Disclaimer :
All characters in this report are fictitious and any resemblance to real persons, living or dead, is purely coincidental. :w00t:
The story that has to be told…
After many months of preparations, tons of mail forward and backward to Mongolia, phone calls, etc. we finally meet for our long awaited journey. Thursday, July 16th we meet at GVA airport. I still have my doubts; will it all go well, as we have “a few strong characters” in our group.
What a lovely surprise, Jasper, Nanou and Vero come to bit us farewell. Check in time approaches, Swissport can not print out all the boarding cards, a few girls get already stressed. Take it easy, we are on our holidays, Lufthansa can do the rest of the printouts in Frankfurt.
Lucky me, I got to sit next to cool guy from Evian, he gave me some tips on Mongolia and on Russia. Exchanged our cards before arriving in Frankfurt, you never know, I might talk him into to joining the GVA runners…
Arrival in Frankfurt, lets meet up with the rest of the group, Lufthansa issued all the boarding cards with smile. 2 hours wait until we leave for Beijing. Everybody seems to be happy on the flight to Beijing, the kids, Jenny, Robbie and Elizabeth seem to have a great time.
Finally, Beijing airport, wow, what a huge, clean airport, even a machine which takes everyone’s temperature. Some people start to rush again, what is the hurry, we have an almost 10 hour wait. As we have a one entry Visa for China we are send around a little bit, manageable, keep on smiling, we are in China after all…
Transfer by train inside the airport to the terminal which is for flights to Mongolia. Some head of to Starbox, others walk around, whilst others take a nap.
How cool, this is Steen of the organizers, with his friend Ben from Denmark. (not David, don’t know were I got that from) Soon it’s time to board the plane for Ulan Bator, after almost 2 hours we arrive at the Dschinghis Khan airport. After almost 29 hours of travelling we are at our destination, Mongolia, how wonderful!
Shuree, our local travel agent from UB was there to great us, what a lovely girl. So happy to finally meet you after exchanging sooo many mails. Of we go to our mini Bus, we wait for Steen and Ben, whilst they are having their Visa done. A bumpy ride on the roads of Ulan Bator, we arrive well after midnight at our hotel. Many people have lost their smiles, I guess they must be tired. Thank goodness for Steen’s and Ben’s big smiles, final word from me, please be ready at 9h30 as we have a tour of UB organized by Gana. :)
Up to the room with my daughter Elizabeth, shower, gosh, no way I can sleep. I go back to the reception, I get the Hotel main office all to myself, how cool is that? Send a quick mail, we arrived safe in UB. I guess by 4am it’s time to have a few hours sleep as well, no way, I can not get back into the room, the card is blocked, no way I wake up Elizabeth, back down to reception, they are trying their best that I can enter the room, keep on smiling, it takes almost 40 min. to open the door. In the meantime dawn breaks over UB, camera out, and taking pictures from all the hotel windows. How lucky am I to be here? This is just wonderful, incredible scenery. Time for breakfast and coffee by 8am, time to relax, I wonder what the day will bring. :hehe:
Everyone ready by 9h30, except for one person, Mme complain. Is this the same person, what a difference to Geneva. Whilst Mme complain behaves like a spoilt child, all the others have to wait…we all put a brave smile on to our faces….how cool, Gana is here. :)
The bus looks so much better than the one from last night, we get a personal tour of Ulan Bator, we hear about the history, manage to change money into the local currency, buy sunglasses, go in to a local supermarket, and off we go to a nearby National Park. Gana manages to negotiate a super entrance fee for us. This is heaven, the countryside is just amazing, we see the first pony’s, the first Mongolian horse riders, and the first gers (also known as yurt) :)
Robbie, Jenny and Elizabeth go horse riding, others try on Mongolian clothes, others wonder simply around. We get to meet Gana’s cousin who helped organizing this outing. Edelweiss, the national flower from Switzerland grows here, 1000’s of flowers everywhere, no wonder I feel even more at home. The space is unbelievable, this is real freedom, back to nature. I love it.:):):)
We have our first Mongolian lunch (which was simply delicious) served in a beautiful ger, and a first Mongolian beer, what more do we want? Time to go back to the airport, which is not to far away, there was a bit of confusion with the organizers, they chartered a plane for 56 people, somehow a group of tourists had to wait for 2 hours as they booked seats on our plane as well. The first thing I get, “because of your group we are stuck here”, Helen keep on smiling, so sorry, it’s not us, we wait for 45 more people to arrive. The next question, which is your camp? Lake Hovsgol, gosh, this answer goes not down well, not only are we waiting for the plane, you are in the camp which we wanted to go.
