Basically Day 17 is TODAY (which means that the day Im writing right now is my 17th day in Mongolia). And the reason I skipped the days between Day 1-17 is because Im just too eager to share my stories today! But I promise I will post up the stories from Day2-Day16 when Im not lazy lol. >< TODAY WAS A M-A-G-I-C-A-L DAY! All because of my director, Dr. Ganaa, and her husband, who were kind enough to take a day off and bring me traveling around countryside for one whole day! I've realized so many of my dreams in an unexpected way, and I just can't wait to share them all with you! :) So they reached my house at 8am and here we go! The first destination was a tourist resort. At first I thought this would be the only destination for today (but nope) so I took damn lot of photos haha. The name of the tourist resort is Khaan Jims Tourist Camp, and the reason we came here was because Dr. Ganaa and her husband wanna meet their cousin who's working there. The last two pics above is GEARs, the traditional Mongolian tents. They are home to most of the older generations that live in the countryside. The gear is a round tent, often covered with white cloth. The reason of its circular shape is because Mongolian thinks that "corners" will bring bad luck to them. Well, back to my story: I was like a happy monkey, jumping around here and there! And this little girl with purple dress perfectly illustrated my mood when I was there! She's so cute, I love her blending in with the nature! :) We stayed for around 1-2 hours, and then set off to our next destination: Genghis Khan Equestrian Statue, where I fulfilled my dream as a Mongolian Queen and met my King there (he's from Canada btw HAHA)
Look at my newer post: Day 17 Part II to read about this magical story! <3
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I think Asians tend to look alike. Mongolians have almost the same look as Chinese (be it Chinese from China, Malaysia or Indonesia etc), but there are some special features that actually distinct them from the rest. They usually have higher cheekbones, chubby cheeks, smaller eyes, brown skins and straight black hair (woman) and curly hair (usually guys). I think I kinda look like them because of my fats on the cheek (Baby Fat :/) and thus many tried to speak Mongolian to me. And it is so sad that I couldn't understand nor talk to them, even though I really really want to. Can really sense the disappointment from their eyes. :( So lets continue back to the story from Day 0! And so I get off from the plane, and start to queue in the immigration checkpoints. And it took me 2 HOURS standing at the same spot. I was super worried because AIESECers from Mongolia that came to pick me up may be puzzled with what's going on with me and may even just leave. BUT THEY DIDN'T. Damn I'm so surprised. They are so kind and makes me feel so touched. Summing up the immigration checkpoint waiting time and the flight delay, they could have possibly waited for me for more than 3 hours! Not to mention that airport is located at the outskirt of the city, and it took them more than an hour to reach here. The first thing they tell me is: I AM SUPER EXCITED!!! YOU ARE OUR FIRST EP FOR MONGOLIA, AND WE ARE SO PROUD YOU'RE HERE! Well, I am not the First one actually (I'm the second) but I still feel proud too omg!! So we took taxi from airport to city centre. It took almost an hour to reach as the airport was located in the outskirt of the city. The first thing I felt about this city was that: There is sand everywhere. Buildings are located far way from each other (perhaps they have too much land) and the weather is hot and dry. But the people are so kind and genuine, they make you feel like you're precious to them, and they are more than welcome to share this amazing journey with you! :) And so I learnt some quick new facts about this country during the car ride: 1. Mongolia has extreme weather. Min: -40DC during winter Max +40DC during summer. (omg) 2. Mongolian generally only speak Mongolian. Older generation do speak Russian and German, but it is less common. 3. Ulaanbaatar (the capital city) is only a small part of Mongolia, but is home to 50% of Mongolian population. This makes the city super-crowded, and rents/house prices was super high. The traffic is super heavy as well. You can be at the same spot for more than 15 minutes if you were on the road during peak hours! 