Gobi Desert has no Internet

Hey everyone. I'm back from the Gobi. There is no internet out there. I'm in Ulaanbaatar now and will be here for the next couple of days so expect a couple more posts here in Mongolia.  The last week has been really busy. Since I last left you all with my "first" two days in UB let me catch you up... Day 1: Gandan Monastery, National History Museum, Fine arts Museum. The Monastary was cool. It's nowhere near as large as the temples or monastaries I've seen in Japan. That being said, this is one of the very few religious centers to survive Stalin and Mother Russia.  There are some incredible sights including a giant statue (I think it's of Buddha). The most interesting thing to me was the number of pigeons around the temple and it's grounds. The monks consider feeding them to be very good karma. Visitors can buy bird seed and are encouraged to feed the little devils. Hence the rats with wings. I would hazard a guess that there were at least two hundred pigeons and other birds (mostly pigeons).  The National History Museum was a museum. It had things behind glass and other displays. Looking back at it I prefer the private collection at the Chenggis Khaan statue but I'll get to that later. The National History Museum had some interesting exhibits on the early Mongolian tribes and their various styles of dress and headwear (very similar to the costume designs of the queen in Star Wars: Episode I). It got more interesting around the Chenggis (Genggiz) Khaan exhibit. They had swords. Frome there we saw evidence of their war with China and then their subsequent fall into the hands of Soviet Russia. The interesting thing about Soviet Mongolia was that they pretty much governed themselves and got on rather well (until someone pissed off the Russians). Then in 1990 Russia basically vanished from Mongolia, cleaning out offices and removing soviet equipment in around three months. This left the Mongols with few options but they've managed to repair a lot of the damage from the resulting expansion of urban centers and they have a promising future in the international market, they just have to be careful that they don't destroy the beauty of their country in the process.  The Art Museum was basically the history museum with some paintings. I wasn't impressed. None the less, the art could hold my interest.  Early 20th Century Mongolian art reminds me of pre-renaissance art in that it shows a complete lack of perspective. However it gives us a good idea of how Mongols from the early 1900's lived.  Many of the paintings were views of cities or large camps. These pictures gave a sort of aerial view of the location while detailing social activities. Other paintings were portraits of different demons (a common theme). The most impressive were the woodblock prints.  I can't imagine carving such rich detail into a a piece of wood, applying ink, then placing it on a piece of paper or silk. Certain prints even had the original woodblock. That was well worth the visit. Day 2: Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve  That morning we listened to a United States Embassy official talk about the political climate between the US and Mongolia. He dodged the questions we had quite well. Then we got in a van and drove to Gun-Galuut.  The amazing thing about this place is that it's not run by the government. Originally a number of local herders wanted to set aside a bunch of space for animals and vegetation. They eventually got funding from the government but the herders are responsible for the safety and protection of the land.  We stayed in a traditional "ger" (a felt-lined yurt) at this amazing camp. I hiked up to the top of a large hill just west (?) of our camp. We even happened upon a tomb. The rest of my day was spent unpacking and sleeping. Day 3: Gun-Galuut I got some excellent sleep in my ger. We had the opportunity to ride horses this day. I was forced to bow out, much to my embarrassment. I was rewarded with the chance to ride a yak instead. I call that a win. The days started to bleed together at this point... Day 4: Drive back to UB  I do remember taking a difficult hike up the side of a mountain looking for Argali sheep. We found some. They ran away. On our way home we stopped to visit a random Mongolian family. It was kind of awkward. At least I felt that way. The family was more than happy to invite about 30 strangers into their home. They fed us fermented mare's milk... I'm grateful they were so generous but I'd rather they'd kept it to themselves. It was an interesting experience to be sure but mare's milk is nasty. Then they gave us vodka. I liked that part. We then got the chance to witness them milking a mare.  After the awkward imposition, we went to a giant stainless steel statue of Chenggis Khaan.  The sheer size is ridiculous. The particular placement of the statue is evidently important to the personal history of our favorite Khaan. When he was a young man he found a whip in that location. This was a sign of his later greatness according to legends. The whip signified his destiny to lead Mongolia. There is a wonderful museum in the base of the statue. It is the best collection of relics from Chenggis' time. Upon returning to UB we were hustled to the Natural History Museum to look at the dinosaur bones. There are quite a few amazing specimens. There is one called "terrible hands" which is straight out of a damn horror movie. They have only ever found the hands. They are massive. This visit was preceded by a brief look at a paleontology lab. The coolest thing there was the pile of unopened boxes of specimens waiting to be cleaned and catalogued. Day 5: Flight to the Gobi We took an hour long plane ride to an airport in the Gobi Desert. We were told it would be warm. I wore clothing for warm weather, as instructed. Turns out it was 40 degrees Fahrenheit. I was a bit cold. We arrived at our new camp in Khongoryn Els around noon and took some time to unwind. Later, we hiked out over the sand dunes to watch the sun set.  Day 6: camels and three camels lodge In the morning we took an hour-long camel ride out to the dunes. They are fantastic animals, though a little difficult to ride. After the camel ride we headed to Three Camels Lodge. Best place to stay by far. Had an easy night. Day 7: Three camels and Yolyn Am We took a hike through vulture canyon (Yolyn Am). The hike was incredible. There are still giant chunks of ice melting in the very back of the canyon. The entire place is the v-shaped product of a glacier. I believe that's all... Day 8: three camels, fossils and weapons We were still at three camels at this point. We took a hot, and ultimately fruitless, trek looking for dinosaur bones. After scrambling around in the desert for about an hour, we went to a different spot to look for carved stone weapons. We didn't find anything.  Later, we went to the Flaming cliffs, where Andrews discovered some amazing dinosaur eggs. It was kind of cool to see where some of the most important paleontological discoveries were made. The tour company en treated us to some food and beverages while we watched the sun set and a dust storm roll in. Day 9 (today): back to UB The city is buzzing with excitement over the Naadam festival. Street vendors and pickpockets are out in forces, and both want your money. We visited the winter palace of the Bogd Khan (king of Mongolia as I understand it) then had lunch. In the evening we walked to a play house (or something) and watched a two hour performance of native music and dancing. It was really good. Upon leaving we were all interviewed by a local tv crew. I might have been on the local tv. I ended up having dinner at a local Irish pub called "the Grand Khaan". I approve.  Tomorrow is the beginning of the festival and should prove to be interesting.  Well, that's all for now... Laters, K out

