JOURNAL 1
Amtrak from Klamath Falls to Union Station downtown Los Angeles. Then a 12-hour direct flight from LAX International airport to Moscow, 5-hour layover then a 5-hour flight to Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia.
May 17th Friday day 1 of traveling: Angie picked me up at Steve’s place where I had been staying for going on 5 weeks, which I really appreciated. It gave me time to recuperate from the Appendix operation and finalize getting my gear together. She dropped me off at the Amtrak station around 4 and it didn’t open until 8:30 and the training didn’t come thru until 10:00. Long time to wait. It turned cold and windy. I had to move all the bags 3 different times and it beat the hell out of me. Obviously, I had not recuperated as much as I thought I had.
It wasn’t long and I wasn’t feeling well at all. In fact, downright lousy.
I had made a drive to K Falls a couple of weeks before, just to make sure I wasn’t going to have any issues with my baggage or stormy and that turned out to be the case.
The train arrived on time and fortunately I had booked a berth and within 15 minutes of getting on the train I was laying down with Stormy at my feet. I was not feeling well at all.
May 18th Saturday day 2 of traveling: With the berth came all 3 meals and I managed to pull my self up and out of bed and did go to the dining car and eat all 3 meals. At the appropriate stops, I took Stormy out for a walk. We have traveled so much together that she knows what the stops are for and what she is supposed to do.
We arrived at Union Station on time, about 11:00 at night. I had called 22 different Motel/Hotels between Union Station and the airport and all of them were booked. We slept on the floor in a section they had roped off, the station basically shuts down for a couple of hours. Fortunately, I had my ticket and all the bags and there really wasn’t much choice for them but to let me stay there. It was a long night to say the least.
We did go out for a walk for a while. There were homeless people literally sleeping everywhere. Also, along the train tracks, thought the entire trip down thru Central California and into LA there were dozens of homeless camps along the tracks with 1,000’s of people living in tents, makeshift shelters and old RV’s. A pitiful site and I hear it is like that all over California now.
May 19th Sunday day 3 of traveling: I called a Uber SUV to pick me up and take me to LAX International and he arrived at about 8:00 AM. At the airport at 9 and he dropped off out front of the Aeroflot Terminal. I had to wait all day before I could figure out what was going to happen. I had been communicating with the head baggage manager, he found me and took half my bags to his office for overnight storage. Stormy and I pushed a cart with the balance of the bags over to the new Bob Hope USO and spent the night there. It was the 1st good nights sleep I had in 2 nights and it seemed like I was going to start feeling better.
May 20th Monday day 4 of traveling: At about 8 AM we pushed the cart back to the Aeroflot terminal and had to wait until 12:00 noon before the Aeroflot ticket terminal opened for the flight that left at 4:05. By now pretty much all of the Aeroflot ticket agents knew what was going on and they brought my bags from the office and we weighed them, and I got checked in. Fortunately, I was very prepared and none of the 7 bags weighed over 50 lbs. The baggage cost and Stormy $75 was $1,175 for 1 way. My round trip ticket was $1,200.
Stormy went in a medium size kennel I had brought; she went right in when the time came. I wasn’t happy about it at all, she didn’t seem to mind so that helped. We boarded on time and the plane left on time.
May 21st/May 22nd Tuesday arrive Wens day 5/6 of traveling: I say 21st and 22nd because you gain a day. I started to feel better as the hours went by. Anyone who has had a long flight like that, it was tough. Particularly when you get older. It was just a long flight. I enjoyed absolutely nothing about it.
Once to Moscow they were waiting for me and checked my paperwork for Stormy and made sure my visa was in order, which both were. Then they took me down to where they brought me Stormy and we were able to go out and spent about 2 hours in a good spot. Stormy acted like she had been on a Sunday drive, she wasn’t stressed at all.
However, she wasn’t too happy about going back in the kennel, but she did. She doesn’t like me disciplining here so she always works hard at pleasing me and pretty much obeys.
Then we were off to Ulaan Baatar for the 5-hour flight. This meant I entered Russia and exited Russia so my visa got stamped for both.
