Hi there,

Email from Mongolia. When you can't get on line in Hong Kong, but you

can in Ulaan Bataar you know that there's something weird about

technology. This country is quite unbelievably beautiful. You could

put a pin in the map anywhere, and as long as you miss the few decaying

Soviet concrete towns you find yourself in some of the most perfect

countryside you could ever imagine. Bumpy dirt tracks criss cross the

plains revealing herds of sheep, goats cows, horses,occassionally two

humped camels and nomadic 'Gers' dotted here and there. When we first

arrived recent rains meant that the grasslands were thick with summer

flowers, including grey furry Edelweiss. As we went further west and

north the plains started to turn into higher hills, and herds of Yak

replaced the cows and camels. On our four day drive to Khovskol lake

there were often no trees in sight however far you looked, but as we

approached the lake we started driving through forests of pine, fir,

birch and larch. The lake itself was clear and cold (2% of the earth's

fresh water), and you can scoop the water up and drink. Six of us did

the 10 day trip, motored around by our intrepid and ever laughing

driver, Ereldy. Nights were cold in our tents, but the nomads insisted

on us drinking plenty of Airag, slightly alcoholic horses milk, and very

alcoholic Yak's milk vodka, so sleep wasn't too difficult to achieve

even though we had five of us in a four man tent.

Winter is beginning to close in on Mongolia. Yesterday we could see

snow on the hills above Ulaan Bataar, and this morning there was a thick

frost over the city. Two more days of sight seeing and walking here and

then it's back to China in search of the sun. So long for now.

Hello, Monica here. What a fab time we've had and just in time too as

I'd rather not be camping in this chilly weather. It's difficult

getting trains to and from here so we have a few days left while we wait

for the train to China. Ulaan Baatar is not a city I'd particularly

wish to spend much time in as it's a pretty sad place, but there are

some excellent travellers to meet and hang out with as well as some

interesting museums, cultural shows and stuff. Also there's the

opportunity to send and receive emails which has been brilliant. We

were feeling quite out of touch having spent all that time camping on

the steppes and meeting people who live incredibly primitively. The

nomads seem happier than the city people although it's said that

everyone in this country is really a nomad at heart which may explain

why. The size and freedom out here is amazing. Huge skies and there

are no fences or walls or barriers of any kind. The people are relaxed

and hospitable, expecting passing travellers to drop in for milky,

slightly salty tea with rock hard cheese and clotted cream. For

breakfast it's best to slice some mutton (especially really fatty bits)

into your tea! Everyone wears traditional dress with big boots for

horse riding. We had a few nightmares with our guide who was a rather

entusiastic vodka drinker with the tendency for grumpy hangovers and

immature behaviour, but I understand from other travellers that we

actually did rather well. One group had to bail their guide out of a

local jail as he'd been drunk and disorderly, then the guy drank himself

into oblivion to celebrate his release! Such stories are typical.

We have been resting and recovering for the last few days before a long

long trip down to Xi'an in China to see the terracotta army. We enjoyed

Shanghai and Beijing, staying with friends of friends. We bought and

flew a lovely kite in Tiannamen Square, but didn't queue to see

formaldehyded Mao. We slept the night in our sleeping bags on the Great

Wall drinking Great Wall wine and reading the Lord of the Rings. Now we

begin proper backpacking in China with no more kind friends to put us up

(put up with us ?*?!!). Ah well it should be excellent. I really can't

believe how quickly time is passing. I wonder where we'll be able to

get on line next?

Good bye for now, love Monica and Andy.

 

Then the following was received in December 1998

We're back from walking around the Annapurna mountains for 23 days with no electricity, plumbing, phones, roads, railways or boats, just people and mountains and mules with big bells. It was cleansing and refreshing but physically very demanding. I've been dying to tell you about Tibet, but it's a while ago now so I'll just see how I get on. We flew to Lhasa out of Chengdu on a mandatory "tour" which involves sharing airport transport with a bunch of other travelers who're also Lhasa-bound and staying in the same guesthouse on arrival for a few days. All very convenient if you ask me! We prepared ourselves for the cold in China by visiting the fantastic value Army surplus shops. Flying is a ridiculously fast way to travel and airborne next to the Himalayas as dawn comes up is something else. We were very groggy as we'd set out at 4.30am, so it seemed that rather suddenly we were in our room-with-a-view in Lhasa, blinded by the brightness of the sunshine (which incidentally shone through the window onto our digital alarmclock-cum-thermometer and roasted it until I noticed the liquid crystal screen all melting and the thermometer reading 56 degrees C!! It's never been the same since.) and exhausted by the thin air. It was so much warmer than we'd expected so off came hats scarves and thermals. After the horrendous air pollution of other Chinese cities, Lhasa was a breath of fresh air with it's incredible indigo blue skies.

