet Iain, Sevarik and Maciej there before they came and joined us up north at the monastary just west of Darkhan. The roads were a nightmare with traffic and it had been raining and miserable on our journey all the way down - Mongolia felt suddenly depressing - quite different without it’s blue skies and sunshine. To top it all we were stuck in the busy grid-locked honking, tooting traffic, broken down cars, no drainage, huge water pools and pavements which were virtually non-existent - a dramatic change from the peaceful countryside we’d just driven through.

Search as we might, we couldn’t find Oasis and after ages of looking up and down in the area we believed it to be located, we gave up as it was getting late so settled on a cheap but very clean hotel for the night - 10 Euros for all of us for one night - more than worth it with proper nice clean beds and a separate shared WC and showers. Next morning we pulled our car of the parking area only to be greeted by Lee, Helen and Bev (Bevhelee) who just spotted us - they’d also arrived to UB the day before and were already booked into Oasis. It turned out we were only 200 yards away from the guesthouse. We booked in for 6 nights - 4 bunk beds (a bit hard! but OK) in one room with shared WC and good showers, a laundry and very cheap hairdressers and a breakfast everyday of toast and tea - the view being to have a proper rest and reorganise following our recent long hauls on the road.

We soon discovered Oasis to be a mecca for all kinds of overlanders - bikes, cars, trucks and even quad bikes aplenty and were immediately greeted by a lovely Dutch couple called Gerard and Betty (www.exploringtheworld.nl). On hearing it had been AJ’s 6th birthday only a day or so ago, Gerard and Betty immediately arranged balloons, toilet roll streamers, a special hammock, some small gifts, newspaper hats and even a chair for his highness to sit on. Anne arranged a chocolate cake with candles from the on-site cafe and AJ was in heaven with a little surprise party for him in the afternoon (he’d enjoyed his yurt, kite-flying, campfire and visitors on his actual birthday but was missing his cake!)….. 

In between the birthday celebrations, Andrew (dad) helped a biker called Luke from France to crate his bike in time for collection that afternoon and then so much happened during our stay after this that it all became a bit of a blur - from the comings and goings of people at the guest house, vehicles and bikes, getting to know people and chatting, drinking and staying up too late each night, catching up with laundry (7 loads including blankets and towels etc.) and haircuts for the children, daily schoolwork, showers, Andrew helping others who needed his skills and/or his tools, a visit to the black market nearby, the children having a go on quad bikes (owned by two guys attempting to break the Guiness World Record for the most kilometres driven), playing with Karl’s dog (www.benemsi.blogspot.com - Karl owns an enormous truck and a dog which AJ adored (surprise, surprise!) - both very experienced sand overlanders with some amazing photos on their website), meeting a group of 3 girls from Germany and Switzerland at the Immigration office (they were planning a 20-day horsetrek to the northwest), meeting an English Ambulance with four guys on board (they had just completed the Mongol Rally and were on their way to the finish line having raised £3,000, driven 10,000 miles in one month, travelled through Iran and the Stans and were now donating their vehicle), helping a biker who had gotten badly burned on his chest, neck and arms while working on his bike with hot fluid (luckily one of the 3 girls we had met was a nurse and we’d high-jacked them back to the guest-house along with the ambulance in time), Lee having his spare tyre stolen from outside the Black Market (he’d just bought from the same place the day before), the children playing and watching a film now and again with Bev in one of the yurts, AJ driving everyone crazy, visiting Sukhbaatar Square, the big fat Chenggis Khan Statue, the Sukhbaatar Statue, the Natural History Museum to visit dinosaurs, getting to grips with the city, visiting the Gandan Khiid Monastary to see the 26.5m high gold Buddha, listening and watching Monks chanting and playing music in the Buddhist University area, eating, eating, eating fantastic food, listening and watching traditional throat and folk singers in a local restaurant we accidently stumbled by one evening, visiting the theatre with Gerard and Betty to see more traditional singers including long songs, dancers, acrobatics and a Mongolian ochestra using traditional UNESCO recognised instruements (like the horseheaded fiddle, a national Mongolian art and emblem known as the Morin Khuur), meeting and chatting to a huge group of Korean students we met by chance outside a supermarket who were in UB to build a house as part of a project, hailing taxis and riding a bus into town, navigating the cold and rain, trying and failing to see a circus (no longer exists in UB), visiting and obtaining a personal interactive tour of the Intellectual Museum (highly recommended for both adults and children alike) - to see hundreds of especially designed wooden puzzles created mainly by one man - also the founder of the museum (one puzzle he has made takes over 500,000 moves to complete and was made especially to celebrate the first Mongolian man in space a few years ago), meeting the museum founder himself by pure luck (he’s met President Bush and the Dalai Lama), seeing his copy of The Secret History of Mongolians (one of only 3 in the world), watching the founder finish his latest two year project - a creation with a deadline of the same day that we’d visited (a precious gem puzzle in the form of a chess set with hundreds of pieces), then watching him provide us a personal demonstration of some magic tricks to the children - brilliant! (unfortunately we weren’t allowed to take photos inside the museum which was a shame), getting Mongolian Visa extensions from Immigration Department at the UB airport, getting Laos 30-day visas from the Laos Embassy, finding out about 30+ day police registration with the Police at the Embassy of Foreign Affairs (INFC), packing and sending 3 x large boxes back home by DHL (cost a fortune!), visiting the Mongol Rally finish line in UB, trying to rest inbetween (impossible!).

