Trans-Siberian Railway & Mongolia

We spent September 6-11th on the trans Siberian train, going from Moscow to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. It was quite the journey and honestly a surreal experience to be traveling across such a vast amount of space, on the ground and not in the air. I have read about how the experience of travel can differ drastically when you are literally able to look out the window and watch the world go by vs. being in the sky so far removed from the earth. This was true for me. Not only did our journey on the train allow me to realize just how big Russia is, but it reminded me (as all travel does) how much goes on outside our own worlds, and it honestly made me feel a bit insignificant. There were times when hours and hours would go by without a single building or sign of life in sight. And times where we would pass small villages so far removed from anything considered urban, each with their own little garden and lots of firewood ready to be used during the brutal winter. I asked myself where do kids go to school? What do people do here? Lives so different from my own, lives I would never know anything about other than the tiny pieces of information I could gather from a quick glance out a train window. Moments such as that are humbling and eye opening as I realize how many lives and stories exist in parts of the world that are shut off from urban areas, small villages that are almost inaccessible to outsiders.

The train was a tight squeeze, with four of us in a tiny berth (pictured above). The photo shows our beds are folded in but at night we would pull them down to sleep. 4 full days and technically 6 nights in these tiny spaces definitely did a number on my patience and by the end I was admittedly irritable and wanting to be as far away from people as possible. But on Pac Rim that is never really an option...I suppose learning how to get alone time in the midst of chaos is a skill I will continue to develop over the next 8.5 months. The dining cart was like 12 cars away from ours so it was a bit of a walk, but we would go for maybe one meal a day. Other than that it was basically just bread, cheese, crackers, chips, maybe some fruit if we brought some, and cup of noodles that sustained us. By the end we were all feeling a little undernourished. All part of the experience though! The attendants on the train were Mongolian women and were skeptical of a whole car full of 31 American's, but I think we might have won them over in the end.  Although I had some issues with them because they would lock the bathrooms for no apparent reason throughout the day and night, and my bladder is basically nonexistent. Sometimes I would just go to another car to try to use the bathroom and BOTH TIMES I did that the ladies would UNLOCK THE DOOR and open it, and I was just like excuse me? So I definitely struggled with such limited bathroom use. Additionally, I never thought I got motion sickness until this summer I did while halibut fishing in Alaska. But I really thought that was a one time thing. However, on the train I did get quite sick and threw up a bit on the last day. By that point I was like ok, get me off of here. But overall the Trans-Siberian was a travel experience unlike anything else I have done. There was a sense of constant calm while being lulled to sleep by the tracks, and waking up the trees flying by outside, hundreds of miles away from where we were when we fell asleep. 

We arrived in Mongolia around 7 am on September 11th and it's been an incredible time here. We have been staying in a guesthouse in a monastery right in Ulaanbaatar. The first couple days we explored on our a own a little bit and had a couple of class lectures talking about globalism and imperialism in Mongolia, and how it has effected the country. We have also learned a lot about the Soviet occupation in the 1990's and how that has shaped Mongolia's development. Through conversation with some Mongolian's it's become evident how much gratitude they feel towards the Soviets for introducing them to modern institutions, and putting them on a path to urban development that has connected them to the global world. This surly has its benefits but it has also been destructive to the traditional culture that many Nomadic families are still living in. How to weigh those costs and benefits is what we have been discussing, and what we wrote our mid terms on. Personally I feel that globalism has been harmful to Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar is a bizarre city because it has popped up so fast, there's barely any urban planning and huge, modern buildings are right next to small crowded homes. Families are rapidly leaving the traditional lifestyle to find more "opportunity" in the city, and the more populated it becomes the more pollution is produced. These families settle in "ger" districts, basically any free little piece of land they can find to put their yurt up in. It's incredibly makeshift, and most families lack basic amenities. Yet they are living right next to fancy apartment buildings that have running water right out of the faucet. One of the biggest issues with Mongolia's capitalist democracy (adopted after the end of the Soviet Occupation) is that services are no longer available to people unless they are registered in the city and own land, a difficult and expensive process. Money brought in to the country from foreign investments in mining has lined the pockets of the wealthy elite, and due to the corrupt system the country as a whole is not benefitting therefore social services are essentially nonexistent. That means there is no heat, water, healthcare, education etc...so families end up burning trash or tires to generate heat in the freezing winters. The pollution is worse than Beijing in the winter time. Pollution is worsening the climate change and life is getting harder for the nomadic families who rely on their livestock in order to survive. As the winters get colder and the summers get warmer, animals are dying and nomadic families are being forced to look for a better life in the city. And thus it adds to the pollution. It's a vicious cycle that I argue was started by Soviet imperialism and pressures to participate in globalization. I honestly had no prior knowledge about Mongolia's history so I've enjoyed learning so much while physically being here at the same time. 

In this photo you can see the center of the city, with all tall and new buildings. Everything on the outside are the ger districts. The city is at max capacity. 

We also had a briefing at the US embassy which was incredible insightful and inspiring. It also gave me a better idea  as to that kind of high up policy work and the effects it has. Being an IPE major, one of the tougher decisions is whether or not I want a career that works from the top in a more political atmosphere or one that is more hands on, ground work. As inspiring as the briefing was, it felt like the American's working in the embassy were slightly out of touch with what is going on and what people need and want. They painted a very rosy picture. If they aren't out of touch, it feels like there is potential for them to be which is why I think I would prefer smaller scale, hands on work. That being said, I do think the work the US embassy is doing IS important and valuable. 

We spent two nights in the countryside at "ger" camps (yurt camps. Side note: Yurts are what traditional nomadic families live in, because they are easy to break down and move). Our time in the countryside was definitely the highlight of Mongolia for me! It was so peaceful, quite, and the stars were more visible than I have ever seen before. There is something so special and unique about being able to be in such wide open spaces so far away from everyone. There are very few places left in the world like that. 

It got pretty cold at night, but the gers are surprisingly insulated and pretty warm. In the second place we stayed there was even a little fireplace, and one of the men who worked at the ger camp came in in the middle of the night to stoke our fire. It was almost as hot as a sauna. 

Inside the ger

To conclude, Mongolia is a very special place. Wild horses, sparkling stars, and endlessly blue skies. Temples in the hills, rolling rocky mountains, cool nights and hot days. Tomorrow we leave for South Korea, I will miss Mongolia but I am so ready and excited for everything yet to come!