mongolia, take 2

here i am in erlian, a soul-less border town that seems to fade into endless desert. unlike last time i was here i know when we leave and what to expect when we get into beijing, which is nice. being back in china means no more mutton, but i know i haven't strayed too far from mongolia since a guy next to me is looking at porn online, dirty pictures with the mongolian flag in the background. ah, the complicated nature of national pride. i just tried to post some pictures, but it made the computer shut down so you will have to make do with my words. some mongolian highlights:
- gers look boring from the outside, canvass structures often plopped down in the middle of nowhere, but it turns out that the insides are generally colorful and warm (if there's enough coal to make it through the night).
- there are not a lot of roads in mongolia. even the drive from UB to Kharkorin (the past and future? capital) is done mostly off road. this is generally delightful, except that sometimes you feel a little adrift in the middle of a desert with camels, yaks and sheep roaming around with seemingly more direction than the vehicle you're in.
- our last ride from Kharkorin to UB included the 3 of us, some mongolians who immediately busted out the beer for the ride, a horse head that came into close contact with my bag (hopefully while frozen), lots more meat in bags and a two hour ramble through town before departure to pick up people and their meat.
- there are a few national mongolian songs and they are played everywhere all the time.
- life in a former soviet semi-state is way different than other places that i've been. most obviously due to extensive vodka consumption. life seems more open than in China, you can access what you want on the internet and nothing is deemed "too sexy" for TV, but there is also not the same feeling of hope and opportunity.

more to come, hopefully with pictures at some point.