The trip from here to LAX to Beijing to Ulaanbaatar took 36 hours!
He and his fellow mapper made it okay, his suitcases made it okay (that was a worry), his companion's did not. So, they were going to do some clothes shopping before their charter flight left for the field.
Ulaanbaatar is a big and busy city. The traffic is chaotic and the roads very rough. Even the sidewalks are rutted. No one yields to pedestrians, so getting from their hotel to the office just a few blocks away was quite invigorating. Nothing like a challenge to get your blood pumping (as long as it doesn't flow, I'd say he's doing fine). Maybe that's a great way to beat jet lag.
The powers-that-be had assured him there would be email. Well, sort of...the service times out after ten minutes and it takes three minutes to start up, so he's been typing fast and saving his drafts as he types. Just another challenge!
Mongolia is part of China last time I looked at a map, but they don't speak Chinese. Go figure. Ulaanbaatar is just a stone's throw from the Russian border though. Guess the Russian influence was extensive since signs in Ulaanbaatar are in Cyrillic. JR's had some experience with the Cyrillic alphabet in Ukraine, but that was back in the 90's. Fortunately, one of his colleagues from Bulgaria has plenty of background. Oddly, JR says many signs are also in English. Guess it really is the international language. He doesn't think he'll see much English once they move out into the sticks!
He didn't know his fellow geologists that have been drafted for this project, but as they've arrived in Ulaanbaatar they have discovered many friends in common. Guess it's one perk of working for an international company--he has friends from China, Eastern Europe, South America and various places in Europe that he's known and worked with for years. Everyone gets around globally, so eventually the geological world becomes a small community.
As we bid a fond farewell to Ulaanbaatar, let's hope there is some sort of internet connectivity in the field.
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2 comments:
I am an American student who has previously lived in Ulaanbaatar and other areas of Mongolia for over two years. There were several errors in your recent post on Mongolia. Mongolia is not a part of China-- it is an independent country. Mongolia's capital is Ulaanbaatar and the most common language is Mongolian. Mongolia previously used an original vertical script, but since 1940 has used Cyrillic as the main script (although the traditional script is still taught in schools). This independent Mongolia has in the past been referred to as "Outer Mongolia" although that name is no longer used today. "Inner Mongolia" is an autonomous region of China, completely separate from the independent country of Mongolia.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolia
http://www.mongolianembassy.us/default.php
https://www.cia.gov/library/publications/the-world-factbook/geos/mg.html
This is the most fun part of blogging--replying to people who live to correct me. When I play Trivial Pursuit, I never pick the geography category, hence my complete, total and obviously abysmal ignorance. I literally don't know if JR's in inner (Chinese) or outer (independent) Mongolia. Hey, k, betcha don't know how to say Nevada!
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