My Gher Family
Tomrou and his wife Otou 


















My Mongolian Teacher friend and daughter
Anhaa and Ana













More photos will be uploaded tomorrow

I've been back for around a week now, been very busy with jet lag and jobseekers allowance and a weekend with a friend in Edinburgh before she had to knuckle down and finish her assignments, so apologies for the delayed blog.
It was harder than I imagined to say goodbye to my host family and all the friends I made during my stay. I first had to say goodbye to the people at the school, friday was my last day so I handed out some celtic enamel bookmarks I had brought with me from home, which they liked a lot due to the pretty designs. The Mongolian- English teachers clubbed together and got me some lovely leather gloves in return and a little leather hanging of Chinguis Khaan. Deegi from room 108 with all the unused computers gave me a beautiful framed photograph of her 'loving racehorse' against a backdrop of traditional gers and a satellite dish which was around the same size of the attached ger, something which folks at home found infinitely amusing.
On the saturday Anhaa invited me to her flat with Khishgi. She lives even closer to the school then I do in a very new, clean and modern flat, although small and basic with very few possessions. Anhaa has a beautiful little daughter ,Ana I think her name was, who is 15 months old (shares the same birthday as me) Khishgi and myself spent a few hours aw-ing over her and feeding her tomatoes, gherkins and homemade cream cheese while Anhaa made a large pizza (to my considerable surprise) complete with lots of veggies and tinned fish and copious amounts of beer (pizza and beer?- sheer heaven). Khishgi left shortly after eating leaving me and Anhaa to watch Mamma Mia and play with Ana who turned out to have a very generous nature as she took great pleasure in emptying my purse of money and handing it back to me note by note. I entertained her by spinning a British pound on its side, but she managed to get hold of my phone somehow which was covered in baby drool by the time I left.
It was especially sad for me to say goodbye to those two as they had become good friends and had been such good fun throughout my stay.
I spent most of sunday and monday morning packing, and managed to play one last game of blind mans buff with Zulaa when she came back from school, again it was very hard and sad to say goodbye to Chimge and Zulaa, but Chimge is keeping my riding hat for me (to heavy to travel back) so I will come back and use it again in a couple of years.
I was driven to the 'port by Sete and Jagaa which turned out to be rather tiny (I was panicking a bit and looking around for my boarding gate before realising I was standing next to the only gate in the building), a rather uneventful flight to Seoul, I was sitting next to a New Zealander and we were both entertained by a flying baby who made frequent appearances dangling from its parents arms above the seats in front.
I arrived in Seoul fairly late at night and got promptly lost (huge airport, must of wandered miles) but managed to find my way to the transit hotel eventually where I found that my room was reserved but not paid for much to my confusion (couldn't contact home for help as there was no reception anywhere in the airport- I went another wander just to check. Luckily I had enough dollars to cover it, just had to resist the rather tempting mini bar in my room.
I spent a few hours before my flight by my departure gate in the morning, when getting there I was accosted by a group of Koreans who were determined my scruffy workman's jacket I had hung from my suitcase shouldn't trail on the ground. It was quite a bizarre but sweet gesture and I thanked them after they rearranged it to their satisfaction.
I ended up sitting next to an Australian lady and her little daughter Eve, my suitcase handle inconveniently broke when I was trying to load it into a locker, one of the cabin crew had a wrestle with it but it was jammed fast. The flight was horribly long and I couldn't sleep at all, but there was a great selection of films on the in flight entertainment systems although it kept breaking, so me and Eve went for walks round the plane to look out the windows and admired the stunning frozen tundra, moon and pink sunset that remained below us for the most of the journey.
There was also a long wait for my baggage in London but eventually I was able to move out of baggage collection and start to panic as I realised I had no idea where to go next. A quick trip to an information desk and I abandoned my trolley and dragged my luggage towards the underground. Once in the right terminal and past security I had my first fish and chips in three months and tried not to fall asleep. I did fall asleep on the plane to Edinburgh and only woke when we landed with a jolt and my mp3 flew off my lap and down the row of seats in front of me, quite embarrassing as I had to get a long row of people to search for it and pass it back.
After collecting my luggage I had a slightly emotional reunion with my parents and woke up enough during the car journey to keep them up until 2 am.

It's been nice to be back home and see my friends and family again and have my favourite foods, have a nicer selection of clothes to wear but gotta say the weathers a huge downer, I miss blue skies despite the negative temperatures. Now I'm concentrating on getting a job, and getting into a normal routine and trying not to let the rain get to me!

In my very last week and back at the school. Its opened for grades 6 to 11, I don't know when the younger students will go back.
I've spent the last few weeks working at the New Choice Scout Association office, checking over the english in project proposals and letters, etc. The small staff in the office were very friendly and I benefited from a free lunch every day at a local cafe where for some reason they dont have to pay. The lunches were fairly decent apart from the first time when there were bits of animal floating in the soup which were more arteries than meat and still had bit of fur on them. Stomach churning stuff!
Its been fairly uneventful over here, most places are still closed and I dont think the city will be back to normal for quite a while.

Its gotten ridiculously cold very quickly, during the day its between -10 and -15 degrees whenever I go outside my breath makes my hair and eyelashes freeze alomst instantly, my Buffalo shirt has been fantastic in keeping me warm although Chimge cant understand why I use it because she thinks it looks too thin to be warm.

I had one incident where a man came and asked for the time, and so I tell him which leads to him following me around the city chattering away in mongolian and a little bit of shocking english for the next 45 minutes. He was probably the most irritating individual I've met so far, he kept on purposfully bumping into me and knocking me off balance which had me really pissed off after 10 minutes. I made a desperate dash into a supermarket and tried to lose him amoungst the shelves but failed, which really annoyed me so I made it quite clear with lots of gesturing, shouting and swearing that I wanted him to go away. This didn't work and I was about to leg it in the direction of the flat when I heard a very welcome english accent "No, we don't want a fucking taxi!!!" Two women were attempting to cross the busy road nearby, but their attempts were being thwarted by various taxi cabs which kept on pulling up right in front of them. I dashed over "You speak english!!!" My stalker jostled me again nearly knocking me into the oncoming traffic "SOD OFF! Look, you've got to help me, this guys been following me for nearly an hour and I can't get rid of him." They promptly grab my arms and tow me back to their hotel, still followed by the annoyance, who tries to trip up one of my rescuers resulting in three very angry english howling abuse, attracting the attention of the hotel staff who thankfully got rid of him. I hid in the lobby for a while and thanked the women. To my embarrasment I found this was their first day in Mongolia (a wonderful and encouraging introduction to the country I gave them) so I reassured them that the country was nice and not everyone was a crazy stalker. One of them was on her way back from several years working as an accountant in a private hospital in Australia and her friend had flown out to China to meet her and they would briefly tour Mongolia and Russia before heading home to the UK. I gave them what advice I could for surviving in Ulaanbaatar and took my leave for a thankfully stalker-free trek to the flat.