Finally we get to board the plane, I don’t believe this, this is Britabraod sitting next to me, this can’t be, good omen, I start to speak with him. He is from Wales, but lives in Shanghai, (shared the same bus to the camp, you have such a brilliant sense of humour!)
50 minutes flight, Moron is a tiny airport in the middle of nowhere. We enter the airport, (which is a small building) the tiny door behind us gets shut. No way to escape…
First glance of Nicolas, the organizer of the race. How cool to see you again, it has been a while since our meeting in Geneva. Did you expect real buses? Then you are wrong, totally wrong… old (30 years?) Russian Buses wait for us, we all get in to buses where there is still some space left. By now I learn that we have a 4 hours drive, I get a seat next to the driver, and the expat group from Shanghai is with me. We laugh so much, we get shaken, the drivers race between each other, what a different world. Imagine, we drive on the Mongolian country side, no real roads, lots of sheep’s and goats and pony’s on the way, the occasional gers in between, we see the first Mongolian motorbikes, 3 of them on a bike, all with big bright smiles. Robbie and Elizabeth get to sit with the VIP people, the organizers and Ben, the GP and plastic surgeon. They have lots of funny insider storys.:cool:
The first break near a small lake, sandwiches and water, and Edelweiss everywhere. Wow, this is just magic, and we seem to have lots of cool people with us. We continue on our bumpy, shaking ride, here we are, the National Park Hovsgol.
http://www.4thworldadventure.com/hovsgol.html
Bert, can you see the bear sign at the entrance of the park? …we look at each other, we are finally getting there. 45 more minutes drive, in between we drive on a new road, is this the National Mongolian highway I hear from the back of the bus? LoL…
Finally, we can see lake Hovsgol, we are at our final destination. There is a huge ger, which is the Restaurant, lots of small gers around it, and tippies as well. This is our home for until next Friday. How nice, a huge table has been set for our group, and lots of small tables around it.
Robbie, Jenny and Elizabeth sit with Ben and Steen and the new friends Azura and Sophie, they seem to have lots of fun. :cool:
The food is really nice, still I am glad that I made myself vegetarian for the week. (lots of lamb) Welcome speech by Nicolas, than we get to see the list for the accommodation. I decided to change things around at the late hour, which turned up to be a wise decision. :)
Before finally settling into our gers, we decide to go for a drink. Good idea, we got to meet Jonathon from Edinburgh, who is just going to change his life from Beijing to Kula Lumpur.
Back in our ger, the light is not working, no worries, there is a candle, the fire in the oven glows, enough wood around as well.
Bed time, well after midnight, what comes out, Curry Club t-shirts from Geneva, a sexy nightdress…after all we sleep in style. Night, night girls and sweet dreams.
Oh no, 01h.30am, someone’s bed has just collapsed, we all cry tears of laughter, we try to fix the bed again, done and back to sleep. No way, the bed collapses again, …but wait until you see the look on the Mongolian’s fire maker at 7am in the morning…the biggest smile I have ever seen…:cool:
First morning, around 9 am, thank goodness for Lynne’s spider catching techniques, did you know that cups can be used for so many other things? Lets go for breakfast and meet with the others…this is freedom (should I repeat myself, I am not sorry), this is the real life…what a beautiful outstanding landscape, the lake, the mountains…
My dream has finally come true, it’s time to sit back, relax and enjoyed it all. :)
All in all we are 56 people from all over the world, US, New Zealand, Australia, Britain, the expats from Shanghai, Hong Kong, people from France, Belgium, Holland (the Netherlands), lots of Germans, Columbia, Denmark and of course the 11 from the GVA runners group.
Well, not everybody feels the same way, Mme complain is at it again, this time to Nicolas. This is such a long trip to come here, glad he put her right, you are not the only one who has travelled that long. Gosh, now miss complain starts as well, I need a minimum of 8 to 12 hours sleep per night, what train are we on? I want to go first class. Have they booked a “Hotelplan” vacation? I don’t believe my ears, and from now on its better to stay away…Have these people not read anything in the past months, this is an adventure holiday in the Mongolian nature…
There is so much do, hiking, relaxing, horse ridding, kayaking, fishing, mountain biking. Went for a swim in the ice cold lake with Martine, was told I am nuts, than who cares…the lake must have had a temperature of around 12 / 13 degrees.
Monday eve, briefing by Nicolas about the race regulations, meet Martin again, the main doctor at the camp. He is here with his wife, both American, they live in Beijing. We all need a check up, no worries, I know I am fairly fit.
After dinner we sit around, chat with other people, simply relaxing.
