No Car Day In The City

Picture: No cars on one main street in UB

Today it was arranged by the city to have a "No Car Day". A five kilometer area around the surrounding of the city center was free of cars. We wanted to take a walk to see what it would be like not having any traffic on the city streets. Usually a Sunday the streets are full of cars, buses and people, there is never a let up in the traffic. It was strange to see the streets so empty, very quite, no horns tooting. Many people had come out walking. Most Sundays we try and go for a walk and see one of the sites that is within the city area. Today we wanted to visit one of the temples in the heart of UB.

Picture: Ben & Paige sitting on a traffic directing police post

We headed towards the Sukhbaatar Square as I wanted to get some shots of one of the city busiest streets. The square was full of people enjoying the entertainment which was being performed. There where people riding bikes and a group giving everyone free hugs. We only stayed a short time as we where worried about pickpockets. On walking from the square we received hugs from the free hug people. I asked Why are you hugging people?" the ladies reply was "To celebrate peace" what a nice gesture I thought.

Picture: People on the steps at Sukhbaatar Square

Picture: Dance performace in the square

Picture: Man offering a hug

Picture: Group walking from the square

Picture: Group of four walking from square

We then walked on to visit The Choijin Lama Temple Museum. The entrance ticket had this brief description on it to explain what the temple was;

"The Choijin Lama Temple Museum is an architectural masterpiece of the 19th and 20th Century. It was erected by Mongolian architects between 1904 and 1908 in honour of the influential lama called Lubsanhaidub. He was Mongolia's last king and brother of the VIII Bogd khan. The museum is a whole ensemble of Buddhist architecture and cinsists of 6 temples, which are the temple of Maharaja, the Main Temple, the Zankhan Temple, the Zuu Temple, the Temple of Yadam and the Temple of Peacefulness. It has five arched gates and accommodates more than 8600 items of cultural heritage."

Picture: Walking into temple

Picture: A piece of art work in the temple

Picture: Part of the temple

Picture: Section of the temple that shows many items

It was interesting to see different types of work and items, even though we mightn't understand the meaning behind each piece on show but we still found this temple interesting. Paige liked the artwork on display of horses around the grounds of the temple, it was interesting to see how they had been decorated by different artists.

Picture: Paige with two of the decorated horses

Picture: Some decorated horses in the ground of the temple

It was nice taking a walk with no cars on the street, it was a perfect walk except for the spring wind.

Spring Has Arrived

The weather is sure heating up here. It is now spring here and the city takes on a different look. Not having to wear a coat or hat, taking a walk around the streets the only thing you have to worry about is the wind. With the change in weather most of the plants are getting some colour to them, a very pale green infact. I am looking forward to summer to see what the city looks like then. People tell me that the wind will get quite bad over the coming weeks so I am sure the dust here will get a lot worse.

On arriving back from our trip to China I did a radio interview which was for the local ABC station in Kalgoorlie. I thought it was going to per recorded and to my surprise it was live to air. I was a bit nervous and tried to answer the questions as best as I could. The interview lasted for about 10 minutes and I hoped I gave all the listeners an insight to living in Mongolia. I was suprised to hear that one of the ladies who lives here, her father heard the interview as he lives in Kalgoorlie and had made mention of it to his daughter. Small world!!!!!!

Last week our items arrived from Indonesia that we sent so I was a bit busy trying to find homes for everything in the apartment. I am glad we only sent 20 boxes. It took me a while to put everything away as I hoped a magic fairy would appear to help out but with no luck it didn't. Unpacking some items that reminded me of Indonesia sure made me miss all my friends there as well as Siti and Undu.

With all our good memories from our time in Balikpapan makes me wonder what I will think about when we leave Mongolia when Ben's contract is finished in another year and a half.

Next weekend we head to the country side to stay in a ger (traditional Mongolian house). The HR department has arranged a weekend away for some of the new families so with a number of activities planned I think this experience will be interesting and look forward to updating my blog on our experiences.

Our Trip To Beijing China

"You never know what to expect when travelling but once you arrive your journey and memories begin".