Everywhere's closed!

Eve has asked me to put a note on the Blog, she has been unable to get access to a computer to update her news as the whole country is in the grip of Swine Flu. Due to this all Schools and places were children might go are closed - including internet cafes and anywhere a computer might be lurking!

Normal service should be resumed soon

By the way, the temperature overnight in Ulaanbaatar last night was -28C and mid afternoon today is -15C.

Pete

On the third day I was woken up at around 5am by Otou stoking the fire, but no one really got up until around 8. At this time of year there is little for them to do, in the spring they will move to another area with their herds, in summer another move, another in autumn and again in winter. Winter is considered a time of rest, spring is usually the hardest time of year.
They like to make sure your well fed, I had bread with jam and sardines and biscuits for breakfast then to my surprise I was handed a big bowl of rice and meat as well.
I was trying to work out a way of approaching photography as many people find a camera in their home too intrusive and uncomfortable. I decided to try a subtle approach instead of asking outright so I got out my camera and started fiddling with some settings, the girl is immediately sitting beside me, staring at the camera in fascination. I scrolled through some shots for her to look at then showed her how to use it, fetching the attention of everyone else as well. Simbiu commented on how it looked like a very good camera, so I say that I trained as a photographer. Not strictly true as it was a school subject but the family offered to pose for me in their traditional get up the next morning, I promised to send them the shots in return.
Then into the van for the days trip. Tomrou, Bagi and the lady with the black and gold deel join us and we head back to the ghers in the forest where we had picked the lady up and we are invited inside her gher, after a little while I discover I'm to ride one of their camels.
These camels have two humps, are very hairy, very large and very cute in an ugly way, they carry themselves in a very stately and majestic manner.
I climbed onto the back of one and it lumbered to its feet with a high pitched whistling squeal. Tomrou accompanies me on the second camel, steering both at the same time. They have a rein on one side of the neck leading from a plug in the nose and they seem to respond to both "chuu!" and pressure on their sides. They're also greedy buggers and take huge chomps out of trees and plants at any opportunity.
I think we rode for about 2 hours; through the wood, all the way back to the tarmac road, over the road to talk to some herders on the other side then back to the ghers. The camels had a very comfortable and smooth stride, but their 'jog' was very jolting.
I got a short break back in the gher, Bagi was watching 'Men in Black' dubbed in Mongolian on the tiny screen. The film was ending and when the alien rips off its human skin and turns into a giant cockroach, everyone is suddenly transfixed by the sight with a collective and alarmed "ooooooooooh!".
I was sent back outside with a random Mongolian who had turned up, he is to be my guide for a horse ride. Unfortunately, they were not able to find a second horse so I'm put on a pale skinny reluctant bugger which is dragged along by the leading rein with my guide tramping ahead. I try not to feel humiliated by the fact I'm back on a leading rein after years of riding.
After a little while we come across two horses in a ditch, my guide immediately tackles a chestnut round the neck as it tries to flee. And we have two horses!
Two my relief the saddle and bridle is transferred to the chestnut and I hop on, my guide ties the leading rein round the stubborn ones nose and rides bareback.
My horse turned out to have a desire to go faster and a mouth of iron, it seems ready to bolt at any moment but its fun to ride, its companion follows us the whole way, whinnying despairingly at intervals.
We ride out of the trees and onto the plain towards a herd of goats. "Yama" my guide points out.
We rode past the ghers and dismounted, the guide uncovered a well and pulled up buckets of water for the horses, pouring them in a trough made of tire rubber.
A quick trot to the ghers then back into the van and away again, a brief stop at Tomrou's brothers gher, situated at the top of a hill, much smaller than any I have been in previously with a hip-hop compilation playing from an old tape player and a fierce wind shaking the chimney.
Back in Tomrou's gher a game of ankle bones then I accompanied Otou and someone I think was her sister and Simbiu round the town. It is mainly a winter base for nomadic families but it has permanent buildings as well and a small school and kindergarten. The wide dirt streets are filled with fierce looking mongrels who hover in menacing packs, I see one large pack savaging a single unfortunate dog.
We wander in and out of three stores, filled with food and basic clothing and mechanical parts.
Back in the gher an old black and white rather tragic looking Mongolian war-type film was being watched. I was given a bowl of beer and a bone to gnaw clean of meat and fat, followed by meat and noodle soup.
The next morning we leave for Ulaanbaatar around 11. The family posed for me in their traditional clothes and I hand out some thank you gifts.
On the three- four hour drive back to the city we pick up an old man from the roadside, he is headed to the city also and so Gana puts his goat and sheep skins in the back.
We make several stops in a settlement outside the city as the old man makes an effort to sell his skins. They are very fresh, uncured and bloody, I watch in fascination at the exchanges from the back seat. The skins are unrolled and examined, there is a pile of guts wrapped up in each skin and their elasticity is tested. I don't know whether the guts say something about the quality of the skin or whether they're going to be thrown in the cooking pot. Eventually a price is agreed with a woman as she rolls the goat intestines in her fingers, money changes hands and the goat skin in carried off, the sheep skin is thrown in the back of the van again.
Gana drops the old man off and helps him carry his skin and sack of belongings to a nearby bus stop, I unlock the door the Chimge's flat and gratefully throw myself in the shower a few minutes later.

I'm writing this from the New Choice office in UB, its the only way I can get internet at the moment; because of the swine flu all of the internet cafes are closed since a lot of kids meet there to go online gaming en masse.
Also when I got back on Wednesday I got the news that the school is closed for another 2 weeks, so I'm gonna have to get some alternate work. An orphanage is my most likely bet or I could try and volunteer for the English- Mongolian newspaper that I read.
The flu is buggering up the whole city, bars and restaurants are closing early, most of the local establishments where I am are closed, its a pain but its mostly a blow for the educational system, children are being deprived of at least a month of study (they're not complaining, obviously, but its not doing them any favors).

Anyway, on the 1st I went into the countryside for a 4 day trip, so I'll try and give you a flavor of that.

