Not by choice, we spent last weekend in a brothel. A real one, no half measures. It all started like this, Jan…
We never planned to go to Mongolia at all. We wanted to drive across China from East to West, across the ancient Silk Road. Two days before we left home, we got an email form the Chinese guiding company NAVO who had agreed to be our hosts [foreign cars are not allowed into China without special permits and a guide in the car all the time]. NAVO told us we were not allowed to drive the Silk Road but instead we could only drive south to north, entering from Laos as planned but leaving to Mongolia. We reluctantly agreed. Continued …
Turn up your air-conditioners, leave your lights on… all the time, throw away your new bicycle and drive to work. The world needs to urgently sit up and take note of the sloth-like speed at which the globe is warming. This is serious. We need to act now to urgently warm this planet up because it’s freezing in Mongolia. Continued …
These are some photos from the two weeks in Mongolia.
Gobi Goat Herders
Continued …
Ulaan Baatar, Friday 17 October
Snow. Coats. Hats. Steam. Heating. Soups. Stews. Mutton. Greatcoats. Fur hats. Boots with turned up toes. But stilletoes too! Yerts. Gers. Trucks. Dust in the desert. Tracks in the desert. No roadsigns. At all. Nothing, nil, nix. Just follow someone elses tyre marks and see where they go. Keep the Trans-Siberian Railway line to your left. Or your right. But do not lose sight of it. Continued …
Geez was I wrong about China… I realised this yesterday afternoon as I wandered aimlessly through the streets of Xian, roaming, exploring and getting hopelessly lost in this city’s ancient backstreets. I was determined not to pass the same shopfront twice and succeeded in my aim of quickly losing myself and any sense of direction. Continued …
