Me-go: Around-the-World

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia—Hohhot, China (overnight train) | 14 July, 2006 | $39.76 (train ticket)

The train from Ulaan Batar, Mongolia to Beijing, China was booked weeks in advance but I had no trouble getting a ticket to Hohhot, China. I enjoyed Beijing during Phase I of my trip but it made more [...]

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia | 10 July, 2006 | $5 USD

This was my third (and last) time back in Mongolia’s capital and finally time for The Naadam Festival! This is the busiest time of the year in the capital and I had booked this bed months in advance—one of only a handful [...]

Erdenedalay, Mongolia | 7 July, 2006 | $3.33 USD

The last night in The Gobi Desert and a really nice family to stay with. The owner’s children were running around play fighting among the rusted out remains of old cars surrounding the ger. She even found a toilet seat and constructed a [...]

Bayanzag, Mongolia | 6 June, 2006 | $3.33 USD

Still in the middle of nowhere. My van-mates played frisbee in the desert while I sat behind the ger watching the sun set and drawing in my journal. There was an amazing thunderstorm this night and my driver caught and tormented a poor [...]

Hongoryn Els, Mongolia | 5 July, 2006 | $2.50 USD

This group of gers was at the base of some sand dunes which we rode camels on. The camels don’t really go on the sand dunes which is a shame, because walking on the sand dunes is much harder than walking to [...]

Dalanzadgad, Mongolia | 4 July 2006 | $3.33 USD

Dalanzadgad—the big city in the Gobi! This is the only time during our 8-day trip that we were able to take a shower (at the public bath house for $0.67). The shower felt great but walking back to the house through the dusty [...]

Tsagaan Suvarg, Mongolia | 3 July 2006 | $3.33 USD

Night two on my Gobi Desert trip was a stop with a family that felt like the middle of nowhere and going to the bathroom in the middle of the night was pretty scary if you didn’t keep your bearings and head [...]

Süm Khökh Burd, Mongolia | 2 July 2006 | $5 USD

This was our first stop on my second van trip around Mongolia with five strangers—this time through the Gobi Desert (skip ahead and read the entire trip report here if you like). After 9 hours driving from Ulaan Bataar we almost [...]

Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia | 1 July 2006 | $5 USD

I made this hostel my home base in-between trips to the countryside. I had a number of different rooms, this being a typical dorm room you’ll see in Mongolia. The cost included a breakfast which was basically just tea and toast in [...]

Ambarbayasgalant Khiid, Mongolia | 27 June 2006 | $3 USD

This was the first town we’d seen in a while, the second monastery of the 10-day trip and it was a bit of a detour off of the paved road we’d been driving on. Because of its remote location nestled between hills [...]