I was surprised that morning by a timely pick-up, only 20 minutes later than expected. Chimge's friend who was going to be my translator knocked on the door. Her name is pronounced "Sim-bi-you", I don't know how to spell it correctly so I'll go with "Simbiu".
The driver "Gana" was waiting with a basic looking van, but it turned out to be very speedy compared to most countryside traffic and managed just fine off road.
The traffic in the city wasn't too bad at that time (between 11 and 12) so we made it out of the city in good time.
The only way to describe the Mongolian countryside is 'endless'. It looks barren at this time of year and beautiful and goes on forever, on the flat the road stretches straight in front of you away into the horizon.
There was a sprinkling of snow on the ground from the previous day but the road was in good condition (ice-wise, it's not in good condition road-wise; full of pot holes and uneven surfaces).
There was one stop outside the city for a toilet break in a shed with a long drop between the floor boards, doorless and thoughtfully facing the road. There was a long section of the road that was closed off so we had to use a bumpy dirt road that Gana navigated safely but at an alarming speed.
Just past 3pm we arrived at a small collection of huts, houses and ghers all fenced off from each other looking like a small town. The family we're staying with are just within the walls; a large yard with two ghers in one corner and a toilet in the other, its another shed with a long drop and no door, but slightly more hazardous as there are only three boards on which to balance and which creak alarmingly when they take your weight, with large gaps between them. You have to hold onto the edge of the wall, put one foot on the nearest plank and spin to get your other foot on the second plank. This is very difficult in the dark when you've forgotten your torch and your in a hurry because its bloody freezing.
I found on the second day that the toilet has another disadvantage, while I was using it, the fence 2 meters in front of me turns out to be a gate in disguise and a Mongolian walks through much to my embarrassment, but thankfully I didn't lose my balance in my surprise.
The gher is spacious and the family were very welcoming and sat us down with a bowl of milk tea, they didn't observe any of the traditions and niceties I'd memorized. I've seen backs to the shrine, sitting wherever you want, leaning on the central supports.... although I'm a bit relieved they're more relaxed then I expected. The same is true of other families I visited.
It's a young family, a man "Tomrou" and his wife "Otou" and their son "Bagi" who must only be around 5 or 6 years old. Their niece (who's name I never managed to pick up) is staying with them, she is a little older than Bagi.
The small television set is tuned into the judo world champs (being held in UB) the screen kept on collapsing the picture so after some discussion the television in taken apart by Gana and Tomrou to reveal some incredibly dirty and dusty workings. After some tampering it is put back together; the screen quality is even worse.
Then we were served the Mongolian equivalent of stovies (with noodles) which was very tasty and more milk tea.
Tomrou, Gana and Simbiu tried to teach me a card game simply called 'Cards'. With limited english explanation it was very hard to understand what was going on but after a few hours I got the gist of it.
Then Gana and Bagi played checkers with a chess board, followed by me being utterly thrashed twice by Gana in chess (using sheep anklebones to replace the missing pieces).
The TV is then turned back on for the wrestling and we drink some interesting sweet soup. The only thing I can liken it to is the aftertaste you get after you throw up. I managed my whole bowl and I think I managed to hide the fact it was utterly gross.
The Mongolians seem to have a pretty open house, random folk just wander in and out, have a bit of a chat, help themselves to some milk tea, watch the TV.
I ended up getting to bed around 11:30. We played endless games of Cards then Otou washes the floor, takes the covers off the three beds and spreads them on the floor. Gana and the kids are on the floor, Otou and Tomrou are on the bed at the back of the gher and Simbiu and myself are given a bed each to throw our sleeping bags on. My orange 'glacier' bag was too warm for the gher but very comfortable. The lights went on and off in the early hours so I didn't get much sleep.
I got a two minute warning from Simbiu at around 11am that we were leaving for Kharakorum.
We are joined in the van by Tomrou and some random old guy who chattered happily in Mongolian all the way there, Simbiu pointing out places of interest to me.
We arrive at a bit past 12. I went with Simbiu to the Erdene Zuu, a former Buddhist monastery, still with some practicing llamas.
I realize in the departing rush I have left my money back in the gher so I had to rely on Simbiu to pay my standard entry fee of 3500T, furious at myself as I wanted to pay the more expensive fee that would allow me to take photographs.
A guide, a young girl with good, clear english takes us round a very informative and interesting tour of the various shrines and temples.
The monastery was built upon the ruins of Kharakorum City, the capital of the Mongol Empire founded in the 13th century by Chinguis Khan, 100 years after its destruction. It is surrounded by walls that are 400 meters long on each side because the walls of Kharakorum City were 4km long and it is built from the bricks of the ruined city.
In the monastery there are mostly shrines to Buddha's of various things and their protector gods. I was most interested in the protector gods as I've seen them in dances and statues and they look utterly evil so I was confused as to their purpose but no one could tell me what they really were.
It turns out they are good. There was an interesting story about the only female protector god: in ancient times there was a great evil in the land. The male protector gods were sent to destroy it but failed, so the female god 'used her mind' as the guide described it, and ended up marrying the evil and having his kid. Then she killed him and her child as it was evil too.
In her statue shes riding her mule that looks pretty done in, she's all wild staring eyes and fangs and claws and downright hideous. She sits on her dead evil husband who is hung across her saddle and looks pretty normal (why did he marry her?!) and her dead evil baby is in her mouth.
The guide also explained why there are horrific paintings of people being torn apart on the ceilings of all the Buddhist monasteries I've visited; turns out these are depicting a Sky Burial. In the past, Mongolians laid their dead on the tops of mountains to be eaten by birds and wolves, apparently a good man would be devoured faster.
When the guide left us we went to another temple where the llamas were chanting and praying. That day was a special day as it was the 15th day of the month on the lunar calendar, or something like that.
They were sitting in rows on either side of the temple facing inwards in orange robes and red sashes, reading from books or scrolls, their chanting was powerful and seemed to be harmonized. Normal folk were praying around the edges and the walls were decorated with altars to different deities. I desperately wanted to get my camera out but I was too much of a coward, I didn't want to disturb them and I was already getting some unfriendly stares from just being foreign and being there.
On the way to the exit I felt better by taking some sneaky 'unauthorized' shots of the buildings.
When the van showed up we drove into the nearby town to purchase some airaig from the backroom of some food establishment where an old lady filled up several coke bottles for us (I didn't buy any, its not as bad as all the horror stories but I'd rather not drink it all the same). There was a market of sorts and I saw a collection of pool tables in the freezing air that people seemed to be buying go's on.
We drove to an impressive monument up on the hill. I snapped some photos and Simbiu explained it was for but I guess i didn't listen as the freezing winds had locked my hands blue and rigid around my camera in seconds- utter agony. Then to another nearby shrine, I got the gist that women wanting children came here to pray for one.
About half way back to the gher we veered of the road and drove along a dirt track next to a small forest (bare for the winter) for maybe a km or so until we came to a collection of three ghers with two camels and a horse tied outside (I never get any explanations for these side trips so its very exciting. I could of asked but I kinda liked just waiting and seeing where we'd end up next).
The resident family invited us in for a small cooked meal and milk tea before driving off again with another passenger, a lady in a beautiful black deel with gold designs.
We veered off the road twice more to visit what looked like a tourist gher camp and to speak to some folk in a truck, again not sure why.
That evening the children taught me how to play ankle bone games. The first game started off by gathering as many bones as possible in your hands and arms then scatter them. The aim is to knock the matching bones into each other without hitting any non-matching ones (they fall into four different positions- sheep, goat, horse, camel) if you manage this you keep one of the bones, if you miss or hit a non-match your turn is over and the next person scoops up and throws the bones again. When the number of bones being played decreases, if one person gains them all then everyone (including the current player) has to throw in two bones to keep the game going. If you run out of bones then your out of the game and the last person with all the bones is the winner.
Another game is 'Horse Racing': all the bones are lined up in the 'horse' position and a long row, the players have an ankle bone each at the start of the line and by throwing dice they progress along the line, the first one to reach the end of the line wins. Alternately you can place the bones in the 'camel' position then it is 'Camel Racing'. Sheep and goat racing is not so popular.

