Holy Cow!

0530, Ulan-Ude

After the relatively Soviet feel of both Novosibirsk and Irkutsk, I was unsure of what to expect in Ulan-Ude. At this point I would be more than half way through my trip, going deeper into Asia. So far the Asian effect was slight; I noticed more Asiatic features in many of the inhabitants of the cities I visited as well as with many of the passengers. But overall, I still felt like I was in Russia, albeit a very rustic part. Ulan-Ude was the real deal. Less than twelve hours from the Mongolian capital of Ulan-Bator, Ulan-Ude was Asiatic to the core. From the natives to the food to the religion, I felt like I could have been in Mongolia instead of Russia

By now I was used to the train trips. I get to the station, find my coupe, meet my bunkmates, and settle in for a long trip; in this case a relatively brief eight-hour overnight trip. I was happy with the

Still Early!

quick arrival but I was disappointed that the train skirted the shores of Lake Baikal after dark. I also had a traveling companion. I randomly met another Transsiberian traveler, Cuba from Poland (!), while sitting in a coffee shop in Irkutsk. He was going to spend the day in Ulan-Ude while waiting for his connection to Krasnoyarsk. So, as the train pulled into the station at 0530, we decided to hike it into the downtown, see the enormous statue of Lenin’s head, and then find breakfast. Finding the monument proved easy…after an extremely long walk, encumbered by backpacks. It was just as it was advertised – a gigantic Lenin head in the central square. I admit, I was pretty impressed! I thought it would be along the lines of that giant ball of twine and some of those other novelties that you find on Route 66 or the like. But I could not stop looking at this mammoth cranium. If this is the one thing that gets tourists to visit Ulan-Ude, then the city has a great start. What they need to do is build things around it to keep visitors satisfied. I say, hook them with the head, then wow them with

The Head!

operas, parades, museums, sports, etc. Currently, it’s more or less the head. I was also wondering if there are other ginormous pieces of Lenin in other parts of the country. For example, maybe his left knee is on a pedestal up in the far north in Murmansk. I have it on good authority that you can go to the National Medical Museum in Moscow and see his penis displayed. But it’s so tiny you have to use an electron microscope. Clearly, he was overcompensating with the head.

After fifteen thousand photographs of Lenin and the clock hitting a late 0700, Cuba and I decided we needed food. So we started walking…and walking…and walking some more. Every single shop and restaurant was closed. Of course this was not a huge surprise (hey, we’re in the midst of Siberia at the crack of dawn!) but still hugely disappointing when you are exhausted and hungry (hexhausted?, Exungry?). We used my guidebook to no avail. We didn’t use my guidebook, to no avail. We ended up walking around the main part of the city (it’s not that big) at least three times before we came upon a Subway. Yup, Subway is even in Ulan-Ude! We trudged and took a look at the food and decided to just have coffee. Apparently, they do not have corporate quality control experts coming out very often to that part of the world if the state of the food was any indication. But the coffee did hit the spot. We sat down, BS-ed, and made plans for the day while waiting for 0800 and the opening of some real coffee houses.

Subway the Hard Way

After getting food in our systems and getting lost again, we finally hopped the bus which was heading to the outskirts of town in Buryatia. Cuba and I both wanted to see the Ivolginsky Datsan located about forty minutes and two marshrutkas from city center. The datsan was, believe it or not, was built with the blessing of Stalin in 1945; evidently as he was trying to curry favor with the locals. Since that time, Ivolginsky has remained the spiritual center of Russian Buddhism. It is so important that the Dali Lama made a pilgrimage to the site many moons ago. This is where I began to see the real Asian Russia. After conking out on the first marshrutka, I woke up to find us driving along a valley filled with sprawling villages composed of wooden houses. The only Soviet-style apartment buildings to be seen were located in the small urban centers. The rest of the time it was dusty plains with scrub bushes, houses, and mountains in the background. It was quite a change from everything else I had seen on my trip so far. We then had to hop out and get in a smaller marshrutka that had no number, just a picture of the datsan on the window to identify its final destination. As we rolled down the road, we could immediately see the datsan in its compound. It looked like it was really close but looks were deceiving. The land was so flat and the distances so far, it took over ten minutes to reach the property. Fortunately we had lots to look at – cows! Yes, lining the road with apparently no one to watch over them were dozens of cows. They were just sitting on both sides of the road, surrounded by clouds of dust and flies. I’m guessing they didn’t fear ending up on someone’s dinner plate. Or perhaps they were just stupid (yet delicious) cows. 

Beware a Shitting Cow

The datsan was well worth the trip. First, it was free. We asked at the gate if we needed to pay and the MOD (Monk On Duty) just waved us in. Once inside you are asked to follow the path in a (somewhat) circular pattern around the compound. There were no explanations about the various buildings as this is a working religious community, not a museum. As we walked around the circle, turned the multitudinous prayer wheels and took lots of pictures. Although it was perfectly acceptable to take photos, we realized that we were the only ones doing so. Something felt slightly sacrilegious about treating a religious compound like a tourist destination. But, that’s exactly what it is to many people like me. So my Polish friend and I just kept snapping away.  The only places we were not allowed to photograph were the insides of the temples. I wish I could have taken a pic or two as the temples were filled

Wheel o'Prayer

with Buddha and other religious icons, burning incense, and food offerings. They monks were also selling various trinkets so it was a bit of a business as well. We didn’t see any ceremonies or events but there were plenty of cows just loitering around; eating and shitting. What a life!

That was pretty much my first day in Ulan-Ute. I met some locals who showed me around and that was quite helpful. But by six o’clock I was pretty wiped out. I still was unsure how I felt about my new surroundings but I had two more days to see what else was on offer.

Hello, Dali! 

Spin the Wheel, Say a Prayer!