Into the steppe

Genghis Khan is everywhere. Pictures, statues, on the currency and on the confectionary. As he was the man of the millenium (according to the Washington Post) it is probablt natural the modern day Mongolia would treat him such a way. But as there probably are only around four products you can by in a typical Mongolian provincial shop then it does mean you see alot of him.
I would like to regale you with stories of living the nomadic lifestyle, travelling from pasture to pasture and occasionally dealng with annoyances by putting an arrow in someones backside. But I haven't been living the nomad dream. Instead I've left a trail of destruction through every ger camp I've been through. This includes utterly destroying a bed simply by trying to get out of it and, my personal favourite, losing the sturdy, wooden door to the tent in a rather strong sandstorm. I still haven't got my luggage so the Mongolian world still know's me by my Chinese "Strength and Endurance" T-shirt and , of course, my "Happy Fatso" pants. However the news on the badly withered and barely functioning grapevine is that I may see my bag in Kharhorin (the old Mongol capital). I'll believe it when I see it.

As I'm under time contraints and am still operating a little slowly due to a dangerous night consuming Genghis Khan beer (probably), "Bears Blood" Bulgarian wine, and of course Genghis Khan vodka with a can of Genghis Khan (a Mongolian rip off of red bull). Have fun and watch out for floods.

This was originally written on 30 July 2007. It is from my summer trip from Beijing to Birmingham.