I will try and finish this tomorrow as its a trek home and I don't want to do it in the dark. The office might not be open but I've heard rumors from other travelers about a free computer in a posh mall, so I'll investigate.

Again the week has been a bit uneventful but I've enjoyed it.
I've spent my time in the museums and cafes; the cafes I frequent are tourist cafes, foreigners just seem to gravitate towards them so they've been great for chance encounters, just chatting to strangers and swapping stories.
I've picked up a lot of fantastic travel tips and I've now established good travel contacts mostly in Ulaanbaatar, but in several different countries as well.
But its definitely been a motivation to return to Mongolia at a later date where I can be certain of traveling widely and cheaply in the country with reliable people, just as a tourist instead of a volunteer.

There are always hawkers around Peace Avenue, mostly selling art, or offering to scrub your shoes, use their rickety set of scales or selling sweets and tobacco or use their ancient, beaten up telephones. I usually ignore them but the other day, I gave in to the pestering to stop and talk to one fellow who had some lovely watercolors and decent English and it turned out that he had studied at Number 18 School (though this just may have been a selling tactic). It was a bit of a mistake as two other hawkers instantly homed in on the weak willed foreigner. It ended up as a loud money waving scene at the tourist information desk in the big posh post office.

Its encounters like that which really make the travel experience rather then seeing the sights or going to a place. I have a bizarre episode with an Irish man which ended up with him shouting angrily down my phone to an English friend of his in a busy shopping mall, he promptly handed me my phone back 'nice meeting you' and disappeared leaving me with a sense of surreality.

And some good news; my trip is tomorrow! Leaving at 11am to go somewhere far away. If the weather stays good I'll be away 5 days and come back on thursday, if it goes bad it will only be 2 or 3 days. So I have a car and a driver and an interpreter and I'll be staying with a nomadic family and explore the area of where ever it is I'm going, do some horse riding and some camel riding. So it should be good but I'm really nervous! I'll be the only foreigner there and well I just hope I don't screw up and insult someone.

The trip didn't happen! But hopefully it will in the coming week.
It was a fairly quiet week, I was at the school Monday to Thursday when it was announced that the schools were all being closed because of the swine flu, so it will be closed for the next week and possible the week after as well.
I meant to update earlier but the local internet cafes were closed, which made me panic a bit in case everywhere was closed, but after a venture into the city today I found that most establishments are still running.
On Friday Zulaa was performing in a show which was being put on for the police force, I went along (well ran thinking I was late) but I was early for the performance, there was a prize giving for the police who had performed well, which turned out to be pretty much everyone there so it went on for aaages! Still managed to get some amusement out of it as every time a new speaker came on the Star Wars theme tune was played very loudly and dramatically, they really love their dramatics over here, bless 'em! I was cracking up, but no one else could understand, I don't think Star Wars is very popular over here.
The show was fantastic as usual, this was the second performance I've been to at the Children's Palace and they really put 110% into it.
Chimge also took us to a little art gallery with an exhibition which was mostly of paintings of Ulaanbaatar but it was very nice.
Not much else to report I'm afraid, fingers crossed for the trip happening this week!

The big news of the week is SWINE FLU!!! It's managed to get into Mongolia very suddenly.
It was around Wednesday/Thursday when I started hearing about some new suspect cases and folk were looking worried. I turn up to school on Friday and the teachers are definitely worried and I hear that at least two schools in our district are now closed, and more closed in other areas of the city. It get worse as the day goes on and there is a large queue outside the school nurses room, children are vomiting in the corridors and we're having to send several kids away to the nurse as they develop temperatures and turn all pale and sweaty and scared.
At this point a teacher sends me down to the cafeteria to buy a face mask (which is damn uncomfortable and hot to wear, but it feels necessary at this point).
It look pretty likely at this point the school will be closed, unfortunately. I'm still hoping that the situation has been blown out of proportion due to the fact that everyone's scared by it.
Just in case folk reading this are worried, I did come prepared and I have all the appropriate drugs with me so I'm in no danger at all. I have kept very quiet about the fact I've got the drugs though; I've told no one at all since they seem to be either limited or non-existent or ridiculously expensive over here and everyone seems to be buying vitamins as the best available thing (the prices for vitamins in the chemists mysteriously rocketed in the past couple of days- can't believe people would actually take advantage of this situation in such a poor country. Guess that's my naivety showing and I'm realizing how lucky we are to have the NHS back home).
Hope I don't get it though, its utterly evil feeling even mildly ill abroad.

On a better note, next week I should be going on my expedition next week so I'm really looking forward to getting away from the pollution, dust and noise of the city (some people started some major sounding construction work outside my window at 10pm last night, s'crazy).
Still might or might not happen depending on general health and the weather.
If it does go ahead I'll be spending a few days having day-trips and coming back to the city at night and then spending two or three nights with a rural family (yay! a ger experience!) with some horse and camel riding.
I'm also getting the impression that I'm the only person on this trip, I don't really mind that but it will be a nice surprise if I find there is another volunteer or two there (fingers crossed).

And more good news, I'm getting two hours knocked off my Friday workload! Wohooo! I don't mind my hours (now between around 20 and 25 hours a week with the 2 hours knocked off) but Fridays are utterly exhausting (I found out yesterday that one teacher had phoned the director as she was worried about how tired I was looking. How embarrassing, but it just shows how kind and caring these people can be).