We could glimpse the monstrous Potala palace from our bedroom window which I sat looking out of, fascinated by the fabulous people passing to and fro down below me in the street. Lhasa was heaving with Tibetan pilgrims from all over with nothing better to do than come and give thanks after the harvest, so it was truly an eye opening experience to see and communicate with people from unimaginably simple and traditional lives. Memories of Mongolia come flooding back. Tibetans, as we'd already experienced in China, are friendly and nosey, staring at us as much as we stared at them. They smile an awful lot too; after so long in China that took some getting used to! Some of the women have 108 plaits in their hair from some of which they thread big turquoise and coral beads. There are these huge burly handsome men too, from eastern Tibet. Very warrior-like and tall, with silk shirts and big boots and swirled mustaches, long hair braided with red thread coiled up over their heads and a huge dagger in an ornate holder tucked into the back of their traditional style coats. At the Jokhang temple, the most important place in terms of Tibetan Bhuddism, pilgrims fully prostrate themselves goodness knows how many times before even going over the threshold. We went in and spun the prayer wheels and experienced the inside of a Tibetan temple. We had that experience again and again as we traveled across Tibet. I mean, what else is there to do? The Potala and the Norbulingka (Palace and summer palace of the Dalai Lama) and all the monasteries in and around Lhasa are all based on the same ideas. The walls are gorgeously painted with grotesque and often rather terrifying murals of creatures whose origins are animist but have been assimilated into Tibetan Bhuddism. There are libraries and side chapels and statues and stupas dedicated to any and every Lama that ever was at that particular monastery. Usually such things contain the remains of the Lama and often there's a photo of his current incarnation, some cute but serious looking little child destined for the religious life. I felt like a right plonker when in one place I'd asked the monks if the gold model of the 10th Panchen Lama was really him, preserved and covered in gold!!!. That's what the guide book had said. Of course you can't see the REAL Panchen Lama, that's only a statue I was assured, feeling a little red faced. Don't always believe what you read!

After acclimatizing in Lhasa and recovering from the worst, snottiest cold I've had in years we set off to Nepal. Five people can fit in a jeep for the trip, so everyone is busy putting up and revising notices for traveling companions on guest house notice-boards. We easily found the best group ever for traveling with and were soon on the way to Nepal. It was amazing to see the bleak, barren countryside being farmed by people. They were desperately poor however, really struggling to exist as far as I could see. Influential monasteries everywhere, more pilgrims going to the intact ones, horse drawn carts bringing families. Tibet must've been a strange and exotic place when the monasteries were in power. Some are being restored and the number of monks is growing, but the country will never be as it once was. In one place we saw the walls whitewashed over and Maoist propaganda painted where murals had been. Everest base camp was a minor detour on our trip and well worth the effort. High altitude man. Cold. Fantastic, breathtaking, awe-inspiring. Our teasing driver kept up the ruse that he wasn't going to drive us all the way up to the base camp and after bump-starting the jeep that morning, we thought it may not have been a joke. The road was horrendous, basically traversing glacial moraine. The rock formations, swirling and stripy, desert sands, weirdly eroded hillsides stunning against the deep blue of the sky. There's funny little empty buildings on the hillsides, possibly hermit houses (but I refuse to believe the guide book on this one) and at the base camp itself there's just a toilet block and a 15m wall of terminal moraine that blocks the view of Everest completely. We had to then walk very slowly and breathlessly over this moraine, enjoying the amazing rocks and pretty pebbles (pockets full of favorites by the end). When Michelle and I finally caught up with Andy, Christine and Marie-Christine, they were at a wonderful viewpoint for swooning at the sight of the highest mountain in the world!! Great photo op! My teeth got so cold smiling at the camera! I was very grateful for that army surplus stuff I can tell you. Our room the next morning was below zero. It was a couple more days driving after that before we arrived in Nepal. The contrasts were amazing, but I'm tired, so maybe I'll let Andy take a turn writing. Lots of love for Christmas, Monica.

Well, Monica hasn't left me too much room to talk about Nepal - once she gets going there's no stopping her. I'll try to prevent this e-mail going onto too many pages What can I say about the trek? Well we thought things were going to turn out for the worst as we began yet another day of steep climbs, and sharp ascents on day four and snow began to fall steadily. We had images of turning round at Thorong pass and walking the ten days back. However as we continued to gain altitude in a depressingly consistent climb up the mountainside the weather cleared, the sun came out and we were treated to an immaculate show of the highest mountains in the world surrounded by a winter wonderland. We ascended steeply for the next eight days before the real up hill work began, and the crossing of the pass. Some people left a little after 3 am for the ascent, which seemed a bit extreme, not to mention the risk of frostbite at that time in the morning at 5000 + metres. We left at first light and crawled up a never ending pile of moraine as we headed for the prayer flags on the pass 1200 metres above us. It seems that on the Himalayas all you can do is climb, even the descents are uphill, and although you do nothing but climb, you never actually reach the top. Sometimes it feels like you're in the middle of an Alice in Wonderland adventure - or is that the herbs? Of course the opposite is true on the way down the other side, where no matter how far you walk down hill you always remain at the top.

The night life on the trek is occasionally a little tame, the average bedtime is probably about 6.30, if you can stay awake that long, but the local apricot and apple brandy is something else. 12 to 14 hours later you jump out of bed with about as much energy as the morning after a night in the Col bar. Does this sound like a lot of hard work? It was worth it, infact I'm thinking of heading back for more, although I don't think Monica will be persuaded on this one. When you lift your sagging head as you make yet another steep climb the sight of Dhaulagiri, Annapurna, or some other 8000 metre peak makes your aching legs relax and you forget about troubled breathing and just live the moment.

Next stop is Khatmandu to meet up with Trine and Mat (two friends from Singapore/Suzhou), and a few days of exploring the surrounding valley. Then it's on to Chittwan national park and maybe even a couple of days of white water rafting. We'll probably be in Khatmandu for Christmas, but are still slightly undecided about plans for the last month. It still looks like we'll be back in the UK late January.

Take care and have a great Christmas,

much love - Andy.