I know that i havent been updating this thing like i should be, i suppose that will change when i either stop having so much fun, or when lucy leaves, cos then i wont have anyone constant to talk to so i'll have to make internet fiends again... sigh.
and yes the last time i blogged i was entering china and should continue the story then but i wanted to pay hommage to a dear friend of mine who left this earth quite suddenly the other day. his name is Andy, he was diagnosed in Feb with terminal brain stem cancer. unsurprisingly he took it quite wll publically, who knows how he really felt. he was given 9 months to live, at 26 this must have been extremly hard to handle. yet andy took it with grace and even went so far as to comfort those upset for him on many occaison. since the cancer was in a part of his brain that has little vascular action, chemo wasnt an option. it was also imoperable. he underwent a serious bout of radiation which slowed downt the tumor growth but would never be able to stop it. brain stem cancer affects your speech, sight, balance and as time goes on most of your control over the smaller bodily functions you and i take for granted - ie breathing. after radiation the doctors were happy with the result and thought he had been given more time. they were wrong.
the last time i saw Andy was at Henley Rowing Regatta. the weather was beautiful, the pimms was plentiful, and he was full of the banter not associated with a sick person, but his glasses and cane gave him away. i loved that he was as comfortable chatting about the cancer seriously as he was taking the piss out of his crippled appearance.
Andy bumped his head not too long ago and became concussed, this along with the growth of the cancer put him in hospital. he died shortly afterwards and will be forever missed. i realise you never speak ill of the dead, regardless of how they lived - but andy was one of the better ones and deserves all the praise one can muster. i raise my glass to his memory and feel lucky to have met him. R.I.P
Monday 24 August 2009
Friday 7 August 2009
Leaving Russia :) - well hello mongolia
so the last time i left you i was a little drunk in irkutsk.. so the adventure continued. the lovely Julia gave us beds for the night for free which was sweet cos other than that i would have to spend about 10 hours in the train station in the long term lounge trying to get some sleep for god knows what price. so we tried to sleep but it just wasnt happening for me. so we set off at about 4am to the train station to make our train that would bring us to mongolia. the place was riddled with mossies and i think i killed about 5 of them in the half hour i was in the station. gross right! finally it was time to get on the train and meet our compartment buddies. this time it was 2 german boys, beautiful german boys as it turned out! they were florien and alex 2 law students head across russia through mongolia to their destinations, they both had semesters abroad in singpore and brisbane and were taking the long way to get there. at first they didnt say much, in fact i didnt think they had much english between them. but i was wrong, thank god, and they turned out to be a little fun. they were definitely used to the better things in travelling and this was their first time travelling less than first class. a little hilarious to be honest. we hit the border and then for 5 god forsaking hours we waiting... and nothing happened.. nothing. and the staff were not really forthcoming with the details on how long we would be there.. initially we were told 1 hour, but this was a lie! and since they had our passports there was nothing that we could really do to make the situation any better. to add insult to injury we had run out of roubles and the shop only accepted them. so no more wodka for us, and no way to pass the time. the boys bought some beers and were not exactly in the sharing mood. the ladies in the next compartment in the train offered us some food and boose and that made it a little better. finally it was time to get on the train and make the move to the mongolian border where we were to do the same thing again, or so we feared. but luckily the mongolians were mentally fast compared to the russians and we were out of there in minutes, well it was probably an hour but it felt like minutes. we stopped again in customs and out we popped looking for food and the ever popular alcohol.. ended up buying some random food from a lady and i think it was the most tasty thing we had ever tasted! turned out we were all headed for the same guesthouse, fancy that! so we all go out and were greeted by our driver who took us through the crazy traffic in ulan bataar to UB Guesthouse. this place was a hive of activity. people moving about the place even though it was only 8am! there were tours headed out to the steppe, the