Aelfgifu Travels

Hi Aelf Crew,

I’m back today with yet another terrible bus journey to add to my growing collection – this time, in Mongolia. 

Whilst on the tour of the Gobi Desert (see details in part one for more), my guide strongly advised against taking the bus to Kharkhorin and even offered to drive me himself as we were already out in that direction. Unfortunately I had organised to go the next day, so didn’t have my bags or hotel booked, so bus it was. He took me to the Dragon Bus Station in the west end of Ulaanbaatar to buy my return tickets. You can apparently also buy tickets online here: eticket.transdep.mn

I found it tricky to figure out which station I was actually meant to leave from. Ulaanbaatar has multiple bus terminals, and not all are shown on Google Maps. Thankfully, my hostel arranged a taxi for another traveller heading to the same place, so we shared but it was expensive, which kind of defeats the point of a “cheap” bus journey.

Whilst I bought my ticket from the Dragon Bus Station, the actual departure was from the TEB Terminal, also known as Teevriin Tovchoo, a 30-minute walk away.

Thinking I would go to the toilet before beginning the journey (no toilets on the bus), I ventured into the public toilets at the station. This was probably a warning for what was to come as they were, for lack of better words, absolutely gross.

Mongolian public toilets are usually squatting toilets with no toilet paper. Sometimes, a shared roll is placed near the taps so keep an eye out and grab some if you can. I would always advise to carry tissues on your person.

Once on the road, we didn’t stop at proper service stations or rest areas, instead only stopping when the driver needed a cigarette. This is fine if you’re a male and can manage roadside stops but if you’re a female, it is rather difficult.

At one point, I was so desperate that as soon as we next stopped, I ran out to find a hill for some privacy but there was none. Occasionally there were stalls alongside the roadside with squatting holes but no doors. Eventually, you lose dignity and care and just have to use them.

Later, we stopped at a roadside café and rest station in Erdenesant (Эрдэнэсант in Töv Province).

There were more toilets here – but absolutely horrifying ones. These had huge drops to the sewage below with large gaps for the squatting holes – I was terrified I’d fall the 20 feet into the sewage pit below. There were no overhead lights so if you’re travelling in the dark: bring a torch or be incredibly careful in watching your step.

People then sat in this cafe for a bit, and started having plates of hot food arrive in front of them. Myself and another English traveller realised this must’ve been a food stop, but we didn’t know how long for and if we had missed the ordering time, so we got a coffee for a few pence and sat there waiting to watch where everyone else went.

Now this is a story that you may refuse to believe, and understandably so. Perhaps I imagined it in my delirium, but I saw a young boy sat with presumably his grandmother. He needed a wee but without knowing when the bus would stop, I saw his grandmother take her half-full bottle of soda, let him urinate into it, and then continue drinking it. I hope this was a mirage, but a darn odd one if so.

Top Tips to Learn from Aelfgifu:

• Bring toilet paper or tissues with you, something to do and headphones if you want some quiet – as the buses are full and the seats are small.
• If you’re a female: go to the toilet before and try to manage your hydration. It may be easy to eat and drink out of boredom, but it’s not worth it.
• For a list of things to pack in your bag for a long-haul or overnight bus, check out the link here for my lessons learnt in South America.

Have you taken any long-haul buses in Mongolia? Let me know how you survived the toilets and any other lessons learnt below!

Ever squatting, ever learning,
Aelfgifu