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I got to the bus station at about 4pm. A guy at the service counter sold me a ticket for 200RMB and said the bus left at 5pm. This wasn’t quite what I’d seen online (180RMB leaving at 4:30) – but that was the only bus that left between 4 and 5. There was one other foreigner on the bus, a guy named Tom from estonia. We both were in the back of the bus, which was possibly better in some ways, though I’m still unsure on that count. The length of the bunks was significantly shorter than my height, and it was not one of the most comfortable 11 hours I’ve experienced. I listened to music for most of the trip, and was pretty relieved when we got intoerlian at 4am. There were a bunch of guys offering places to stay the night when we got off the bus, and I eventually went with one for 25RMB for the night.

I got up at 8:30, and walked around the city. The place I had ended up was south of the main city, and I took a bus through town most of the way to the border. Then I realized I’d missed the train station and walked back.

At the train station, there were a couple of guys who didn’t really speak Chinese who were having a trouble. I eventually determined that the issue was that the tickets for the train back to Beijing Saturday night were totally sold out. This was disappointing to me, since I’d hoped to take a train back rather than being on another uncomfortable 12 hour bus ride. It was not to be though, Istopped in at a travel agency as well, and they didn’t have any tickets to sell me either.

Walked over to the bus station and got a ticket back to Beijing at 4:30 that afternoon, figuring it would give me enough time to get across the border and back. I’d told Tom I’d meet him at the bus station at 11:30, since we’d read that there was a public bus that crossed the border at noon, that would be a bit cheaper than doing it yourself. After getting the bus ticket, which was the only thing I needed to do that morning, I still had an hour and a half, so I took a bus back into the heart of town to wander around some more. The main park inerlian had a bunch of dinosaur sculptures, and they were interesting if a bit out of place. I never did find the dinosaur museum though, which was a minor disappointment. From the park I walked through the food market for a bit – It wasn’t too unfamiliar with the markets throughout China – though there were certainly booths that seemed to have different items. The breads were much firmer in general, reminiscent of the Muslim breads I’d seen in Xi’An, rather than the steamed bread popular in the Han dominated areas.

The town was really different in terms of architecture, which had a distinct soviet feel to it. The feeling was probably heightened by the prevalence of cyrillic everywhere. I believe that the Cyrillic that I was seeing was still Mongolian – just a different way of writing it.

I wandered around the market area a bit, stuff was cheaper than in Beijing – clothing was 10-20RMB for shirts and pants. There also seemed to be a preference for really heavy duty jackets, which made a lot of sense. Headed back to the bus station when it was time to meet Tom. Asking in the station, I got told that there was only 1 bus across the border each day and it left at 1:30pm. I helped Tom get a ticket on that, since he wasn’t in a rush, but decided that I’d try and go on my own, since I needed to get back by 4 – and had heard the crossing could easily take an hour each way.

Outside the bus station were a bunch of taxi’s and they all spoke decent Chinese. I talked to one of them, and eventually he told me that for 120RMB he’d get me across the border both ways. I agreed, and he drove me to the border. We got out, found one of the parked jeeps waiting to go across, and he told the driver what I wanted in Mongolian. He got 10RMB as his commission, and the driver would get 110.

In the jeep with me was the driver, a young Mongolian guy that was related to the driver in some way (nephew perhaps) and two other Mongolians who were heading up. One of them knew a bit of basic English and confirmed that I would be taken across and then back. He actually had been working in Germany, and was disappointed that I didn’t speak any German.

There were 4 parts to the border crossing: entering the border area, leaving china, checking health for Mongolia, and finally entering Mongolia.

To leave, everyone in each car had to pay 5RMB for an exit ticket, which you then gave to a chinese guard at a checkpoint.

A short drive away was the main Chinese border building. We each got tasked with hauling a big bag of rice through the Chinese building, since the goods couldn’t be left in the jeep for this step.

The exit was painless – taking maybe 10 minutes to stand in line and then handing my passport to the guy.

We loaded the rice back on the jeep, and drove to the next checkpoint. A guard gave us all mongolian health forms as well as entry forms to fill out while we waited in the jeep to get to the front of the line. The health form was focused on SARs exclusively, which I felt was a bit out of date, but it wasn’t very intrusive either. When the jeep was at the front of the line, all of us passengers got out, while the driver drove through a couple big scanning gates and the jeep got hosed down by the guards.

the passengers went through what looked like an army field tent, which was really weird. Here we handed in our health forms to agents and then went inside the neighboring building where a big thermometer was mounted on a wall and it was confirmed nobody had a fever.

