Mongolian update :)

Hey,

we're in Ulaan Bator (the capital of the country of the smallest population density in the world - Mongolia has about 2mln inhabitants and about 1 mln of them live in UB).. i had so many things I wanted to write about prepared but all of that became suddenly insignificant when i heard a familiar voice say "Agnieszka!" on Peace Avenue. It was my friend from university - Wojtek (dad, remember the one that took interest in the case of monkeys in the Prague zoo that had their TV breakdown in winter and we're dying of boredom). Anyway, we've convinced him to drop everything and to travel with ania and i to the north tomorrow and camp out at "ze most butifuul lake een Mongolia" - (Khovsgul nuur) as one geusthouse owners put it :)
The world's a really f***ing small place :) We might go horse-trekking and explore the vanishing Mongolian minorities :)
We'll be gone for a while but we should be back in the city on the 3rd. And we're leaving for Gobi on the 5th (that is if everything goes ok. -keep your fingers crossed ;)

mom & dad - thanks for the news, i'm already making plans about where I'll meet you so i'm very open for the X-mas planning, Asia thanks for the pictures (great!!!) and i love you!!!

Agata - miss you too, and pls keep on updating me so i know where you are :)

Karolina Z. - thanks for the cool comment on our blog :) i'm happy you're alright and for the record - space cakes are quite shit :)

Artur - a kiss for you!

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Ya zagarella oi oi oi oi.....

i'm the biggest idiot in the world.

We're by the baikal now and it's breathtakingly beautiful!!!! note to Kapuscinski - it is sooooo not true that the Siberean sun doesn't burn "even in the summer". the first day we woke up, the inside of our tent was already warmed up like a sauna so we took our mats and layed on the beach. i slept for 6 hours, and no i did not put any sun screen on. <> Since i awoke i basically have a second degree burn on my butt and all down the back of my legs. it hurts when i walk and i can't bend my legs. My back is also burnt but it's nothing compared to the nether regions of my body :( Ania's given me a sour yogurt massage and some local lady told me to put starch on it to fight the burning sensation... tried it, all these methods fail when you've got a bad burn.

About the Baikal:

beauty on a scale of 1- 10
I'll give it a 9 cause i might still see something worth a 10
p.S. Artur, you definetely need to come here and take a god damn telescope! the starlit sky at night is amaaaaaaaaazing and there's plenty of spudnik's too!

amount of shooting stars per night:
28(!)but whose counting... ;)

amount of vodka drunken:
I'm missing a scale here :)

wonderful people met on the way:
many, many :) We're staying on the beach and somehow almost everyday someone new pitches their tent close to ours. the're mostly Polish or Russian although we have befriended a lovely French couple. A shout out to Andrzej and Justyna :))Russian people are really cool and warm and hospitable and a great laugh in general!

we've taken a tour today to the north of the olchon island- but the weather was shit so i didn't really enjoy it. besides, i thought i would get to see the nerpa's - olchon's one-of-a-kind sweet water seals. unfortunately there were none as far as the eye could see (and mind you i was wearing glasses).

i feel a bit down today. I can't phone home, didn't see a f****ing seal and it's grey outside and i still can't walk properly and the back of my body hurts(i'm like a folded polish flag %^**())_)*^@!!!!!!!!!

we're leaving for irkutsk tomorrow to get to Arshan (a place in the mountains with hotsprings - i'm not sure if i can take a bath in them yet because i might shed my very fragile skin ;((((fuck!

## i would like to give you all a kiss ##

Radek- sorry about your leg
Agata- i'm ver hurt i didn't get an invitation ;)
weronika- big kiss for you, it's difficult to upload photos with these internet connections - please be patient (we'll reach mongolia eventually :))
Ari- send me your skype login as soon as you have one:) i'll eventually find the time to adress you more personally, but you are asking a lot i'm a very busy women :))))
Karolina- take a f***ing break and i love you :)))
Joanna- you're a crappy sister :) give me some dirt! :*
Ania Sz. - a shout out to you! our most loyal reader:)
mommy & daddy - love you!