Thought I'd do a little more description of the school. Its a very basic but big 3 storey building, with around a thousand students in attendance. Its clean, but most of the windows are broken so it can get very chilly. The children come from a small variety of backgrounds, some are reasonably well off, well dressed with small families and quite nice but basic houses though alot are not so well off in small, basic accomodation that they share with an extensive family and are unable to buy the required textbooks for school which can make teaching difficult.
Mongolia is a very poor country, the evidence is everywhere especially in Ulaan Baatar, the streets are filled with the homeless (mostly children) which make a huge contrast to the well dressed population as they stretch out by the road side with a small cardboard box for donations from the people passing. You can smell the stench of sewers and on the backstreets there are mountains of decaying rubbish, many of the buildings and all of the streets are in disrepair. Around the State Department Store on Seoul Street is what is the most upmarket square km in all of Mongolia (apart from the huge fenced off mansion just outside the city where the president lives) but about 5-10 minutes walk and you come upon a huge shanty town of ramshackle huts and ghers. It's not a pretty or particularly nice city by any stretch of the imagination.

The last week and a bit have been reasonably uneventful, I've mostly been fighting off various mild but annoying illnesses I've picked up.

I'm now socializing more with my colleagues from the school, there's four of us who go to a local pub, drink beer, eat peanuts and talk. It was recently decided that we should go out to one of the nearby clubs last night. Two couldn't make it but me and Ankhaa went along anyway. It was a far cry from the last time I went clubbing in Zante, the dance floor was a sobering experience. But at the same time it was incredibly entertaining in a cringing way. I think me and Ankhaa were the only really sober ones there in the tiny, mostly empty club, everyone seemed to be dancing to some rhythm other than that the music was playing (although convinced that they were dancing really really well, most of the men transfixed by the mirrors that lined the floor watching themselves dance) and the staff were pulling out every abysmal tune they could possibly thing of most of which were impossible to dance to so everyone stood around looking awkward. It was very entertaining for me!

Sorry thats all for now, I'm not feeling very inspired at the moment!

At the top are some photos from my first few weeks that my Dad has managed to upload from my Facebook Album - More will appear as I get the technology sorted out

a little more detail...

I thought I should write about some little things of interest in Mongolia, mainly Ulaan Baatar.
I think one of the things that characterises UB very well is Seoul Street. This is pretty much the highstreet, the entire road (maybe over a km long) was relaid in a matter of weeks (damn good workers over here), work was just finishing off when I arrived. One of the things that struck me was that they had put alot of money and effort into rebuilding this road and had royally screwed up the congestion for weeks (seriously, the entire city was 'chock-a-block' to quote Michael MacIntyre) but what hadn't they done? Drainage. The day after one section of road was complete, the road was flooded around the State Department building, very soggy feet for anyone who tried to traverse the street.
The next thing is traffic. Pedestrian crossings are everywhere but they are kind of irrelevant in the eyes of the drivers so crossing the road is an exercise in nerves. If your quick on your feet you should be able to dodge the cars and buses as they do slow slightly to give us foriegners a fighting chance (so sporting of them) but they usually stop for the locals so the best strategy is to attach yourself to groups of Mongolians while navigating roads (also they're more practised at it so their road-crossing strategys are more reliable). All to often however I've found myself stranded in the middle of a fast main road, heavy traffic on all sides.
The drivers are also the most impatient in the world. If a car slows or halts momentarily they just love to lay on their horns. They tend to ignore each other until the last possible moment as well, when Sete was driving me and Katia back from dinner the other night, there was a huge jam at one of the main junctions, with cars facing in every possible direction. They also don't indicate, so for someone like me who automatically expects them to observe this basic rule of the road things can get pretty hairy.
I've only been on a bus once (with a Mongolian who knew where they were going). It was quite fun though uncomfortable, no seats so you get thrown from side to side with extreme violence.
I prefer walking though as the buses are numerous and the system confusing.
Also on the streets, the pavements hold another host of hazzards: loose stones, huge puddles, small ponds, rubble. But the worst bit are the holes, massive manhole type things, usually they're covered but sometimes there is just a huge gap in the pavement with a six-seven foot drop, I had a close call with one of those late one night :S. I had a class earlier this week (8th grade I think) and we were discussing our 'Unforgetable Day' one boy stood up giggling uncontrollably and told the tale how one of his classmates was running for the bus and simply disapeared straight down one of these holes. The poor boy was so embarrassed as his friend happily embellished on how he was screaming for help while everyone else had a good laugh at his expense; I asked the speaker "Did you help?" "Not really, I was laughing to much".
And of course the people, they are usually not too fond of tourists and so you get some 'Looks' on the street. But all the ones I've got to know (although they are all aware of my volunteer status) are extremely open and friendly, their hospitality is fantastic and despite all the things you hear about their rigid traditions they are pretty difficult to offend.
They have their funny little ways. If you bump into someone on the street, it is customary to touch (well grab) the person you collided with on the hand or arm. As Ann put "the first few times it happens, it feel like you're being mugged".
Another funny little way of theirs is "no bag must touch the ground" - i think its bad luck of something. But whenever you forget, someone almost immediately scoops your bag up and places it up and away from the possible evils of the floor.
Also I was invited to a pub with three of the language teachers and we spoke on pretty much every subject, I discovered that Mongolian mothers are too shy to talk to their daughters on certain matters. Well that explained why I've been getting the "where do babies come from" questions from Zula, that I've been oh so skillfully avoiding. Ach! Not really my place, dear.
They also love singing, in class they often pester me to sing and sometimes theres no getting out of it. Although it makes for a good lesson as they love to learn new songs, the other day I walked into an 11th grade class and one of the boys was plugged into his stereo, eyes closed unashamedly singing his heart out at the top of his voice. Bless.
The structure of the school day is also quite bizzare; 40 minute lessons, break and lunch are either 5 minutes or 10 minutes so the kids just have enough time to dash down to the tuck shop and then munch through their next lesson. On Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays there are full days but on Wednesdays and Thursdays (my favourite week days) there are only half days. On a full day the teachers can be working as late as 6:45! Luckily all my lessons finish around four or five.

Also my phone number (and this will work): 00976 95931012

Thats all for now.