Day 0: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

I spent most of my "first day" on a series of planes. Those of you who know me will know that is my favorite thing in the world. [insert sarcastism]. Technically I lost a day in transit. I don't like losing entire days. Our first destination was to LAX where we caught a connecting flight to Beijing, China. I didn't see much of Beijing. This isn't because I only had two hours until my connecting flight. Oh no. I've seen less smog in third-world countries. It was terrible to behold. I could feel the cancer wafting through the air. After a small (big) snafu getting to our connecting flight. We made our way to the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaatar. This place looks like a mix Egypt, Mexico and a tribal settlement. It's dirty but in a clean sort of way. Kind of like it's supposed to be dirty. There are obvious signs of Mother Russia's former ownership of this place. Billboards and street signs use Cyrillic and I've seen the hammer and sickle in more than one place. It's crazy. We have no plans for tonight. I am tired from spemding all day on a plane and we have a full day tomorrow. I get to sleep in a Ger. Laters yo! K P.s. it's Chenggis Khaan. Not Ghengiz Khan. I feel so lied to...

On the world map.

I am now officially on my way. I sit in the Air China lounge at LAX. In a couple of hours I will be on a plane to Beijing then to Ulaanbaatar . I might even have wifi on the plane! Should be fun. Next post will likely be from Mongolia. Later, K

We're blasting off again!

Hey everyone! I am currently four hours away from leaving my house for the airport and then I'm on my way to China and then Mongolia.  I may not be able to make posts as often over there but I will do my best. Also  I'm going to try something new this trip: video logs.  I want to make more videos and when I get back I will edit and post them to somewhere.  Probably Youtube or something.  Anyway, I'm off to keep packing. I promise I will take lots of pictures!

Laters,

K

Chance of rain, then snow, then more rain

Weather on Blackcomb was erratic today.  It started out raining. Then it snowed. Then it rained.  Then it got sunny... On and on.  Boarding was harsh today.  I am beat and to make matters worse I'm getting sick.  Just have to hold it together one more day.  Hopefully the weather will be good for tomorrow.

Today's adventures were rather subdued.  I had lunch here at the hotel.  Nothing special.  Dinner was another story.  I convinced my family to go down to the lower village and eat at 'Sushi Village.' Cost there is high for your average traveler but the food is high quality.  I'd suggest it as a big night out maybe.  Food there is pretty good, like I've said.  Quality ingredients and some rather inventive rolls.  Dessert was fantastic (I had some very tasty vanilla ice cream). The only downsides are the popularity and their customer service.  I really didn't feel welcome.  Also, we had a time limit.  I can understand that, especially since we didn't have a reservation.  However, if they wanted us out of there our service should have come a little more readily.  We had to wait forever to even give our orders to the waiter.  I have had great experiences here in the past so I suspect this instance was circumstantial.  I would avoid the time limit and see if you can't get a reservation.

