I had plenty of time yesterday, but as I said, “There’s always tomorrow!” It’s funny how until now I don’t seem to have an idea of how I behave in such situations. It was pretty much obvious that I would be waking up late again. I was planning to wake up at 6 AM but I only did so at 11 AM, just giving me enough time to take one last shower for the day before my long train ride back to Zamyn Uud. What’s left for me to explore were: a) the very big park a few blocks away from the guest house; b) the Winter palace; c) Buddha Park; and d) Zaisan Hill. Although they are not that far away from one another (maps are often exaggerated), some of them (the huge park and the Winter Palace) would require some time for you to enjoy them. Since I stepped out of the guest house at 12, I only had three hours to make it back so that the train would not leave without me. And so I skipped the big park (It has a Ferris Wheel! It has a Ferris Wheel!) and walked.
Walk south away
from Sukhbaatar Square. Along the way you would find a peculiarly pink building
(Mongolians love ‘em pastel colors) which is the National Academic Drama
Theater and the National Library on the opposite side of the street. Take a
photo. Those two buildings look cool. You could ride a number 43 bus when you
reach Bayangol Hotel. I got there in five minutes with pauses for taking photos
and a video. Since the map made it look so far apart I thought the Winter Palace
wouldn’t be that far either. It took me around 20 minutes to get there on foot. What’s
the catch? Of course I was a bit tired when I got there. The traffic was
heavy going back to Sukhbaatar Square, but the road was almost empty going to
Zaisan. If I took a bus I could have arrived there in five minutes or so and had a
lot of time for a palace excursion that didn’t seem too rushed.
The said Winter
Palace has been converted into a museum. This is the only Khan palace you would
see in UB, the others are located in some distant province. This palace is
rather small and a bit modern thanks to the Russian inspired residence beside
it, which is still within palace grounds. You have to buy a ticket and the info at the booth also
indicates that there is a fee for photos and videos. I did not get this.
The tourists inside were taking pictures of the palaces, but not of the
interiors since there is a blatant sign there saying that photography is
prohibited, which made me think that taking photos and videos of the palace
grounds was ok, and that was what I did. Maybe what they wanted to say is that
there is a fee if they give you a camera crew to follow you around as if you were hosting
Discovery Channel? That sounds absurd, but I like that, lol.
Anyway, moving on
to the layout, there is a big red gate. There are four figures by the entrance but
I don’t know who they are. This trip has really left me with a mission to get
to know Buddhism as a religion. Maybe I’ll start with Wikipedia. There is a
square with a palace to the north (not accessible), a mini temple to the west
housing silk arts, and a temple with Buddhist painting to the east. Enter the
northern gate and you'll see a similar setup. The two temples on both sides have
more Buddhist arts, while the one to the north is accessible this time, still
with some exhibit on Buddhism. Take the exit to the right to see the Russian
inspired house.
After the Winter
Palace I decided to take the bus to Buddha Park, which was a stupid decision
once again because the ride only lasted three minutes. Yahoo! The park itself
is already done but there is ongoing construction of the residential area around
it. Zaisan is the area for UB’s nouveau-riche, and I envy those soon-to-be
residents because a combo of those hills and the river greeting you in the
morning as a fixed view is simply awesome. There is a Grab and Go at the park and this
time they have a restaurant aside from their typical stall. It’s a good
stopover for refreshments to pack in some energy before climbing Zaisan Hill,
which is already visible from that area. In fact, you could capture the Golden
Buddha and the Zaisan Hill Memorial in one frame, depending on the angle.
There are two
giant bells housed in gazebos not far from the golden Buddha. Taking pictures
was quite difficult because of the sun. It was also surreal because I was
seeing the Golden Buddha, but the park had the Pussycat Dolls on loudly playing on
the speakers. Weird, I know. Go back to the entrance and head east for the
steps leading to Zaisan Hill Memorial. Along the way you’d see the Korean embassy
to the left, and a billboard of a mall, or I think it was of a hotel, that
would soon rise by the foot of that hill. The steps are to your left, next to
the military tank. You could also find food stalls if you snubbed Grab and Go
at Buddha Park and then realized that you are hungry after all.