4. Mongolians prefer Korean food over Chinese food. Korean restaurants are EVERYWHERE. Basically every 2 minutes you'll see one. I suspect people eat Korean food more than local food. 5. Some basic concept of the living costs in Mongolia. Currency conversion: £1 = 3000tögrög ; RM1 = 562.64tögrög It is so cheap if you convert everything to pounds, but "kind of the same" if convert to Malaysian Ringgit. People's salary in average is 1 million tögrög. Rental/housing loan stand most of their monthly expenditure, especially those that live in the capital city. And so, after an hour ride from airport, I'm finally "home". My host welcomed me with a heart-warming smile. She's a single lady, living in a flat which is 15 minutes away from the city centre. Below are some pictures of the flat which I will be staying in for 5 weeks in Mongolia. I was actually pretty nervous as this will be my first time to live with a stranger for more than a month. But everything goes well. My host is a banker in the Mongolian local bank. Her name is Ganaa. She speaks fluent Mongolian, Russian and Turkish, but with limited English proficiency. Body languages helped a lot, so far nothing "big" has been misunderstood. (But quite a lot of small things are, HAHA) One last thing to tell you guys before I end this post! So the day I arrived: 1st June, is basically a national public holiday for Mongolians. It's a mother's and children's thanksgiving day in the country! But different from other countries, everyone (both kids and adults) get a day off to celebrate it with family, and the attention and effort given into this day is comparable to New Year celebration or Christmas in Western countries. (You can read more about it here) People usually celebrate it in the Sukhbaatar Square, but you can also feel the atmosphere in other smaller squares in different regions. That's all for the first day! Hope you enjoy my sharing! <3 Well, I always love to make decisions without thinking too much of its consequences, as long as the purpose and rationale of doing that is justifiable. It only took me 1 minute to decide to volunteer in Mongolia. Although I was feeling super nervous but at the same time the excitement was overwhelming as well! The idea of living in an unfamiliar country for more than a month is just too "SHIOK"! (ie: shiok is a Malaysian version of saying SUPER COOL!) Preparation process wasn't easy at all. I need to juggle between final exams, travel itinerary (of when mom and dad come to UK), and some preparations of the exchange including applications, interviews, visas, flight tickets and some other trivial stuffs which take lots of time altogether. My last paper ends on 30/5 in the afternoon, and on the same day I will need to pack my luggage to Mongolia from scratch, and to move out from my room as my house contract ends at a point where I will still be stuck in Mongolia. On the same day, I will also have to rush to train station and take a train to London in order to catch the early flight tomorrow. And well, before i continue my story, I would love to first express my gratitude to Han Sheng and Su Tian for pampering me with a decent meal before I start off my journey. And so I reached London at around 11.31pm, and at Janice's house around 12.30am. (Well it takes so long because of some delays and also I lost my way in the mid of journey hehe) Janice welcomed me with her new short hair, and without much thoughts, I decided to cut mine short as well. I don't know if you noticed the difference but seems like I'm going further and further from what I intend to write in this post, so I will just revert back to the topic, lol >< The flight from London, United Kingdom to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia is roughly around 16 hours in total, including two transitions stops in Istanbul and Bishkek. The flight was ... tiring I would say. Couldn't sleep at all, and due to the time difference, I don't even know whether the meal served is either breakfast, lunch or dinner. I wasn't even sure whether I should refer to London, Istanbul or Mongolia's time to decide whether I should sleep now or later. But in the end I just gave up sleeping because I can't find a comfortable position with a chair that force me to sit up straight. But the flight journey from Bishkek to Ulaanbaatar was interesting. The man sitting beside me was a Mongolian public government officer, who is currently the project leader of the local transportation system, and is currently planning to build the very first BRT (Bus Rapid Transit) in Mongolia. We have nice small talks, with topics jumping around from where I have stayed: Malaysia, UK to his hobbies, daughters and his adventurous life. He told me that Mongolians are kind and naive, and everyone in this country is like a big family. It's never a big deal to start talking with strangers on street and becoming friends short after. And indeed, this is one of the most beautiful part in Mongolia, which makes me smile every time I see that myself while strolling along the street. And so finally, I reached Mongolia, and was so happy that the whole process of getting here was kinda smooth and nice.
In the next blog post: Mongolia Day 1 --> I will talk about stories when I first arrive in this country, and also to introduce my local host to you. I have so many stories to tell, and I can't wait to write all of them down here asap! Thank you for reading this post and have a nice day! Drop me a message if you want to! :) |