Monday was the day to make the trip to Darkhan. We had been told it would take three to three and a half hours. After breakfast, we got all of our bags into a 12 passenger van and a five passenger SUV. And then we posed for group pictures. We asked one of the hotel staff to take pictures of our group - and the poor man ended up doing so with at least six cameras - and at least two photos with each camera. From left to right, bottom row: Minh, Thai, Erika, Karla, Susan, Franz; middle row: Jeannie, Lara, Grace, Kim, Billy; and back row: Jonathan, Tom, Peter.
Just before 10:00, left Hotel Epos, my home for the past week. I was one of four passengers in the SUV that Billy drove. In Ulaanbaatar, in an attempt to relieve some of the traffic, each day 20% of cars are prohibited from driving. This is done by the last digit of the license plate. On Mondays, 1 and 6 cannot drive; Tuesdays, 2 and 7; etc. Billy drove by his inlaws home to retrieve a package of paperwork needed for the trip. And then we drove through some horrible traffic - it was worse than usual, as we soon discovered that there was an accident blocking one and a half of the three lanes on the road we had to turn on to. In Mongolia, drivers do not stop and let an oncoming car turn left and cross in front of you - instead they just inch up as closely as possible and prevent anyone from getting in the way. It is every person for themselves. So even without an accident, it makes for a nasty mess. This means it took us nearly an hour to travel about 10 KM to get out of the city. And then we made a prearranged stop at a convenience store to get the van whose license plate ended in one. We moved all of the suitcases and gear from the SUV to the eight passenger van - and went shopping for snacks to have on the trip.
The store had one inside restroom that the women were allowed to line up for - and the men used the outside restroom: any bushes, back corners of buildings or whatever. I noted that was the case here and at the gas station next door - if you saw a man walking to the side of the building, he was off to find his spot.
After shopping, we piled into the two vans and headed north. We stopped a few minutes later at a Buddhist site. We were told that these are located on hilltops, and that you would walk around them three times for good luck. As you walked, you tossed stones on the pile.
Of course, being on a hilltop gives a great view of the surrounding area.
I am not sure of the meaning of the colored cloths on the poles, but we later saw many of these stone piles with the poles and colored cloths - although none of them were as large as here.
People also left offerings, including money and what appeared to be small urns.
Now that we had good luck for our journey, we headed north. A little after 1:00, we came to a rather isolated restaurant and stopped for lunch.
Billy had to help all of us volunteers order food - they had photos on the wall and so we all basically ordered from those, with some translation by Billy. I had calves liver fried with onions, rice and bread. Around 2:00, we got back on the road. Once we left Ulaanbaatar, the road was a two lane paved road all the way to Darkhan. There was only one spot where we had to drive off the road because of construction and that was less than half a mile.
The countryside was quite beautiful. Everything was very green, and we saw many herds of cattle, sheep, goats and houses. But the road was a challenging drive - many potholes, speed bumps as we entered and exited towns - and there were no breakdown lanes, just the two travel lanes. In Mongolia, they do not fence livestock into certain fields. Instead, they fence around houses to keep livestock out - and the livestock is free to roam. This means that at any given point, animals wander out on to the road, further adding to the excitement of the trip.
Around 4:00 p.m. (some six hours after our departure), we arrived at the Comfort Hotel in Darkhan - a large, relatively modern hotel.
Besides billiards, restaurant, fitness center and karaoke bar, it even has a large sauna.
And a tent with barbeque and a bar.
Around 7:00, we gathered for dinner in the large restaurant in the hotel. They have a very large selection of food and beverages, meeting everyone's needs. However, since there were 14 of us, the meals came out over an extended period of time such that some people were nearly finished with their meal before everyone had been served - but no worries, everyone was simply glad to have finally arrived and have a nice meal.
