Well, here I am in Ulaanbaatar – I made it. This all seemed like such a far off event back when I signed up in November. Crazy how fast time goes and one day you wake up in a foreign city, check out the view, plug in the kettle and begin digging through your luggage to make absolutely SURE you packed your stirrups (I did – my Canadian flag and Team Canada hockey jersey are snuggled around them, sharing that awesome Canadian karma that will see me through the next while.)
The trip here was long but uneventful – roughly 15 hours total flying time, with a 15 hour time change, so I apologize for sounding so stunned and un-witty. I will come round soon enough and start spouting off anecdotes for your entertainment. Ulaanbaatar and Mongolian in general are going to be good for that I think; the drive in from the airport early this morning (1:30 am) gave me a good introduction to the wonky organized chaos that I am sure I will continue to enjoy. I haven’t played chicken with a gravel transport truck since I was 16! Good thing the speed limit seems to be slightly slower than blistering at that early hour or I may have been a statistic.
I have enjoyed the first night in the beautiful new Ramada City Centre hotel, thanks to Dawn who insisted I not stay at the airport. Good call. Those benches looked pretty wretched, even if I had pulled out my sleeping bag and made myself a nest…but now I am packing up and moving to a smaller guest house, because somehow I thought that I needed to immerse myself in the local flavour (because there will be a lack of that in the weeks to come, I am sure, ha ha.) Will catch you up when I have the chance, and there may even be photos!
Global BC News August 1 starring Outlaw Kate and Natasha:
This hit the news as soon as I left – this was the second interview I gave with Global as the first interview seemed to have disappeared with the journalist who conducted it (he was off to London shortly after our interview, completely understandable how things can go a bit awry in those circumstances) but the lovely Kylie picked it up again and there you go. And just so you know, my riding companion is Natasha, who along with her mom (my friend Marion) owns and operates Jingles. Natasha is a bit of an adventurist herself (she gets that from her mom, no doubt) and has spent time in New Mexico wrangling the mustangs fresh off of the range. She has some pretty cool stories and experiences – very impressive given that she is the ripe old age of 23. Mongol Derby 2013 or 2014 Natasha??
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