After that we went home and watched a movie.

We are hoping that we can get reservations for fondue tomorrow. Otherwise it's back to Negomi.

I'm off to bed before I pass out.

K out.

About last night...

Sorry for not posting last night.  I was feeling very under the weather.  I might be getting a cold or something.  But enough about that.

Yesterday was my day off from snowboarding.  I used this opportunity to sleep in and then to explore the Lower Village.  I ended up wandering around in search of food and decided to eat at an Irish pub called Dubh Linn Gate.  Here is my review:

Dubh Linn Gate is an amazing restaurant; great service; fantastic food; wonderful beer.  Honestly I had trouble finding a down side to this place.  Price point is about common with most of the pub 'n' grub places I've been.  Service was a bit slow to start but my waitress, Meg, was very courteous and made sure I was looked after.  The only thing I didn't like was the "seat yourself" policy.  There wasn't even a sign.  Despite the rocky start the whole experience was well worth the money.  Now the beer:

'Diamond Head Oatmeal Stout' brewed by Howe Sound Brewing in Squamish: Initial sip is slightly bitter.  It's a very rich beer with a hint of dark chocolate (maybe a little coffee too). It reminded me of a Guinness Foreign Extra but a lot smoother and very heavy when it gets to your stomach.  It wasn't a very thick beer despite it's heaviness.   I give it a 8.5/10.

'Dubh Linn Lager' brewed by Whistler Brewing Company in (you guessed it) Whistler: This is a special brew made for the fine folks at Dubh Linn Gate.  I really wish that wasn't the case because it is fantastic.  The beer isn't bitter at all.  In fact, it has a sweetness to it that is quite refreshing.  It's very light in the mouth and stays light in your stomach.  A very smooth beer.  It is slightly 'wheaty' but nowhere near as much as a Hefe. It paired really well with my Bangers and Mash.  I could drink this all day.

Now the food:

Bangers and Mash: For those of you who don't speak some form of British Bangers are the same thing as sausages.  One order of bangers at DLG will get you three hot sausages and a pile of mash 'taters.  Perfect cure for a cold day (which helped as I sat outside).  The sausages were slightly sweet and rather plump.  Best I've ever had.  The potatoes were spectacular.  These 'taters were creamy and yet maintained a firm texture.  There was no need for salt or pepper.  Even the gravy was almost useless.

Whole meal (including tip) was $40 for one person.  For two pints of beer a great lunch and the wonderful customer service provided by Meg was well worth it.

I'd been eyeballing this place for quite some time.  I just never had the chance to go.  If you are ever in the Whistler area (or even in Vancouver) I suggest you head over to Dubh Linn Gate Irish pub and grab a pint!

The rest of my day was fairly dull.  I went home and took a nap.  For dinner my family and I went downstairs to have dinner at the Four Season's steakhouse, Sidecut.  As always the atmosphere and the food were awesome.  I had the venison with a blueberry rub.  I don't think I've ever had meat that was so tender.  I added (from their impressive array of sauces) the S.T.S. Wildcat and another with wasabi.  I was very happy with my meat.  For the sides we enjoyed potato puree, various root vegetables, sauteed mushrooms and the creamiest macaroni and cheese.  I had a whiskey ginger to wash it all down (I think it was made with Maker's Mark but I'm not sure). I declined to have dessert.

All in all yesterday was pretty amazing.

K out.

Flickering Images

I just connected my blog to Flickr.  Now I can share photos with you! Yay!

http://www.flickr.com/photos/worldtravelerkevin/

Day two

Given the intense snow fall over night the conditions for snowboarding were amazing. By the time I got up to the mountain though the snow was pretty packed.  It was a good day.  I'm expecting ice tomorrow.  Thank Kobol I'm not riding tomorrow.  As tired as I am I don't see how a person can ski/snowboard all day long.  I can barely ride for three hours before my legs literally refuse to operate correctly.  I suppose it's all practice.  I tip my hat to my friends who can last all day.

We have this routine of eating lunch right after we are done on the mountain.  It's always the same spot.  It's called Portobello of the Fairmont.  It's very similar to Paradise Bakery: sandwiches, soups, even pizza.  It's a refreshing meal after a couple hours of boarding.  The only problem would be the price.  Top notch ingredients but you're also paying top dollar ($7 for a sandwich). If you're ever in the Whistler area and you have some extra cash I would recommend Portobello.

