Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

What a trip! The slight culture shock I experienced when I arrived in Russia was out done by the culture I experienced this morning. Mongolia is crazy. The first thing I noticed (I actually noticed this at customs) is that people actually speak english! That is nice. Some signs are also in english. Again that is nice. Mongolia is also cheap, cheap. My dorm bed is $5/night and there are cheaper beds than that to be found in the city. Food is cheap, taxis are cheap, internet is cheap, laundry is cheap..... cheap, cheap, cheap. People also smile here! What a change from Russia. And once again I finally feel like I stick out as people here look quite different than Russians.

When I got off the train Saturday (26 August) morning, I almost immediately saw a person holding a sign for my hostel. Sweet, a free (and more importantly easy) ride to the hostel. I got to the hostel and had my first hot, clean shower in 10 days. The hostel is great. Friendly, clean, helpful, etc. Then I took a taxi ($1.25) to the black market as I needed to buy a warm jacket since I sent my home in Helsinki! The Gobi desert will be cold at night and I needed something warmer than the sole longsleeve shirt I have. I bought an thick, imitation north face fleece jacket for $20 and a hooded cotton pullover for $5. What a deal! Then I took a taxi back to my hostel ($1.75). Now I'm using internet for $.50/hour!

I'm trying to hook up with a group of people to take a trip to the Gobi desert for a couple of weeks. Tomorrow the hostel has organized a meeting for people to get together to make plans and form groups. So I'm really looking forward to exploring some of the far reaches of Mongolia, probably starting Monday morning.

It was strange this morning when I was negotiating with the taxi driver over a matter of $.50 when in any of the other countries I just came from that amount is worthless....