Coming out of the building our jeep had pulled a bit too far forwards, and the guard made the guy back up, and wouldn’t let us just walk the 100 feet forward to get in. So we drove the 200 yards to the main entrance building.

In the entrance building, the Mongolian agent tried to scan my passport, but the RFID chip is I think successfully deactivated, so she had to type in the number instead. Luckily no speaking was needed on my part, and I got an entrance stamp on my passport, and got back to the jeep on theMongolian side.

We had to wait a bit for the jeep to be cleared by the Mongolian agents, and then got back in to go to Zamyn-Uud, the town past the border. Here, the other two passengers got out at the train station to continue to ulaan-baatar. The guy who spoke a bit of English said I should stay with the jeep, and it would cross back in under 40 minutes.

we headed back towards the border a bit to meet a jeep that had been crossing a bit behind us. Here a couple computer monitors I hadn’t noticed were unloaded from where they were hidden under the back seat and passed to the other jeep. Then we headed to the house of the driver to do the main unloading. They had me wait in the hut that belonged to the younger guy’s sister, while they unloaded the rice from the back of the jeep.

I went out to take some pictures of the area, and noticed that the floor of the jeep was also removable and they had a bunch of additional good that they’d smuggled across the the border as well. The sister was nice, as were her two daughters, though none of the spoke any English or Chinese. They offered my apple juice and showed off their pet turtle. I gave them one of the bottles of maplesyrup that I’d brought and they seemed appreciative.

Pretty soon the jeep was unloaded and we began on the return trip. We stopped by the railway station again to pick up passengers for the trip back, and ended up with 5 Mongolians who were heading to China – two girls, and then a wife and husband with a small kid.

The ‘leaving Mongolia’ process was quick for me – just handing my passport to the agent, getting it stamped and walking out. The family had a bit of an issue, because the father got through first and had the kid’s passport, so the other two couldn’t get through. Eventually they came out to the jeep and got him to give them the passport and then went back inside.

The Chinese health process was in two parts. The jeep first had to drive through a screening building – during that process they had me hold an old jacket over the window because there wasn’t actually a window and something got sprayed at us as we went through.

Then there was a medical inspection. For the Mongolians there was a form – in Mongolian – that they filled out at dropped off. I couldn’t understand that, and before they gave the one in English they made me stick a thermometer under my arm to check my temperature. I filled out that form, and then re-entered China without further issues.

The jeep drove me back to the bus station – the whole process taking about 2 hours. I switched my bus from the 4pm to the 3pm bus, since that way i’d get in at 2am instead of 4-ish, and then bought some snacks for the ride.

The bus back was much more appropriate in terms of space – there was one less row of beds, so there was (almost) enough room to lay on the bed. To make up for this accommodation, the driver avoided highways for most of the way back in order to not pay the tolls. we ended up spending the first four hours on really small 2 lane roads through inner Mongolia – which was especially fun when there was construction and the bus had to detour on dirt paths. (once for a good half hour)

The area was really pretty through – totally flat at the beginning, and then turning into slightly rolling hills. Lots of flocks of sheep and goats wandering around. later we came across the ‘meng niu’ brand cows – one of the famous dairy brands is based in inner Mongolia, and claims to provide milk from happy cows. The cows seemed happy enough, from what I could see.

We got in to the south bus station at 2am, and I took at taxi back to the hotel and went to sleep.

The whole process took 33 hours, and I probably could have done it faster if I was in a hurry. (if I had, say, gone across the border early in the morning and then caught the 10:30 bus back.)

Woke up this morning, and found that I have access to google wave, so I’ve been playing with that a bit, as well as uploading pictures. It was a fun experience, and a part of China I haven’t really seen before.

Got up at 6:30, I’m mostly adjusted to the time zone now.

Answered email, and showered, and left the hotel at around 7, to go to the grottoes. Sadly, the road that the bus travels on was no longer in existence – it was totally torn up, and just a big patch of dirt that had lots of people but no cars. On the other side of it I did find the datong park, which I hadn’t been to before. The park seemed like a hotspot of activity on a Sunday morning, and was really filled with people. Lots of taiji exercises. Lots of synchronized dancing. Lots of families with children – there was also an amusement park component that was beginning to open when I got there.

I walked back to the hotel to try to figure out an alternative route, and decided that I’d take the 17 from my hotel to the xinkaili terminus, and then switch to the 3. It worked out without a hitch, and I found myself at the grottoes about 40 minutes later.

The caves were amazingly impressive. Some of the sculptures were huge (50 or 60 foot high buddhas). I don’t have pictures of the largest couple since they were under no-photograph protection, and also indoors so that they’d keep their color and not bleach as much as the others.