Toward the latter part of our stay, the weather had got bad. We’d initially planned to head northwest to a fresh water lake with Bevhelee but thought the better of it as we didn’t want to risk being stuck miles from anywhere with black clouds, rain and mud especially with ground tents and children to consider. We’d done quite alot of long mileage and roughing it recently and didn’t want to risk any hard work for the moment so, not wanting to drag ourselves or the children away, we cried off. The weather did brighten up and get warm again but was still risky and we were feeling lazy, wanting to take time to rest more with the children and plan our next moves. We said our good-byes to Oasis and the lovely people we’d met and were on our way again.

We didn’t go far and decided to stay in UB a couple of days more, booking into a quiet and reasonably cheap hotel (it was from here we had visited the Intellectual Museum and the Embassy of Foreign Affairs (INFC) for 30+ day registration - turned out that we didn’t need to register as we’d already extended our visa apparently - we’re keeping our fingers crossed!).  Still feeling not in the mood to travel far or for any long stretches of time (we were even contemplating renting a cheap apartment for a while - 200$ to 500$ for a month ), we finally decided on a small outing just outside of the city, eastwards.

Eastern Mongolia

The weather was holding up and we’d heard about a Golden Naadam festival (a mini version of the real deal consisting of archery, wrestling and horseriding that usually takes place in July) being held in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park just outside UB. We decided to head there. We stopped to see Turtle Rock and Old Man Reading a Book - both rock formations really looking like their namesakes. At some point in our day, a nice Mongolian man who had studied art for 4 years together with his young daughter approached us selling some water colours and oil paintings. They were really nice works so we struck a deal with him to buy two (we’d seen other sellers in UB city but his pictures were the first we saw that we thought were good).

We investigated Terelj and were tempted to take a trail that would have us wading across the River Tuul and then hiking a long distance up and through mountain but weren’t keen to leave the car unattended for a long period of time. Instead, we looked for the Naadam festival but couldn’t find so decided to head on, to see a huge 40m high metal statue of Chenggis Khan - believed to be the largest of it’s kind in the world with a newly opened museum situated at it’s base. The museum was only opened two months ago (showing a collection of 2,000 - 4,000 bronze artefacts collected by one man, also responsible for the vision of the Chenggis monument itself, unveiled less than two years ago). The grounds around the area were incomplete but it was still a great place to visit - due to be completed sometime soon with tourist ger camps, park, restaurant, swimming pool, green forest and sports complex - all set in 100 hectares. We were able to take a lift up the horses tail to the top of it’s head and look out across the beautiful natural scenery along the banks of the River Tuul - the children loved it. The location of the statue was chosen due to it’s historical interest i.e. the banks of the Tuul are believed to be the place where Chinggis Khaan found his golden whip. Afterwards the children tried some old costumes on, got to see the largest (Mongolian) boot in the world (made out of many animal skins) and not far away, there was a XIII Century Theme Park (providing various interactive camps created as they woud have been during the 13th Century). We decided not to go - the children wanted to explore - and instead headed along sand tracks toward the River Tuul itself (it had looked very nice from the top of Chinggis’ horses head!). We found a nice ger camp (it had started raining on and off and got a bit cold and cloudy again so we decided against any attempts to wild camp). Just as we booked in to stay for the night, we met a group of American’s who had just come back from a horseride, preparing a big fun filled night in the grass with huge bonfire and vodka. One of the guys in the group, called Neil, was an archery expert and within 5 minutes of our arrival he was providing Jessica and AJ beginner lessons in the fine art of using a bow, firing arrows and target practice.