Dinner tonight was sushi at Nagomi Sushi.  It's located by the 'Wizard' ski lift. The shop is right off the road (don't know what the road is called).  They have a couple of large windows too which allow patrons a panoramic view of Whistler and Blackcomb.  Fantastic sushi and amazing staff.  The only way this place could be better would be if it were located right on the sea.  As it stands there is a source of fish near enough for them to order from.  They are more traditional than a lot of current sushi bars, which is great if you're looking for a true sushi experience.  The prices are about standard for sushi I suppose, better if you take the exchange rate of the Canadian Dollar to the US Dollar into account.  Unfortunately, they are becoming more popular and their small location can become rather noisy when full.  If you can go on a quiet night they are perfect. I would not suggest them if you want a large assortment of drinks however as their alcohol choices are limited.  They do have this wonderful sweet potato Soju (japanese/korean vodka).  If you have a need for drink there are a number of bars within a short walk of Nagomi (in the lower village).

I have nothing planned for tomorrow.  My body is really sore from today (I fell down a lot).  Despite my pain I kind of want to go snowboarding anyway.  I can almost guarantee I won't want anything to do with snowboarding tomorrow morning.  I may not be able to move.  I may hit up the Irish pub in the lower village. We shall see...

K out.

Well here we are again...

Today it snowed. And snowed. And snowed. True story.  It was really a great day though. For boarding anyway.  I was very terrible but the conditions were ideal.  Evidently this is a historical month for Whistler.  I've been told that there has been more snow fall this March than any other March in Whistler's history.  The increased snow caused the local government to even lengthen the snow sports season by a couple of weeks.   

Whistler has changed a lot in the past couple years.  The traffic of the Olympics made renovation of the main highway mandatory.  The various winter sport facilities needed to be built and now draw crowds. Whistler is really on the map if it wasn't before.  I'm torn over this.  On one hand I'm worried that Whistler is going to become a city rather than a small-ish village.  I like being able to visit only once a year and have people remember me.  On the other hand I want these people to get business and make money.  I suppose it is inevitable.  

Tomorrow is another snowboarding day for me, my family will be enjoying their skis. I think sushi is on the menu for tomorrow night.  There's a new place in the lower village we were looking at... 

And thus I turn in.  See you tomorrow.

K out. 

The Chinese Connection

Hey everyone,
Just wanted to update you on my upcoming adventures.

I have been informed that my much anticipated trip to Mongolia will also include the "China Extension."  This addition to our itinerary includes a grand tour of Glorious Leader's 'The People's Republic of China.'

Truthfully I'm looking forward to this.  I'm told the tour will include The Great Wall as well as an intimate private viewing of the Terracotta Warriors.  By this I mean that we get to be up close and personal with the warriors.  I'm looking forward to that.

The later part of this maybe excluded for whatever reason so let's keep our fingers crossed.  I will take plenty of pictures assuming they allow me to do so.

My upcoming trip to Whistler is fast approaching.  I can't wait to be out on the slopes.  Not sure what wacky shinnanigans I will have planned so I will keep you all informed.

-K out

My Immediate Future

Hello everyone. It's been a long time since my last post. Want to know why? 'Cause I'm lazy.  That and I haven't been traveling.  I'm still not traveling.  Sorry. I will be soon. That's why I'm writing this post; to inform you of my immediate future.  Also, to remind you that I'm still here. 

My next trip starts March 30th and it is going to be my fourth trip to Whistler, BC.  For those of you who don't know, Whistler is about two hours (by car) outside of Vancouver, BC (that's in Canada, folks).  It's really cold up there but the mountains Whistler and Blackcomb are wicked. It's where they held part of the Winter Olympics, more specifically where all those bobsledders crashed.  I'm really excited about this trip, partly because I'm going to be snowboarding a lot. Mostly though because I wasn't sure I was going to go this year.  I love Whistler. 

The trip after that is happening the first week of July.  I will be going to Mongolia to ride horses.  No. Seriously. Details are here: http://www.nationalgeographicexpeditions.com/expeditions/mongolia-horse-trek/detail

Basically, I will be riding horses forever. Then sleeping. Maybe invade China later. There is a China extension to the trip.  I will be going.

The third trip is happening in September but I'm not absolutely sure I will be able to go.  Some friends have invited me to go with them to Munich for Oktoberfest.  Like I would pass up the chance to go drink beer with Germans.  No I wouldn't.  This trip kinda depends on forces that I can't control.  I will keep you posted.  If I remember correctly, this trip includes Dublin and other places.  I will want a piece of that action too. 

Additionally, I have some tentative plans to go to Texas and New Orleans.  New Orleans may have to wait until next year though. Again, forces beyond my control.

So now you know. And knowing is half the battle.  Now that I have travel plans for sure I will be updating more frequently so keep a wary eye on my blog!

Later yo!

K out.