Day 1: With passports and visas in hand we had to be at the airport in UB quite early which was ok as this would mean we would arrive in Beijing by 9am and have the whole day ahead of us. Once landed we made our way through the Beijing airport with no problems and in a timely fashion which was a surprise to us. A contact that Ben had made through his work, Roger had arranged our hotel booking and a driver to pick us up from the airport which was a load off our minds. It is always a question we have "Whats the best way to get from the airport to the hotel in a strange country?".

After checking in at the hotel our driver took us on a short tour to look at Tiananmen Square. With our first look there sure was the wow factor. Tiananmen Square is so big and we knew we would have to come back when we visited the Forbidden City as they where in the same location. The driver then dropped us off for our first shopping experience at the Xiushui Silk Market. Roger had told us that when bargaining always start at a third of the price the seller started at as you never pay the price first mentioned. I must admit the Chinese make you work for your shopping, I think it is an art they have, making westerners bargain for an item. It wasn't until later on we really got into the swing of shopping as it takes a bit of getting used to having the shop assistants chase you to get their sale. The market had a range of items. Shoes, clothes, electronics, silk items, watches, you could find so many items on the six floors of this market.

Day 2: Another early start to the day as our driver was picking us up to go and see part of the Great Wall of China. Roger had told us it is good to get there as early as possible in the morning as the tour groups start to arrive around 8am.

Picture: Part of the Great Wall of China

Picture : Paige running around at the Great Wall

The drive took us about one hour and it was well worth it. In the distance we could see parts of the wall and as we got closer the "wow factor" was sure setting in. TV shows always gives you so much information but to be in a location you have only dreamed of is an amazing feeling. The Chinese Government has restored parts of The Great Wall and you can still see sections of the old parts. It is mind blowing to think that when the wall was first built how hard it must of been for the workers. The scale is very hard to explain and it wasn't until Paige, Ben and myself climbed up to see the views that the full impact hit us. In sections it is very steep and I was surprised at how well Paige handled walking. Once we got to the top of one section Ben decided to continue on to the next section as the climb was becoming a little hard for Paige. Paige and I watched Ben from a level section and when he returned back to us Ben said his legs were burning and I wasn't surprised. You could stand there all day looking at the view and soaking in the wow factor but the wind started to pick up and the tourists started to arrive. When we first arrived at the wall there was hardly anyone but true to his word Roger was right, the tourists started to arrive about 8am. On the way back down I picked up a small nick-nac of The Great Wall as there are small stalls along the way. In most places we visit I always buy something to remind us of our travels. It may not be an expensive item but just something to remind us of where we have been.

Picture : Ben & Paige walking up the Great Wall

Picture : Ben, Bernadette & Paige standing on The Great Wall

On our drive back to town we stopped off at the Summer Palace. The Summer Palace was where the emperors would visit in summer time. On paying our entrance fee we had some other expats come up and ask us questions about how we paid to get in. In our brief conversation Ben and I was surprised that one of the ladies had been living in Beijing for 12 months and hadn't been to see any of the sights because of her work. How sad we thought, to be living in this amazing city full of history and mystery that she hadn't explored anywhere before this.

Picture : The Summer Palace

Once we where through the gate we made our way around the gardens. The grounds where just so big that I am sure it would take a full day to see it all. On one of the edges of the Palace is a lake where you could take a boat ride, but we opted to skip that. The gardens where really nice but I think that the hundreds of tourist just put us off. Even though the size of the gardens where big it was very hard to move around plus our star, Paige was attracting a lot of attention. It is amazing how many people want to have their photos taken with her. Most people will ask first, other people like to crab her arm and pull her towards them. If Paige doesn't mind then it is OK for photos but a number of times we had to say no as there where just too many people wanting to cuddle her while holding her for a photo. As soon as we said yes to one there seems to be 20 others wanting photos. It can become very over whelming.

