Saturday, June 27, 2009

Dinomite

Day 472
The other girls in my room had to be up for an early train and I never managed to fall asleep once they had gone. I ended up just getting up and having a really early breakfast. I also ran into Rafael again. We decided to go for a while. I had underestimated the weather, it was really very cold, in no time my feet felt like blocks of ice.


I had wanted to find the Lenin Museum even though I heard that it had been closed. This turned out to be the case, it is now a camera shop. Instead we spent about an hour wandering around and just taking pictures of the city. I have a huge amount of photos of very communist style buildings now. Due to the cold I couldn't stay out too long and eventually ended up heading back. Rafael's luggage had been lost enroute so he headed to the China Airways office to see if they had found it.


Back at the hostel I waited for the museums to open by reading a book for a while and getting some warmer clothes on. Eventually I was joined by Dutch JW and Austrian Bridget. We chatted for a bit before I headed out.


My first stop was the Natural History Museum. Most of it was pretty crap with old and poorly taxidermied animals. They all seemed to wear confused expressions on their faces. The dinosaur collection is the real reason for coming here, even though it is poorly displayed. I don't know much about dinosaurs but they still impress me. They had the arms of a deinacheirus, the only part of the reptile ever found. The most impressive bit was a velociraptor in enternal combat with a protoceratups.


When I was done with the museum I went for lunch at a Korean place. They gave me more than five people could have possibly eaten. I ended up sitting there and writing for some time. I am determined to get up to date with the blog at some point in the near future, if anything at least by the time I leave Russia, my next country.


After lunch I went to the Fine Arts Museum. I really liked it. It was easy to see the Turkish influence in Mongolian art. For unknown reasons many Mongolian artists would study in India. Some of the art included ferocious looking gods copulating with their other half's, just like in the museum in Mumbai. There was also a rather large selection on impressive looking needlework wall hangings.


When I was done I found a stationary store and picked up a new journal before heading to the internet cafe. I meant to work on my blog but ended up chatting with a friend instead over Skype. It might not be as easy I had thought to get all caught up. By the time I had finished in the internet cafe it was time for dinner.


I dropped some things off at the hostel and ran into JW and Bridget, we went out with a German guy and an American Lebanese guy for dinner and drinks. We hopped around a bit trying to find a cheaper place. In the end we weren't out too late, the four of them had the same tour in the morning that I had done a few days before.

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