After two weeks in Russia (beautiful!) and a week for work in the western aimag of Hovd (amazing!), I am glad to be "home" for a bit, even if there is NO water, still, a week after being back!
Here is a little video tour of what I like to call home, a lovely oasis in the hectic, dirty, dusty, generally delapidated streetscapes of UB:
Sunday, July 31, 2011
Chain Spotting
While I might groan and grumble about the developing aspects of Mongolia - no hot water, no water at all currently, no toilets, no showers, entire blocks of main streets closed for weeks...ahm, yep, plenty to whinge about - there are *some* things I like about being in a developing country.
One of these is the lack of chain restaurants and stores. Mongolia is one of the few places on earth where there is no McDonalds. No KFC or Burger King or anything of that nature.
The closest they get is Loving Hut - Mongolia, the land of people that exist entirely on animal products - meat and dairy - is also the land where the only chain is a vegan, yes vegan, restaurant. That kind of logic is exactly what makes Mongolia beautiful!
In Russia for two weeks for a summer holiday there was a little bit of chain spotting.
First was Subway, in Ulan Ude
Second was Baskin & Robins, in Irkutsk.
It seems the Russians have good taste!
One of these is the lack of chain restaurants and stores. Mongolia is one of the few places on earth where there is no McDonalds. No KFC or Burger King or anything of that nature.
The closest they get is Loving Hut - Mongolia, the land of people that exist entirely on animal products - meat and dairy - is also the land where the only chain is a vegan, yes vegan, restaurant. That kind of logic is exactly what makes Mongolia beautiful!
In Russia for two weeks for a summer holiday there was a little bit of chain spotting.
First was Subway, in Ulan Ude
Second was Baskin & Robins, in Irkutsk.
It seems the Russians have good taste!
Tuesday, July 19, 2011
Russia pics
Without my laptop I am limited in putting up only pics on my iPod for the moment.
Here is some pretty lake shots:
Amazing pirate ship playground
Our homestay:
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Here is some pretty lake shots:
Amazing pirate ship playground
Our homestay:
- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone
Two weeks in Russia
My "year in Mongolia" is presently on holiday, as is most of Mongolia - think christmas time, summer holidays. With a whole week of public holidays and some mighty fine weather it seemed like heading north to lake baikal in siberia was the sensible thing to do.
Everyone has heard of siberia - where freedom-fighting contentious russians, poles and other europeans are sent as punishment by governments enforcing peace. Being a punishment, the experience should be unpleasant - freezing weather, no infrastructure, isolation etc etc.
We arrived in a heat wave, with high 30s and stunning days. The cities we have seen are massive by mongolian standards, small by russian standards, but big enough in reality. Beautiful parks and many fountains, intresting statues, lots of friendly people. We were blown away.
We are mostly around lake baikal, the deepest lake in the world, holding 20% of the worlds fresh water. The lake is stunning, and freezing at around 15 degrees. In winter it freezes over, making transport easier as you just drive across it. For us, we had to resort to trains and ferries.
Russia in general is entirely developed. This makes sense if you think about it, but was not what i was expecting. Coming from Mongolia, where things are literally just as they were when the soviet union collapsed (no dusting, no painting etc has occurred since, it seems) i was expecting something similar, especially in out of the way sibera.
Instead we have a wonderfully beautiful place, civilised the point of this gorgeous coffee spot on the seventh floor looking over the lake - the perfect place to read a weekend paper.
The lake is huge, and frequently covered in thick fog. The water is very clear, and is the most beautiful colours at different depths - blues and greens, with the steep rising mountains behind it.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Everyone has heard of siberia - where freedom-fighting contentious russians, poles and other europeans are sent as punishment by governments enforcing peace. Being a punishment, the experience should be unpleasant - freezing weather, no infrastructure, isolation etc etc.
We arrived in a heat wave, with high 30s and stunning days. The cities we have seen are massive by mongolian standards, small by russian standards, but big enough in reality. Beautiful parks and many fountains, intresting statues, lots of friendly people. We were blown away.
We are mostly around lake baikal, the deepest lake in the world, holding 20% of the worlds fresh water. The lake is stunning, and freezing at around 15 degrees. In winter it freezes over, making transport easier as you just drive across it. For us, we had to resort to trains and ferries.
Russia in general is entirely developed. This makes sense if you think about it, but was not what i was expecting. Coming from Mongolia, where things are literally just as they were when the soviet union collapsed (no dusting, no painting etc has occurred since, it seems) i was expecting something similar, especially in out of the way sibera.
Instead we have a wonderfully beautiful place, civilised the point of this gorgeous coffee spot on the seventh floor looking over the lake - the perfect place to read a weekend paper.
The lake is huge, and frequently covered in thick fog. The water is very clear, and is the most beautiful colours at different depths - blues and greens, with the steep rising mountains behind it.
Posted using BlogPress from my iPad
Location:Siberia
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