Jestem

Mam nadzieje, ze nikt za bardzo nie zamartwial sie brakiem wiadomosci od nas ale jestesmy w takim miejscu, gdzie internet to prawdziwy rarytas. Tak, jeszcze sa takie miejsca na ziemi. Bajkal jest cudowny, magiczny i taaaaki w cholere ogromny, ze az strach. Niestety nada nam juz ujezdzac z tej wspanialej olchonowej wyspy. Wybieramy sie dalej w gory, a potem ostatni etap rosyjskiem przygody czyli Ulan- Ude. 21 opuszczny Rosje, mam nadzieje, ze do tej pory uda mi sie pokazac Wam jakies zdjecia, choc to juz zupelnie moze byc trudne ze wzgledu na szybosc polaczenia.

Dojechalysmy do Irkucka w nocy i za porada przewodnika udalysmy sie do hostelu American House, gdzie spoadziewalysmy sie bandy backpackersow, internetu, sali telewizyjnej i jeszcze nie wiadomo czego. No niestety, nic z tych rzeczy. Otworzyla nam Rosjanka, byla nauczycielka agola w Irkucku i tak przyjela nas pod swoja strzeche za 700 rubli od lba ze sniadaniem. Tak, Rosja byc moze byla kiedys tania ale juz nie jest - niestety. A co ma ow dom wspolnego z Ameryka? No maz ten pani byly zolnierz amerykanski postanowil porzucic kapitalistyczny dobrobyt amerykaski i w pocie czola doprowadzac kanalizacje do domu ukochanej i razem z nia auprawiac ogrodek. A wszystko to dzialao sie w latach 70 - n poczatku - wiec afera byla na caly Irkuck i okoliczne miasta. Niestety ukochany odszedl juz z ziemskiego poadlu ( Agnieszki teoria jest taka, ze po prostu znalazl sobie mlodsza nauczycielke angielskiego gdzies tam...), a Pani zarabia na turystach:-) Spedzilysmy tam dwie noce i czym predzej pragnelysmy sie oddalic od tego miejsca wspanialej milosci. Wtedy tez Ira spadla nam z nieba.

Ostatnia noc w Irkucku spedzilysmy w miejscu osobliwym - u poznanej dzien wczesniej barmanki, rzeczonej Iry, ktora z synem mieszka w Irkucku 2, ktory podobno nie jest juz miastem a przylegla wioska, w kazdym razie do centrum trzeba troche jechac. No wiec Ira mieszka w komunalce - wspolna kuchnia i toaleta dla wszytkich, ona w jedym pokoju, w ktorym ledwo styka miejsca... Niemniej ugoscila nas po krolewsku, za co serdecznie dziekujemy. Rano spakowalysmy manatki i wyruszylysmy na Olchon.

Na plazy, gdzie rozbilysmy namiot pierwszej nocy, zakolegowaylsmy sie z Polakami. No tak, ale najpierw w drodze z Irkucka na Olchon wpadlysmy na Justyne i Andrzeja z Warszawy. Andrzej, dzieki jeszcze raz za porabanie tego drewna wczoraj. Nietylko nam przyniosl blogoslawienstwo cieplej strawy, ale rowniez naszym znajomym Francuzom, ktorzy o 12 w nocy mieszali jeszcze ryz ze wspanialym syberyjskim koncentratem pomidorowym.

Nastepnego dnia doszli na nasze plazowe pole namiotowe kolejni dzielni Polacy z warszawy - Karol i Paulina, Przemek i Pawel. No wiec przyszlo nam sie bratac przy napoju wysokoprocentowym... I kolejnego wieczora rowniez, tym razem do towarzystwa dolaczyli wczesniej spotkani Rosjanie-rowerzysci, spotkani wczesniej przy sklepie w wiosce. Przy trzeciej butelce odspiewalismy wsztskie nam znane szanty, hymn narodowy, Kalinke i piosenke Czeburaszki (kto uczyl sie ruskiego, ten wie).

Jedyne co psulo Agnieszce komfort pobytu to spalona tylnia czesc ciala, ktora pierwszego dnia wystawiona zostala na intensywne dzialanie promieni slonecznych. Biedaczka do dzisiaj cierpi. Wyprobowalysmy wszystkich sposobow, by przyniesc jej ugle: krochmal - z polecenia Pani Buriatki - nie dziala, kefir - wspaniale sie scinal, krem choldzacy do stop - swietnie sie wchlanial. No i tak czekamy, az zacznie schodzic skora i zakoncza sie te Agnieszki meczarnie. Pamietajcie dziatki: krem faktor 30-zawsze!!!