mongolian outback. and others coming bak from treks. we get settled in and then decided to go for a walk with the boys about the city. note to all lookin to travel to mongolia you only really need a day in the ciy to get around it, 2 at the most.. but we had loads of time. we hit the natural history museum and im not sure what we were expecting but it sure wasnt a random musty ol building with dinosaurs bones in it! there were plenty of other interesting things in the museam..not.but a p[ersonal favourite of mine was to see the random fish.. yawn! so the delish german guys and us found the nearest outdoor bar and got cracking in to the booze. what else is there to do in mongolia?! well... rain apparently! it started to rain a little..then alot.. then a hell of a lot! it was bucketing down in no time and with us cowering under an umberalla outside thoughtwe would do the prudent thing and make a break for it to the nearest bar.. indoor bar! so we sat out the rest of the afternoon and the evening downing the better part of a bottle of champers and bottle of mongolian finest wodka. we weretrashed! suddenly it became apparent why the guys were so young, they definitelywere really young and both taken with lady friends..awh :( it would have felt like cradle snatching anyway ;) so at the unearthly hour of 10pm!! we headedback to the hostel, and not a moment too soon, since on the door of the hostel there was a warning that it was not safe to be out at night after midnight!eeek! safe?! so we threw on a movie, x-men is awesome when drunk. we,well lucy put one of the german boys to bed, and then the other one disappeared... although we didnt notice this until the movie had ended.. priorities people!!! so yeah young alex disappeared..we went looking for him on the streets thinking maybe in his drunken state he had gotten lost/attacked/or run awaysomehow. butafter a while and some drunken stumbling we decidedthat he was a big boy and could take care of himself... and we also swore that we would not do that to each other EVER! off we trotted to bed with only fizzy water to stave off the inevitable hangover...
wasnt hungover at all the next day, might have been that i slept for the better part of 11 hours! mental. best way to avoid a hangover! so we were off on our next adventure to spend 3 days (well 2 and a half) out in the Steppe, the mongolian outback! we were dead excitedto meet the locals and do the native activities.. but when we got there we realised that this might not be the case when it came ot mongolia! basically we were dropped unceremonisly on the doorstep of the steppe and left there. we managed to figure out that lunch would be at 2pm and dinner at 8pm and that we could have meat or no meat, and that the meat would be cow..we hoped! but that was all.. we were supposed to have a pony ride that day 2hrs of it and then 2 hrs the next day...but after waiting around for the majority of the day we were told that the ponies (well horses but seriously i could probably carry mine) that they were tired from a long day and that we would have the 4 hrs the next day.. eek,my thighs wimpered at the idea! well that was a waste of a day! we managed one small walk upa hill and whittled away the hours trying to persuade giant ants that they did not need to be all over us... fun?! we did investigate a country club in search of some booze and a nearby camp. but they were not helpful at all and one of them wanted a crazy amount for a but then we were saved.. this guy called magic (well he was polish and spelt it differently than that but thats what it sounded like) he was all keen about climbing some rocks and seeing the sun set from the top of this mountain thing... i was up for it, lou not so much. but we both bravely went forward in our little converse and penny's best plimsols for an adventure.. thank god magic is a little bit of a parkranger cos it was a little, ok alot,dangerous. we first had to lift ourselves up a rock and lou backed out there and then cos she wasnt up for squeezing into tiny cracks in the rocks. but i soldiered on... we climbed across a gravel area that was seroiusly dangerous and the light was failing.. then we had to climb through a crack in the rock and slide on our bellies up the rock. it was awesome! when facebook is no longer banned i will upload the photos! so we got to the top of the rock after a bit of panting and funny photos.. and then the vertigo hit. it was immense, standing up there in the middle of nowhere. i watched the sun set over the mountains and just enjoyed conquering my fear of heights.. an extreme way of doing you might argue ;) after the sunhad set we headed back down through the crack in the rock and past the gravel area,.. i slipped and almost died, well not so dramatic butmagiccaught my foot as it was sliding along the gravel and planted it in an un natural