Ulan Ude

I got to Ulan Ude at 6 in the morning after my last stretch on the Trans-Siberian Railroad. I don't know what lottery I won but I have had my own bunk on each leg of the trip. I did find out an interesting fact on this particular train though- they lock the bathroom doors after midnight.

Ulan Ude seems more Mongolian than Russian to me. Most of the people are of Mongolian descent, and thus look more Asian than Russian. The Buriat dialect of Mongolian is even spoken by a lot of the people, in addition to Russian. Although, it is dying out among the younger generation. Even the name 'Ulan Ude' is Mongolian. It means 'red door.' (Pronounced Oh-lahn oo-day by Russians and Olth-ahn ode by Mongolians) Seems like a fitting name for a town that has acted as gateway for trade between Europe, Russia, and China through the generations.

My guide was a Buriat woman that teaches Tourism in the local college. It was fun to speak a little Mongolian with her. I suspect it was a little like being from Brazil and speaking to someone from Portugal. Actually, it's probably more like being from Utah and listening in on an everyday conversation in Spanish Harlem...every once in a while I would catch a conversation where I could hardly understand half of what was being said. Different vocabulary, and different cultures definitely makes a difference.

I'll be the first to admit that my history lessons thus far, and sources for historical facts have been pretty shady, but they're getting even more shady with the language barrier. Plus I have no internet to check any info. However, let me give you some 'facts' about the area of Ulan Ude, Russia. This area of Russia was predominantly inhabited by the Huns around the third century BC. Around the time of Chinggis Khan it was inhabited by the Merkits (or Mergid in Mongolian) who started the fighting that made Chinggis go postal on the entire world. As the story goes, Chinggis' father pulled a sort of 'Seven Brides for Seven Brothers' (just admit you understand the reference) maneuver and when it came time to take a wife, he literally took a wife - from the Merkits. A generation after, the Merkits repayed the favor and stole the wife of Chinggis. So he swore that he would obtain vengeance and kill every last one of the Merkits.

In the year 1728 a border between Russia and China under the direction of Sava Ragusinski, who was assigned by was formed that separated Russia from its neighbors to the south. The Mongolians living in the area opted to stay and become part of Russia.

The prevailing religion of Mongolia's ancestors is Shamanism. On lake Baikal there is an island that is considered sort of the hub of modern Shamanism where religious 'priests' still perform the rituals of their heritage. The same island has been separated from the world for ages. There are no roads to it, and they only had electricity installed about three years ago. Mongolia eventually became Buddhist (Tibetan Buddhist or Lamaism) and it was recognized as an official religion in Russia in 1741. Coming out of communism it was Josef Stalin that praised the efforts of Lam's to help the country and in 1946 allowed the building of a temple. It is a little outside Ulan Ude and is called the Ivolginski Datsan.

The Ivolginski Datsan is basically a religious compound about 30km outside the city of Ulan Ude. They have a number of temples and the only Buddhist university that existed in Soviet Russia. You can study to become an artist, musician, linguist, etc.

It is really interesting to see how other people worship. From the minute we set foot on the compound we could hear a chant being sung in a low voice, by dozens of lams, and broadcast throughout the yard. At the end of a song there is a series of loud crashes that sounds like a young kid going crazy on a drum set. It was really loud, and kind of eerie.

In one of the temples there were two lams performing a daily ritual that my guide and I took part in. As they read a prayer-chant in Tibetan we faced the front of the temple, that had a whole bunch of images and statuettes, and took hold of some 'white food.' I was holding a box of milk, and I think my guide had yogurt. We walked backwards outside of the door and on the grass, I doused some of my milk, and raised an offering to the gods.

We also passed many a prayer wheel, from the size of a gallon of milk, to the size of a side of beef hanging in a meat market. The wheels have prayers written inside of them. As you pass, in order to pray you give it a spin. Another ritual I witnessed was the walk towards the Green Tara. This god is believed to bless the quickest and in order to receive the blessings all you have to do is touch her hand print rock. The stone, a little bigger than a bowling ball, was found in the area and has a spot that looks like a hand print. The catch is, in order to get the blessings, you have to start from about 15 feet away, and close your eyes and walk towards it. It is set in a display about 4 feet off the ground, and people walk towards it with their eyes closed and arms outstretched, hoping that their hands will find the rock. I didn't see anyone succeed except an old grandma. Lots of years of praying practice, I guess.

Other than that Ulan Ude was pretty chill. I saw the Trinity Church (Russian Orthodox) built from 1740-1780. After we saw the main town square, and victory arch my guide tried to help me change my train ticket for a bus ticket. I found out the bus to Darkhan, Mongolia arrives late afternoon instead of 11pm. And since I wanted to drive straight to a nearby town after that I figured it was better to arrive sooner than later. Getting the bus ticket was no problem, but refunding the train ticket was...well, impossible. I got a 3% refund. Awesome.

Going to the train station etc. gave me some time to talk a little more with my guide. Her grandfather was taken to a Russian work camp (in the 1930s?) on accusations of being a spy for the Japanese. He was executed soon after. Her grandmother, then with children and a small baby had the same fate. Her mom, aunts and uncles were raised in different families. There is a small memorial built to remember those who died during times of government oppression, the worst year being around 1938. I also found out that her father was the Minister of Culture in the state of Buriatia in 1991. A poet himself, he wrote the words of the Buriat Anthem.

Getting kind of anxious to eat some Mongolian food I went to a Mongolian restaurant, 'Modern Nomads,' and ordered a platter of all kinds of Mongolian food. Sooo good.

In the evening I went to the town movie theater where 'Prince of Persia' was playing. I sat outside the theater to see if it would perhaps play in English with Russian subtitles. Then I realized I didn't really want to see it if it was in English. While I was sitting there, there were 2 young boys hanging around the theater. Suddenly the ticket taker lady yelled at one of them to get out. Then a few minutes later he came back in and sat back down. She looked over at the two and in a tired tone of voice said something. They immediately jumped to their feet, thanked her, and ran into the theater. Haha. Movie theater rats. Always bugging that lady so see if they can get open seats. Awesome.