No i tak, jutro juz sobie uciekamy, jako wczesniej napisalam. Mam nazieje, ze nasze plecaki i namiot ciagle sa na plazy - pojechalysmy dzisiaj na wycieczke na polnoc wyspy i od rana nie bylo nas w okolicy - adernalina mnie nie opuszcza.

Mamo, Tato dajcie znac czy otrzymujecie wiadomosci o mojm polozeniu geograficznym. Martwie sie troche, ze Wy mozecie sie martwic... No i fajnie byloby od Was cos tam przeczytac... Troche tesknie - to juz niedlugo miesiac, a ja nawet nie moge zadzwonic, bo te polaczenia... niech je szlag!!!

Dzieki Aneczko, ze czytac moje posty. Wiesz, ja tak latwo rozstalam sie z praca - wcale mi jej poki co nie brakuje. I szkoly tez nie. Odpoczywam na calego.

Czekam na wiesci!!!

Buziaki,
Ania

Altai

first of all - Andrzej Meller - thank you, thank you, thank you!!!! If it wasn't for you we would never have stopped here and gone to the mountains and had the time of our lives :)

I promised myself that i would keep this place a secret, so that I could come back in a few years time and find the nature unspoiled as it is now. However, if you do find yourself in Nowosybirsk then do visit the Altai mountains. I especially recommend the tourist agency - Altai Voyage (Swetlana, Vicky, Anfrei, Valenteen, Dese)they're amazing people and they do their job with as much passion and diligence as they drink and party :)

When we first arrived in the morning by bus - hungry and very sleepy, we took a taxi and got to the camping site. We put our rucksacks in our tent (what a beauty by the way)and went to sit by some people's fire to make tea. We talked bla bla bla "we're from Poland" "oh haroshoye dyevechki" etc, etc after which they left us all the essential camping commodities - wood (lots of it)and potatoes, mayonese, cucumber, onion, garlic etc :) And that's how from totally unprepared we became the dyevechki with the largest amount of wood in the whole camping site :)

We met our neighbours in the evening by the fire. Three quiet lads who were biulding wooden houses on the camp site. The conversation was never very lively but we ended up in a local bar (open 24/7)drinking sibirska korona and smoking good altai weed oh and dancing to Russian hits from the 70's (i think :)

We soon met Svetlana who told us which places are "usrane" (Russian word) which means filled with tourists and which are still very untouched and beautiful. "Ah, kakaya krasota!" - she said. So we packed everything, bought a bottle of vodka (for the mountain people) and as we were quietly watching the fire die down our neighbours paid us a visit with delicious (Ania's opinion) shashliki. And thus the evening became a long one. the next morning i felt hung over. svetlana came to pick us up and to take our things to the base in Chemal. Next, we gone into a "gaz" which is basically a big car with wheels the size of our of half a human (or a whole one if you compare it with our president for example) and we began our 3-hour drive to the mountains. The first two hours were great after which i became really, really nauscious and I began hating the concept of driving a car (any car!) through rivers and forrest trails!!! we finally got there and then it was time to begin hiking. To make a long story short we only slept for 3 hours, we haven't eaten breakfast and i just nearly puked in the stupid gaz 66 - i was in no form to hike.

There was another option though.... you could get up to the karakolskie lakes by..... tank. oh yes! The Russian army must be in need of money or something - because they use tanks to take tourists all the way up to the mountains :) You get to wear the tank (sort of pilot) hats too :)We decided to stick to tradition and so our long, dreary hike began with quick breaks to pick rasberries and bueberries of the bushes on the way to fill our stomache with anything :) The hike was long and when it was my turn to carry the rucksack my face began to turn a white colour and our guide (they prefer to be called instructors) relieved me of my burden. Really nice guy by the way.