angle behind me for some grip and we made it to our starting place. but then we explored some more... walked through wicked corridors in the rock and found a cave and came across an old camp fire, we decided there and then that we would have a wodka party the next night out there, weather forgiving and if it was allowed. we were staying in a natural park after all.... i came down the rock to find that the fire had been lit in our ger (felt tent) and it was toasty... yum! pity though during the night the heat disappeard and i woke shivering at 6am.. ah well not too bad! the next day was 100% better than the first. we hiked up a massive slope that was almost vertical at one stage and made it over the edge to the most wonderful view of sloping valleys. we headed on further still and climbed another high rock and i almost peed my pants at the idea of what i was doing, but magic wasnt having any of my fears and yanked me up on top of the rock!! aaaah that was a wierd feeling. we legged it back a safer way to be greeted with lunch.. it was the same food as the day before but arranged differently.. mainly salt, carrots, onions, cabbage and some form of meat.. yum! i tell you, if anyone wants to lose some weight then stay in a ger for a couple of days and do what the locals do. after lunch was the riding experience.. hilarious to be honest as the horse i was given was a midget! a total midget! i felt bad riding the poor thing. 2 of the group were thrown, and one fat finnish dude had a problem with his horse sitting down and preparing to role all the time.. yeah i dont think the poor animal was used to that sort of weight on its back!
that night we all set up a campfire on top of the rocks and partied like russians.. plenty of the bad wodka that the kids rode over to the shop for (and fleeced us in the process) there was the singing of the national anthems, thank god i know ours since lou hadnt a notion.. but i might have let the side down by getting a weensy bit too pished and then thinking i could get down the mountain without any flashlight! oops.. as you can imagine the trip back home to the hostel was not the greatest amount of fun i have ever had in a car, especially with the mongolian roads.. uncool! but i managed not to vom so i thought did quite ok. we spent the rest of our timein mongolia wondering why we had booked so muich time there.. there isnt a lot to see other than what we did. but on our last night we headed to a culteral mongolian evening and were amazing by what the locals can do.. if there was a show.. the world's got talent well the asians would whip the westerners asses! throat singing, crazy joint popping contortions you name it they did it, felt very inadequate after it though! headed to the required irish bar for one last bottle of chaampers to say goodbye to mongolia and were greated with some aussie minors who insisted in buying us all our drinks and carting us off to a club! there was a moment of panic when i realised i left lou in the cab with a random stranger but we all manged to get there together and started laying heavily into a bottle of whiskey the guys bought for us.. suspicious?? it was all fun and gmaes but when one of them proposed to me we made a hasty exit and were tucked up in our beds before anyone got into anything too dangerous! flew mongolian airlines into china... it was touch and go for a while but we got there in one piece only to start our next eadventure....stay tuned! x
wasnt hungover at all the next day, might have been that i slept for the better part of 11 hours! mental. best way to avoid a hangover! so we were off on our next adventure to spend 3 days (well 2 and a half) out in the Steppe, the mongolian outback! we were dead excitedto meet the locals and do the native activities.. but when we got there we realised that this might not be the case when it came ot mongolia! basically we were dropped unceremonisly on the doorstep of the steppe and left there. we managed to figure out that lunch would be at 2pm and dinner at 8pm and that we could have meat or no meat, and that the meat would be cow..we hoped! but that was all.. we were supposed to have a pony ride that day 2hrs of it and then 2 hrs the next day...but after waiting around for the majority of the day we were told that the ponies (well horses but seriously i could probably carry mine) that they were tired from a long day and that we would have the 4 hrs the next day.. eek,my thighs wimpered at the idea! well that was a waste of a day! we managed one small walk upa hill and whittled away the hours trying to persuade giant ants that they did not need to be all over us... fun?! we did investigate a country club in search of some booze and a nearby camp. but they were not helpful at all and one of them wanted a crazy amount for a but then we were saved.. this guy called magic (well he