Picture: Ladies taking photo with Paige

Day 3 : Today was our first time we were able to sit down and have breakfast as we didn't have to get up so early. To our surprise the the hotel didn't serve a western breakfast not even orange juice. Usually Roger wouldn't book this hotel for his contacts but as the other hotels he usually uses where booked out we ended up staying at one of the Home Inn hotels. The day before we had to change hotel rooms as there where no heaters in the room and our room was freezing. The rooms where really nice but the lack of a good breakfast really let the hotel down. Not having a good start to the day we jumped in a taxi to visit The Forbidden City. It was recommend that we go to the northern entrance so when we exit the Forbidden City we can walk straight across to Tiananmen Square.

Picture: Front entrance of the Forbidden City

Taxis are a great way to get around Beijing they are very cheap but a tip is to have written in Chinese where you want to go as sometimes the drivers don't understand English very well. We were lucky that the guide book we had, most locations were written in both English and Chinese.

Picture: Paige and Ben walking through park

Once we arrived at the northern side of the Forbidden City we noticed a park so we decided to explore it before heading on. As we entered the park we heard music and to our surprise there were a group of ladies dancing with fans, exercising. It was one of those times that was a great surprise you can sometimes get when you just take some time to explore.

Picture: Lady dancing in park with fans

After taking in the dancing we moved on to climb one of the hills to get a look at the Forbidden City from the roof tops. The park had many small pagodas (temples) which where very interesting on the eye. Once we reach the top of the hill we could see the Forbidden City from a birds eye view. The city was huge with many buildings and as the day wasn't very clear we where disappointed not being able to get any clear photos. Having now seen the Forbidden City from the roof tops we were excited to be heading there next. With a short walk down the hill and a couple of photos taken of Paige we reached the northern entrance to the Forbidden City. We decide to hirer one of the local tour guides that had approached us as we wanted to learn more about this huge city. Even though there were many tourists around the city, it was just amazing. Another place you could spend all day exploring as it is so big. The feeling of stepping back in time and taking all the history in was just an amazing experience. I had seen a documentary on this City not so long ago so all this information came in quite handy.

Picture : Ben & Paige standing in The Forbidden City

Life here must of been very lonely for the emperors as for 500 years the walls of the Forbidden City were the line between the imperial household and the general population. It wasn't until 1949 the city was opened to the public. We ended up saying good bye to the guide and went on exploring the city ourselves. In need of a coffee I had heard that Starbucks had a coffee shop here so we decided to try and find it to take a rest break. To my amazement we stumbled across it. The shop isn't allowed to display any signs so finding it was quite hard. Once I had purchased our coffees and a snack I returned outside to find Paige and Ben had disappeared. Thinking Paige had run off some where with Ben in chase I decide to take a seat to wait for them to return. To the right of me I notice a large crowd and to my surprise in the middle of the crowd there was Ben and Paige surround by about 50 people taking photos. I thought enough was enough and went to rescue them. I was surprised that after the three of us were sitting down together having our coffees people still approached us wanting to take more photos of Paige. I couldn't believe it, where these people joking, it wasn't as though Paige was a movie star. I had to say no................. still people not getting the hint we walked off leaving the paparazzi behind.

Picture : Soldiers with shopping bags

Picture : Paige standing next to soldier

Picture : Soldier standing guard at The Forbidden City

Making our way out of the city through the huge doors that lead to the street we could see across the road to Tiananmen Square. To cross the road we had to go under an underpass as there is fencing all along the road. In 1989 army tanks forced pro-democracy demonstrators out of the square. I remember watching this on TV and it was so easy to imagine those tanks there on the roads as we viewed the square. The Square itself is huge. There were hundreds of people walking across it, some flying kites and we had a number of people try and sell us one. We wanted to walk down and see where Chairman Mao Mausoleum was so we could visit but we weren't in any luck as the building was closed due to renovations. Once again people wanted to take photos of Paige. It was strange standing there observing the people. There where huge numbers of Chinese visiting this place. I was surprised to see how many different classes you could make out. There where well dressed people and on a closer look people that had very old worn clothes on. In seeing this made me realise that they were coming here for the same thing as us, to try and see the mausoleum. Thinking that the clothes that they had on were there "Sunday Best" made me realise that how poor the people here are. I think on the surface Beijing looks like a modern City but if you take the time to see through the layers, the people still struggle here.

