3rd to 5th of September 2015
In the beginning of 2015, the government decided that the 3rd of September will be a National Holiday in China to celebrate 70th anniversary of the end of WW2 and the victory against Japan (the sad history between those countries is still present in the mind of the politics and the Chinese people). They also gave us the Friday 4th as holiday so we basically had 3 days off but we had to work on Sunday 6th instead... something quite common in China.
On the 1st of September, with the same team than the one we went to Shaolin and to the Longmen Grottoes, we decided to go to Inner Mongolia. We spent a lot of time checking the best way to go and back... so two summarize it:
Two of us arrived by plane on the 3rd in the night in Hohhot (the capital of inner Mongolia) and the rest of the group got a night train and joint us in the 4th of the morning in the same hostel we were staying. Two of Gutcha's and Ala's colleagues were also there so we increased the group to 8 people (7 nationalities).
The good point of arriving the 3rd night allowed us to have a first taste of food in Hohhot: the lamb... which was sooooo delicious :) The only bad point was during the night: the bed were very hard... as hard that as soon as I lay down my back hurting already. I have forgotten how hard the the Chinese style beds were...
On the 4th of the morning we booked a trip to the Grasslands with a night stay in traditional Mongolian yurt. We left the hostel at 9h30 but the weather was not the best... rainy and cloudy also colder than in Beijing... well this didn't stop us.
On the 1st of September, with the same team than the one we went to Shaolin and to the Longmen Grottoes, we decided to go to Inner Mongolia. We spent a lot of time checking the best way to go and back... so two summarize it:
Two of us arrived by plane on the 3rd in the night in Hohhot (the capital of inner Mongolia) and the rest of the group got a night train and joint us in the 4th of the morning in the same hostel we were staying. Two of Gutcha's and Ala's colleagues were also there so we increased the group to 8 people (7 nationalities).
The good point of arriving the 3rd night allowed us to have a first taste of food in Hohhot: the lamb... which was sooooo delicious :) The only bad point was during the night: the bed were very hard... as hard that as soon as I lay down my back hurting already. I have forgotten how hard the the Chinese style beds were...
On the 4th of the morning we booked a trip to the Grasslands with a night stay in traditional Mongolian yurt. We left the hostel at 9h30 but the weather was not the best... rainy and cloudy also colder than in Beijing... well this didn't stop us.
- After 2h ride we first stop in a Tibetan style temple.
- We had 30 more minutes of riding and we reached out final destination: the grasslands where we were going to spend the night.
The Grasslands
We arrived in a small family house with 3 guest yurts where we were staying (2 of them were for 6 and 1 for 4 people).
We had a delicious lunch provided from the family (lamb, soup, salad). In the afternoon, the weather got better and we spent the afternoon on different activities: walking around, taking pictures, archery etc. The most epic one, was getting dry animals stools (quite disgusting by the way) for the fire during the night.
The Grasslands were huge: endless empty fields and a lake with no people around... That kind of peace that you can't easily find in China where we are used to have a lot of people everywhere.
We also had the opportunity to see the sunset but the weather got cloudy again which was not giving me big hopes for the sunrise in the next morning.... The temperature was also dropping quite fast and got around 10 degrees or less. Hopefully the house was providing "traditional green jackets" (very big for my size :P) which were keeping us warmer.
After a nice dinner (Mongolian hot pot) provided again from the local family, we set a fire with the stools and enjoyed a beer with the rest of the people who were also having the same trip. We also spent some time to play Uno and then we go to sleep so we can wake up and enjoy the sunrise around 6h in the morning.
Well, we woke up on time for the sunrise but we didn't have the chance to see the sun as the weather was cloudy... Maybe my biggest deception of the trip.... The good point, we went back to sleep for an hour or 2 and we went for the breakfast.
We arrived in a small family house with 3 guest yurts where we were staying (2 of them were for 6 and 1 for 4 people).
We had a delicious lunch provided from the family (lamb, soup, salad). In the afternoon, the weather got better and we spent the afternoon on different activities: walking around, taking pictures, archery etc. The most epic one, was getting dry animals stools (quite disgusting by the way) for the fire during the night.
The Grasslands were huge: endless empty fields and a lake with no people around... That kind of peace that you can't easily find in China where we are used to have a lot of people everywhere.
We also had the opportunity to see the sunset but the weather got cloudy again which was not giving me big hopes for the sunrise in the next morning.... The temperature was also dropping quite fast and got around 10 degrees or less. Hopefully the house was providing "traditional green jackets" (very big for my size :P) which were keeping us warmer.
After a nice dinner (Mongolian hot pot) provided again from the local family, we set a fire with the stools and enjoyed a beer with the rest of the people who were also having the same trip. We also spent some time to play Uno and then we go to sleep so we can wake up and enjoy the sunrise around 6h in the morning.
Well, we woke up on time for the sunrise but we didn't have the chance to see the sun as the weather was cloudy... Maybe my biggest deception of the trip.... The good point, we went back to sleep for an hour or 2 and we went for the breakfast.
Hohhot
We left the Grasslands around 10 and we reached Hohhot 3h later (the traffic in Hohhot was horrible by the way... worse than in Beijing).
The weather was again not very nice (cloudy) but at least not as cold as in the Grasslands. Of course first thing we did was to go to have a lunch in the restaurants street where of course we enjoyed the lamb again :)
As we had all the afternoon before getting the plane we decided to go and visit the mosque and the old city of Hohhot. It was nice but i was not so impressed by it. We also had a very strong rain for a moment unfortunately.
After a nice walk we went back and we went for a dinner to enjoy.... again the lamb (oh yeah that lamb was delicious, maybe one of the best I have ever eaten)
We left the Grasslands around 10 and we reached Hohhot 3h later (the traffic in Hohhot was horrible by the way... worse than in Beijing).
The weather was again not very nice (cloudy) but at least not as cold as in the Grasslands. Of course first thing we did was to go to have a lunch in the restaurants street where of course we enjoyed the lamb again :)
As we had all the afternoon before getting the plane we decided to go and visit the mosque and the old city of Hohhot. It was nice but i was not so impressed by it. We also had a very strong rain for a moment unfortunately.
After a nice walk we went back and we went for a dinner to enjoy.... again the lamb (oh yeah that lamb was delicious, maybe one of the best I have ever eaten)
In conclusion:
One more amazing trip in China surrounded with people which allowed us to appreciate the peace of the Grasslands and enjoy delicious lamb meals.
One more amazing trip in China surrounded with people which allowed us to appreciate the peace of the Grasslands and enjoy delicious lamb meals.