Our arrival into Mongolia is three-fold…Meaghan arrives in
Ulaan Bataar by train on 25th July, Graeme, Julie, Janine, John and
Elaine by air on 28th July, and Richard, after missed connections
due to plane delays, arrives on July 29th. The ‘fly-in’ group is welcomed at the airport
by Jess, the owner of ‘Eternal Landscapes,’ and her lead driver, Turuu, who
also has an interest in the company. We
settle in to our rooms at the Dream Hotel and ‘enjoy’ a tepid shower before
hitting the sack…we left Geelong at 3.45am this morning, so have been ‘awake’
for about 23 hours!
After our hotel breakfast,…early arrivals get the boiled
eggs... we (minus Richard who hasn’t arrived yet) wander around UB
familiarising ourselves with our location, the main drag, Peace Avenue, and the
traffic. It seems that the green man
showing on the traffic lights is merely a suggestion that it may be safe to
cross! We find Café Amsterdam, one of
the most popular coffee shops in UB, after which a couple of souvenir shops
beckon. Lo and behold…lunch time! Jess joins us for a drink at Bistro 40K and
brings the news that Richard has arrived!
While Richard catches up on much needed sleep, Graeme heads for the Fine
Arts Museum and Jess squires the rest of on a walking tour of some of the main
historic and cultural sites and shares her amazing knowledge of this place. We
collect Richard from the hotel and have dinner at The Granville, an Irish pub
which really isn’t, but which serves great meals and provides us with our first
memories as a group with our Tour Leader.
Jess gives us our instructions for the morning.
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| View from UB Sky Tower |
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| The group gathers at Granville "Irish" pub |
The party gathers at the Granville
‘Irish’ pub
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