Spending Time In Paige's Pre School Class

It was fun and games for Paige's pre school class as they took part in the primary school's picnic day. I went along to lend a hand in her Paige's class for the morning.

Picture: Pre school class in morning circle

Each morning the children sing some special songs, talk about the weather and what day of the week it is. I was surprised at how well the teacher takes control of the twenty something pre school children. Paige's pre school teachers name is Mr Berge. He is new to the school and I find it is great having a male influence around Paige during the week as Ben works away on site Monday to Friday. There are two full time teachers assistants who are Mongolian and are very nice. Paige tells me about which children have been naughty and I was able to see them in action, sometimes I wonder what type of rules they have to follow at home because I was surprised at how naughty they could be. During the morning the children took part in games and different activities. Paige seemed to have a so much fun. By the end of the morning I must admit I was warn out. I am glad I went along to lend a hand.

Picture: Paige during snack time

Picture: Paige playing with school friends

Buying A Car In Mongolia

A while ago we thought about buying a car here because we felt the van system that the company provides doesn't work for us all the time. To be honest "It dose my head in".

I started to look at some of the car places around town to gather an idea on some prices. People had told me that it is better to go to the Black Car Market where all types of cars are sold, prices are a lot cheaper there. You would think it would be easy to buy a car but here are some things we had to take into consideration.

• Take someone who speaks Mongolian
• Have cash in US dollars
• Know if you want right or left hand drive
• Make sure when you have decided on the car that items are not swapped out of the car
• Have a letter from land lord to say you are living in the apartment
• Obtain Mongolian driver licence
• Ensure you have a car spot to park your car in your apartment block (extra cost to consider)

We where lucky enough that one of our friends who work for Boroo had just brought a car so we where given a number of good tips to help with the process. With all that taken into consideration we set off on the adventure with fingers crossed.

Friday - We first went to the Black Car Market last Friday and found it a little over whelming. With a company van being late for picking us up we didn't have as much time to look. The market was full of different types of cars all owned by different sellers in no real order. Some cars had the price clearly marked on the windscreen and others if you wanted to know the price you had to call the phone the number which was on the car. We had taken one of the ladies who works for us as her English is very good. She was making calls finding out the asking price of cars we where interested in. Only being able to spend half an hour at the market we found it a good chance to get an idea of what types of car would best suit us and our budget. We decided that we would return the next day, being a Saturday and spend two hours looking, with fingers crossed we would find something.

Our wish list was;

• Small 4WD or all wheel drive car
• Any colour except black or pink (which Paige wanted)
• Diesel
• Left hand drive
• From year 1997 up
• Low kilometers less then 100,000
• A bit of room in back for trips away over night

Saturday - Back to the market we went with a better idea of what to expect. As we walked around looking at cars we decided that we would take two cars for a test drive one being a Mitsubishi and another a Nissan. Seeing as the Nissan was boxed in, the man said it would take him a while to get the other cars to be moved so we said we would return. We headed back to test drive a small Mitsubishi Pajero Io. It was funny, the man couldn't understand why we wanted to test drive it before we brought it. Our friend explained to him that we wouldn't consider buying any car without first test driving it, that's what most westerners do. The man wasn't happy but came with us on the test drive. Ben did the driving as my licence hadn't come through yet. With the fuel light flashing we took the car for a small test drive. It wasn't bad for a toy car, a little squashy and didn't have much get up and go. We decided to head back to the Nissan and take it for a test drive. This car felt good to drive Ben said, I wasn't to squashed in the passenger seat. The engined didn't seem to have any strange sounds coming from it. We had given it a once over already, checking the body, tyres, seats and motor all seem to look OK. We decided this car was the one so we pulled over and started talking price. After agreeing on price, we could take the car then and there. The seller would meet us at the transfer office to sign the paper work on Monday so we turned the car around and dropped the man home so he could take all his personal belongings from the car. On the way to the mans home, he was busy letting us know of things about the car, explaining the radio system, explained we would need to replace one of the hoses after ten thousand kilometers and the front tyres would need tube inserts as the tyres where tubeless. I thought this was nice of him to let us know this information, Mongolians are not so helpful at times but this man was. Our friend found out that the man wanted to sell the car because we wanted to buy something bigger for his growing family.