Picture: Kite Seller in Tiananmen Square

Picture : Man Standing in Tiananmen Square

After a rest back at the hotel we decide to go and do some shopping at one of the other markets called "Sanlitun Yaxium Clothing Market". A five storey complex with shoes, bags, outdoor wear and much more. While shopping it's very funny to walk past and hear other expats bargaining, "Give me your best price", "That's too expensive" expat voices could be heard saying. The shop owners always say "Your killing me", "I don't make any money" and "Give me a little more" plus you see the expats being grabbed back in the stores as they walk off as the owner wants to make a sale. Ben and I picked up some shoes and found that they had many large sizes here to suit expats. We then had dinner at the food court on the sixth floor. The food in Beijing is all very tasty, some dishes are a little different to back home Chinese food but all very nice. Did you know unless you request rice with your main meal, you will get it last as a side dish. It's just something most Chinese do, have the rice last which we found out on one of our dinners out. We thought the waiter had forgotten to bring the rice so we where waiting before we started eating but then noticed other locals where getting their rice later on in their meal. The things you learn!

Day 4 : Mac Donald's to some parents is a dirty word. But on this trip Ben and I sure did get Mac Donald's out of our system. Asking Paige what she wanted for lunch we would always here "Nuggets, chips and apple juice". Living in Mongolia we don't get to eat any fast food as there isn't any KFC, Mac Donald's or Hungry Jacks here. So when we travel it is usually something we tend to eat plus we know Paige likes it. We decided to have it for breakfast one day before heading to the Penjiayuan Market. So how do you explain to a three year old Mac Donald's don't have chicken nuggets early in the morning. Paige was a little disappointed but the small play ground took care of that. I think the saving grace of fast food outlets is you know what you are going to get when you order anywhere in the word, there are no surprises. I suppose the only surprise is you can get table service in China at some of the Mac Donald's......... Who needs silver service? After having breakfast and getting Paige away from the playground we headed over to a market call "Penjiayuan Market". I read it was a fantastic place to browse through Beijing's past, from antique furniture to Cultural Revolution memorabilia.

Picture : Bikes lined up in front of market

This market opens at sunrise and usually gets 50,000 visitors a day I was very interested in exploring this place. In entering the market the site of hundreds of bikes lined up next to each other was amazing. The market has rows and rows of items, a feast for your eyes.

Picture : Cultural Revolution Memorabilia

They call it a dirt market as it is in an open shed structure, similar to the Vic Market in Melbourne, Australia but maybe five times the size. Each row is dedicated to different items. It is a little hard to walk through because of all the people but you soon get into the swing of the traffic. I was sure in heaven, it is one of the best markets I have been to any where. Ben had Paige on his shoulders as he usually does following me being the understanding husband, I could of stayed there all day but there were more places I wanted to go and I knew there is only so much shopping Ben can do in a day. This is a place I will differently be coming back to. Next it was off to view some furniture markets. We went to one market which wasn't very good before moving onto the Zhaojia Chaowai Market. This market is in kind of a warehouse made up of single stores that has a range of traditional Chinese furniture. Going from store to store you never know what you will find. I was just looking this time but in the future I plan on finding a piece to take back to Australia with us.

Dinner was spent with Roger and his wife Lilly at a restaurant that Roger highly recommend, "Huajia Yiyuan Restaurant". It is always good spending time with someone that knows the city as I don't know that we would of found this restaurant strip on our own. The street was lined with red lantons that gave an eye catching glow to the night. We enjoyed a wonderful evening over looking old style Chinese roof tops. Roger is from Hong Kong but has lived in China for many years. As the evening went on we had many questions that Roger was quite happy to answer for us. We spoke about Australia and how one day Roger would like to visit. All in all it was a wonderful night. Roger even got a kiss goodbye from Paige, both Ben and I couldn't believe how well Paige had taken to him. Both Ben and I really do want to thank Roger for all his help while we where in Beijing.

