Flying, somewhere over Mongolia or Russia.
In the last 75 minutes or so I've seen an amazing landscape, from above. :) I've drawn some crude maps as I want to know what I've seen. Generally, we've been flying in a NW direction from UB, at 8-900 km/h. About 45 minutes from UB I saw an enormous lake (Tsagaan Nuur?) surrounded by sharply defined mountains, ranging from the lake's NW to NE side.
Then there was what seemed a plateau, where the country is flatter, so probably rolling hills.
Then (again "then"?!), about an hour from UB, I saw a rather strange valley, shaped like a funnel with a semi-circular valley beyond it. All this area had sharp mountains and no observable cities or villages.
Next came an area of wide-stretching, flattish country, like a plateau or steppe. This area was surrounded by jagged edged mountains, though the became more rolling nearer to me. Several big river valleys could be seen after a while, coming from the W. In the far distance was a big peak visible.
For the next 10-15 minutes there was nothing but mountains, either rolling or jagged.
About 12.30 I saw a remarkable mountain range rising out of the rolling mountainscape. Several high peaks were here lined up. Closer to me was an enormous river that completely filled the valleys. Beyond the mountain range was what seemed a steppe.
By 12.35 I saw a city near a river valley, lying at the foot of the mountains on the edge of rolling terrain (steppe?). From the other side of the "steppe" a road lead into the mountains, past a city and some villages, to an enormous open pit mine. Beyond the mountains was again steppe-like terrain. Near the pit mine was a mountain range with several high peaks. Rivers coming from this area flow NW-ward, join and flow past a city with some big digging sites W of it. The river flows on to an area with many villages and a large urban area (probably a major city).
By 13.00 I saw a very large urban area, consisting of many villages and several large towns, situated in flattish, steppe-like country. Below was another open pit mine; beyond was a lake. The steppe continues till now (13.25) and seems to go on forever. About five minutes ago I past an enormous lake with several major cities along its banks. Beyond there seemed to be 2 more lakes, though this could have been a river.
The area I see now (13.28) is flat land with much forests (or at least large clusters of trees) and frozen lakes. Some roads criss-cross this land but I see no villages (Oh, wait, I just now (13.30) saw 2 larger and a smaller village).
13.35: Large, frozen lake. Lots of small villages with farmland. Many small lakes. Only few roads (lines in the landscape). Forests and woods everywhere. Everything covered in snow.
13.40: Is this snow or cloud cover?! Very low hanging clouds, I think. Covers most of an enormous lake.
13.43: What I thought was a lake is the shadow of high clouds on a snow field as far as the eye can see (literally!). It's flat and white, and there's nothing to see; only snow. No trees, no roads, no villages: nothing! This country really began very abruptly. Even the roads just faded into it. Is this tundra, or taiga, or just steppe?
13.50: UB airport has changed. Now only passengers can enter the departure hall. However, people can now see the entire departure hall from outside (no fun in winter), even the waiting area. I wish the past few days had been better. Sumiya was so ill and had a really bad time. From any intimacy (let alone sex) not a word. Well, that's not quite true. We cuddled and kissed, and I tried to take care of her. But to say we had many intense moments, no, we hadn't. Right now I feel deeply sad because I've again to return home, and because Sumiya is ill back in UB, ánd because of all her ailments she also has right now. Leaving her behind and not being able to take care of her is truly depressing and frustrating. I want to talk to her, comfort her, be with her....
16.39: Well, time flew by. The lady sitting next to me, D Gangaa, and I talked for a long time, about many things. It started with my book (The Secret Hisory of the Mongols) about which she was interested. Later we talked about her book, which will be published in English early next year. We also talked about photography. She needs a photographer for good photos for her book, and if I was interested. Of course! We talked about my photo project, and she has a few articles that need photos for publication. And we talked about running a tourist company. Her husband runs a company aimed at fly fishing. Sumiya and I can perhaps be his agent in Holland. We also discussed the difficulties Sumiya might experience when she comes to Holland: she'll need social activities for social contacts, and likely needs to start from the bottom when going to work. All in all, we (Sumiya and I) might have found some nice work (photography project, translation work, tourist company work). I'll write Gangaa as soon as I'm back home.
17.08: By the way, there is a famous Mongolian actor on board. Maybe I can get his autograph?