was polish and spelt it differently than that but thats what it sounded like) he was all keen about climbing some rocks and seeing the sun set from the top of this mountain thing... i was up for it, lou not so much. but we both bravely went forward in our little converse and penny's best plimsols for an adventure.. thank god magic is a little bit of a parkranger cos it was a little, ok alot,dangerous. we first had to lift ourselves up a rock and lou backed out there and then cos she wasnt up for squeezing into tiny cracks in the rocks. but i soldiered on... we climbed across a gravel area that was seroiusly dangerous and the light was failing.. then we had to climb through a crack in the rock and slide on our bellies up the rock. it was awesome! when facebook is no longer banned i will upload the photos! so we got to the top of the rock after a bit of panting and funny photos.. and then the vertigo hit. it was immense, standing up there in the middle of nowhere. i watched the sun set over the mountains and just enjoyed conquering my fear of heights.. an extreme way of doing you might argue ;) after the sunhad set we headed back down through the crack in the rock and past the gravel area,.. i slipped and almost died, well not so dramatic butmagiccaught my foot as it was sliding along the gravel and planted it in an un natural angle behind me for some grip and we made it to our starting place. but then we explored some more... walked through wicked corridors in the rock and found a cave and came across an old camp fire, we decided there and then that we would have a wodka party the next night out there, weather forgiving and if it was allowed. we were staying in a natural park after all.... i came down the rock to find that the fire had been lit in our ger (felt tent) and it was toasty... yum! pity though during the night the heat disappeard and i woke shivering at 6am.. ah well not too bad! the next day was 100% better than the first. we hiked up a massive slope that was almost vertical at one stage and made it over the edge to the most wonderful view of sloping valleys. we headed on further still and climbed another high rock and i almost peed my pants at the idea of what i was doing, but magic wasnt having any of my fears and yanked me up on top of the rock!! aaaah that was a wierd feeling. we legged it back a safer way to be greeted with lunch.. it was the same food as the day before but arranged differently.. mainly salt, carrots, onions, cabbage and some form of meat.. yum! i tell you, if anyone wants to lose some weight then stay in a ger for a couple of days and do what the locals do. after lunch was the riding experience.. hilarious to be honest as the horse i was given was a midget! a total midget! i felt bad riding the poor thing. 2 of the group were thrown, and one fat finnish dude had a problem with his horse sitting down and preparing to role all the time.. yeah i dont think the poor animal was used to that sort of weight on its back!
that night we all set up a campfire on top of the rocks and partied like russians.. plenty of the bad wodka that the kids rode over to the shop for (and fleeced us in the process) there was the singing of the national anthems, thank god i know ours since lou hadnt a notion.. but i might have let the side down by getting a weensy bit too pished and then thinking i could get down the mountain without any flashlight! oops.. as you can imagine the trip back home to the hostel was not the greatest amount of fun i have ever had in a car, especially with the mongolian roads.. uncool! but i managed not to vom so i thought did quite ok. we spent the rest of our timein mongolia wondering why we had booked so muich time there.. there isnt a lot to see other than what we did. but on our last night we headed to a culteral mongolian evening and were amazing by what the locals can do.. if there was a show.. the world's got talent well the asians would whip the westerners asses! throat singing, crazy joint popping contortions you name it they did it, felt very inadequate after it though! headed to the required irish bar for one last bottle of chaampers to say goodbye to mongolia and were greated with some aussie minors who insisted in buying us all our drinks and carting us off to a club! there was a moment of panic when i realised i left lou in the cab with a random stranger but we all manged to get there together and started laying heavily into a bottle of whiskey the guys bought for us.. suspicious?? it was all fun and gmaes but when one of them proposed to me we made a hasty exit and were tucked up in our beds before anyone got into anything too dangerous! flew mongolian airlines into china... it was touch and go for a while but we got there in one piece only to start our next eadventure....stay tuned! x
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