Mongolia

Planning The Trans-Siberian Handbook by Bryn Thomas ($162 from www.paddyfield.com) is well worth buying for the train journey and Mongolia. If you are travelling by train, bring plenty of food and drink (even teabags) because the cafeteria car is not well stocked. Hot water, however, is available in every carriage. Although not cheap, Karakorum Expeditions - run by Australian Graham Taylor - took a lot of the hassle out of organising our two-week Mongolian trip. My husband and I paid US$1,380 (HK$10,750) each, which included accommodation in the capital, Ulan Bator, tickets to the Naadam Festival (difficult to buy from overseas), domestic flights into the Gobi Desert, then a 4WD, an excellent English-speaking guide, good accommodation and all meals once we got there (tel: [976] 11 315 655; www.gomongolia.com). Getting there There are no direct flights to Mongolia from Hong Kong. The cheapest route, according to the Mongolian Consulate in Kwun Tong (tel: 2264 6173; www.mongolia.org.hk), is a night flight via Seoul, but there are other possible routes via Tokyo and Beijing. We flew to Mongolia via Beijing, but because of diplomatic issues, if you hold a British passport, you'll need a double-entry Chinese visa, even if you're just in transit. We weren't aware of this and got stung with a 2,000 yuan (HK$1,860) fine, as well as a four-hour delay at Beijing airport. We travelled on the trans-Mongolian (Siberian) train and stopped off on our way to Moscow. I would recommend that travellers with a bit of time take the train. You get to see Beijing and then in the middle of the night at the border you can watch the wheels of the train being adjusted to a different gauge. There's also a stark change of topography as you go from barren desert to green expanses. It's only a couple of nights' train ride from Hong Kong to Ulan Bator. To save money, and because I had the time, I took the ferry from Tsim Sha Tsui to Shenzhen (a one-hour journey that costs HK$89), then flew to Hohhot, the capital of Inner Mongolia (HK$1,660 one way through China Travel Service, tel: 2853 3513; www.chinatravelone.com). From Hohhot I took the train to Ulan Bator for 500 yuan (HK$465) which took 35 hours, although the train was stationary for about 15 of them. I recommend the journey if you have the time. The train was clean and comfortable, the other travellers (and there weren't many) were friendly and it was a chance to read and relax. Accommodation Don't go to Mongolia expecting five-star hotels and international standards. In Ulan Bator we stayed at the Jiguur Grand, which appeared to be one of the best. It was clean, but basic (Transport Street, tel: [976] 11 322 939). Activities Try to go during the Naadam Festival, the Mongolian equivalent of the Olympics, which usually runs from July 11-13. The colourful two-day event, featuring wrestling, archery and horse racing, is a must-see with lots of great photo opportunities. The opening ceremony is the highlight, and people tend to get to the stadium a couple of hours early to make sure they get a good seat. Bring a book to keep you occupied while you wait for the show to begin and, most crucially, a cushion or something soft to sit on. The wooden benches can really take a toll. At about 9pm, locals gather in Sukkhbaatar Square where there's singing and dancing and a great atmosphere. Bear in mind that during the festival accommodation is hard to find and prices can double. The countryside outside Ulan Bator is spectacular. Our hotel booked us a great day tour during which we took a minibus to a small village, had lunch in a ger (yurt) and then went horseriding in a beautiful forest. I can't recall the name of the tour company, but there are plenty to choose from. I recommend a trip into the Gobi Desert. We took a flight from Ulan Bator to Dalanzadagad in the south, and visited dramatic Bayanzag (Flaming Cliffs), where dinosaur bones and eggs have been found. We then travelled five hours in a 4WD to Khongoryn Els, known as the Singing Dunes. They make an eerie sound as you slide down them. On the way back we stopped off at Yolyn Am (Vulture's Mouth), a valley right in the middle of the desert that is frozen almost all year (there wasn't much ice left when we visited in July). You can book a trip with tour companies in Ulan Bator that provide you with a 4WD and driver, and an English-speaking guide, and arrange accommodation in ger camps. One of the highlights of our trip was climbing Tsetseegun Uul, the most impressive of the Four Holy Peaks that surround the capital. Visit the Manzshir Khiid monastery because the hike starts from there. We booked a taxi from Ulan Bator that waited for us while we hiked. We took the six-hour Manzshir Khiid route that is outlined in the Lonely Planet guide, but you'll need a compass to keep from getting lost. The terrain is a bit boggy, but the gradient is low and you get great views from the top. Our best experience on our trip to Mongolia was visiting the nomadic locals in their gers. Upon entering the round felt tent, you should walk counter-clockwise and make sure you bring some sweets/gifts. We brought a Polaroid camera and the families were delighted to receive instant pictures in a country where photo processing labs are rare. The families are incredibly welcoming and offer you milky salty tea or airag, fermented horse's milk and dried milk curd. They may be unpalatable to Western tastes but the guidebooks say it's rude to refuse. You should try a little, just for the experience, but we found the families didn't seem to mind if we didn't finish them. Dining Mongolia's not an ideal place for foodies. Greasy boiled mutton is the staple meal and fresh vegetables are scarce. It's also not a great place for the weight-conscious as the fat-laden diet is designed to put on bulk to withstand the cold, harsh winters. If you don't like mutton (and after a stint in Mongolia, you may never eat it again), it's best to bring along some supplies. Ulan Bator is pretty grim, filled with communist-style grey buildings and not worth a stay of more than a couple of days unless you're planning on lots of day excursions out to the countryside. However, it does offer the country's best cuisine (but that's not saying much), so you might want to spend a few days in the capital, acclimatising, at the start and end of your trip. Out of the places we tried, the best were Chez Bernard for pastries and coffee (Peace Avenue, tel: [976] 11 324 622), Pizza della Casa for Italian food (Peace Avenue, tel: [976] 11 324 114) and Millie's for breakfast or lunch (2/F, Centre Hotel, tel: [976] 11 328 264). Nightlife Ulan Bator's 'in' place when we visited last year was the Money Train nightclub, set in a huge building at the west end of Peace Avenue. The drinks are relatively cheap, and the music varies widely - from techno to mainstream pop, in languages from Turkish to Japanese to Russian. General Tip for women: if you're planning a jeep ride across the Gobi Desert, make sure you bring a supportive sports bra. Even those not over-endowed will find the bumpy ride painful. The scenery is monotonous, so bring something to listen to. If you're travelling to Mongolia around the time of the Naadam Festival, make sure you have your US dollars changed into Mongolian togrog before the festivities begin, because all the banks will be closed. A good place to exchange money is on the second floor of the Ard Cinema on Baga Toiruu. If you're planning to stay at a ger camp, bring lots of candles. The generators powering the lights often go off at a set time. Mongolia is known as the 'Land Of The Blue Skies' and although temperatures can drop to minus 30 degrees Celsius in winter, they can rise to 40 degrees Celsius in the summer. If you visit in the summer, when it can become unbearably hot it is best to limit excursions to mornings and evenings.