We finally got there and fucking hell it was all that Svetlana said it would be - beautiful and unspoiled. We had lunch (finally food!!)which the local warm and very handsome Altai cook prepared for us. Later we had tea with people from Bernau which we befriended on the way and then the rest of our group went hiking while i was fighting my nausea sleeping in our beautiful wooden penthouse :)

We spent the evening sitting at the kastyor (fire) and listening to shaman and altai legends and stories and drinking vodka the "chu chu" way - fill a cup with vodka and pass it round so that everyone can drink as much as they need. Andrei and his mother took Ania and I away from the fire to show us the star constellations and a spudnik(!!) / satelite. Then they made us wear these jackets and sit under a cedar tree with our spines glued to the bark and they told us to clear our minds for ten minutes. They left and we began to talk about how wonderful this place is! The trees, grasses, plants were all supposed be therapeutic and the people all believe that Altai is filled with ghosts and when a ghost visits you at night you have to tell them "if you come with good intentions then come in please, but if not then please leave". hmm... judging by the amount of vodka that went round ( and later the diluted spirit) no wonder that they've all had a ghostly experience :)Later that night we both got lucky and were escorted by beautiful Altai boys to look at the moon by the crystal clean and very cold lake. (by the way, the moon was reallly big...) ;)

The next day we hiked - even more beautiful. You'll see the pictures when upload them, probably in irkustk (in two days).We hiked back, drove back by gaz car again and drank for our health with the instructor team back at the base in Chemal. We met our sexy rafting instructor that assured us that eventhough a man died a few days ago because he chocked in the water, we will be safe and it's crucial that we bring a lot (!) of vodka for tomorrow. The next day on the way to the katuni river we had our first shot and sang to the Russian remake of "one way ticket", it went "sto gram vodkye, sto gram vodkye... etc. etc" :)

The trip down katuni river was... i'll suprise you here... a-ma-zing :) We took a little break and all those who are extreme and brave climbed up a 12-metre cliff and jumped off it. i was one of them :) although it took me reaaaaaally long to finally do it :)
The water was f****ing freezing, but then again what do you think the vodka's for ;)
We have the whole adventure on CD and we'll try to upload it onto youtube and post the link on our blog (all in good time my friends :))

That night we had a big party at the base - with new tourists coming with their families which meant meeting new people and new bottles of vodka appeared on the table and new toasts for everyones health kept on coming. Our vodka-downing was interrupted with a visit to the "banya" (sauna). i don't care if it is the most healthy thing you can do and if it even cures cancer, I cannot sit there without suffocating no matter how many handsome instructors are sharing the therapeutic experience with us!

The next day we had "sushnyak" (go figure). we went to the bank, cashed our cheques, made a whole big pot of french fries :) and waited for the evening for our ride back to novosybirsk. We left all the the staff a present - a toy-reindeer that i got from my family (oops) and we made a polish flag out of paper and an ear bud which we then sewed onto the reindeers hand :)we we're very proud of ourselves :)

we arrived in novosybisrk today at six in the morning. we already found a room and were going to spend the night in the city again and then take the train tommorow to irkutsk. We're scheduled to arrive on the 6th at 10 pm. We'll write from there or already from the bajkal area :)

p.s. Esme, you need to visit us in China!!!! thanks for the pictures and give your whole family an enormous hug!!!

p.p.s. Agata! what?? you're getting married??

p.p.s. hi mom, hi dad!!