Tuesday morning, breakfast time: Dave, the ex-coach for the British cyclist team arrives with his friend Lyn (American/ Vietnamise, lives in Tokyo) and their driver Tuvshin from UB. It took them 4 days to drive up. Lynne, Jenny, Elizabeth and I cry tears, you must be the funniest guys in the whole camp. They are pretty nervous, their first marathon, and it’s the 100km. Later on Lynne and I go for a hike with our kids, so many wonderful happy moments, wolf and bear story’s, what will happen if we really get to meet them?
I queue for the medical, sorry guys, mine was taking so long as I had socialising time with the doc. Have the all ok for the 100km, and once again I am the happiest girl. …my first 100km, I am coming closer to my dream…
By now the kids have decided to go for the 42km, wow, I am sooo proud of all of them. For me the coolest kids with the coolest mom, this is what we hear from the other participants in the camp.
Michel from Sydney tells me, don’t worry you will be just fine, as we have more or less the same paste, we decide to try and do the 100km together.:cool:
In between I hear the word “hardcore” quite often,…this word has now a special meaning, we can achieve anything…spider catching, do the washing and manage to burn it on the stool next to the stove, manage to put to match wood inside the stove, that we have to take it outside our ger, getting the jakes away from our ger, having ice cold showers, walk around without make up for days…and still managing to speak and socialize with everyone, how cool is that?
By now we have learned from the teenie’s, that someone is the talk of the camp, the broken bed, well better known for this, than for coming to a camp with tons of make up, some did…
The rest of Tuesday is taking it easy, early dinner, than a Mongolian music /dance show. How brilliant, early bed time, we have a wake up call at 3am the next morning.
Wednesday is here, 3am, pitch dark, let’s go and get some breakfast. Our back bags get checked, card, compass, emergency blanket, bottles for 2 litres liquid, and emergency food.
I drop my second bag off at the 42km point, like this I can change shoes and my t-shirt later on.
Thank goodness for Angie, she gets us all going, 4am and start. Lots of headlamps, torches, real ones! Wow, this is it, the real adventure. This is cool, start at 1650m, Toilogt – in the forest. Not to bad, I am doing ok, sooo cool, I am not the last one! Yeah, this is just great happy wonderful news for me, yes I can! In between a Mongolian horse rider, I bet they wonder what these crazy people are up to. The first water station, get to meet Lynne and Martine and Jenny and Elizabeth. Up the first pass, Pass Chichee, almost 2300meters, on top horse rider waits with the biggest smile. Dawn starts to brake; wow this is a serious descent, a flat bit, oh my God from km 23,5 to km 31 Khirvsteg Pass, that is sooo tuff. Marsh or should I call it swamp, insects, 1000’s of them, am I really doing this? I seem to be the only one who got bitten, will have to walk around in long trousers for ages…
Meeting Martine and Lynne again, now I realize that Martine is injured, something to do with her ankle, I can not live them here, quick decision; I will stay and walk with you. …the dream of my first 100km race is over, but than sportsmanship comes first! We still managed to keep our spirits high up, girls you rock! We walked together to the finishing line…what a wonderful moment. I am sooo happy, for so many people the first marathon, I think I am the proudest mom in the world, Elizabeth, “the little one” as she was called in the camp (and she is taller than me) finished with Jenny. Sorry Lynne, you must be the proudest mom too, Jenny and Robbie finished the 42km as well.
For me words can not describe the moment at the finishing line.
CONGRATULATIONS – CONGRATULATIONS – CONGRATULATIONS :) :cool: :)
Now its time to wait for Bert, our 100km finisher. He arrives after 17hours and 50 minutes, still smiling, you are our star!
Finisher: 42km
Claire, Lynne, Kandy, Gabriel, Jenny, Elizabeth, Robbie, Martine and me
Lily finished 25,5km
Well done all! The GVA runners have all arrived, what a wonderful moment.
Around 10pm, Lynne and I decide to wait for Dave and Lyn, towards midnight they arrive, the next day we learned what it mend for them that we waited. After all guys, we see you again next year in the camp.
Time to collapse in to bed, what a brilliant experience.
Thursday, no blisters, some people are a bit stiff, time to do some shopping, the local nomadic women sell handmade items, gloves, hats, socks and so on, whilst their children play in the background. Lunch by the lake, what shall we do next? Let’s try out fishing, our kids go ridding. No more fishing gear, never mind, Bert and I take a boat, funny, why is there a Mongolian person with a camera? We soon find out, I am inside the boat, Bert enters, an other Mongolian person pushes our boat……both of us in the ice cold water, we hear people laughing from all over the places…are we now the new stars on Mongolian candid camera?
