You gentlemen and saucy bastards travel a bit more than I do, or have traveled a bit more than I. With that said, if you have any pointers for guiding myself through the chaos of Beijing (PEK) or Seoul (ICN) or Ulaan Bataar (ULN) inter-national ports of air, give it up.
I leave LAX for Beijing on 01/09/2008, and arrive in Ulaan Bataar, Mongolia, on 01/10/08, just before midnight. I should be there almost a month before my return on 02/03/08.
Much obliged for any info.
~mft
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11 comments:
OkaaaAAAAaaay. JJ's weighed in and has just been awarded this week's Xenophobic Trophy.
Anyone else? AA, I know you've been over in that part of the world.
In China, do not praise Japan. In Mongolia, do not praise China. Pay your bribes meekly, lead the death chants for any Falun Gong, and if ever in the slightest bit of doubt about your situation pretend you are a Swede......oh, yeah, much drinking of hard liquor is a preemptive strike against the dysentery demons eager to waste low another DaBiDzeRen
Looks like AA is in for a good 2nd place on the xeno trophy.
But AI has not yet come to bat, JJ. Your triumph is still in question.
Oh, no rush on the trophy. It's a weekly award. One could accumulate 52 in an entire year (you'd have to be some kind of all-star though).
How about this small observation: These lovers of wisdom MFT is about to go visit named an airport after what everyone else in the world calls the scourge of God.
Even Russians think of these guys as barbarians!
Now, to each his own and all that, but I don't see any Hitler airport in Germany.
Even we in Texas at least limited ourselves to naming a major aerodrome after a politician that died in a plane crash. Takes courage.
How do you say "Montezuma's revenge" in Mongolian? I tested that some years ago in the Dacian hinterlands, and the results were not pretty. My advice is: stay away from fish (anything in those hinterlands must have traveled a long, long way before getting on your plate...). Also, don't assume they know about fridges or AC -- but I guess in the middle of January in the tundra, that's not a real problem. I'd just stay with bread and cheese, and some tzuica equivalent -- just watch out for scurvy. Do they have lemons in GenghisKhanLand?
About names: Wrong, JJ. The Hungarians also have some kind of strange affinity for Attila. How would you like that for a first name? Could change your moniker here at FCP to AJ...
Russians and Mongols have a long, bloody history. Moscow's puppet ruler in Mongolia was the home-grown Choibalsan, a monster of a man. The more conservative estimates show that he authorized the execution of around 20,000 Mongols -- intellectuals, spiritual leaders, monks -- to make that Great Utopia. They sent the innocent off to the gulag work camps, or shot them on site. It was probably closer to 30,000 (the country today has around 3 million people).
After the Soviet break-up, and after Mongolia gained its independence, they have been incredibly open to the idea of British Parliamentary-style government and Western Democracy. As JJ points out, though, there needs to be better understanding (rather than nostalgic-myth-making) about who Chinggas Khan actually was.
From what I know, Hitler was still worse. And Stalin takes first place.
Mongolian Buddhists are comparatively harmless when contrasted with Russian flat-heads/mafia, ex-KGB, or Militant Islam. Western Mongolia starts getting a bit looney -- too close to Borat's Islamic back-country Khazahkstan.
As far as the food goes: since I'll be in Ulaan Bataar, and since it'll be mid-winter (as you also pointed out), there shouldn't be a problem with the meat-dumplings. From what I know Mongols don't eat a whole lot of fish for the land-locked reason you stated. There is a bit of fish that comes out of the lake just south of Lake Baikal, and I'll keep your advice in mind.
I appreciate the words, fellahs. I've a friend who's fluent in reading, writing and speaking Mongol, and who's lived in Ulaan Bataar (aka, "Red Hero") for about 6 years now. I should be good once I get there. Just a bit curious about the air-port exchanges.
A full report upon my return. And perhaps some minor contributions to FCP if I can locate internet kiosks while there.
Hmmm, I think AI's turn at bat was too sober and based on practicality to oust JJ from the leader board.
To our "Xenophobe of the Weekend", the magnificent JJ. Odds are 2:1 he doesn't repeat this next weekend.
Yes, AI was much too subtle, too nuanced, to contend for the trophy.
With that said, Congratulations, JJ!: "Speech, Speech, Speech!!!"
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