Inner Mongolia - Hohhot

Before Bucket Lists were a thing, Inner Mongolia was on mine. My grandfather always wanted to go to the land of Ghengis Khan, and when he passed away my sister and I promised we would one day get there, in his honour.

Not that either of us really believed we’d ever get there. I mean… it’s Mongolia…

And then I slipped, fell on adventure and Inner Mongolia became a possibility… soon to be an actuality.

China has two long national holidays, Mid Autumn Festival falls in Golden week, this year, an eight day celebration of the season change, the full moon and the giving of Moon Cakes (which are the density of the moon… and after some investigation, most people don’t actually eat them…). It’s a time for people to go back to their home towns and spend time with family. ALTERNATIVELY, it’s a time to join the largest human migration with 720 million people travelling… 720!

I booked a tour in the hopes of seeing as much of Mongolia within those 8 days, unfortunately you cant book train tickets until one month before your travel date. I was set, ready…  alarm buzzed advising time for me to jump online and snap up my train tickets before they disappeared… The tickets were released at 4pm, at 5pm, credit card at hand, butterflies of excitement in the belly…

NO TICKETS LEFT

No tickets left?

NO TICKETS LEFT?!?

It was ONE hour! How was this possible?! I felt like I’d been pipped at the post! I know I’d had this sorted, everything was going to plan… China… yet again, thwarting my organisational skills.

Next stop… flights… YES! Thank heavens! There were flights available, admittedly 500 Yuan MORE than the train tickets, but 7 hours faster, so swings and roundabouts I suppose.

I arrived in Hohhot, nice and early after a short and vibrating flight… eek… the hotel was lovely, my eyes sparkled with anticipated delight at the shower, a giant square shaped faucet that called my name, no exposed pipes or uninvited critters!

HOWEVER, no rest for the wicked! This was the one afternoon to investigate Hohhot, and although a small city, I wanted to make the most of the sunlit hours remaining.

First stop, Dazhao Temple. Completed in 1579 and built by the very-much honoured Altan Khan (Genghis’s 13^th or 14^th grandchild), it is a Buddhist Temple at the centre and beginning of Hohhot’s history. The city rose up around the temple and there are still some authentic ancient architecture in the vicinity.

Altan, while looking like a rather austere character, was responsible for forging an allegiance with Tibetan Buddhist religion, infact one of the Dali Lama’s came to visit the Dazhao Temple, AND Altan’s great grandson became the third incarnation of the Dali Lama! He also united various Mongol tribes to raid Ming lands and furthered Mongolia’s influence across the continent… eventually negotiating with the Ming Emperor to come to agreements of peace and trade.

I took in the surroundings as the sun began to wane… considering the overwhelming statue of Altan himself, not to mention the Mongolian script (I ignorantly didn’t realise Mongolia would have its own written language… I imagined dialect, but not this BEAUTIFUL almost Arabic script?! Will discuss this more later), I turned to the entry of the Monastery only to find a long and winding snake of Chinese tourists waiting to purchase a ticket, then make their way in.

I took a deep breath and upon exhalation, decided NOT to wait in line for the rest of my day out, and headed to the market place for some souvenir observation (I had a rather tight budget, so rather than purchasing gifts, I took photos of what I WOULD have bought family and friends should my financial situation be otherwise… they do say it’s the thought that counts!)

Everything handmade… hand crafted… from wooden walking sticks to gings (not something Australian customer would allow past the border I expect…), to Wolf Teeth (I didn’t purchase, but apparently wearing these shows or encourages masculinity… maybe if you wrestled with the wolf… I question the same in buying said tooth in a small cardboard package from a market…).

 Contemplating a return on my last day to pick up a few items for loved ones, I headed out in search of the Muslim Quarter… upon my journey I came across a delightful and delighted looking Mongolian Man adorned in traditional attire and a flicking, while he leaped in the air, a purple silk scarf… to the joy and applause of onlookers.

 Pretending that I knew where I was going, I headed either North… West, East… or South? Whose to know?! In the hopes of getting to the Muslim quarter, known for its cleanliness… and, I imagine, lack of pork which works for me!

INCREDIBLY! I went in the correct direction! Coming up at a meandering pace, after passing a golden elephant statue balancing a small marsupial and larger monkey on its head, I came upon a glorious yellow tiled, neck stretching high building, peaked with a blue dome, and dawned with white arches around.

I cant remember seeing architecture like this in person, and it was awe inspiring. I was distracted when my peripheral vision made me aware of a rather large golden teapot infront of another similarly Muslim inspired building. I imagined the size of the genie that could appear out of that!

 As I wandered down the street, the men, adorned with topi caps, smiled and waved, I waved back contented, feeling welcomed. The women, similarly showed excitement at seeing a Western woman wandering about alone, as I did in seeing them. Different cultures appreciating one another, sharing the common aspect of humanity, curiosity.

Taking my time enjoying the architecture, I made my way back to the hotel (again… I FOUND IT ALL BY MYSELF! Didn’t even ask for directions! Very proud), I came across a peaceful park, wandering in, a lake, sweeping willows and passing the line of dinosaur adorned men… completed a very pleasant day of travel and investigation.

Tomorrow… I would meet my guide and we would head to the Grasslands…