Onwards & Inwards

I recently had the opportunity to travel to Inner Mongolia on a school trip. The school asked me would I like to travel there for a short break. I enquired, “How much would it cost?” The reply was “It’s free.”

Usually I am a person, who likes to think things over, but this was no time for procrastination, but a time for action and so I agreed and made preparations to leave Tianjin. I knew it would be difficult to be parted from my beloved and benign taxi drivers, but wiping a tiny tear from my eye, I decided that we could be separated for a short while.

Inner Mongolia is of course the home of Genghis Khan and his hordes that conquered all (well almost all) before him. However, this was a long time ago, about 700 years ago, and so all we have left are some great stories and images. But, I did pin my hopes on seeing some open grasslands, wild horses roaming and Mongolians. Regard the latter, then this autonomous region is estimated to only contain about 10-20% of these people left.

So twenty staff members left via sleeper train on a Sunday evening at around 9 pm destined to Hohhot the capital of Inner Mongolia. The trip was cheap (around 110 RMB for a single ticket) but scheduled to arrive at 10:30 am the next morning. It was going to be a long ride. But “it’s free” I reminded myself, and plastered on a fake smile and tried to look stoical.

Our quarters seated six and were compact and cosy, consisting of three bunk beds either side. We settled on the lower beds to talk and share the excitement and anticipation. Somebody asked when do the lights go out on the train. With an air of utmost confidence (because my students had told me) I informed them this happens at 11 pm. Two minutes later at precisely 10:11 pm, lights went out, and we were plunged into darkness, which thankfully hid my blushes.

Anyway, let’s move forward in time and our arrival at Hohhot on Monday morning. The city was crowded, polluted, full of concrete and rather hot. Sounds familiar? However, we didn’t have time to view the ‘sights’ as we were whisked onto a coach for a three-hour journey with a driver; as our guide informed us; ‘who hadn’t had an accident in ten years.’ But judging by the way he hurtled his vehicle along the road with reckless abandon, he probably saw thousands in his rear view mirror.

Finally we arrived at the Gegentala Grassland, which is a selection of modern yurts, tourist shops, but still in the middle of some wonderful clear blue skies and a gently rolling landscape. How nice it was to walk off the coach into fresh air and was it my imagination but did the clouds seem closer to the land?

During our brief stay, we did some horse riding, then wandered off to appreciate the emptiness and tranquillity away from the hustle & bustle of modern life. We also witnessed an impressive display of Mongolian wrestling. I did consider offering to fight one of the wrestlers myself, but to be honest I didn’t want to cause any embarrassment by beating them. Back in the real world, we enjoyed a nighttime performance of gymnastics & fireworks. Then off to sleep in a yurt, albeit a modern version and certainly not the real thing. There were six of us in one yurt, and because I was the youngest (YES! It surprised me); my place was by the door in the role of ‘draught excluder.’

Early next morning; it was now Tuesday by the way; we left the yurt theme park (with the same driver – our apprentice Michael Schumacher) and to the very commercial Tomb of Wang Zhaojin, who was an imperial concubine of some repute. Then to Baotou to look at some local sights and then forced to do some shopping by our guide. I tried out my proficient haggling skills and managed to lower the price by … well … nothing actually. They were immovable and in fact nobody in our group got a discount. But it was a free holiday (have I told you it was free?) and I wasn’t that bothered. I intend no disparagement by skipping through these attractions quickly, but my interests lay away from towns or cities.

Wednesday morning, our departure and on to Xiangsha wan, a famous scenic zone on the edge of the Gobi desert. I cannot pretend that we were situated in the midst of an uninhabitable wilderness, with swirling winds, treacherous dunes and a scorching heat blistering our skin. On the contrary we were on the tourist trail, with many other people clutching bottles of coke, and if the truth were told - the Gobi desert was cooler than Tianjin.

However, fun ruled the day as we did camel riding, took thousands of photos of empty sand and enjoyed the ‘Singing Sand Gorge’. Anybody expecting an aria from Madame Butterfly is going to be disappointed, but as you descend the slopes in a sand sledge, the ticket claims ‘that you will hear a roaring sound just like airplanes, which is a natural phenomenon.’

A final stay in a Hohhot hotel and on Thursday morning we left for home. The train journey was just as long but gave us a chance to savour the scenery and the enduring image I retain is of seeing the sun shining through the heights of the Great Wall.

Naturally the free holiday was a roaring success with all the staff and we were all very grateful for the bonus from our school, and though we never left the beaten track, it gave me a taste for further adventure to experience something more real and definitely wilder. And considering the costs of trains it would be a very cheap holiday. Even a teacher could afford to go on their salary.