The climb is not
that steep and relatively easier than most hills I’ve climbed before. The thing
was I didn’t bring water with me. Good news? There’s a Grab and Go stall at the
parking lot, again. They are everywhere! So I grabbed a Minute Maid orange drink
which never tasted so good! They don’t sell water, but you would find out that
there is some sort of convenience store halfway up the hill. They sell water and
snacks in there. Tourists traveling in groups are usually brought all the way up to
that parking lot, cutting their climb in half. Your advantage is that you get more exercise than them, and they spend more money than you do.
I was trying hard
to take a picture of the memorial from afar but there were tourists going down
the hill and I just couldn’t wait for all of them to disappear because I was
under time pressure. One of them started waving her hands wildly because she
thought I was taking a picture of her. Oh, I’m so sorry. I thought you were
part of the hill! Shy ka ate? Why don’t you accidentally fall down the cliff
first so I could take a better shot? Angelina Jolie, is that you?
Whoever thought of
the design of the said memorial is plain genius. The walls don’t cover the
whole structure. In fact, they seem to be afloat. What makes them so good to
look at are the murals depicting friendship between the Soviets and the
Mongols. The cool part is you don’t just see those frescoes, you also see a
panoramic view of UB below them at the same time. Cool.
Although UB still needs
to add some interesting buildings for a more impressive skyline, climbing up
this hill is still worth it because of that feeling of achievement, the
exercise, and the relaxation if you find a good spot away from the sun. You’ll
find both tourists and locals frequenting the said site. It is a must see if
ever you find yourself in UB one day. Besides, it’s not that far from the city
center. Just try to skip rush hour.
I was back at the
guest house by three to retrieve my stuff. The bus going to the station was
nowhere to be found. I am really clueless when it comes to bus routes. UB has
no metro. They don’t need it. Yet. So I just took a chance on the various buses
plying Peace Avenue and finally arrived at Ulaanbaatar Train Station by 4 PM,
just in time for boarding and for a big bottle of Bonaqua. I was in a cabin
with three Mongolian women, who were friendly, but again, communication was
hard because of the language barrier.
Crossing the
Chinese/Mongolian border for the first time to go to UB is an adventure.
Regardless of the hassles, you see it as a fun experience. Going back you now
see it as a chore and if you are not patient enough, you might just have to do
something to kill time. It took a while for us to cross the Mongolian border.
You could check the Budget and Itinerary post for the exact time but I think it
was around 2 or 3 hours of waiting, but everything went smoothly after that.
The trip cost 100 Yuan this time, which was 20 Yuan more than when I first
crossed that border. The three Mongolians with me on the jeep also paid the
same amount, so I think it is really the rate. Whatever, I just wanted to go
back to Beijing and take a shower.
And eat! I haven’t
had time to eat lunch and the fried rice I ordered at the resto in Erenhot never
arrived so I just walked out with a Fvck You All expression written all over my
face. I was waiting for half an hour. How hard was it to cook fried rice? More
than 24 hours and all my stomach had to go on were Choco Pies and Pepsi. The
bus would cost you around 200 Yuan. A woman approached me and offered a ride by
car for 300, sharing it with a Mongolian family of three also going to Beijing.
The trip took ten hours and I was at Beijing by half past 10. We departed from
Erlian at around quarter to one. The best thing about it? It wasn’t a scam. The
journey is long and boring with nothing to see but grass. Try your luck with a book if you could endure
the headache you’ll get after reading it.
I’d love to go
back to Mongolia to see what’s outside UB but I am not taking the train again,
unless the trip is connected to Moscow. Or maybe I would, if someone would go
with me so we can play Harry Potter, as long as I get to play Voldemort and
there’s no cap on Avada Kedavra.
KHAN-UUL: 01 - A Palace, a Park, and a Hill in Three Hours
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