Norilsk was not on any maps for many years.
Why Norilsk?
The best way to look at the mines are from a safe distance, as the photo below shows.
Things are much better now with willing, highly paid workers.
How Can People Live Here?
Can I Go There?
How Much?
Reindeer Man
Talking Chukchi
In the Chukchi language, men and women pronounce some words differently.
Shaman You
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Folklore
The Chukchi have many legends about ancient battles between them and the Eskimos.
Hospitality
Chukchi eat reindeer.
Dogs
Together the Chukchi people and the Siberian Husky dog developed a special relationship.
Here’s a place you never heard of: Kyzyl. Who cares? Well, the nomads do.
Nomad History?
Kyzyl Means “Where Are The Vowels”. You get there on a bus through a mountain pass.
The Sleeping Sayan is a rock formation that looks like a snoozing warrior. Or does it?
Visit a “Yurt Camp”. They will treat you to a great experience.
Paul Pena, a blind blues guy, learned Tuvan throat singing listening to his shortwave radio and competed in the Tuvan throat singing competition. Movie about it called Genghis Blues.
It’s in the part called Patagonia. It’s the city at the bottom of the world. – Ushuaia
Magellan Claims Naked Giants Live at South Pole
Naked Giants – Yes or No?
One day, a fellow came to our building and painted the stairway down to the outer door. It’s the only way to get in or out. He painted the walls of the hallway. He painted the handrail.
Then, he painted the steps! It looked great and he left after a good days work.
I came out into the hallway and slid on the first step that was covered in a fresh coat of vivid green. I couldn’t touch the handrail or the wall which were painted as well. One was yellow and the other orange. I tiptoed down to the street as carefully as I could.
As I walked out on the street, I left a set of single green footprints on the sidewalk.
Later, I asked the lady, who runs the place about it since her entry rug was now covered in green footprints.
She only said, “He should have only painted every other step.”
As a lifelong fan of the Beatles, I found their popularity in Ulan Bator a little mysterious since they were big in the sixties and seventies. In a restaurant, you often hear their music.
It came about like this: western music was decadent (and they hadn’t even heard rap music yet). So all western music was unsuitable for listening and forbidden. You might listen in secret if you could get it at all.
In 1993, Mongolia broke free from the Soviet influence. Even Ghenggis Khan was out of favor with the Soviets. Now Ghenggis Khan is big in Mongolia. You land at the Ghenggis Khan airport and can stay at the Great Khan Hotel and drink Ghenggis Khan vodka and wash it down with Ghenggis Khan beer as as you plan your trips to the various Ghenggis Khan statutes, all of which are enormous.
As a tribute to the Beatles, a statue was placed in front of the State Department Store in 2008. That may not sound like a great honor, but it is. Everyone goes to the State Department Store. You have to. When you ask about an item you can’t find the smaller stores, they say this:
“Have you tried the State Department Store?”
Nine times out of ten, you will find it there. This store is also a landmark for finding your way around town.
“It’s near the State Department Store.” That settles it. No more directions.
If you don’t know where the State Department Store is, you will soon find out.
One night at the local pub, this Irish guy wove a story of how he was training dolphins for the Mongolian Navy. I had made the mistake of asking him what he does here in Mongolia, a land-locked country. I tried to trip him up but he had an answer for every question I threw at him.
Me: But there is no ocean here.
Him: These are freshwater dolphins.
Me: But the river is dried up right now.
Him: That’s why we have them in big aquarium tanks.
Me: If you really swim with the dolphins, why aren’t your fingertips wrinkled?
Him: I wear special gloves during the training.
Me: But there is no Mongolian Navy!
Him: This is a highly classified project and I really can’t discuss the Mongolian Navy status at this time. In fact, I’ve said too much already.
He never even paused before answering and what he had to drink was plenty!
He was yanking my chain so I said, “I stepped over drunken Irishmen all through Europe to get here.”
He replied, “That’s as it should be.”
Everything I will tell you is what I’ve seen with my own eyes. I spent a year here in 2008. This place is like the Wild West with cell phones. The chief thing you notice is how dirty and how clean it is. It’s dirty because the desert tosses all kinds of dirt into the city daily, sometimes with a sandstorm. But it is also very clean in this chilly capital. Why? Because women are always cleaning.
If the women didn’t keep cleaning everyday, I think the whole city would be covered over in two weeks. Anytime I went into a men’s room, there was a woman cleaning. She ignores you and you have learn to ignore her because she’s not gonna leave. And the people are clean.
They have to be clean. Three days without bathing and no one can recognize you.
Everything is either easy or impossible to find. There are only two main streets and most things are on one of them. And there are a few landmarks that everyone knows.
I looked for this spa someone told me was great. It was great but it took me five hours before I found it. I would not give up. When I did find it, it was worth it. There are five rooms of different temperature. Some have the walls covered with beautiful stones. Whole families come and hang out here in the t-shirts and shorts that are provided for the guests.
Getting on the internet is easy. They have internet cafes. Not much cafe but a lot of internet. And they are open 24 hours and cost maybe a dollar an hour.
There is a downside though. You may be near young boys who yell to each other while playing video games. Do not sit between two yellers. Then there are mothers talking Skype to their sons in Korea where they are trying to make some money. They also yell as if Korea is too far away to talk quietly.
Also, watch out for well dressed foreign guys who are Mormon and are way too glad to talk to you.
Walking down the street in this sunny place is sometimes challenging. People toss banana peels over their shoulder. There are also many manhole-like openings you can fall in. The covers are who knows where.
You read that the country has a small population but they all seem to be here in the capital, Ulan Bator. But the upside is that you can get food and shelter for reasonable prices.
