The land of cute

Sorry it`s been so long since my last post! I`ve been in Japan for about 10 days now. The country is very different to China, or to anywhere else I`ve been through for that matter. Of course there`s the whole politeness thing. Whenever I walked into the 7-11 convenience store near Akinobu`s house, any staff within earshot would say "aregato gotsaimas" (thank you very much), every minute or so. And after I bought something and was about to leave, all the staff would say it in unison, bowing slightly. I was also surprised when I came across a line of people queueing for the bus. In China, it`s always a mad scramble to the doors, to try to get a seat, or at least a decent place to stand. So when I saw people queueing patiently it seemed a bit ridiculous, and I was sorely tempted to just push my way to the front, until I realised with a shock that I would naturally have joined the queue in Britain.

Meals in restaurants are always presented beautifully, with several dishes in a selection of small bowls, which are sometimes handmade. But one of the first things I noticed was how unbelievably cute the automated train and bus announcements were, when they were in a female voice. It has to be heard to be believed! Another thing about Japan is how fashionable everyone is. They were fashionable in Russia and China, but the Japanese really have style. I`ve heard fashions here change every couple of months. At moment it`s all the rage for girls to wear their hair in a ponytail which is towards the side of their head, instead of being directly at the back.

I spent a week in Kyoto. It`s a beautiful city, surrounded by forested mountains on three sides. Wherever the mountains meet the city there are temples and shrines galore. Kyoto is said to have a 1000 temples, and I can well believe it. Most of them have lovely gardens, as well as many Buddhist and Shinto gateways and huge wooden halls. I found my favourite shrine on my last day in Kyoto. A small shrine up in a wooded stream valley in the hills, it doesn`t have the grandeur of other places, but feels much more intimate and close to nature. The bunches of freshly cut flowers show it`s still cared for. And what really drew me in was the waterfall clearly meant for bathing in. Of course, I had to strip off and give it a go.

On the nomads' trail

This will be the last post for a couple of weeks because I've been told that blogspot and Facebook are blocked in China. I've also had problems accessing hotmail recently, so I may be totally incommunicado!

For the last 5 days we've been on a trip to a nomadic family with Ger to Ger, a really good community based tour company. We met the founder of the company and he was so enthusiastic about their work, he couldn't stop talking about it! We started off by getting the bus to Darkhan, a town a few hours north of Ulan Bator. When we got to the Indian restaurant, all we could see out the window was empty plains, and we thought we were on the edge of town. Later we found out that we were in the main shopping centre of the new district of Mongolia's second city! Darkhan is a 'Peace City,' built in the 60s with assistance from various Communist nations. It mainly consists of Soviet-style blocks and factories, but also has Mongolia's first suspension bridge (rather pointlessly going over the main road between 2 statues) and what used to be Mongolia's tallest building (a dilapidated but more architecturally unusual block). A German Buddhist couple was also starting a tour at the same time as us, and we were together on the first day in Darkhan. The woman was very keen to see what the local nightclub was like, and she turned out to be a fantastic dancer!

The next morning we set out for the ger where we would spend the next 3 days, with a nomadic family of horse and cattle herders in the beautiful Orkhon Valley. It was such a privilege to able to stay with the family and experience the traditional culture. They were very friendly and welcoming, and the kids were so happy and mature, and great fun to play with! We swam in the river, rode by horse to a ruined monastery (my horse knew exactly where to go and I was so happy when it finally broke into a canter on the way home), climbed a mountain, and played games with ankle bones and geometric puzzles. We milked cows, and tried and failed to milk a mare. These people are not poor, as shown by the brand new, top of the range jeep parked outside the ger. They live this way because this is the way they want to live (although when we asked what the children would do when they grew up, the father proudly said that they would work in the city).

There are all sorts of cultural rules you have to follow, which could be very difficult at times! For a start it is rude not to eat the food you are offered. The first afternoon I was still feeling the after effects of the vodka from the night before, and couldn't eat much. But it was much worse for Maria. The diet is totally dominated by meat. The night we arrived, a goat was slaughtered and dinner consisted of a big bowl full of assorted offal. This would be hard to stomach for any Westerner, let alone someone who is normally a vegetarian! Later they made an effort to give us vegetables, but their 'vegetable soup' still contained large quantities of meat. Apart from meat, the other main type of food is dairy products, including endless milk tea, cheese, dried curds, and an alcoholic drink made from fermented mare's milk.

It seems that often, the only thing you can do is submit. Firstly to the flies, that only multiply when you try to shake them off. But mainly to the hospitality, which doesn't just consist of constant force-feeding. When we were riding back from the monastery, Maria was finding the saddle very uncomfortable and wanted to walk for a bit. They refused to let her, and in the end made her get in the jeep and drove her back to the ger.

But despite all the hardships, or maybe because of them, this has certainly been the highlight of the trip so far for me.