Tomorrow is the first leg of my trip as I'm heading to Beijing to board a train for the short, 30 hour ride to Mongolia. My trip is planned to spend one night in Beijing, one night on the train, one night in Ulan Bator, the capital, then head to the countryside with a driver and English speaking guide and stay in gers (yurts) for 3 nights, before returning for another night in the capital. Today, my tour company told me there is an English speaking biologist in one of the national parks I'm visiting that I can hire for $40/day to show me specific wildlife locations that are good for photography. The main goal is to find the Przewalski's Horse, named after it's discoverer. This horse was extinct in the wild and then successfully reintroduced a few years ago. Hopefully, we will not only find and photograph them but we may find some of the other "local" wildlife. Wish me luck.
So what's happened this week in Shanghai? The weather actually cooled off by maybe 10 degrees. Now don't be shocked but, Monday night, I went out for a run for the first time since I got here. Gasping and wheezing, I made the trip to the Bund approx. 3 miles away and then survived the return trip. This morning, I made another trek there in my sneakers. I found peace and quiet finally in Shanghai by running at 5:30 AM. A very enjoyable run! Work has been hectic as we try to get a lot done before our Holiday season. We have three days off for the upcoming mid-Autumn festival next week and then seven consecutive days off beginning 10/1 for a National Holiday. We compensate for this by working four weekend days in the next three weeks. During that second Holiday, I'm taking my mountain climbing and Panda Bear trip to Chengdu, China. Today was another trip to see the local politicos but this time without excessive heat and cigarette smoke blown at me, I had a nice visit. Can't talk about the details but let's just say there was a lot of what my buddy Dave and I call, Whiffem, as in "What's in it for me?"
So now for the weather forecast for Ulan Bator... Sunny and clear every day (They are known for having 260 sun filled days each year.) The highs will be in the 50s but the lows on Tuesday and Wednesday will be around 25 degrees with 15 degree wind chill factors.
Did I say it was freezing cold there?
Steve,
ReplyDeleteGood luck with the group sleep out in the yurts, you'll do fine. Your gentle, soft, warm, supple, and most of all... a good cuddlier. You will make a great bed mate for one of the locals.
Set up one of those trip flashes and get a 2:00 AM photo of that if you can.
Dave
I'm taking my earplugs in case I get a snorer like you in the Yurt that I can't turn off.
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