Life is very hectic over here at the moment, but since most of my friends have left the country I should have more time to update now. I keep planning to then other stuff gets in the way, sorry bout that.
Oookay trying to pick up from last time, Scott left the country a week and a half ago on the monday morn (on the designated day, incredibly). I had little time to do anything that week because Linda and I were tasked to getting the #18 School debating team up to scratch for a competition with some other schools that Saturday and Sunday.
So in all our free time we were researching the topics and we spent several hours after school each day practising with the team (1 boy, 4 girls, all 11th grade). The topics were issues such as biofuels, mining in the Antartic, cancelling third world dept, genetic modification etc, etc. Linda was fantastic and spurred us all along with her enthusiasm and knowledge and I tried to make input where I could. When the team saw the list of teams they would be up against on Saturday, they were terrified! All the teams were from private schools where they speak english in all classes at school (including maths, science etc) and the #18 team only spoke it for 4 or 5 hours a week. Despite all this they came up to me on Monday, thrilled; they had beaten the russian school and the 'Hobby' school (the school where the competition was held) and made it through to the rounds on Sunday which was a huge achievement since they had no teachers supporting them and all the judges were from the other competing schools. Unfortunately they were beaten by the american school on the Sunday but one girl was offered a place on the Mongolian debating team to compete internationally!
Last week after I had 'inherited' the bed off Ann, I discovered the sheer horror of bedbugs. I kept waking up to my arms, face, back, neck and feet being covered in bites, akin in nature to blisters and so bloody itchy that even midgie bites paled in comparison. Grrrrr I was not so happy. I managed to keep the worst effects at bay by medication from the lil goody bag my dad packed for me but on Monday I gave up and went to Chimge for help (I didn't really want to say and embarrass her) and she got some spray yesterday. Apparently the instructions were along the lines of "Spray the bed and room then evacuate the flat immediately for at least half an hour". So I had a lovely bite free night last night :). Sheer bliss.

Anyways, I had a very interesting and fun weekend. On Saturday the teachers had a day out to a mountain with a (Buddist) deity on the summit- a creature with an eagles' head eating a snake, with the volunteers invited. It turned to be all the female language teachers (although I have yet to meet a male language teacher now that I think about it), some retired female language teachers (one lady was the only female Mongolian to climb Everest and something of a celebrity), Linda, Grits (the German, German teacher) and myself.
Linda and I turned up at the school in time for the 9am get away on the mini bus, although (as Chimge predicted) we didn't actually leave until after 10am, typical Mongolian style. Again Mongolian style we crammed into the bus squeezing the extra bodies on the back seat eventually set off down the bumpy road out of the city, as the numerous vodka and wine bottles were passsed around to be held seperately to avoid breakage and several teachers got started on the beer. About an hour/ hour and a half later we pulled into a tourist gher camp beneath the mountain on a beautiful sunny day with a bitingly cold breeze. While the renting of a gher was negociated the rest of us took advantage of the toilet facilities, two old wooden cubicles with no doors facing away from the camp with a spectacular view looking down the valley, a long drop between the wooden floorboards and a really really nasty stench (fancy that!).
The gher however was lovely, a huge, ornate table in the middle next to a wood buring stove and four beds round the walls which seated the 15-20 people in our party comfortably. The teachers came very well prepared and immediately started preparing lunch on the table; Mongolian salami, cucumber, tomatoes, bread, a strange smokey, salty cheese and rice and they fried fat and meat on the stove. During lunch the first vodka bottle was passed round and poor Linda (who hasn't touched alcohol for 3 years) found that "No thanks" wasn't an accepted answer. Then we split into two groups, some teachers stayed in the gher while most (including the volunteers) went to climb the mountain which was going to be a 4 hour trek. As it happens in Mongolia things never turn out quite how you plan them, so instead we had a 6-7 hours leisurely wander up and down the 'mountain' which was really more of a hill. We stopped every few hundred metres for short breaks where we drank red wine and the Mongolians all sang songs (and they could all sing quite beautifully) until they decided that the volunteers should also perform, starting with me. I played along and raised my horrific singing voice to "Auld Lang Syne" thinking that I wouldn't have to be embarrassed as everyone had to sing, but somehow Grits and Linda managed to avoid the sing-song. On top of the mountain the teachers paid their respects to the shrine (huge and covered with strips of blue cloth) by throwing milk ("milk?! is that MILK?! where did they get the milk?!) onto the shrine and placing offerings of food and sweets at its base. Then we had a lengthy photographing session before realising it was soon going to be too dark to get down the mountain. When we eventually made it back to the gher after dark, the teachers who stayed behind had prepared dinner (same as luch except this time there was sausages and a watery soup made out of boiled animal bones) and more vodka was passed round and more singing ensued. We eventually got home around 10pm to collapse into bed.
The next morning we had a 10am start as Chimge had organised a trip to a national park. So we set off from Ulaan Baatar around 11ish with myself, Sete (a Mongolian working with New Choice), Linda, David (an Itailan I met at the embassy party, who has lived in the city for 6 years, who likes cheese and talking about cheese and other Italian foodstuffs), Katia (another Italian Linda and I met at a theatre who is working for an NGO to set up a program in the south-west) and Davids two poodles in Sete's car.
After about an hour of driving, talking (mainly about cheese and other foods) and farting on the poodles part we reached Tererlj (spelling?) National Park which has a massive rock shaped like a turtle. After 10 minutes we decided it was too touristy and we were put off by all the drunkards wandering round so we decided to go to see David's Dutch friend (who also loves cheese and making cheese) who lives 20 minutes up the road. We were stopped on the way there by a river and so had to wait for the Dutch dude to come and get us in his landrover (he said 5 minutes so we waited for half an hour). We eventually got to his place, a small, hut which seemed to have only 2 rooms, surrounded by ghers (a small sort-of-tourist camp).
Linda, David and myself went for a half hour ride round the valley (almost deserted apart from the huge herds of goats and their mounted sheperds). In the end Linda went on a half hour ride before turning back and David and I wanted to go for the full hour so we carried on. The Mongolian horses are an apsolute delight to ride, you don't kick them you say "chuu!" to make them go faster, they're quite small ponies but they're all go.
David and I carried on up the valley with our guide through a lovely wooded area till we reached the open ground and, finding that we where late (we needed to leave by 3pm and it was 2:50), simply had to gallop all the way back to the camp. Well I kind of decided that part being more experienced, as did our over-enthusiastic horses, David had never been past trot before but he did very well and managed to cling on and keep up. So we set off "chuu! chuu! chuu! chuu! chuu!!!" a lot of fun :). Arriving back at the camp we had pan after pan of potatoes and cheese (suprisingly delicious) and David and I bought some cheese. Well I didnt know I was buying it until I had to pay ("I bought cheese? When?! Why did I buy cheese?!") so I ended up with a massive chunk of delicious cheese which I have been eating for breakfast to even out the unpleasantness of the stale bread. We eventually left an hour late but made it back before a certain shop closed (Linda had to pick up a lot of pre-paid shopping). Linda stayed over at Chimge's that night so I helped with her packing and Sete arrived again at 4:30 to take her too the airport.
Not a lot else to tell, I went for a meal out with Sete and Katia last night, had a hotpot which is either Mongolian or Chinese and a lot of fun in a lovely place with a glowing tree. There was a powercut but we managed to pay and stumble out the door by the light of our phones.
Today is some sort of celebration of old, retired people so I've been invited along to something or other in about an hour, don't really know what it is, a teacher asked me along to it in a noisy crowed hall and the only part of the conversation I really caught was when she leaned in and whispered "...and drink beer!".
So I have to run, sorry to everyone who has sent me emails I will reply to them when I can.
Thats all for now.