I think this alone validated the trip out here – really amazing stuff from a thousand years ago. (there are pictures posted)

Came back at 1, and fiddled around with email and uploading photos some more.

I tried to go out to see another temple in town, but it started raining, so I didn’t get very far – stopped in at a grocery store to get some food instead and then hurried back to the hotel so I didn’t get too wet.

Hung out for the afternoon – it didn’t really clear up, and there’s not that much more to see.

The plan for tomorrow is to hopefully see the coal museum, although there’s nothing online with a firm address for the place so I’ll need to rely on finding a cab driver.

I also started thinking about what I’ll be doing for next week, and roughly sketched out a plan. It looks like it’ll be raining for the first couple days (and there’s a ‘feels like’ of 56 Celsius to boot) so that’s probably best spent in doors.

One more day in datong, and then it’s back to beijing on the 16th.

Got up early at 5am. Fiddled with my computer – getting pictures posted and such. Had breakfast.

Went down to the lobby at 7 to meet my driver. The first place we went was the wooden pavilion. It’s a bit over an hour out of town on the beijing – mongolia expressway. It’s a pagoda made of wood. It had some big wooden buddhas, and was beginning to deteriorate on the inside.

The driver said a lot of ‘foreign tourists’ came to datong. Most of them from japan and korea, and mostly there for relgious reasons. Not a ton of westerners.

In another hour we got to hengshan. Half an hour walk up to the temples from the parking lot. Lots of temples, and cool scenery. The area actually reminds me a lot of eastern Oregon. It has the same shrubbery and orange-ish hills.

Lots of staring. I kind of stood out from the crowd I guess. It’s sort of to be expected though.

after I’d explored hengshan we went to the hanging monastery. It’s just across from hengshan, with a small reservoir between the two. Lots of tour groups there, but the place itself is pretty cool. I got through it in 15 minutes, because it is small. It’s not active – all commercial now. There was another one hidden up the hill from it where the monks have retreated.

Then we drove back to the city – getting back at around 2. Coming in it really is impressive how huge the development of the place is. There are a good 30 blocks all under construction as you come in – block after block of cranes. The block I’m in is apparently safe because it’s where the 9 dragon screen is – but both sides are in the process of the demolition. It’s also impressive how active the place is in spite of the demolition going on. Lots of people on the streets and in shops that are still open.

I walked to a super market and restocked on water – I was thirsty after the morning.

Came back and discovered my computer wouldn’t turn on. After some fiddling it’s in a state of partial ok-ness, but is still finicky.

Got dinner from one of the street sellers.

came back and I’m in the process of amusing myself until it’s time to go to bed.

Pictures from Datong will show up in this album.

http://picasaweb.google.com/willscott/Datong?feat=directlink

Went down to the lobby, and the cab driver I had taken was still around and offered to drive me to the mountain tomorrow. We discussed it for a while, and I hired him for all of tomorrow to take me to the mountain, the hanging monastery, and the wooden pagoda tomorrow for $50. Probably a bit much, but he’s a nice guy. We’re meeting tomorrow at 7am.

I walked around after that, and saw the in town sights. The main temples in town were somewhat disappointing. They’re under heavy renovation, so there are only a couple buildings not surrounding in scaffolding. There were all of the elements that one might expect in such a place through, so I can’t be that upset about it.

The dragon wall was pretty cool. It’s a big wall with paintings of 7 dragons on it – and apparently the largest such wall in china.

I also stopped in at a bookstore and got a couple maps of the area. There are a couple more places I’ll try and get to now. There’s a coal mining museum that’s apparently of interest, and there’s an area out of town where there’s the remnants of the datong volcano. (I’ll ask someone tomorrow what that’s about.)

Went back to the hotel for a bit, and then went out to get something to eat. Grabbed a bite, and went to a grocery store to get food and water for the morning.

Realized I was still very sleepy (it was 4pm at this point.) and went to bed until 5:30. I’m starting to get over the timezone thing, but it’ll take a few days.

The gps unit hasn’t been coping too well here, I’m not sure what the deal is, I’ve got some time now so i’ll try fiddling with it again and see if it has tracks. I’ll also try uploading some pictures in a bit.

I left off while I was waiting for my flight to beijing. This plane was much older – still discolored from smoking inside, and with old crt TVs that dropped down from the roof. The flight was uneventful if a bit bumpy, and we made it to beijing on time at 11:40 pm.
They separated passengers from LAX from the domestic passengers when we got off, and put us on a seperate shuttle. (the plane didn’t park at a gate.) ours went all the way over to the other side of the airport so that we could arrive at the international terminal. Amazingly, my bad made it without problems.

