Your husband looks Russian.

After breakfast at the Ger Camp and more knuckle bone lessons for John we were back into the van for the ride to Ulaan Baator. The driver spoke a bit of English and pointed out an abandoned Russian Airforce base, a Mongolian Army Engineers camp and the National Police Academy. Roads are terrible!

We have two nights here. It’s a rough looking place because not much work maintenance on roads, buildings or landscaping has been done since the Russians pulled out. We had lunch at an Italian restaurant (good pizza) were the other diners were all tourists. Judging by the accents and languages we heard there were Spanish, French, American and perhaps German folks there as well as a few locals. We bought knuckle bones for John at the “State Department Store” so he could teach us the games he learned from Baagii. We also got three plastic bowls for “train food” and a new thermos for Nelson, he dropped his Chinese tea thermos when we were on the train and it broke. I think the cost of living is higher in Ulaan Baator than it is in Beijing.

The hostel we are at is called “Hostel Gomez”. We were booked into it (and the Ger) by a tour company called “Samour Tours” which is owned by a man from Spain. So…the woman who runs the hostel speaks Spanish, Russian, Mongolian but very little English. Who knew that I’d need to use my rusty Spanish skills in Ulaan Baator? I am sure we’d manage anyway, but it’s kind of fun to be able to talk to her a little and figure out what’s going on. There only seems to be one other guest, I think she’s Russian. At least, she’s speaking Russian with the hostel manager.

There’s a little common room with a couch & two chairs, a fridge, a table with four chairs, TV and a computer. Right now it’s playing footage of race-walk, narrated in Russian. When we arrived Nelson sat down to use the computer & check our email. The manager turned to me and said (in Spanish) “Your husband looks Russian”. That made us all laugh and together we told her that his family is from Ukraine. “That would explain it” she said. I’ve always said he has that “everyman” look about him. If you took off the mustache, or reshaped it to the Mongol style, he might even look like a local here.

Pictures for this and the last two posts coming ASAP!