So now we have a

• Nissan Auto Terrano 4WD (Like a Pathfinder)
• 1997 wagon
• Petrol
• Done 89,000km
• Right hand drive

Picture: Paige standing with our car

Picture: Front view of our car

Picture: Paige pretending to drive our car

Monday - Now the fun and games begun with the paper work. True to his word the man who sold us the car met us at the registration office. We had to drive to another office location as one of the people where away who processed the paper work there. Once the process started we where told that the letter from the land lord needed to be stamped by another office and to come back once we had that completed. So off we went, while I looked after Paige Ben and our friend did the running around. To cut a long drawn out story short, 10 hours, 2 visits to the housing office, three visits to the registration office later, the car was now in our name.

Wednesday - Wanting to jump in and take a drive I had to wait another couple of days as my Mongolian licence hadn't yet been processed so once again it was a waiting game the wheels do turn slow here in Mongolia. Paige had fun helping clean the car, I couldn't get over how black the water was after washing the car mats and seat covers but I was glad that job was done. Ben said I was like a child with a new toy, and yes he was right, knowing I would soon have a bit of extra freedom to come and go when ever I liked.

Thursday - It has now been two days since I have been able to jump in the car and drive myself. "Freedom" at last, it sure makes a big difference to life here. Paige is enjoying the car as well. I am finding driving here isn't as hard as I thought it would be. "Think like a Mongolian" I say to myself if I need to push my way in some where. Tooting of the horns takes a bit of getting used too. Expect the unexpected is the key to safe driving here I think. I don't think seven months ago I could of jumped into a car and had driven here. Getting used to the traffic as a pedestrian has helped. Driving on the opposite side to Australian roads takes a bit of getting used to but having so much traffic around you it is easy to go with the flow. I am sure there is a blog in the making about my driving experience here.

Paige Starts Pre School At ISU

The 1st of September is the traditional starting date for the school year here in Mongolia. No matter what day of the week the 1st of September falls on it marks the new school year.

On Saturday was Paige's first day at her new preschool at the International School of Ulaanbaatar.

Picture: Paige playing in class

It was a special day for the school of a whole as it was the opening of the new school grounds and the schools 15th birthday so the day was marked with an opening ceremony where the President of Mongolia attended to make a speak and cut the ribbon.

Picture: Mongolian President cuts ribbon for schools opening

Picture: Fiddle player and Singer performs traditional song

Being a Saturday Ben was able to come with me to drop Paige at school. There are two Preschool classes and Paige is in PS1. Her new teachers name is Mr Burg who is in charge of both classes. He has a helper for each of the classes who both ladies seem quite nice. It will take sometime for Paige to get used to getting up so early to catch the van with the other children as she needs to be at school by 8am, she then finishes at 12.30pm so this will take me a little while to get used to as well.

The school web site is http://www.isumongolia.edu.mn/ to view more information about the school if interested.

Picture: Paige & Ben play with the toys

Picture: Paige with new class friends

New Delhi - Third And Last Stop In India

17th Aug to 24th Aug 2007

Having said good bye to Jaipur we where on the train again. This time our trip would take about six hours. We where in a coach class train carriage, with sit up seats and plenty of leg room. We where delivered dinner which I didn't touch we where also given tea and coffee and bottled water. Even though we booked for Paige they don't cater for children so Paige was very happy with her potato chips that her and I shared.

We arrived at New Deli a head of time and made our way up the stairs with a couple of disgruntled porters. The station was different to the other train stations that we had been at before, here there seemed to be two exits. We where approached by a number of people asking if we wanted taxis and knowing our friend Geoff was coming we said no.