After dinner, many of us went to the karaoke bar where four of the employees of Darkhan HFH were waiting for us. The bar has eight rooms with different motifs and of different sizes. The Mongolian room was the right size, so we gathered there for several hours. There were hundreds of songs in Mongolian, Russian and English - you simply selected the number from the book and voila, the music played and the words rolled across the screen. And after each song, the computer rated you. Naturally, everyone was rated as great singers with scores above 90. We had a rollicking good time - and many beers and shots of vodka were consumed (including some of the good vodka I had been given as a gift).
I headed to bed around 11:30, slept well and now it is time to head off to breakfast and out for our first day of building.
Just before 10:00, left Hotel Epos, my home for the past week. I was one of four passengers in the SUV that Billy drove. In Ulaanbaatar, in an attempt to relieve some of the traffic, each day 20% of cars are prohibited from driving. This is done by the last digit of the license plate. On Mondays, 1 and 6 cannot drive; Tuesdays, 2 and 7; etc. Billy drove by his inlaws home to retrieve a package of paperwork needed for the trip. And then we drove through some horrible traffic - it was worse than usual, as we soon discovered that there was an accident blocking one and a half of the three lanes on the road we had to turn on to. In Mongolia, drivers do not stop and let an oncoming car turn left and cross in front of you - instead they just inch up as closely as possible and prevent anyone from getting in the way. It is every person for themselves. So even without an accident, it makes for a nasty mess. This means it took us nearly an hour to travel about 10 KM to get out of the city. And then we made a prearranged stop at a convenience store to get the van whose license plate ended in one. We moved all of the suitcases and gear from the SUV to the eight passenger van - and went shopping for snacks to have on the trip.
The store had one inside restroom that the women were allowed to line up for - and the men used the outside restroom: any bushes, back corners of buildings or whatever. I noted that was the case here and at the gas station next door - if you saw a man walking to the side of the building, he was off to find his spot.
 |
| Franz chatting with Bainaa, the director of the Darkhan HFH chapter |
 |
| I do not know what the sign said, but will try to find out |
Of course, being on a hilltop gives a great view of the surrounding area.
I am not sure of the meaning of the colored cloths on the poles, but we later saw many of these stone piles with the poles and colored cloths - although none of them were as large as here.
People also left offerings, including money and what appeared to be small urns.
 |
| Thai and Jeannie |
The countryside was quite beautiful. Everything was very green, and we saw many herds of cattle, sheep, goats and houses. But the road was a challenging drive - many potholes, speed bumps as we entered and exited towns - and there were no breakdown lanes, just the two travel lanes. In Mongolia, they do not fence livestock into certain fields. Instead, they fence around houses to keep livestock out - and the livestock is free to roam. This means that at any given point, animals wander out on to the road, further adding to the excitement of the trip.
Around 4:00 p.m. (some six hours after our departure), we arrived at the Comfort Hotel in Darkhan - a large, relatively modern hotel.
Besides billiards, restaurant, fitness center and karaoke bar, it even has a large sauna.
And a tent with barbeque and a bar.
Around 7:00, we gathered for dinner in the large restaurant in the hotel. They have a very large selection of food and beverages, meeting everyone's needs. However, since there were 14 of us, the meals came out over an extended period of time such that some people were nearly finished with their meal before everyone had been served - but no worries, everyone was simply glad to have finally arrived and have a nice meal.
After dinner, many of us went to the karaoke bar where four of the employees of Darkhan HFH were waiting for us. The bar has eight rooms with different motifs and of different sizes. The Mongolian room was the right size, so we gathered there for several hours. There were hundreds of songs in Mongolian, Russian and English - you simply selected the number from the book and voila, the music played and the words rolled across the screen. And after each song, the computer rated you. Naturally, everyone was rated as great singers with scores above 90. We had a rollicking good time - and many beers and shots of vodka were consumed (including some of the good vodka I had been given as a gift).
I headed to bed around 11:30, slept well and now it is time to head off to breakfast and out for our first day of building.
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