The statue of Chinggis Khaan is so shiny and massive that it can be spotted from afar. It is less than an hour away by car from the national park.
The statue is made of stainless steel and is located in the place where, according to legend, he found a golden whip. It is a rather new monument as it was erected in 2008.
One of Chinggis’s bronze horsemen
We reached the park late on the same evening, where the host family welcomed us with a good dinner and warm beds.
That night, the sky was clear so the stars gave a breathtaking and chilling show as the winds howled through the peaks. In these little glimpses of heaven, the beauty of nature becomes so clear that one cannot help but get lost in some personal philosophical moment.
Snowy park
Countless times I have thought myself to be “in the middle of nowhere”, but when I actually found myself in a frozen desert in Mongolia, long away from a path resembling a road and with the only neighbors being the far peaks of the surrounding mountains, then I thought I must really be in the middle of nowhere.
It feels absolutely freeing being in an almost untouched land, very far from everything and yet not scared of getting lost.
Desert of the Gobi, Mongolia
The host and his camels
Just few minutes after having left the capital, Mongolia looks completely different from the chaotic and stressful Ulanbataar.
Where just not long ago there was a sea of cars and buildings, now there is nothing but an empty vastness and an almost serene quietness.
Mongolian Fur Trader
The bus from Ulan-Ude arrived late evening when the Mongolian autumn was at its full strength (or so I believed).
I always find it fascinating and exciting to reach a place completely new to me. A mix of thrill for the unknown things to come and the fact of being in this precise geographical location, certainly unimaginable just few years ago.
Walking from the bus station, I talked to a guy on his way back home from the factory where he works. In summer he works as a travel guide but now it’s too cold for tourists.
Chinggis Square and the Blue Sky Tower
(I’ve been told that, since the tower looks like an axe pointed at Chinggis Khan, some people don’t like it)
After taking an hour-long bus from the center of Ulan-Ude, Datsan Rinpoche Bagsha appears in sight, almost like a castle standing over the city.
View from Datsan Rinpoche Bagsha
The clock in the wagon says 10PM, but right after the first step outside, it’s 4AM. Feels like magic, since everything concerning time on the train (i.e. stops) follows the Moscow time, even if the train is already 5 time zones away.
This time confusion makes the “train lag” even more interesting as on the train people eat, sleep and chat at whatever time they see fit.
So, early in the morning and sleepy, I arrived in Ulan-Ude, where patiently my host and her dad had been waiting for me.
Wooden Houses in Ulan-Ude
Along the long way, it is impossible not to get lost in the wilderness and vast emptiness of the Siberian landscape while looking out the window.
View from the Train Window
Being confined to a train, and often just to a small bed, for days and days sounds daunting and boring, but usually twice a day the train has a longer stop at a station.
So, for about 25 minutes, it is possible to get out, breath in the gelid fresh air, walk around and buy some food and water.
Station of Новосибирск (Novosibirsk)
If someone wants to get to the other side of Russia, there are only a few feasible options available: either flying, the most obvious and fastest one, or taking the train, the slowest but more interesting one.
I picked the latter as it would give me not only the chance to see a bit of Siberia in winter but also to experience the famous Transiberian Train: “At a Moscow-Vladivostok track length of 9,289 kilometers (5,772 miles), it spans a record eight time zones. Taking eight days to complete the journey, it is the third-longest single continuous service in the world.”
Wanting to head to Mongolia, I would stop at Ulan-Ude (roughly 3/5 of the complete route), after 4 and a half days of train.
Preparing the Train
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