Time ticked past, we soon realised there was a problem as Geoff was no where in sight. I was coming up with some reasons why he might be late, one was maybe I told him the wrong date? maybe he had fallen a sleep as it was 12 midnight? I had done that myself one time before with one of my sisters. I borrowed a mobile phone from one of the strangers near by and made a call. Turns out there where two train stations in Deli, New Deli and Old Deli so Geoff had been at the New Deli one where we where and hadn't seen us and then he went to the Old Deli station in hope of finding us. So after talking on the phone we waited a short while longer and out of the blue the person whom we borrowed the phone from came running up and said "Your friends on the phone". How funny that was the stranger had found us, turns out Geoff couldn't find us, he was at the other exit to the station. With everything sorted it was nice to see Geoff. We felt so bad that in the communication by email, information was lost a long the way. Geoff and his driver was such a star running around and finally finding us. We headed back to his apartment to catch up on some well deserved sleep and a story to remember.

Seeing it was the weekend we spent the next day with Geoff as he was off work. It was really nice to catch up on what we all had been up to since we all had left Indonesia. Geoff, Michelle and their cat Manky where our neighbours there. Michelle, Geoff's wife was back in Australia and couldn't make it back to India while we visited so we missed her very much during our stay.

During the day Geoff took me to one of the local shopping areas to pick up some food items and I was surprised at how clean and the range of items you could buy, plus everything was written in English. What a change this made from Mongolia. Ben had come down with a tummy bug which had laid him up in bed, we think it was from the train food he ate. I am so glad I settled on the chips we had brought along with us.

Over the coming days while Geoff was at work we had the use of his driver so sight seeing wasn't a problem. Our first site was to see the Red Fort. An impressive building from the out side but once inside there wasn't much to see. Once again so many building left to rack and ruin by the Indian government.

Picture: Entrance to the Red Fort

Picture: One of the many funny signs we saw

Dinner we spent with friends of Geoff and Michelle's, Kelly-Anne and Micheal, who had been living in Deli for about six months. When we arrived at the restaurant Ben had to change into a pair of long pants as to our surprise the restaurant had a dress code. We all saw the funny side of this. Later in the week Kelly-Anne had offered to take me out shopping which I did take her up on.

Picture: Bernadette, Paige, Ben, Micheal, Kelly-Anne & Geoff

Picture: Bernadette, Paige & Manky the cat

The next day Ben, Paige and I headed to one of the malls to pick up some books and Cd's and I was very surprised at how many malls where in New Deli, I don't know how people remember which mall is where. I didn't think New Deli was going to be as modern as it was. I couldn't get over the beggars that come up to the cars while stopped at traffic lights. Many women have babies that tap on the window asking for money. I was told that some women higher babies to beg with. I couldn't get over the sight of some babies heads wrapped in bandages banging on the windows, some even had what looked like fake blood on them to try and get more money from people in the cars, the babies where all smiles so I figure they couldn't be to hurt.

Picture: Humayun's Tomb a tomb we visited

Our time in New Deli seemed to fly by. Each day Ben seemed to be getting over his stomach bug, on a couple of occasions I went exploring to some of the local markets on my own as Ben wasn't well enough, Paige had plenty of Daddy time. I was lucky enough while we in New Delhi the expat lady group was meeting so I went along with Kelly-Anne for the coffee morning. I was surprised at how friendly the ladies where and how organised the group was. New Deli sure seemed an easier place to live then Mongolia from the accounts I got from some of the ladies.

Picture: Full bus on one of New Delhi's roads

On one of our visits to a local market I decided to get one of my hands done in henna. I had seen it on some of the women and thought "why not". I decided to go with very plain design and only had one of my hands done. It is meant to last up to two weeks so when Paige said she wanted to do the same I convinced her to do the sticker form that they use for kids.

Picture: Henna design and Bernadette's hand

Picture: Stickers on Paige's hand

On our second last day in Deli we took a day trip to visit the Taj Mahal. It was a four hour drive each way and turned out to be worth ever minute of travel. Paige coped OK as we had her portable DVD player, (a must when travelling).