Day 5: Seeing as we had a late flight back to Mongolia we decided to visit the Beijing Aquarium, Paige had been very good tagging along with us that we thought we would do something that see would really like. It is suppose to be the biggest indoor aquarium in the world but I found that there was a lot of wasted space. There was a huge indoor pool which we sat and watched a dolphin and seal show. Every time the animals jumped Paige's eyes got very wide. I am not sure what she enjoyed more the ice cream she ate while watching the show or the animals jumping into the air. There where many different types of fish that Paige liked to see, she was taken back by the huge glass tank filled with sharks that swam past her, she even gave a couple of kisses through the glass to the sharks.

Picture : Paige at the Beijing Aquarium

Our last stop was to find one of the supermarkets that has a range of lines from many different countries as I thought there might be some items that we cant get in Mongolia. Even though the supermarket was quite small I was able to buy some long life cream and a couple of different things we cant get in UB .

We enjoyed our trip to Beijing and couldn't believe how safe this city felt compare to UB. We only scratched the surface of this modern, busy city and want to visit again soon. There is so much to see here that we didn't get a chance to over these 5 days. We are excited about doing more travel to other parts of China while we are living so close, its only a two hour flight from Mongolia so I hope we make it back to China soon.

Another Week Goes By

Since I last wrote I have finally nearly gotten over my cold. I found myself held up in the apartment as I couldn't face going anywhere. I am glad that my cold is nearly gone as we head off to Beijing tomorrow for a short break away. It seems strange to be hearing myself say that we are going to Beijing for a break. I have always wanted to go to China and when Ben and I travelled to HongKong many years ago we where able to do a day trip and enjoyed it very much. I am very excited to be visiting there and we plan on doing some sight seeing. Many of the ladies do shopping there as living in Mongolia you can not get many western sizes in clothes and shoes so Ben and I hope to do catch up on that. I am not to sure what to expect but as usual will take the experience day by day and consult the lonely plant as we usually do. You will have to stay tuned to my blog to hear all about our trip.

I took a walk today do catch up on doing a bit of day to day shopping. I was trying to find some nappies for Paige for of a night. As usual it took me a while to find the brand I like to buy as many shops where out of stock I think I went into 10 shops in total.

The weather is heating up and it was quite pleasant walking, I think it was a about 5 degrees hmm heat wave. The snow is all melted and I didnt have to wear a coat so that felt good. Its amazing how many people I still notice spit here. When we first arrived and I saw this action of the people and I thought I was going to be sick, it made my stomach turn. It amazes me people dont think anything of it. I try not to look down at the foot paths as the state of them is so dirty from spit and dust. People tell me it is just as bad in China so who knows what I will find there.

The other interesting thing is I am going to be interview by the ABC Kalgoorlie radio next week. Monday in fact. To cut a long story short my mum was talking to some one from the radio station, I think a friend of hers and they thought interviewing me would be interesting listening about living overseas so I will keep you posted on that as well.

Well until next time its just a quick up date.

Having a Cold

This week I have been feeling a bit sorry for myself. Both Paige and I have really bad colds so we have been at home trying to get better. I cant remember the last time I have felt this bad with a cold. Thinking I could just shake it off with some rest, things seem to get worse each day so I decided to take both Paige and myself off to the doctors. Next week we are taking a trip to Beijing for four days so I wanted to make sure we are all fit for that. Thinking the doctor was just going to say "oh you just need to let the cold run it coarse" I was surprised that both Paige and I were a bit sicker then that and in deed needed something stronger then panadole. The doctor was very nice and knowing that there is someone I can see that speaks English sure sets my mind at ease. Being sick at the best of times isn't to good but being sick in a different country always seems worse. I know once the drugs the doctor has given me kicks in I will be feeling much better plus Paige went back to her little school today so at least I will be able to lay on the sofa with out getting jumped on, I am sure some peace and quite will do wonders.