I took out some money from an atm, and grabbed a taxi to the train station.

I arrived at the train station at 1 am. It’s an interesting place at 1 am. There are tons of people around. Outside one group of them are trying to offer you hourly rates on hotels so that you can stay somewhere until your train shows up. There are also a ton of migrants and street hawkers sleeping there. (on newspaper or sacks of stuff, or whatever.)

I walked around until I found a crowd of people and was able to get a ticket for the 2:50 train. (the 2:30 one was full). It was 65 kuai (~$10). I wandered around inside the station which was more creepy than outside. They had the lights off for whatever reason, and there was lots of construction going on. People were on scaffolds changing ads and also building some center pieces.

I hung out in the mcdonalds – the only place open at that hour – for about an hour and sent an email saying I was ok, since for whatever reason my phone decided it had internet.

Then I went to the platform and hung out there for the other hour. I ended up talking with a couple guys, one about my age and another a few years younger. they were waiting for a 3:30 am train to haerbin, and were envious that I was traveling alone. “my parents wouldn’t let me do that…”

Got on the train and found out I had a bed, not a seat as I feared. Got a couple hours of sleep from 3 to 5 until it got light out, and snoozed for a bit more.
By six I was up, and watching the scenery go by outside of the train.

Beijing had been too hot at 1am, but over here it’s really not bad, and it cools down well at night. The country reminds me of oregon, minus the cultivation. The hills are the same reddish color, and there are sharp gorges running through the plain.

I couldn’t get my gps to relocate, since I wasn’t stationary outside for 15 minutes, so the photos aren’t going to be geotagged for this part.

There were two couples and one guy who got off at 6am in the 6 person compartment I was in. Both couples were very nice, and had good things to say about datong. The conductor for my car was also really nice, making sure I knew when to get off and chatting with me.

I got in a 9am. Went over to the ticket office and got a ticket for the ride back. It’s I think more direct (it has a k in front of the name) though is a bit more expensive at 100 kuai.
It gets me where I need to go though.

I then found a taxi, and said essentially: “i need a hotel…” near the center of town would be nice. he looked at me quisically, but I ended up in the xinsanhuan hotel which is in the center of town – or at least the two in town attractions are right nearby since we drove past both of them on the way over.

240 / night, so $150 ish for the 4 days. I decided I was lost enough at this point that I’ll stay here and do day trips. I’m going to do the two in-town attractions this afternoon, the caves tomorrow, and hopefully find a way to get down to the mountain the day after.

Datong is an interesting city. The traffic is some of the worst I’ve seen yet. Worse than beijing 5 years ago or guizhou. It’s compounded by the fact that the highway is under repair right now, so the way from the train station to the city involves stretches of unpaved single lane road with 4 lanes squeezing through it. also tons of people out.

It seems fairly gritty. There are a couple huge coal plants to the south of the city that dominated the skyline as we approached. Interesting place, although I don’t quite have a feel for it yet.

I’m a bit tired, but I think I’ll be able to make it through today.

It’s a relief that I’ve gotten this far. The next thing on my todo list is getting tickets for xi’an and that will happen when I get back to beijing.

Woke up at 6 am, and got to the Seattle airport at 7 am.

Went to the american airlines counter and got told to go to alaska. Their terminals weren’t working, but after going through their attendant line, I got by ticket to los angeles. Since China Eastern isn’t their partner, they couldn’t reserve my seat for the rest of the journey.

I did get an exit row through, which was quite nice.

In los Anggeles, I had to exit the terminal completely, walk across the block to the international terminal, and re check in.
The flight was full, so I got a middle seat for the 14 hour trip over to shanghai. :-/

Luckily a family had the other three of middle block seats, and I switched to get an aisle. 14 hours was still a long time, but I managed to keep myself occupied.

near the end, the attendants came around with a meat thermometer and checked everyone’s temperature.

Then, when we got to the terminal, government officials dressed in full white hazmat suits and goggles showed up, and used beefier thermometers to scan everyone again. In the final section of passengers, a baby apparently had swine flu. They had the people directly around it fill out longer health forms, and we didn’t see the eventual resolution, since they let our section off before they were totally done. We did have to wait an hour on the plane while they got urine tests and such.

So that was fun.
Then the transfer to the plane to beijing was pretty chaotic, we went most of the way out in a group with stickers on our arms, and then cut through employee areas to get into a very understaffed transfer security check and eventually to the terminal.

Didn’t get a ton of sleep so far, we’ll see how I do on this next flight, I’m starting to get sleepy.

Hopefully my baggage has made it this far, I guess we’ll see when I get in to beijing.