The Taj Mahal was breath taking. Described as the most extravagant monument ever built for love. The Taj was built by Emperor Shah Jahan as a memorial for his second wife, Mumtaz, who died giving birth to their fourteenth child in 1631. I had seen pictures before but I cant say they give you the full picture in taking in the workmanship of this building.

Picture: The Taj Mahal

Picture: Ben, Paige & Bernadette sitting in front of the Taj Mahal

New Deli was our last stop in India. With the three cities we visited I think New Deli was the one I liked most. It was so nice to stay with our friend Geoff and spend time with Kelly-Ann who lives there. A big thank you to them.

India is a wonderful place filled with history and culture. Like most places there are good parts and bad parts but I did really like India. I would describe India as "A woman who is full of surprises that has beauty that needs a bit of TLC". India is a place I know I would like to return to and explore more of.

Jaipur India - Second Stop In India

14th Aug to 17th Aug 2007

We headed to the train station a little earlier in Mumbai as we didn't know what to expect. The porters seem to pounce on us as we stepped out of the taxi. We figure they would know where we needed to go and wait plus they could carry our bags for a small fee ($1.50). We waited on the platform and had a number of beggars pass by asking for money. In India there are so many beggars that once you give to one the others around just keep asking for money.

Picture: Paige with two Policemen at train station

We boarded the train to find a small berth compartment which we had to ourselves. Both Ben and Paige where excited to be on the train, pulling the bunks down, Piage jumping around. At this stage I was travelling with two children, full of excitement. I had slept on a train many years ago in a sleeper in Australia so I wasn't as excited. The journey went well, a porter delivered clean sheets and blankets for sleeping and we where delivered dinner which was set out on a tray. The food I would rate 3.5 out of 10 for taste. I only had a couple of hours of sleep due to restlessness. Night turned to morning and we waited to arrive in Jaipur, ready for the next part of our adventure to begin.

Picture: Paige jumping around on train

As we stepped from the train a porter took our bags and a man asked if we wanted a taxi. "Sure" we said. Once we where in the taxi we headed to the hotel. On the way the man "Jimmy" talked to us about being our guide while we where here and after reading the reviews from other travellers in his book we thought we would give him a go in the evening to visit one of the forts.

We stayed at the Narain Niwas Palace Hotel which we had a choice of rooms, a nice surprise so we chose the one nearest the pool. The hotel had a nice old world charm about it, the gardens where very nice and the peacocks roaming around where a sight to see but at night they where very loud. Paige was excited everytime she saw one.

Picture: The hotel at the front

Our first sight seeing trip was to view the Nahargorh (Tiger Fort) built in 1734. We couldn't go in the fort its self but the view of Jaipur was just amazing, we didn't realise that Jaipur was so large. We found Jimmy very interesting and he wouldn't stop talking. We booked him for the next day.

Picture: Small part of the view of Jaipur from Fort

Picture: Ben & Paige at the Fort

Jaipur was such a different city to Mumbai, old charm about it but it wasn't very clean. The buildings where interesting to look at. The old city also know as the "Pink City" streets where lined with shops, the streets known as bazaars. The buildings were a funny colour, I wouldn't say pink nor red but an interesting shade of the two. The area was very busy with people coming and going.

Picture: Some buildings that line the street

Our next sight seeing visit was the City Palace which was a blend of Rajusthani and Mughal architecture. A part of the Palace was closed due to being the Maharaja's residence. The rest of the Palace we where able to wonder around. Very interesting and beautiful artwork on the walls. Ben was interested in the armour room, a very impressive display of all sorts of weapons and armour, we stayed in this section for quite a while, "wild horses" could drag Ben away.

Picture: A section of the Palace

We then visited the cenotaphs of the maharanis of Jaipur where we found the wives of past rulers where buried. The workmanship on the tombs was amazing, carvings in the stone was very impressive. I was saddened to see the gardens around this area was in shambles. A place that deserved a bit more respect then it had been given.

