Mongolian

[squirmelia]

I've been reading Trans-Siberian Railway books, and can actually remember three words of Mongolian:

byaslag - cheese
bayarlalaa - thank-you
tiim - yes

Comments

[fluffymark]

Very important words those. I can see myself having profound and deep conversations about cheese-buying with mongolians. I fear they may get a little repetitive after a while. But I like cheese a lot.

Have a *plan*. Its only as small plan as yet but it may turn into a bigger plan. Plan involves travelling the trans-siberian next summer. :)

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

The cheese will taste very different to English cheese, I suspect. It all sounds a bit confusing:

'Tsagan-ide (white food) is very popular in Mongolia. From milk many kinds of dishes are prepared. First of all, the milk is boiled and is stirred many times, and after cooling, the "urum" (the thick skin on boiled milk) is taken off. Further, the boiled milk is fermented and used to make yogurt, aarts (sour cottage cheese), and aaruul (a dry curd sweet). A small quantity of yogurt is poured into hot milk and fermented, and from this byaslag (cheese), eezgii (dry curds) and eedem (similar to cheese) are made. Mongols very much prefer urum and aaruul among milk products. The people enjoy eating the above-mentioned products for lunch in summer and autumn. '

I'm not sure when exactly I'm planning to travel on the trans-sib, but it will be part of my travel plans in 2005 or 2006, I think! Most of the trans-sib packages only seem to involve staying in Mongolia for a few days, but I think I'd like to stay there a little longer.

[fluffymark]

ooooh. interesting cheese. Makes me really want to go there now.

I'd like to stop at various places along the way (Moscow, Baikal, Mongolia, Great wall, Beijing at least, probably more places as I read my book more)- I doubt I'll find a package I'm happy with, so I'll be arranging it all myself, which is the way I prefer to do holidays. I've had it in the back of my mind for years now, but i'm now ready to start planning it properly. I spent a lot of time at the weekend working it out with my atlas. *bounce*

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Cool! I think I'd be too confused and worried about getting lost to go by myself without some kind of package type thing, but am contemplating volunteer work in Mongolia, so may have to do so to some extent. Moscow and Baikal are definitely on my list to visit as well.

[fluffymark]

I doubt I could manage it entirely on my own - I am looking for others to go with, and have some degree of hope as I've caught several people flicking through my trans-sib book with enthusiasm. gnimmel was highly enthused with the idea last time I chatted to her about it. What I really want to do is prod one of my Russian-speaking friends to join me, as that would make the Russian leg of the journey a lot simpler. Finding someone who speaks mongolian is not going to happen, is it? I don't know how things will work out, but it's possible we may be able to co-ordinate travelling together? Certainly worth keeping in mind. I guess I should make a vague proposal on my journal and see how much interest and help I can acquire.

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

Russian-speaking friends would indeed make it easier! Mongolian-speaking people might be hard to find, although Amazon seem to sell a Mongolian phrasebook (looks cheap so I might buy a copy). What trans-sib book have you got? I've been reading two fairly outdated ones (mid-nineties, I think, since some of the companies mentioned have Compuserve numbers) from the library.

I'm planning to travel roughly sometime between about August 2005 and about 2007, so am not quite going yet. Coordinating some travel together would be cool, or if not possible, we can share tips on how to purchase tickets and how to swig down the mare's milk. :)

[fluffymark]

I've the Lonely Planet Trans-Siberian guide, which I got new last summer, so it would be a lot more up to date. Russia has changed a lot in the past 5 years. I'll keep you informed of anything useful I find out. :)

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

I'll probably buy a new guide at some point, but am enjoying reading my outdated ones for the time being, even if they do have a tendency to go on about the history of the trains a bit much. :)

[sphyg.livejournal.com]

And then taking the ferry to Tokyo?

[squirmelia.livejournal.com]

If you go on the Mongolian route, you don't end up in Vladivostok, which is where I think the ferry to Japan goes from? Although I suspect there are other ferries.