What a good laugh, soaked to the bones, but it was fun, fun…at least we leave several different impressions behind.
In the evening, a special award dinner, award time with wonderful Mongolian music. We all got a certificate and a t-shirt, and a small silver ball on a chain. The party starts, some of us are up until almost 02h30, dancing, chatting, simply enjoying the last eve/night at the camp.
Friday morning, what a surprise outside our ger: a smoked fish on a wooden post. Leaving present from Lyn, him and Dave left with their driver Tuvshin by Jeep. Final packing being done, make you sure you don’t take any spiders with you.
Time to say goodbye to so many others, they continued for an extra week on a horse trek.
The rest of us wait to find out when we are finally leaving, one more group leaves on horses, Nicolas, Steen, Martin and Ben.
I guess we all wonder will we ever see you again? For sure, some of us (including some French people) are doing Sierre-Zinal next weekend.
Time to sit in to the Russian buses, wow, a four hour ride back. Shaking but not stirred. Last story’s being told, wow, a group of camels. Oh no, our bus stops, secured by a piece of stone…well, we made it to the airport as well. Arrival at Moron airport, the same travel group from Taiwan again, at least no complains this time. Last pictures being taken, and we head for our plane.
Arrival at Ulan Bator, Friday, 24th July around 22h. This is Tuvshin, yes, our Tuvshin from the running group at the airport. I have never seen a bigger smile on your face, yes, we have made it. Remember last year back in August, you we wearing that t-shirt, 100km sunrise to sunset marathon, I know many of you thought that I am crazy, but we all managed to dream the same dream…
We continue in a big bus with all the others, than we meet Gana and his Geleg, who have arranged private transport back to our hotel. What a great looking hotel, cool rooms.
We all have dinner together, what story’s we have to tell. Some are tired, Robbie wants to go to a nightclub, hey, I come too. Off we go, Gana, Geleg, a friend of the guys, we drop Tuvshin on the way – Mongolian nightlife we come. A nice club, according to Robbie the best sound system (Korean). Who do I see, Jonathon is there too…small world.
Before 4am its time to go back to the hotel, 2 hours rest, we need to leave at 7am for the train station. By 7am Gana and Geleg greet us with big smiles, Geleg and a driver take us to UB train station. The train looks just perfect. 4 people in a cabin, you can fold the beds down, our new home for the next 29 hours.
A last big hug for Geleg, see you next year in Mongolia. I feel sad to leave this beautiful country and its people, but I know for sure, I will be back.
The train ride is sooo amazing, the land scape unbelievable – we are the lucky one’s to witness so much in such a short time.
Goodbye Mongolia, hello China.
After a long journey with several stops at small stations (were you can buy food and drinks) we arrive at Erlan. What an adventure, we change from the Russian railway system to the Chinese railway system. Shopping at the Duty Free Shop, never realized that so many strange looking foods existed. Back on the train, wow, a first glance on the Great Wall… Beijing we come. We arrive in Beijing, 14h00 Sunday, 26th July, bright blue sky. (the only time)
We find a mini Bus, no patience to barter, everybody seems tired…Hotel, Kandy, Lily and Claire are off to the hairdresser, the rest of us walk to the Tien’am Square, which is not far away from our hotel. We are standing on the biggest place in the world, Sunday eve in Beijing. 1000’s of Chinese out there, our kids are the stars again, everyone wants a picture with them, …wow, they even take pictures from us, in between all this picture taking we miss the lowering of the Chinese flag.
All in all we had a good time in Beijing, did different things, went for visit to the Great Wall, the Forbidden City, the Silk and Russian Market, some went to the see a Chinese Opera.
We all arrived safely back home in Geneva, on Thursday, 30st July. How cool, whilst waiting for the luggage to arrive, a guy comes up to me and says, are you just back from Hovsgol? He is a friend of Nicolas and did the 100km a few years back.
My final words are:
I am really happy and glad that we all arrived safely back in Geneva.
What a great wonderful adventure, how many wonderful memories, for me personally, the happiest moments stay behind in Mongolia. I will go back next year, and my most wonderful news since this morning, I have 2 Co. which will sponsor further Mongolian trips. :cool:
I feel I need to say thank you to a few people:
-Bert and Lynne, you supported “my crazy” idea from day one
-the organizers from the sunrise to sunset marathon, Nicoals, Steen, Angie, Shuree
well done, great job!
-Gana and Geleg, for everything in Mongolia
-Robbie, Jenny and my beloved daughter Elizabeth, you are the real stars from the camp.
You kids simply rock!
-to everyone who participated in the trip
Ps. Pictures will follow, I have almost 1000….
SWISS, Aug 4, 2009 @ 17:52