The next day we didn’t have to book out until 4pm so we enjoyed the surrounds which was made up of rock climbing and hiking a nearby mountain, playing in the river on and off, playing football in a field, playing basketball at the ger camp and then driving off deeper into the mountains for an afternoon picnic. We had a lovely time which was completed by giving a lift to a local man who had just been on a tour to see the Chinggis statue for himself. We headed further along into the nice green mountains, steppes and sand tracks to drop him to his own home, a ger (more than half of Mongolia’s population live in a ger - many nomadic and moving their home sometimes up to 4 times a year!). The man invited us into his home to meet his family which was a really nice experience with Jessica and AJ giving a gift of one of their toys to their two young children before saying our good-byes. We headed back to UB with the view of obtaining a special permit to take us back east again but this time one of the most furthest points (almost touching the Chinese border), to a strictly protected area which we would need to arrange permission for before being allowed to enter the region.

Mileage / Km

17, 816 Miles / 28, 684 Km (Average 123.72 Miles / 199.20 Km per day)

Vehicle Issues

Vehicle running smoothly and in good order. Diesel leak re-occurred - keeping watchful eye. Nail in one of the rear tyres currently and tread on this one getting worn. New bulbs purchased (and tested) from Black Market in UB as two spares used. Andrew built wooden box for roof rack - easier storage than tying down / strapping and unstrapping canvas (was taking a long time to cover/uncover, now taking seconds).

On the Road Costs - includes % breakdown per type

Based on 2 adults and 2 children (four people) for 144 nights including all expenses i.e. ferries - 5%, diesel - 16%, accommodation - 20% (including laundry costs), visas - 17% (including Mongolian extension, forthcoming China and Laos transit), all food & drink - 27%, cigarettes - 4% and any miscellaneous/other items - 11% (i.e. all tolls, car insurance, site fees, public transport, haircuts, shoes, gifts, parcel post, essential items etc.) - average cost is currently running at £102.27 per day or £25.57 per person. Excluded from these costs are bank charges for any ATM/cashpoint withdrawals, internet & mobile phone costs, any pre-trip vehicle preparation and storage costs for packing up our home.

Observations re: Guesthouse versus Hotel Stays

For us being a family of four we were charged per bed in the guesthouse. At hotels we were being charged for the room regardless of how many people (in our experience so far in Mongolia). The Oasis Guest House was 10 Euros each person per night including tea and toast for breakfast. It was lovely and we got to meet a great many fellow overlanders on bikes, cars, ambulance and even quads. We had a great time and the atmosphere was very warm, cosy and comfortable. But, a reasonable hotel that we later booked was only 1 Euro more each and this included separate sitting room, bathroom, TV, privacy, space, very comfortable beds plus a cooked breakfast as well as tea, jam and fresh bread. We also had unobtrusive, attentive service. Overall, the hotel option proving much better value for us. Not forgetting that we’d also managed twice to get basic but do-able hotel rooms (one with unusable bathroom and one with clean shared WC/showerfour beds for 2.50 Euros each (no breakfast) in both Darkhan and Ulaan Baatar).

Accommodation by Type (includes number of nights - total 144)

Camping (44 nights), Hotel (43 nights), Rough/Travelling in car (29 nights), Helpx/Wwoofing (23 nights), Homestay (3 nights), Ferry (2 nights).

Other Thoughts

Finally digging out our unused GPS device - great fun without it so far but now beginning (possibly!) to feel the need.

Bye for now
A, A, J and AJ
XXXX

 

Diary (Blog)