Picture: Tomb of past Queen

Our third day was spent visiting the area of Amber. There was an impressive fort and palace area. The site of large amounts of elephants in this area catering for tourists was a sight to see. We decided not to wait to ride this amazing animals as the line was too long but Paige got to sit on an elephant in the grounds. The Palace was an impressive structure which in its hay day would of been full of life and amazing items but as we have seen on our trip so far, the Indian people and government don't maintain these wonderful buildings of their past. How sad I felt as we wondered through this Palace.

Picture: Paige sitting on painted elephant

Picture: Ben, Paige & Bernadette standing in part of the Palace

Our last night Jimmy invited us for dinner at his family home to met his family. We thought why not so we headed to his home which was in what looked like a middle class part of town. Most of his family didn't speak English and there was a number of children so Paige was soon running around playing. We where told that seven adult children and Jimmy's parents all lived in the house. It was interesting to see how the women cooked outside on a wood fire. It was quite a large home which had a number of rooms used for both eating and sleeping. Jimmy took Ben for a walk while both Paige and I stayed with the women. The children peered through the window watching me eat. Jimmy's mother tried to talk to me but her English wasn't very good. It was amazing what a smile can convey. Waiting for Ben to return I played with the children and they loved me being monster trying to eat them all up. The laughter of all the children was just heart warming.

Picture: Bernadette, Paige, Jimmy's wife, nieces & nephews

Picture: Jimmy & Ben

Our last day Ben, Paige and I did some more exploring of the city on our own before Jimmy picked us up to take us to the train station. We decided to catch a auto rickshaw, which Paige enjoyed very much.

Picture: Bangle stalls are everywhere

Picture: Holly man on the street

Having Jimmy as sort of guide was good, I would call him more like a taxi driver. He seemed to have a big heart and was very friendly, a little over bearing at times but all in all a nice guy who was making a living for his family and an asset to Jaipur's tourism trade.

It was now time to catch the train again and head to New Deli.

Mumbai India - First Stop In India

6th Aug to 13th Aug 2007

We arrived at the Mumbai airport with no hassles, a little tired as it was 1 am. We caught a pre paid taxi which we could choose air-con or non air-con, so seeing it was night time we thought the sun wouldn't be a problem so we chose non air-con. We headed to our hotel which was the Fariyas. The taxi driver zoomed through the streets which we saw people sleeping by the side of the road. We were surprised to see hundreds of other people up walking the streets and thought maybe they where heading to pray or start work at the markets, not to sure by this time 2am. The time difference from Seoul was about 2.5 hours so after a big flight from we where ready for some sleep.

Later in the morning after some sleep we decided to go for a walk after breakfast to get a feel for the city. We had heard that you could do tours of the city to see everything in a full day but as we where staying for a number of days we decided our plan would be to see things each morning and relax in afternoons as Paige would need rest time being on the go.

The first couple of days it poured with rain so even with umbrellas we got very wet. We had never seen rain like this before over such long periods of time. I don't know how anyone keeps dry. We wanted to enjoy ourselves so we did the best we could allowing for the rain.

Getting around town we found easy using the black and yellow cabs that seem to be everywhere. Compared to other cars these cabs sure out number them. It is hard to work out the fares as they have a meter but the driver checks the fare price list so it is easy to be over charged, being really cheap it is really not worth questioning only if they say some crazy price. Most of the cab drivers are quite honest but some did try and over charge us.

Picture: Yellow & Black Cabs

The buildings around the city where very interesting to look at a lot of them need work but I am sure if they could talk they would have a number of stories to tell. Some sites we saw where, The Gateway of India which sits facing out to the Mumbai Harbour, very impressive structure which seems quite a popular place to visit and get hassled from people wanting to take tourists on city tours.

Picture: Gateway Of India

Chhatrapati Shivaji Maharaj Vastu Sangrahalaya (Prince of Wales Museum) was interesting to see many items that date back a many years. The hand carved items I found most impressive, the workmanship was just amazing.

