ULAN UDE

We took the train across China and entered Mongolia, changing wheels at the border! A remarkable operation with the whole train jacked up. We woke in the Gobi Desert – dry! After a stop in Ulan Baator, we travelled on through gentler, greener countryside.

After three hours of border formalities in the evening we fell asleep in Russia, arriving in Ulan Ude the next morning. UU is the capital of Buryatia – the Buryats are a northern Mongolian tribe so the culture (and many of the faces) are still oriental.

The town is fairly provincial in tone, with lots of old wooden houses, mainly in poor repair.

However a magnificent opera house is being refurbished and the main square boasts the largest head of Lenin in the world. (Magda is there for scale, if you can find her!)

Two contrasts with China struck us immediately – the respect shown for pedestrians, even by taxi drivers! And the consumption of alcohol in public, frequently when walking down the street.

Religion was never very far under the skin during the soviet years and is now back with a vengeance. Many devout worshippers fill the churches or attend the Buddhist ‘datsan’,
and traditional Shamanic animism is also present. One young man we talked to claimed to be a mixture of shamanist and Buddhist – I suppose they are compatible… We visited a beautiful little cathedral – our first Russian Orthodox church (of many).


We went out to an ‘Ethnographical Museum’ containing original wooden houses from different cultural streams: the eastern (largely nomadic) Buryats lived in felt yurts (Mongolian style)
while their more settled western cousins built wooden ones.

The ‘old believers’ are traditionalist Russian Orthodox Christians. There was also an influx of Cossacks who came as guards and brought their customs. Two exhibitions dealt with indigenous Russian groups, the Evenks and the Soyots. Their culture evidences a common origin with North American Indians (Tepees and totem poles) and most amazingly with the Mapuches of southern Chile, we saw a ritual drum very similar to the Mapuche ‘kultrun’ and bearing an identical design!


Tomamos el tren a traves de China y entramos en Mongolia, con cambio de ruedas en la frontera - el tren entero levantado en gatas ! Pasamos por el desierto Gobi– sequisimo! Despues de una parada en Ulan Baator, seguimos por un valle tranquillo y verde.

Despues de cruzar la frontera (3 horas), estabamos en Rusia, y llegamos en la manana a Ulan Ude. Esta es la capital de Buryatia – los Buryats son una tribu Mongol, asi que la the cultura (y muchas de las caras) siguen siendo orientales.

Es una ciudad provincial, con muchas casas antiguas de madera, generalmente mal cuidadas. Una magnifica opera esta en reparaciones, y la plaza principal contiene la cabeza mas grande de Lenin en el mundo. (Magda esta en la foto para indicar la escala) Nos llamo la atencion el contraste con China - dos aspectos en especial: el respecto de los choferes, incluso de micro, hacia los peatones; y el consumo de alcohol en publico.

La religion estaba siempre presente durante la epoca sovietica, ahora afloro. Hay muchos feligreses en las iglesias cristianas y los templos Budistas, y el animismo tradicional tambien esta presente. Un joven con quien conversamos afirmo ser ‘una mezcla de shamanista y Budista – supongo que no hay conflicto … Conocimos una hermosa pequena catedral – nuestra primera iglesia rusa ortodoxa (de muchas).

Fuimos a un museo ethnografico con casas originales de madera de las distintas culturas locales: los Buryats orientales (nomads) viven en ‘yurts’ de fieltro (estilo Mongoliano) mientras sus primos occidentales los construyen de madera. Existe un grupo de cristianos ortodoxos mas o menos fundamentalista, conocidos como ‘old believers’. Tambien llego la influencia cosaca. Dos exposiciones tratan de grupos etnicos rusos originarios, los Evenk y los Soyot. Su cultura demuestra un origen comun con los indios norte-americanos (Tepees y totems) – lo mas sorprendente era un tambor ritual identico al ‘kultrun’ Mapuche y que llevaba el mismo diseno!