A Visit To The Countryside, Day 5: A Long Ride Back To Ulaanbaatar
At this point I have come to acknowledge that I am absolutely awful at blogging. Not in that my writing is particularly bad, but more that I blog rarely. Although I have experienced greater success blogging than keeping a diary. Perhaps I should block off a period of time just for blogging, per the advice of a friend.
Without further ado, here's Day 5!
I woke up in the morning feeling as if I were in the earth's core. Burning heat enveloped me, and despite my fatigue I rushed outside into the crisp morning air. Bashi soon joined me. Our hosts had started a fire for us that morning which had gotten far too hot far too quickly. My leg now only throbbed a little as I walked, with no visible impairment. To put credit where it's due: thanks pee.
An hour later we dragged Ella out of bed and toward breakfast. For several minutes she refused and insisted she would be sleeping through breakfast. Afterward, we headed off on the last leg of our journey toward Ulaanbaatar. Our driver insisted we stay awake the entire time – we slept too much according to him.
We stopped in a large town with a quarry-based industry a few hours outside of UB (forgive me, I have forgotten the name), where we walked up toward a large structure that symbolizes the friendship between Mongolia and Russia. After decades of Soviet Union-imposed communism, the two nations do share quite a bit.
A few hours outside of UB we were stopped at a checkpoint, where a police officer argued with our driver for several minutes. "What are they arguing about?" I asked Ella.
"I don't even know, stupid stuff," she replied.
After we left she explained that the police officer had been criticizing the lights on the front of the vehicle as banned and self-installed. The driver had argued back that that was just how the car was bought. The policeman responded that thats not what they looked like. "I don't know why he was an expert on our car's lights," Ella said, "Reminds me of Oakland police officers. They try to trick you so they can get money."
Pulling into the city, I found it both familiar and foreign. Something was different. Poster plastered walls and were propped up in center-ways. What were these?
In two weeks, there would be nation-wide elections. Campaigning had just begun.
Without further ado, here's Day 5!
I woke up in the morning feeling as if I were in the earth's core. Burning heat enveloped me, and despite my fatigue I rushed outside into the crisp morning air. Bashi soon joined me. Our hosts had started a fire for us that morning which had gotten far too hot far too quickly. My leg now only throbbed a little as I walked, with no visible impairment. To put credit where it's due: thanks pee.
A few hours outside of UB we were stopped at a checkpoint, where a police officer argued with our driver for several minutes. "What are they arguing about?" I asked Ella.
"I don't even know, stupid stuff," she replied.
After we left she explained that the police officer had been criticizing the lights on the front of the vehicle as banned and self-installed. The driver had argued back that that was just how the car was bought. The policeman responded that thats not what they looked like. "I don't know why he was an expert on our car's lights," Ella said, "Reminds me of Oakland police officers. They try to trick you so they can get money."
Pulling into the city, I found it both familiar and foreign. Something was different. Poster plastered walls and were propped up in center-ways. What were these?
In two weeks, there would be nation-wide elections. Campaigning had just begun.
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