Altajski dzien

Hej Ho!!!
Wrocilyslmy dzisiaj z gor, ktore absolutnie mnie oczarowaly. Wsztsko bylo swietnie od samego poczatku, jak tylko nasze stopy stanely na altajskiej ziemi. Przyjechalysmy z niczym - bez jedzenia, glodne, bylo rano i jak tylko znalazlysmy sie na kempingu jacys dobrzy ludzie obdarowali nas kilogramami ziemniakow, ogorkow drewna na ognisko. Mozna powiedziec, ze nasz kemping sam sie zorganizowal:-) I dobrze.Troszku popadalo , wiec dwa pierwsze dni spedzilysmy na relaksowaniu sie, czytaniu ksiazek i gadaniu, no i na piciu piwa. Obok nas rozbici byli jacys miejscowi, ktorzy budowali domek letniskowy. Zaprzyjaznilysmy sie z nimi na jeden wieczor przy ognisku - pomimo problemow z komunikacja. Bylo bardzo smiesznie.
A potem pojechalysmy w gory wlasciwe, gdzie pragne wrocic by jeszcze raz popatrzec na te przepiekne krajobrazy. Jak tylko bedzie troche wiecej czasu wrzuce jakies zdjecia, bo naprawde warto sobie popratrzec. Troche nas wytrzeslo w samochodach zanim dojechalysmy na miejsce, troche bylysmy glodne, troche niewyspane ale to wsztsko maly pikus. Nagroda za trud byla wspaniala: swieze powietrze, siedem jezior, potem swietna impreza przy ognisku, smak miejscowej herbaty - jedyny i niepowtarzalny.
No i ludzie tacy wspaniali i goscinni. Zadbali nawet o nasze samopoczucie psychofizyczne nie tylko pojac nas spirytusem ale rozniez sadzajac pod cydrami, ktore w tym miejscu na ziemi maja podobno cudowna moc ( Na Altaju cydry sa uwazane za swiete drzewa. Cydrow sie nie scina. Palic mozna tylko taki drewno, ktore lezy na ziemi. Legenda mowi, ze kiedys jacys dwaj turysci postanowili jednak sciac drzewo i zrobic sobie ognisko - nastepnego dnia znaleziono ich ilestam kilometrow od namiotu - martwych naturalnie.) No wiec tak jak mowie, zabawiano nas podobnymi opowiesciami i altajskim spirytusem.To byly tylko dwa dni, a mnie sie wydaje jakby minely tygodnie, jakbym od zawsze to miejsce znala. Na kolejne dwie doby wrocilysmy co Czemal - przesliczna gorska miejscowosc, gdzie znow poimprezowalysmy, pogadalysmy z ludzimi. No i poszlysmy na rafting - podobno ekstremalny. No ja mialam watpliwosci czy powinnam sie na wode wypuszczac, bo dla mnie slowo ekstremalny cos oznacza, no przyjamniej tylke, ze powinno sie cos o tym czyms ekstremalnym wiedziec. A ja o raftingu wiem nic, wiec tak sie zastranawiama czy to dobry pomysl. Jakos sie ze soba rozmowialam i polazlam. Oczywiscie bylo swietnie. Swietny instruktor, swiatna zaloga, piekne krajobrazy, wspaniale fale, ziman woda... i wodeczka tez nigdzie tak dobrze nie smakowala. Nauka z tago taka, ze nie trzeba bac sie tego, co nieznane. Wystarczy tylko troche wyobrazni i pokory dal sil natury.
Juro wyjezdamy do Irkucka - czyli czekaja nas dwa kolejne dni w pociagu. Cel: Bajkal. Mamy jeszcze ponad dziesiac dni w Rosji - nie bedziemy sie przemeczac tylko spokojnie pojezdzimy sobie po bajkalskiej okolicy. Popatrzymy, popijemy piwko... Mamy nadzieje, ze w koncu spotkamy jakis zagraniczny backpackerow.

W zasadzie to nie tesknie:-) Jest mi tak swietnie w podrozy, ze nawet nie mam czasu myslec o tym co w Warszawie, w Gdansku. Staram sie o niczym nie myslec, z wyjatkiem moich przyjaciol. Was mi brakuje najbardziej. No i mam nadzieje, ze ktos z mojej rodziny czasem tu zaglada i wie, ze nic zlego sie z nami nie dzieje.
Nie ma mnie w Warszawie, za miastem nie tesknie ale jednak przywiozlam tu ze soba wiele z Polski. Ostatni czas byl ciezki, wiec czuje jak moj organizm sie oczyszcza... Mam przynajmniej taka nadzieje. A jesli sie sam nie oczysci, to w Mongolii czeka nas wizyta u szamana. Jesli o zdrowiu... No tak bylam u dentysty na Ukrainie i tydzien temu jeszcze przed wyjazdem w Altaj musialam odwiedzic gabinet raz jeszcze w Nowosybirsku. Rosysjski stomatolog okazal sie swietny, profesjonalny i w zasadzie niedrogi. Mam nadzieje, ze w Mongolii nie bede musiala z zebami wlaczyc. Kaszel nam nadal. Jesli konwencjonalne srodki nie pomoga, rozwnie zajmie sie tym wszytskim szaman.

No i toi byloby na tyle. Dbamy o siebie, prosimy sie nie martwic.
Do nastepnego razu - juz z Irkucka.
Sciskam!!!
Ania