Approaching Mongolia

Wednesday, August 4, 5:30 a.m. China time

Up at 5:15, ready to go to breakfast.

It was delicious. Excellent bacon, and ham so fat that I trimmed away over half of the total - just too much fat - but the lean was very good. Potatoes, and a waffle that was lovely, with a fruit compote, not syrup. It was very light and fluffy, and over an inch thick. It's all served buffet-style, and there are astonishing things available, such as pork and beans. (At breakfast?) There are also slices of cheese, tomatoes and cucumbers. This hotel, the Sino-Swiss, is Swiss-run, so that probably explains a lot.

After breakfast, it was time to "head 'em up and move 'em out!" We boarded another bus - a/c this time - and drove to the airport. Several checkpoints to be cleared as we moved through the airport, each manned by an unsmiling young Chinese. The other passengers, mostly Asians, are very aggressive and will mow you down if you let them. They don't seem to appreciate it when you allow them to precede you, instead they look at you rather pityingly, like they think you must be stupid. The officials are, for the most part, very serious and grim, but I did manage to get a small smile out of one young woman. The Communist influence, I suppose. I'd be grim, too, if I had to be a Communist. At one point, we were standing in line beneath a sign that read in English "Foreigners." That was a bit disconcerting. It's the first time I've ever found myself designated as a "foreigner."

We boarded a very nice, new-looking Miat Airlines aircraft without incident and are at this moment as I write, taxiing out to take off for Ulaanbaatar, or "the U.B." as it's often called.

I should mention that the air is very clear and beautiful today - all the smog is gone. The mountains around Beijing are absolutely gorgeous. Very impressive. Now I know why mountains always look the way they do in Chinese paintings - that peculiar, stylized appearance. That's exactly what they look like!

The Miat staff is friendly and efficient, and the plane is very comfortable. The attendants are Mongolian, and are much more pleasant than the Chinese people we encountered in the airport.

I have a window seat, and my nose is pressed to the glass. I want to see everything I can see. About fifteen minutes out of Beijing, I notice a crooked white line snaking across the ridges on the mountains below. Someone said it is the Great Wall. Hmm. Not too impressive from up here at first glance, but as I let the sight sink in, I realize the distance it's covering - it extends as far as I can see - and the altitude from which I'm seeing it, and I begin to get a sense of the immensity of it. We'll visit it when we come back through, and I imagine it will be much more impressive up close.

Farther out, I notice that there are many roads, connecting what appears to be warehouses or sheds, some sort of long, narrow, repetitive buildings. What are they, and why are they scattered out in the mountains? Finally, I realize that they're located near some dark splotches which I take to be some sort of vegetation that's different from what covers the hills, and there are tiny lines from the splotches to the buildings. All the splotches seem to be on the same side of the mountains. I think about it a while, and I think I have an answer, though no one can confirm it. I think I may be seeing tea plantations, and the buildings are the drying sheds. Can't prove it, but it's as good an answer as any. Hooray - I love tea!

As we fly northward, at some point we leave China and enter Mongolia, though we're not aware of it at the time. There are some changes in the topography below, though. The mountains flatten into hills, and there are very few trees. There are, however, many, many little lines that spread like cobwebs over the surface. These lines are crooked, meandering, and they converge and then separate, they criss-cross each other, they run parallel to each other. They are everywhere! What on earth are they? They're too small and narrow to be roads, and anyway, there are relatively few motor vehicles in Mongolia, especially out in the wilderness such as we're flying over right now. I also notice occasional light-colored, irregularly-shaped formations on the ground.

The sound of the plane's engines changes slightly, and I think we're dropping a little. We must be getting close to the U.B. As we get lower, I can see that some of the light-colored formations I saw before are actually herds of sheep, goats, cattle, or any combination thereof. I see one herd that seems to be mostly horses. If there is anyone in attendance, I haven't been able to see them yet. The animals appear to be wild, just going about as they please.

I begin to notice some tiny white, round dots scattered about on the plains below, and I realize that they must be the "gers" we have been told about. A ger is a tent/building hybrid that has been used by the Mongols for centuries as dwellings. They're movable, and suit the Mongolian nomadic lifestyle very well. I suspect we'll learn a lot more about them during our stay here.

We are now over Ulaanbaatar, and the pilot is making our descent. Our mission in Mongolia is about to begin.