I left Beijing and headed for Mongolia. I had intended to catch the direct Trans-Mongolia train from Beijing to Ulan Bator, unfortunately the train I would have to catch before my visa expired had been cancelled. I decided to travel to Ulan Bator via Datong. Datong is not a destination in itself. It is a large unattractive city even by Chinese standards. The reason to come to Datong are the Yungang Caves and the Hanging Monastery. I took an overnight train from Beijing to Datong, spent the day visiting the attractions and left the next morning for Erlian (on the border with Mongolia).
As soon as I stepped out of the station I was met by a very polite CITS agent. He was selling the CITS tour to the Caves and the Monastery. I choose to go it alone and regretted it. I was wandering around the main square and met Simon. Simon offered a taxi to take me to the Yungang Caves and the Hanging Monastery. It seemed like an excellent deal. What I hadn't grasped was that it relied on other people sharing the cab. We took off and for some reason drove around Datong. I was becoming fed up with their delaying tactics until they decided to take me to the Caves. We arrived and they looked for other people I could share the cab with for the drive to the Hanging Monastery. The Yungang Caves are very impressive. It does feel like an Indian Jones set with the huge carved Buddhas towering over you. When I returned after over an hour wandering around the caves I found Simon with a French couple who had been waiting an hour for me to return. We set off for the two hour drive to the Hanging Monastery. The taxi driver turned out to be the slowest driver I had come across in Asia. We arrived at the Hanging Monastery to be confronted with a very loud building site. It seems the local authorities have decided to upgrade the existing tourist facilities. The Hanging Monastery is impressive to see but not quite as impressive or extensive as the Caves. I met people there who had taken the public transport option to get there and they did not recommend it. In the end I saved a small amount of money with the taxi but it was not worth the effort.
While Datong is an ugly industrial city in the midst of a rebuild there is a certain charm to it. The people were very friendly. I was walking across the enormous square infront of the railway station and a man yelled hello at me from the other side of the square and waved (he was arm in arm with another man at the time). Another guy ran up to me said hello, giggled, and then ran away. I was on the way to dinner and came across a rag tag bunch of teenage security guards armed with truncheons who all smiled and waved at me.
In the evening I looked for somewhere to eat along Xima Lu. I tried to enter a couple of restaurants only to be met with smiling faces but waving hands saying 'no'. I eventually found one restaurant who let me in even though they were slightly bemused by my presence. A picture menu was produced. A waitress stood over me as I flicked through. The trouble with a picture menu is you are not entirely sure what you have ordered. In China the waitress hangs around and I am never sure whether I have ordered the correct amount of food. After haphazardly pointing the waitress said something. I replied 'tingbudong' (I don't understand). There was a group discussion amongst the army of waiting staff. A delegate was sent to my table to retrieve my English-Chinese dictionary. A few minutes later a diner came over to my table. She spoke some English and said that the waiting staff were concerned I had ordered too much. I suggested they cut out anything they wanted, this did not cross the language divide. After much discussion between her and the waitress fraternity it was decided the order would not be changed. The various dishes finally arrived and were pretty good. The woman who had acted as translator periodically checked in on me. The funny thing in China is that the Chinese act paternally towards foreigners, they are concerned for your welfare and will help you even when it isn't required. For instance, the waiting staff then decided that my chopstick skills weren't up to scratch and replaced them with a knife and fork.
I stayed at the Railway Station Hotel in Datong. I paid 110Y for a deluxe room (reduced from 128), though they wouldn't reduce the standard room from 107. The corridors were very long and everything was well passed its prime. The staff were very friendly even though they didn't speak English. The other guests were most surprised to see me wandering around. While the smart hostels of Beijing, Xi'an and Shanghai were very nice they do leave you in something of a Western bubble. There is some cache to walking down the corridors of a seemingly dodgy old Chinese hotel to be greeted by smiles from the other guests.
I left Datong the next day for Erlian. I paid 86Y for the seven hour journey. The bus leaves from the main square in front of the Railway Station at 9am. I had been fighting a pretty successful battle stopping people smoking on board. Unfortunately they all grouped together at the back of the bus and fended off my challenges. The drive to Erlian is interesting for the change in the landscape as you cross Inner Mongolia. In and around Datong things feel different. Donkeys appear and are used to plough, there are no water buffalos (nor rice paddies) in sight. There are even sheep. Upon leaving Datong the scenery really changes. The further into Inner Mongolia the flatter and sandier everything becomes. Other than the road and railway line there is nothing to see for miles around.
The only reason to be in Erlian is to use it as a transit point into or out of Mongolia. It is a small town by Chinese standards. I found the Erlian factsheet on Lonely Thorntree useful. If you are crossing the border to Zam Uud make sure you buy everything you need here because there is nothing in Zam Uud. Erlian is quite a busy town especially around the market. In Erlian I got quite a few surprised stares from the locals and some hellos. I stayed in the hotel opposite the Railway Station. I got a twin ensuite (hot shower) for 100Y. The price on the wall was 128Y, I wrote down 100Y and they accepted immediately (I should have pushed them harder). An interesting sight in Erlian are the huge steel dinosaur models on the road into town (which you can see from the railway line aswell).
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