May 23rd Wednesday day 7 of traveling: We landed in UB at about 7 AM. Took me a couple of hours to get out of the airport, gather up all the bags, get Stormy and spend an hour explaining to them that there is no such thing as a “Pet Passport†and there was no such thing as a fee that needed to be paid to bring a pet into the country. Once they understood I wasn’t a “soft touch†out the door and into the cab we stuffed all of the gear/the kennel/Stormy and off we were to downtown to the Zaya’s Hostel where I had booked 3 nights. It was my intention during these 3 days to get caught up on sleep, get the gear/food I had a list of, find a driver and head up to the lake, the 1st segment of the trip.
Great place to stay. Clean, quiet, the owners, 2 brothers spoke great English, the meals were good, and they had their guys bring all my bags into my room, which gave me multiple times to go thru everything. I couldn’t had made a better decision. They were all very respectful and treated Stormy very well. In fact, so far, I had absolutely no issues with bringing her or any difficulties.
John Stamfi was waiting for me, a Vietnam Vet who had been living in Mongolia for going on 20 years and we walked down and went for breakfast to get acquainted and plan to get what I needed. I obviously was beat and once we got thru with breakfast I went back and slept for the rest of the day and was up at 3:00 AM, which is about what it was going forward every morning.
May 24th Thursday day 8 of traveling: John came back the next morning and took me around to the Sporting Goods store, two of them. I managed to get everything I needed. Then he took me to a couple of markets, but I really didn’t find what I was looking for. Not easy to get around with all the traffic.
I have had plenty of time to plan all of this, so I knew exactly what I was looking for and pretty much had accomplished everything.
May 25th Friday day 9th of traveling: Another day of going out and finding what I wanted. I found what they call the State Department Store just down the street and it turned out to be just as nice and 1st class as any store I have ever been in. That is where I ended up getting everything and not going any where else, it was just a 10-minute walk down the street.
Some quick observations on UB. UB is at one time or another the 1st, 2nd 3rd polluted city in the world. It sits down in a hole, has 3 coal fired energy plans and the Ger’s burn coal in the winter, 8 months plus or minus out of the year for heat. And there are 1,000’s and 1,000’s of Gers. There is huge mining boom going on, so there are literally 1000’s of buildings being built in one stage or another. It is quite a site to see all the cranes in the air, everywhere. The traffic is horrific. There are throngs of people. It is dirty, trashy and of course smells and is hard to breath.
It is one of the last places in the world I would go for a vacation. Now I am not throwing Mongolia into that as you shall see as the Journal’s progress. No different than any place else in the world for a big City. All the small shops support families.
The unemployment rate is somewhere I was told between 25% and 30%. A disaster in the making. Alcoholism is rampant as I am told but drugs aren’t that big of issue. Tattoos are also the order of the day, but no body piercing. I did not see one instance of it. Everyone, now I mean everyone is glued to their phone. The taxi drivers, the policeman in the intersection directing traffic, everyone driving I mean everyone. I thought the Americans had it bad, but this is an epidemic.
People are nice, but do not respond to a hello, and walk right by you like you don’t exist. The males are arrogant, but I am sure that is the “personality†of the people. The women also just walk right by. They are very polite and stiff in the stores. But once the ice is broken, they have a good demeanor and a good sense of humor, but tough to break thru that.
The picture above right is bear spray and a baseball bat with a cover on the top so when it is my backpack no one knows it is a bat. For the drunken Mongolian or Russian who thinks he is going to give me a bad time.
May 26th Saturday day 10th of traveling: I decided to stay and leave Monday AM which gave me all the time I needed to make sure I had what I wanted. Also, I told myself I was going to go out to the Genghis Kahn statue and museum, so have decided to play tourist tomorrow for 4 or 5 hours tomorrow Sunday.
I believe I have gotten everything, including a new pair of boots. Imagine, coming all the way to Mongolia to get a new pair of boots. Once again, I am very happy with the Zaya’s Hostel these guys are organized and do a great job. I also think they do a lot of tours/guiding. I have met people from France, Germany, Japan, Britain and America. A lot of Earth Watch folks, trying to save the world.
May 27th Sunday day 11th of traveling: Tourist day, said I was going to do it and I did. Another American, a lady from Kansas I think, Earth Watch I believe, is going to go with me and share the taxi. We left about 10 and at 1st it was enjoyable. Then the road turned to literally Hell. It just beat the hell out of my stomach for over an hour and half. If I would have known wouldn’t have gone. I wish I would have had my back brace on for both my stomach and my back.