NEW NUMBER

I've changed my sim card to a cheaper Mongolian one, so my number is different: 95931012

If you need to get in touch with me it might work.

more happenings

I'm really not updating as much as I probally should, then I wouldn't have to do all these massive posts.
Okay I'm really loosing track of time over here, all the days semm to blur into each other, I'm so busy. Okay starting from where I left off last time (I think) the next major 'event' on Wednesday was a lovely spicy Indian with a bunch of folk who ran the Gobi marathon, so alot of crazy but very interesting people. I was there because Ann knows Scott (from Detroit I think) who drove to Mongolia in a rally from London (his car broke down along the way and he had to find other methods to get here), he arrived and heard that there was a marathon in the Gobi desert, thought "why not" (as you do!) so he invited Ann along for the dinner and I came since I'm her roomie! There where some very inspiring individuals there, one guy in his 50's who had run 180 marathons! I was sitting next to a German lady called Brigitte (Scotts staying with her) who had run and walked part of the marathon (and i think she's in her 70's!). She invited me and Ann along to a little party at the British Embassy on the Friday. Afterwards Ann and Scott and I went to the 'Great Khan Irish Pub' and discovered to our horror that last orders where at 11 and closing time was 12 and that it was the same with every establishment in the city after we wandered round in vain. So we eventually found a 24 hour Korean and Chinese and had a lovely second meal at 2am.
The next evening we called it quits at closing time and the next day there was a stuffy 2 hour car ride in the blazing heat into the countryside with Linda, Ann, Chimge and Chimge's brother to the Nomads festival. On the way we saw camels, goats, ghers etc and a massive shining steel statue of Chinguis in the empty wilderness (it seems the Mongolians do random very very well). It took us a while to find the festival as it was in the apsolute middle of nowhere and was suprisingly small. This turned out to be because a large portion of the participants where engaged in a 15km horse race. The festival was a food tent where there was some curds and fermented mares milk which I had a bowl of (its not as bad as people say but I definately wouldn't ask for it again!) two tents in which to shelter from the blazing sun, a gher were food was being cooked and a toilet about five minutes walk away and was simply a hole in the ground surrounded by a little screen (I decided to wait). The current competition was what seemed to be a 'best couples' event. They were dressed in the most beautiful finery and rode and sang (my camera was glued to my eye), before it was finished a huge dust cloud was spotted in the distance; the racers where coming back, and we watched them gallop back into the camp; all the jockeys where small children and simply fantastic riders. Then there was the archery and wrestling. Ann and I made it back in time for the little embassy party (6:30 till 9:30) which was very exclusive so we felt special haha! Then it was back to the Irish Pub and the 24 hour Korean to celebrate on Ann's 'last night' before she flew to Moscow to see her cousin. She got to the airport for her flight then next morning to find it was delayed because of weather till 6pm, then 4am, then 1pm today (I think she has actually gone now), her airline put her up in a nice hotel with free food.

Yesterday we had snow for the first time! And I had my first attempted mugging! I had just left a bank and was waiting to cross the road when some bugger grabbed my rucksack which was filled with my camera and some travellers cheques. Was not happy so I wrestled it back and screamed abuse at him till he ran away. But I learnt my lesson and am now using the smaller banks, making sure my hair is covered (I'm so blatently foreign here). Then I met up with Linda and we visited the natural history museum which was filled with the most shocking english (I really wanted to photograph the "NO FOTOS" sign), specimens which were too big for the glass cases and were stitched together quite badly. It was still very much worth the visit and the entry fee however, the dinosaur room was quite spectacular.
Then we met up with Scott and went to a theatre for some traditional Mongolian performances which was fantastic, then Irish Pub then home in desperate need of more than 3 hours sleep.
All the snow is slush today so my feet are soaking (didnt think to use my walking boots) but I've wandered round for a while with Linda and we might meet up with Scott later since its his last night.

Sorry again for the spelling haha!

Week 1

Wow I have a lot to write about now, I've been very busy being a tourist/teacher I've not had time to visit an internet cafe!
Last Wednesday I went to the school and observed alot of teachers taking their classes, and met Linda, shes from Australia and started on the same day as me. The school is very chaotic your running from classroom to classroom between each 40 minute lesson. I'm always in with a mongolian teacher so its easier to communicate with the kids. The next day I was just asking the children questions until about halfway through the day in a more advanced class a teacher put a textbook in front of me and told me to take the lesson! I tried not to panic but a little warning would have been nice! Since I've got a little bit more used to teaching but the children don't always understand what I'm asking them which is very stressful. It's nice in the classes when you get more feedback and the children enjoy it. The teachers are all very nice and helpful, I just got my timetable and I'm teaching between 5 and 6 hours a day (on Mondays, Tuesdays and Fridays the school is open from 8 till 6:45 with different kids attending different times of day, on Wednesdays and Thursdays its a half day). I'm now taking biscuits and snacks to the school in case I get hungry (they have 10 minutes for lunch) because the caffeteria food is awful! Very greasy and gristly.
In the late afternoon and evening I wander round the city with Linda and Ann.
My birthday was really good, the work at the school was really tiring and long but Linda took me to a theatre in the evening where there was traditional Mongolian song and dance and throat-singing, which is the most bizzare thing! The costumes and performance was really beautiful. When I got home Chimge, Zula (I now know corrrect spellings!) and Ann had a huge cake for me which was very sweet.
On Saturday morning we all went to the childrens palace to see a performance put on by kids from a few of the schools which Zula was playing the violin in, it was very good all the children had some sort of talent and again were dressed beautifully. Ann, Linda and I met up with some of the teachers and students in the afternoon to visit some museums which turned out to be closed so we had lunch and wandered instead. We visited the State Department Store which was suprisingly expensive but on the top floor there is a tourist area with traditional dress so we played dress up with the crazy hats. We also went to a nice resturaunt for a big meal and what I thought was my first legal cocktail (it wasn't, the legal age here turned out to be 21! But I don't think I'll get IDed here!) when Ann and I got home we found that Chimge had made us another meal (she doesn't usually cook on Saturdays so we forgot to tell her we were eating out). We had to eat it so we wouldn't upset her but I felt like utter crap after eating so much.
Also Ann is now recovering froma parasite she thinks she picked up in the Gobi, I came home to find she'd spent the day on a drip. The medical treatment here and attitude to medication is quite alarming (apparently they have an obsession with using IV drips which doesn't work well which their terrible re-use of needles, especially syringes).
On Sunday Chimge and Zula took us foreigners to the black market which was incredible! The size of the place is unbelievable and it turned out to be a test of self control for me and Ann as we walked past row after row of really good immitation handbags for the equilalent of about 10 quid. I didn't get much cause I'm waiting for a trip to the cashmere factories.
Back at the flat Ann and I treated ourselves to tomato pasta with lots of cheese (the tomato sauce is quite expensive here, about 500T).
The crime rate here is rising quite rapidly so Ann took me to get a membership at a taxi service run by an Australian guy, Sam, who started it since many taxi drivers lock foreigners in the car and threaten them to get ridiculous fares. It still doesn't seem to bad but I'm getting hassled when I'm alone because of my hair colour so I'm now taking a beanie hat everywhere with me to tuck my hair into so I can blend in.
Thats all I can think to tell you, I'm on a break just now so I should probally get back to the school.

