The Last of Beijing & Mongolia at Long Last!

The second day in Beijing & we headed 2&1/2 hrs out of Beijing to hike a un-reconstructed part of the Great Wall! The trip out there was MAD!! People regularly overtake into oncoming traffic - which in turn just moves out of the way! We saw some carnage - one poor man with a cracked skull who was lying in a pool of blood by his motorbike (no helmets of course!) - but thankfully he got up as we went past. Also a tour bus with it's windscreen smashed and a large truck that'd hit something big in the front.... Thankfully we remained unscathed!!

The Great Wall is breathtaking - both figuratively and literally!! We hiked about 12km along it I think - with very steep sections that you had to scrabble up on hands & feet! No way were those Mongolians getting past all those centuries ago! Then at the end of our hike we got to ride a flying fox back over a large lake - wicked fun :+)

Then that night we went to a "Kung Fu" show - amazing martial arts by buddhist monks - one guy lay across 3 swords, had a double sided board of nails on his stomach, another guy on top of that and THEN another large slab of concrete that a third monk smashed with a mallet! No blood that I could see from my seat!

The next day we were up at 5am to catch an early flight to Mongolia.... But (apparently in true Beijing - Ulan Bataar style!) it was 6 hours delayed! But it was probably good in someways to have some down time just mucking about at the airport given how full on the last few days had been. We finally arrived about 6pm into Ulan Bataar - what a BEAUTIFUL country - reminded me of south Canterbury/Central Otago in the wide open grassy hills & plains but on a much larger scale. The city itself is full of giant Russian style box buildings, with colourful cheap housing around and then on the outskirts a "ger ghetto". Chinggis Kahn (Mongolians call who we know as Genghis by the name Chinggis) is everywhere!! In brand names, in advertising - even an outline on a surrounding hill!

After finding out hotel we headed out to a modern Mongolian restaurant.... I had horse steak.... I hummed and haa-ed about whether I could put out of my mind the past horses I used to ride, but then when I was told that Mongolians eat their horses as a sign of respect - taking a wonderful horse into themselves - I thought bugger it, why not. And it tasted really good! It was like beef steak but with a more liver type texture.... Weird but yum! Then off to drink lots of Mongolian beer (Chinggis beer!!) and even some whiskey (woo!).

Today we spent a good part of the day at an orphanage - unfortunately had a wee cry (along with others) when hearing some of the stories of the children, but man - what resilient wee kids. Really bright & happy - you would never guess what they'd been through. We also got to give a ger to a family living in a really rundown little shack, so that was neat- and we gave them furniture - they didn't know they were getting that too - it was like an Oprah show!!

Heading off tomorrow for a two day drive down south to Bayanhongor where we FINALLY jump on the bikes! We've got specialized hardrocks to ride - so shouldn't be too disimilar to my rockhopper I hope! (Brought my own seat & pedals, so that should make life easier!)

No more internet contact for about 10 days now so will have heaps to blog about then!!

Arrival!!

Well - into Beijing at least!! I think (and this is a guess...) it's been about 40hrs since I got up at 4am to catch my flight to Sydney - after that it was a blur of airports and security checks... Changi in Singapore is a lovely place to waste time, if you HAVE to be in an airport - man, you could probably spend millions there - there was a Tiffany's!!
Arrived into Beijing this morning - and straight into it!! We dropped our bags off at the hotel and headed to the "Drum Tower" - built in the late 1200s as a way of time keeping - different drum beats represented different times of day. Giant, steep stone steps lead up to the top of the tower where we had a wicked view of..... Smog. Lots of smog.
Then we went for a walk along some "hutongs" - old paved narrow walkways that are part of the "old Beijing" before the influx of apartments. We visited a family who live in a traditional old courtyard style home and had chinese tea :+) Then jumped in rickshaws for a tiki-tour round, before back into the bus to visit something that sounded like the "way-ling" project. It's a non-government-funded project that gives adults with mental disability a chance to become involved in a community (otherwise they tend to get shut away in family homes). The "trainees" - as they're called - were really neat!! First we had lunch - yummy egg & vege frittery looking things, then some fantastic boiled dumplings - have no idea what was in them, and don't want to know!!!
Then the trainees put on 5 skits for us - including one "bull & matador" one, a "shearing sheep" one - and best of all "Beijing rap!" - was classic and really cool :+) After that they taught us calligraphy - one of the girls in our group wasn't too good at it, so the fella kept taking her paper off her and giving her a new one :+) (I got asked if I'd done chinese calligraphy before!!! I think he was just being nice..)

Then we got stuck in a MASSIVE lightning storm - was really funny actually - tearing along the hutongs, not actually sure where we were headed, getting soaked to the skin! Nice & warm rain and some good bright lightning strikes!! So back to the hotel after that, a LOVELY shower (hadn't had one in nearly two days!) and a wander down to an internet cafe before we all meet up for a dinner of Peking duck - yum!! Then an after-dinner visit to Tianamen Square! Tomorrow is a big hike of the Great Wall!!

Have taken a few photos but unfortunately they won't be turning up online until I get home...

Oh and these blog postings may not be too regular - especially when we hit Mongolia!! So don't worry - most likely caught up seeing lots of sights - rather than having fallen off my bike yet again and incapacitated myself...
(There - if I say it, then it can't come true.... ;+))

Hope everyone is well :+)

Not Long Now!!!

Only 3 sleeps to go - and no more baking!!! Woohoo :+) Fundraising is over, training is done (well - done as it's gonna be!) and just need to pack!!

The e-tickets arrived the other day so am good to go! Am also finally getting excited about the trip (it's taken a looooong while to kick in & actually seem like reality - not some big story I've been telling everyone!)

Have organised to meet some of the other participants at Sydney airport for lunch on Tuesday, so that'll be a nice start to the adventure!

Hmmmm... Nah, I take it back - still doesn't feel real yet!!!!! (It'll hit me when I get on the plane!)

One Week To Go...

Time surely flies doesn't it!!??

Well, not a lot going on recently in the way of training unfortunately but at this late stage it probably wouldn't have made much difference anyway! Decided over the weekend that to go out for a big ride during heavy showers & cold southerlies would be a pretty silly thing to do!! (Would rather not arrive in Beijing with the flu!)

I've amassed wee piles of things to take with me around my bedroom - I think I have everything I need.... From that heavy duty lip balm to little gifts to take with me to the orphanage we're visiting in Ulaan Baatar. Now if I just had some plane tickets, I'd be sweet! (They will apparently be emailed to us...)

Only two more baking days to go.... :+)

Nice & Hot...

Just saw the highest temperature in UB the other day was 36degC... At 5% humidity!!!

I'm off to find me some heavy-duty lip balm!!!

What it's all about....

I seem to be doing this blogging thing a bit haphazardly... I guess I had better let people know how this whole Mongolia trip came to be!
About 18 months ago, I had several friends and family members head off to south-east Asia for adventures of their own. Having seen their photos and heard of the experiences each had, I decided that I wanted to do that too!
A friend of mine had done a few "charity challenges" through Intrepid Travel and suggested I do the same. And then a friend who initially was planning to join me in this suggested Mongolia as a destination... As so it all came to be!!
The charity challenge I'm doing entails fundraising $AUD6500 - half of which goes to Multiple Sclerosis Australia (the charity attached to this trip), and the other half pays for the flights, accommodation and most food throughout the adventure. My target has been a wee bit higher than this though, due to extra flights to and from Australia.
As far as I'm aware at this stage, all the other participants (there's 15 in total) are from Australia - so I'll be the sole rep from Kiwiland.... Bring it on!!!!

http://www.intrepidtravel.com/trips/MCB