Back from Inner Mongolia!

First off, i'd think it appropriate for me to start this post with some thanksgiving: for having a safe journey to and fro, for being able to experience so many new and different things and most importantly, NO SANDSTORMS!

as planned, the 7 of us board the K256 train at 14.07 hrs, from the Suzhou Railway station. after a back/butt/abdominal aching 31 hours ride, we reached our first destination, Baotou!

it was almost 10pm and all our us were dead tired/hungry, so after checking into our hotels, Tiek, Loy, Shuhui and myself went off in search of FOOD!

our loot for that night's dinner? RMB$100 worth of bbq-ed mutton/egg/sparrows/gizzards, mongolian style~! shiok arh!

the next morning was spent sourcing for a vehicle and a guide to bring us to intended destinations; an hour plus worth of searching proved fruitful, as we managed to secure the private usage of a 11 seater mini van for 2 days, complete with a guide and all attraction tickets in.

the trade off? all of us were RMB$516 poorer =(

the next 2 days were spent visiting the following places: WuDangZhao, Genghis Khan Mausolem, Resonant Sand Desert, Sai Han Ta La Grassland.

even though WuDangZhao and Genghis Khan's tomb were suppose to be places of great cultural value, the very uncultured me couldn't really appreciate their worth and instead, found the Resonant Sand Desert and SHTL Grassland much much MUCH more amusing.

prior to embarking on the trip, i was already looking forward to parasailing and sliding down a sand dune, hence i am glad to announce, that not only did i manage to do them both, i also rode a sand dune buggy and zorb-ed around the sand dune! super duper uber fun! having done these at the desert, we also got to ride our horses and engage in some archery at the grassland. another round of shiok-ness (though the butt ache and backache and what-have-you-ache that followed after that was anything but shiok)!

it was at this point that murphy's law struck and what was supposed to be an unforgettable trip took a turn for the worse: after departing from Baotou and arriving at Hoh Hot, we were unable to get the return train tickets for the 5th of may.

this meant that we either buy the return ticket for the 7th of may, or cut short our trip and head back on the 4th. for me, taking the 7th may train meant that i will have to take an additional day's leave and miss work on the 8th. not exactly something that i wanted to do, so i opted for the 4th, together with Loy and Shuqing.

all in all, in retrospect, i must say that i really enjoyed myself, despite the setbacks and bumpy incidents here and there. a pity though that the trip didn't materialise in its full entirety, since its probably gonna be the last time i travel with all 6 of them ....