Love to all

Arrival

Hi folks! I'm finding it really surreal out here in Mongolia I have to say, but its very friendly and exciting.
I arrived at the Chinquis (spelling?!) Khan Airport round about 11pm last night. Had a bit of a panic until Bayajargal approached me (recognised me from my photo I think) and drove me to meet my hosts, a lady (now I have no idea how to spell their names so I'll spell it how I say it) Chinguie and her 10 year old daughter Zoolai. Chinguie had kindly stayed up very late to greet me and made me a cup of tea. I'm sleeping on a little mattress on the floor and I'm sharing the room (its like the sitting room) with another volunteer Ann (from England, 26) who is working at the hospital.
Everyone left early for school/work and left me sleeping off my jet-lag. I hate to admit I woke up feeling lost, lonely and homesick and generally feeling a bit sorry for my self in a "what the hell am I doing" kind of way.
Chinquis work finished around 12ish and she came to take me to her daughters school (I still haven't met her daughter!) where I will be working starting tomorrow, eek! At this point I'm now very excited. I met the director of the school and had a confusing three-way conversation with Chinguis translating (her english is excellent) then we waited for her daughter who was still in a class so I went to a bank to change some money and then to a little internet cafe which is were I am now.
There! I think thats me up to date, sorry for the rushed story and possible spelling mistakes but I think I'm a bit short of time.

Oh and the journey wasn't too bad, though very stressful and a bit lonely. The Seoul airport was quite impressive (oh and mum and dad? The Hub Lounge is open from 7am till about 10pm each day- you were asking) felt a bit out of place on the posh 4th floor.

And visiting the school was quite funny, with all the similarites between my own schools I attended and this one. And ALL the children were dressed more fashionably than me, actually everyone in Ulaan Baatar seems to be fairly stylish (now I'm cursing my thermals, my sole pair of jeans and all those band shirts I packed!). XD

One other thing is I think I'm having a bit of trouble accessing my mobile me account but I got into my hotmail just fine. Gonna try facebook next.

Love to all, sorry again for my rushed spelling and the lack of photos! I'm gonna have to work out a way of getting them to you all.

Eve

Touch Down!

A quick update from ground control (the parents) -

just heard from Eve that she managed to find her way to the right airport

(Chinggis Khaan International Airport) arrived at midnight,

and met up with her lift to her accommodation in Ulaanbaatar,

but everyone's asleep so hasn't any idea -

where she is or who she's staying with -

so not much different to usual then!

Day of departure.......

Just a picture of me finally saying goodbye to all via the emails and posting on this Blog address to everyone who have helped get me to this point! Then off to the airport for final picture of me and my belongings before checking in at Edinburgh. It was 2 days work and a second visit to the Bag shop at Sterling Mills Outlet (so incredibly helpful, I wouldn't go anywhere else) to get a lighter bag in order to get my bag weight down below 20kg, after throwing out some more clothes to make room for 160 "Scottish Blend" tea bags I was ready for everything. The Bag came to 19.8Kg at check-in - collective sigh of relief from parents in background.

Next time you hear from me - I'll be there!!

More thanks

Some more specific thank you's:

Susan Morris, Mavis and Gordon Bancroft, Richard and Audrey Bancroft, Kathleen Lumb, Michael Gotz and Patricia Collins, Colin and Helen Scott, Dorothy Barker, Morag and Colin Scott, Philip and Jean Hirst, Lloyd and Kathleen Hirst. Ian, Susan and Amy Graydon who started the ball rolling with the first donation.

The G.I. Unit nurses, secretaries and Consultant Staff in Forth Valley. The Forth Valley Hepatitis Service.

Everyone who works with the Outpatient Department at Stirling Royal infirmary who were mugged for their money by Morag Steele, and Julie, Stuart and all the customers and staff at D.S. MacDonald, Jewellers, Stirling

And a very special thank you to the Dunblane Primary School Charitable Trust for their incredible generosity.

before departure

Hello and welcome to my blog, which I will be updating with news from Mongolia on a hopefully regular basis for the next 12 weeks. After about 9 months of organising I am finally only a few days away from my first venture into the big wide world all on my ownsome and I’m not ashamed to admit that my current emotions keep on swinging erratically from excitement to terror.

I am not really certain how often I will have access to internet, if at all, so don't worry if the blog is quiet.

I have raised funds for this trip through applying to charitable trusts and through a sponsored event, I sailed solo for 3miles round a triangular course in a double-handed dinghy at my home club at Loch Venachar (proof below):

This is my first and last post before arriving in the country so I would like to say thanks to everyone who has supported me and those generous souls who have donated towards my trip. Special thanks to: my family and friends (love to all!), everyone at the Frontier headquarters, Buffalo Systems (Adam Thomas for all your advice and the fantastic shirt which has performed beyond my expectations in the face of the horror that is Scottish weather), the Stewart Award, the Bulkeley Evans Scholarship Fund, the Lethendy Trust, the Perth and Kinross Educational Trust, The Cray Trust, The Souter Trust, everyone at the Dunblane branch of the Royal Bank of Scotland and to a lot of folk at the Stirling Royal Infirmary and the Falkirk Royal Infirmary who donated very generously in support of my rudderless sailing stunt.

And very special thanks to my dad, if it wasn’t for his constant and annoying nagging I wouldn’t be going at all!

I am leaving from Edinburgh airport early afternoon on Sunday 6th and will be arriving in Ulaan Baatar on Monday 7th late evening after passing through London Heathrow and Seoul in South Korea, I’m not looking forward to the flying parts but navigating the airports should be fun and/or interesting, can’t wait for Seoul- it looks pretty fancy. And there should be sushi somewhere on the 4th floor.

Till Mongolia.....