We got to the statue area and the pictures tell the story.
We had to traverse the same road back and then went up to the top of a Soviet World War II Memorial that was erected in appreciation for the Soviets protecting Mongolia during the war.
I was glad to get back to the hostel. I walked down the street and got a nice bowl of traditional Mongolian beef and noodle soup, the second time actually and a cold coke.
Didn’t take me long to finish up packing and getting things together and I was out.
May 28th Monday day 12th of traveling: I don’t think I have mentioned it, but the time I have been waking up and getting up has been around 4 AM. That is a good thing because I like to get up early when I am on the water, the sun comes up early and get right on the water and have my breakfast in the kayak as the sun is coming up over the hill. Now that is tempered if I am on the wrong side of the lake or in a canyon, but I like to have my miles for the day no later than 2, because the wind invariably comes up.
The driver I had hired was at the hostel at 9:00 just like it was planned. We loaded up and headed out of town which took approximately 2 hours because of the size and because of the traffic.
Once again, I made the huge mistake of not having my back brace on, the road was as bad as the yesterday and it beat the living hell out of me until we got to a much better road. This trip is approximately 400 miles and the MPH are 50 I think, and nobody seems to speed. There are police check points it seems about every 75 miles and we even went through a sobriety check point. All of this keeps everyone pretty much in line.
The further we got away from UB the less traffic we had and soon there was very little. The country was just as I had expected. If you were to shut your eyes and open them you would think you were in Eastern Oregon, or around La Grande or Elgin or Baker or even around Condon and Fossil. It looks like they are starting to farm, which is a huge transition from a Nomadic Herder’s life.
As for the herder’s there were many, many herds of goats, sheep, cattle and horses. I did not see any herds of yaks or reindeer; I think they are in specific areas. A lot of the prairie has been eaten down and is not growing back. That is the result of the goats and sheep. As we got further north, the prairie was much greener, and the grass lands were much healthier.
We stopped in good size town, got something to eat and about 20 miles further we just pulled off and I put my tent up and the driver slept in the back of his van. 1st night in the tent.
May 29th Tuesday day 13th of traveling: I got him up early and we were on the road by 5. The Mongolians are not early risers, in fact most shops don’t open until 10, the better ones at 9.
The weather turned very foul as we got to the higher elevation and further north. Very cold and windy and it was an indication that perhaps I had arrived a little too early.
We arrived in Khatgal on Khuvsgul Lake. This is where the 1st part of the journey was to begin.
The lake is still frozen over. Imagine that. You would think, somebody throughout the last 2 weeks, in the tourist business would have had a clue. Wouldn’t have made any difference, I normally don’t change my plans or adjust my missions for any reason. But this was going to require some on the spot decisions.
I managed to work my way around the village and arrived at the New Roots Coffee House, ran by an American and I think a Ministry, I must confirm that. He sent me in the direction of the Mongol Ujin Tourist Camp and boy was that a God Send.
The lady that runs the place, Dawa for short is her name, speaks great English and is quite a whirlwind. More on that later. I have rented a Ger by the day, $30 a day, includes breakfast and a good one at that. If you eat lunch or dinner that is extra but not much. Easy walking distance to the lake and downtown.
I won’t have any problem resupplying above and beyond what I brought, there is everything here to be had.
Once I got my bags inside, I took the time in the late afternoon to unload the bags and get everything laid out on the other 3 beds in the Ger. It became apparent to me I had a lot of stuff. Way too much.
Stormy and I went for a little walk and I think I was in the bed by 7.
May 30th Thursday day 14th of traveling: I am going to make these journals traveling until I get on the water. The ice won’t be off the lake until around the 15th to the 20th. Nothing obviously can be done. I have already got my kayak together, put all of gear for the 1st 2 to 3 weeks in it to make sure of the room and I have plenty to spare, which means when I get back here, and pack up for the next month or so it will work out just like I planned. There are the positive results of practicing the 5 P’s again.
Stormy and I have been walking out to the lake every morning and evening and will continue to do so. I will probably have them take us and the kayak down to the lake, less than a 5-minute drive and spend a few hours out on what open water there is here in the bay where the Eg River flows out. The only river to flow out of the lake.
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