Mani Bhavan is the building in which Mahatma Gandhi stayed during his visits to Bombay from 1917 to 1934. It is a small museum and one of the rooms has been preserved as it was when Mahatma Gandhi was there.

Picture: The St Thomas' Cathedral

Picture: Over loaded bus near train station

The Markets in Mumbai where interesting to wonder through, there seems to be a lot of them, never know what you will find. Chor Bazaar (antiques & furniture), Bhuleshwar Market (fruit & veg), Colada Market (a range of items) we visited .

Picture: Ben smelling some spices in one of the markets

Picture: Bernadette given a red dot on her forehead while visiting a temple

The Hanging Gardens sits on top of a hill over looking the city, we had to catch a cab to get there. We where hoping to get a view of the city and weren't disappointed. The gardens were very nice and neat but the name seems to sound better then what we found.

Picture: Paige & Bernadette at the Hanging Gardens

Picture: View from Hanging Gardens of the city

Picture: One of the buildings that line the street in Mumbai

Mumbai was an interesting place to see, I think we over stayed here, four or five days would of been enough. I think one of the most surprising parts was people still call the city Bombay the old name of the city.

It was time to travel to Jaipur, the next city on our holiday.

Korea - Seoul Stop Over To India

3rd Aug to 5th Aug 2007

We got off to a good start considering that we had the days a little confused when we where travelling. We thought we where travelling on Friday night 3rd Aug, but turned out it was Friday morning, luckily we had done a double check of times on our departure. Feeling a little rushed in packing we made our departure time and date.

One of our friends had told me about a first class lounge you can pay to use before the flight in UB and it was such a good tip so we didn't have to line up to check in for the flight as every man and his dog seemed to be leaving UB on our flight.

Picture: View of Seoul from Seoul Tower

The flight went well and once we arrived we went to the Lotte Hotel by the transit bus from the airport which was very easy to find and use. The hotel we found quite nice except for the cost of having washing done and couldn't get over the high cost of room service. I suppose we were in a first world country again so prices sure did get higher. We decide to find a local restaurant for dinner.

Picture: Paige with Hotel employee who we called the Princess Lady

Day 1- Went to Dangdaemum Market to find it was a series of streets which where lined with shops. What we consider market style isn't the same as what they consider it in Korea. Getting around we decided to use the train system which was very easy to use. The only problem was working out which way was the best to exit to the roads above the subway system. We found the areas of the subway system are lined with shops and at times you think you are in a mini mall. Dinner we found a small restaurant that was down a little alley way. Ben was surprised I decided to lead the way and try such a out of the way place. Paige loved the grilled fish they served which was cooked out side the front door.

Day 2- The day started off quite wet and got worse. We visited the Gyeongbokgung Palace which was like most palaces we had seen in other Asian countries, which are heavy in the Chinese influence. We headed off to find the Janghanpyeong Antique Market but found the series of shops where closed due to a public holiday. Hmm, no one told us it was a public holiday. For dinner we tried a hot pot meal that we cooked the meat at our table in a pot heated from below on a burner. We got talking to a couple of American solders who where at the next table. Interesting people to talk to about what other people thought about Americans.

Picture: Changing of the Guard at the Palace

Day 3- Visited the N Seoul Tower. We caught the cable car from the bottom to the top of the platform of the tower. The weather was quite over cast so happy to see the view from the first level and we decided not travel the rest of the way to the top of the tower. We then headed to Insadang shopping area which on Sundays is a traffic free zone. Amongst the small art galleries are small art and craft shops which we strolled along. It reminded me of China town in Singapore.

Picture: Seoul Tower

Picture: Paige & Ben at Street Market

Day 4- Our last day in Seoul was spent wondering around searching for some camera equipment for me. Mongolia isn't really the place to purchase such items. I have been told I can order in from China but will take three months to arrive.

Picture: Writing brushes in shop window

I think Seoul is a nice city to visit, a bit expensive. Nice to be in a first world country for a change which is clean, has some interesting food and generally nice people. Would we go back? maybe but not in a hurry.

Picture: Street Artist