Russians, Mongolians, and Bears, Oh my

  Inner Mongolia, China
Tuesday, July 8, 2008

So FINALLY here is the scoop on my trip to Inner Mongolia this past weekend. Just to clear confusion-Mongolia is a separate country, whereas Inner Mongolia is a Chinese territory. Possession bounced back and forth between China and northern nomads and tribes for a few years-a history best not discussed here.

Anywho- my trip.

We left Thursday night on the overnight train where I discovered something I dearly miss about home-cold drinks. 'Cold' drinks in China are typically room temperature. Can't describe the euphoria of a cold drink on a hot evening.

On Friday morning after leaving the train we went to Five Springs Mountain,

Wuquan Shan

a national park-like place which has, you guessed it, springs and mountains (and lakes). The place was absolutely gorgeous (or for the Cornell readers, 'gorges'), and I'll let the pictures speak for themselves. We hiked around the woods, made friends with bears, and hiked up the mountain. Seeing miles and miles of scenery at once... awesome

Ithaca Beer Co. is on top of the world

And again

American roomie 2

Later in the afternoon we went to our lodgings for the evening, a touristy stop resembling a Mongolian village, complete with yurts, horses, and oh yes, Mongolian wrestling. Some girls tried out the horses (yours truly did not, given his family's history with the creatures, cough cough dad cough).

Mongolian greeters

The wrestling crew

But as for the wrestling... yes I had to try it. Mongolian wrestling is interesting, as both contenders wear leather harness things that resemble tacky 'martial arts' clothing form video games. I regret to say my judo skills did not overcome my stocky lil opponent and I went 0 for 2. The first round was very very close however-it's always that last pivot that counts. I'm still searching for a picture of me in action.

That night we watched traditional Mongolian dances around bonfires and of course joined in. Seeing the mixture between traditional dances and more modern European techno music was definitely a cultural experience. Afterwards, being the Fourth of July, we made makeshift s'mores and sang America the Beautiful.

Fire worshippers

Native dancing

Saturday was spent exploring the city, which is right on the border with Russia. We stopped at a ginormous Russian

Russian museum of art

attraction (which I have no idea what to call). There were Soviet statues and a Russian art/propaganda museum. Enjoy the pictures of Lenin and Putin. I also had a chance to enjoy my first taste of Russian food... interesting.

For the afternoon we went to a lake, where it promptly started thundering and lightning upon arrival. After clearing

Charles walking toward the storm

up a bit I had a chance to snap some shots out on the dock.

To wind things up, back at the train station to catch the overnight, I decided to dance... yes dance with the locals (another CET student, Sasha, joined in as well).

Dancers

There is a video of said dancing (without us), and I am trying to get a picture of me.

That's about it... overall this trip was probably one of the more exotic ones I've ever been on. Back on campus the grind has been, well, grindy. I've been looking into Olympic tickets, and I forget that seeing the best athletes in the world is a rather expensive proposition. Right now I'm trying to decide between swimming (no Phelps or any hotshots), a soccer match, or perhaps the more random events, like the canoe/kayaking events. At about $300 a ticket I'm thinking one will do it for me, so place your vote now...


Take care friends,
Jonathan