Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia, China

After 6 days in Beijing it was time to move on to Hulunbuir, Inner Mongolia. The view out of the airplane window was just like I expected....nil; once the airplane got far enough north, the view of the plains out of the window  was good. 

                             

  We landed at the HLD airport and were greeted by my friend Regina and her father, who just happened to be a taxi driver. There were large statues of Mongols on horses and in carriages which reflected the story of the early culture of northern China.

                             

    We checked into the hotel that Regina had arranged and then we were treated to a traditional Mongolian lunch, it was, let say, a memorable experience. We were served lamb heart, liver,intestine, brain, eyeballs, blood, and the meat of the animal; which was the only tasty part, for me. There were different indescribable sauces for dipping the lamb parts in and fresh jasmine flower for tea.

   Often over lunch, of which we ate very little, my wife, daughter, and I looked at each other...we were grateful for the intended deluxe meal but left hungry. We headed to the Dahl Jilin temple after lunch, which was new, it was just okay.

                           

We got back to the hotel and settled in for the late afternoon and evening; our 380 RMB room was very basic, there was no fan or air conditioner so we had to have the window open; in come the mosquito's.

  The next day the 3 of us just hung around town, looked at shops, walked to the park, and the city square....kind of a lazy day, but we were tired from mosquito hunting. We got to know this city of 2.7 million a bit better; the locals looked different, there are 32 different ethnic groups in the region. There were many statues of Mongolian warriors in the park and some windmills.

                              


                                            

     On our 3rd day we hired Regina's dad/car and drove west to the city of Manzhouli, which is 16 kms from the Russian border. The 200 km trip through the Mongolian Grasslands was nice, there was clear blue skies with puffy clouds. There were several large herds of cows and sheep scattered around the fields, often there were wild horses; so nice to breathe fresh air after being south for so long.

                              

    There were many traditional yurta's on the way which were the portable homes of the Mongolian Herdsmen that have been used for about 4,000 years. Typical herdsmen would have 2 or 3 yurta's, one for cooking; these would be heated by dried cow paddies (dung); some locals were still using this form of housing.

                              

Once we got to Manzhouli we were surprised by the architecture, there were replica's of many famous Russian buildings throughout the city of 260,000.

                                        

                            

   Many Russian tourists frequent this city, so many of the Han and Mongolian people speak Russian. If Russians want to see the famous buildings of Moscow or Saint Petersburg they come here where they can also buy many Russian products for less. Our day was so successful; between the nice scenery, all the history we learned and the great company (Regina and her dad) we really lucked out. When we got back we got dinner at a good restaurant that we discovered in this city of near no English speakers.

  The next day we hired Regina's dad again and headed out of the city in an easterly direction. We arrived at a tourist spot that had many yurta's for the tourist to stay in;

                       

   the scenery was nice, some rolling grass covered hills and a big river.

                       

    I guess I can say that I would never tire of open spaces, few people, and little city development. It was time to head back to the airport, say goodbye to Regina and her parents and board a plane to Xian.