Whilst waiting for my flight to board at London Heathrow, I was approached by someone conducting a survey on behalf of the Civil Aviation Authority. One of the questions was about my final destination – when I told her it was Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia she couldn’t find it as an option in the computer system. And it was at that point I figured that I really was going on an adventure!
On arrival in Ulaanbaatar, the first step was to withdraw some money – the Mongolian tugrik is a closed currency meaning I couldn’t exchange any money before leaving. I found that quite stressful because both my hotel and my outbound train required full cash payment on arrival! Nonetheless a short while later (and now a millionaire in local currency!) I was barrelling down the motorway on my way to the guest house in the city centre.
Everyone I met in Mongolia, both locals and tourists, was so unbelievably friendly. In particular, the lady who owned the guest house I stayed was an amazing help, even going as far as getting up at 6 in the morning to help me and another guest find a taxi to take us to Ulaanbaatar railway station. Throughout the trip something that stuck with me was the amazing kindness and friendliness of people even when you had only just met them or you couldn’t understand each other.
Ulaanbaatar is a beautiful city undergoing rapid development. The contrast of its Soviet apartment blocks next to giant skyscrapers was a brilliant sight to see. The various national museums showcase a strong national pride – especially regarding the former Mongol Empire and their present democracy. Whilst I mainly came to see the history of Mongolia under the great Khans, modern Mongolian history is a story of fascinating dichotomies. Mongolia was one of the only countries under the Soviet sphere of influence to re-elect its Communist party after the initial transition to democracy in the 1990s and yet today is one of the strongest democracies in the region. On one side of Sukhbaatar Square, where the Mongolian Parliament is situated, is a statue of the Communist-era ruler Kh. Choibalsan; on the opposite side is a memorial to the victims of his Stalinist purges.
After a few days exploring the city of Ulaanbaatar, I then took a trip to the beautiful Terelj National Park. This was one of the highlights of the trip because I really pushed myself to enjoy many new experiences and make friends in the company of strangers. Hiking up Turtle Rock we had to climb through a gap that was barely wider than myself, something I would never have done otherwise, and after our hike we got to have a delicious lunch in a traditional Mongolian ger. On the topic of food, I developed an adoration of Mongolian cuisine and it’s a desperate shame that it’s not more widely available here in Britain!
The absolute highlight of my trip, and more or less the main reason I went, was my 31-hour train along the Trans-Mongolian railway from Ulaanbaatar to Beijing. It wasn’t an easy process to make the train as it only runs once a week departing at 7am. It also wasn’t particularly easy to buy a ticket as a foreign national; I had to get a local fixer to buy the ticket on my behalf and pay him in cash on arrival which I was initially nervous about. However, all my fears turned out to be unfounded and, in many ways far too soon, I found myself departing Ulaanbaatar on my sleeper train to Beijing.
The train journey itself was incredible from the quality and punctuality of the train to the beautiful landscapes that could be observed out of the window. Logistically, the trans-Mongolian railway is extremely impressive. Russian gauge railways, which are the standard in Mongolia, are narrower than the standard gauge used in China. The Russians made their gauge narrower to prevent enemy armies running supply and troop trains through Russia but now it means that at the Chinese border workers remove all the wheels from the train cars and put on new ones. Impressively, this was done in just over 3 hours and afterwards we were quickly on the way to Beijing as if nothing had happened.
Arriving in Beijing was fraught with technical and administrative challenges. My plan to take language lessons didn’t bear out and there were a few issues with my AliPay account that took a while to sort out. It was very stressful but I didn’t let it stop me getting out and I had a lovely time exploring the sights of Beijing such as the Summer Palace and Forbidden City. One particular highlight of my time in Beijing was getting to see some amazing technology such as a man walking his robotic dog up the street and a humanoid robot with its own market stall that sold cold drinks and biscuits. Another unplanned highlight was a small art exhibition at the Beijing National Centre for Performing Arts that told the story, through various paintings, of the Chinese Civil War. Something I learned in China was that often the things I enjoyed most where the things I hadn’t expected to see.
Overall, my LEAP adventure was an amazing experience and also extremely valuable. The lessons that I learnt along the way, not just in history but in kindness, resourcefulness, planning and confidence will stay with me for life and, I think, make me a better person as well.