I stayed in a family-run guesthouse that treated me like a family member for $14 a night. We sat watching Mongolian idol one night. I don’t know what the judges are saying so I watch the face of the contestant. They nod soberly but the singing can be really good and sometimes in English. I think that gets them extra points.
All Mongolians sing. It’s pretty much required here. We had group sing on the tour bus. And if you want to be in the vodka drinking ritual, you must sing holding your drink in front of you. If you really can’t sing at all, you start a song that everyone knows and they join in and drown you out.
As much as I liked Ulan Ude, I wanted to get down to Mongolia and see my friends so I took leave of the city and headed for the border. But not before taking some advice I would regret.
“Why take train? Bus is cheaper.”
I forgot how tough these people are. The bus may be nothing to them but they are used to suffering. If fact, there has been so much suffering in the history of Siberia that a hard life seems easy. Anyway, don’t take a long bus ride in Asia unless you are prepared for some suffering.
But the good part was: the bus riding torture stops for a while when you get a dose of Russian border crossing suffering. I had about four documents stuffed in my passport and hoped I had them in order.
As you approach the border, uniformed people keep stopping your bus, boarding, and checking your passport. I lost count of how many stops we made. But finally you get to the actual border. Your bus is in a line of vehicles that inch along. Then you get off and line up in person.
Mongolians don’t care much for lining up and some new ones kept getting ahead of our group until a Russian lost his temper and said something in a stern, no nonsense command. He may have been an old military guy. Anyway, there was no line cutting after that and we moved on.
You go through many buildings and climb up and down many steps and finally you see a guy with a stamp in his hand. It sounds like a happy explosion as he slams it down on the passports. You almost tremble with anticipation of your own stamp. But you don’t want to tremble too much since that might get you into trouble, so you stand still hoping you look bored with the process. When the stamp comes down, you feel you can begin your life again. You get back on your bus and the bus suffering doesn’t seem so bad anymore.
The Mongolian side of things seems rather easy after the Russians although I had some trouble with a dirty lad that wanted something from me. I kept a close eye on him as he tried to find a way behind me.
Finally, I turned and faced him. He really had nothing to lose so he didn’t move and I didn’t move and we stared at each other for a while like a couple of dogs that don’t want to fight but don’t want to quit either. The tension was broken as the bus driver had us board and I scampered off to my seat.
Next stop: Ulan Bator, And only six hours away!
Not long after passing Lake Baikal, we arrived in Ulan Ude in southern Siberia. A former student met me at the train station and, boy, was I glad to see her. This was the first person I knew since I entered Russia. She was eight months pregnant! These Siberians are tough. I was on the way to a hotel with an interpreter, this would be a snap, I thought. But nothing is easy in Russia except getting in trouble.
The lady at the desk said 1200 rubles for a room. I had read 900 on-line and this was a lot more. It had said there was a travel agent in the hotel that would help negotiate better price. I went to look for them. I found the office but there was only a girl who said she started two days ago. While I was getting nowhere with her, my friend came and said the lady had lowered it to 1000 and I should take it. I persisted with the travel agent girl to find out if this was a good price.
“I’ve only been here two days,” she repeated.
I went back to the desk clerk.
I said, “OK, 1000.”
She said, “1100.” I said, “What happened to the 1000?”
She said, “You took too long deciding.”
I paid the 1100 and headed up to see what it bought me.
The hotel was quite plain in every way and the room was OK and the bathroom was almost OK. My friend left and we agreed to to meet later for dinner. The reason the bathroom was almost OK is that it was tricky to get a decent shower and the toilet was a bit mysterious looking but functional.
I would like to tell you how wonderful Ulan Ude is but I was so glad to have some help and be clean again, my experience was better than the reality of the place. My friend brought her friend to dinner and left her to show me around the city. Again, my friend and former student was eight months pregnant and we walked everywhere around the city. I was glad to let her go get some rest.
It’s a small, quiet, reasonable clean city. It’s claim to fame is a giant head of Lenin in the main square. After that, the rest is pretty tame. I was so glad to be on solid ground and all in one piece, I was mildly euphoric.
The next day, we went to the museum where the friend of my friend’s mother worked. I can hardly remember the museum, which was interesting as any museum is, but I won’t forget our guide. She was a tall blonde that spoke like a robot but what a robot! I asked some questions to check if she was real. She was.
You have to understand something about the Asia past of Russia. Most the people look Asian. I mean a version of Asian which is striking. High cheekbones, golden skin, and a beautiful sturdiness about them make them the most beautiful Asians I’ve ever seen. And I have seen quite a few. But when you see a blonde, blue-eyed Russian in the middle of all this exotic beauty, it catches you by surprise. There are the Asian beauties all around and then this European beauty shows up and it’s just too much, really.
I decided to stay another night but only if I could get a lower price for my room. I went boldly to the desk but it was another woman than before. I told her that I would only remain in their hotel if I could get a decent price for my decent room.
“You want telephona?”
“Nyet!” I answered, impressing her with my command of the Russian language.
“You want telewision?”
“Nyet!” I said again.
“Okay, 700 rubles.”
Stunned, I took the new key from her and headed for the elevator. These keys, by the way, are attached to a metal piece the size and weight of a doorknob. You could kill somebody with one.
“See woman on floor for change room,” she said to my back.
I got to my cheaper room and looked around. It looked exactly the same as the other one. It had a telephone and a TV. I sat on the bed and thought, this makes it 900 rubles a night. I had a slight uneasiness because it seemed too easy which added to the puzzle of the rooms being exactly the same. I unpacked a few things and went for the bathroom. It, too, was exactly like the other bathroom and the hot water was just as hard to coax out.
Traveling Your Dream 