Technorati Tags : Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Ulan Bator Russia
Shards of Mongolia http://shardsofmongolia.blogspot.com/
Then there was what seemed a plateau, where the country is flatter, so probably rolling hills.
Then (again "then"?!), about an hour from UB, I saw a rather strange valley, shaped like a funnel with a semi-circular valley beyond it. All this area had sharp mountains and no observable cities or villages.
Next came an area of wide-stretching, flattish country, like a plateau or steppe. This area was surrounded by jagged edged mountains, though the became more rolling nearer to me. Several big river valleys could be seen after a while, coming from the W. In the far distance was a big peak visible.
For the next 10-15 minutes there was nothing but mountains, either rolling or jagged.
About 12.30 I saw a remarkable mountain range rising out of the rolling mountainscape. Several high peaks were here lined up. Closer to me was an enormous river that completely filled the valleys. Beyond the mountain range was what seemed a steppe.
By 12.35 I saw a city near a river valley, lying at the foot of the mountains on the edge of rolling terrain (steppe?). From the other side of the "steppe" a road lead into the mountains, past a city and some villages, to an enormous open pit mine. Beyond the mountains was again steppe-like terrain. Near the pit mine was a mountain range with several high peaks. Rivers coming from this area flow NW-ward, join and flow past a city with some big digging sites W of it. The river flows on to an area with many villages and a large urban area (probably a major city).
By 13.00 I saw a very large urban area, consisting of many villages and several large towns, situated in flattish, steppe-like country. Below was another open pit mine; beyond was a lake. The steppe continues till now (13.25) and seems to go on forever. About five minutes ago I past an enormous lake with several major cities along its banks. Beyond there seemed to be 2 more lakes, though this could have been a river.
The area I see now (13.28) is flat land with much forests (or at least large clusters of trees) and frozen lakes. Some roads criss-cross this land but I see no villages (Oh, wait, I just now (13.30) saw 2 larger and a smaller village).
13.35: Large, frozen lake. Lots of small villages with farmland. Many small lakes. Only few roads (lines in the landscape). Forests and woods everywhere. Everything covered in snow.
13.40: Is this snow or cloud cover?! Very low hanging clouds, I think. Covers most of an enormous lake.
13.43: What I thought was a lake is the shadow of high clouds on a snow field as far as the eye can see (literally!). It's flat and white, and there's nothing to see; only snow. No trees, no roads, no villages: nothing! This country really began very abruptly. Even the roads just faded into it. Is this tundra, or taiga, or just steppe?
13.50: UB airport has changed. Now only passengers can enter the departure hall. However, people can now see the entire departure hall from outside (no fun in winter), even the waiting area. I wish the past few days had been better. Sumiya was so ill and had a really bad time. From any intimacy (let alone sex) not a word. Well, that's not quite true. We cuddled and kissed, and I tried to take care of her. But to say we had many intense moments, no, we hadn't. Right now I feel deeply sad because I've again to return home, and because Sumiya is ill back in UB, ánd because of all her ailments she also has right now. Leaving her behind and not being able to take care of her is truly depressing and frustrating. I want to talk to her, comfort her, be with her....
16.39: Well, time flew by. The lady sitting next to me, D Gangaa, and I talked for a long time, about many things. It started with my book (The Secret Hisory of the Mongols) about which she was interested. Later we talked about her book, which will be published in English early next year. We also talked about photography. She needs a photographer for good photos for her book, and if I was interested. Of course! We talked about my photo project, and she has a few articles that need photos for publication. And we talked about running a tourist company. Her husband runs a company aimed at fly fishing. Sumiya and I can perhaps be his agent in Holland. We also discussed the difficulties Sumiya might experience when she comes to Holland: she'll need social activities for social contacts, and likely needs to start from the bottom when going to work. All in all, we (Sumiya and I) might have found some nice work (photography project, translation work, tourist company work). I'll write Gangaa as soon as I'm back home.
17.08: By the way, there is a famous Mongolian actor on board. Maybe I can get his autograph?
Technorati Tags : Mongolia Ulaanbaatar Ulan Bator Russia
Shards of Mongolia http://shardsofmongolia.blogspot.com/
posted by ShardsofMongolia @ 1:00 PM
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