CHINA / MONGOLIA

  I went to the exotic country of Mongolia, the land of Ghenghis Khan last March 1, 1997. But since there is no direct flight from Manila to Ulaan Batar so I need to first go to China via Xiamen and to Peking. I depart from Manila at around 9:00am (Mla. Time) and arrived in Xiamen at 11:00am. During our flight, I could see the Waning Gibbous Moon setting in the southwest. By the way, Manila time is the same as China so there is no need to adjust my watch. After the stopover, we proceed to Peking and arrived at around 2:25pm and I checked in at the New Ark Hotel, a three star hotel. The next day, I went to visit the Great Wall of China, one of the great wonders of the world! My tour guide told me that the temperature that day was good at 10 deg C. One thing that I forgot was that it is the temperature was for the city and not up there in the mountains, so I just brought along my sweatshirt and leave my thick jacket in the hotel! When we arrived there, temperature was in the 2 deg C (and that doesn't include windchill!) I was all trembling but due to my excitement, I just bought a souvenir sweater and use it as a head cap so to minimize some cold. When I was taking the time to look at this great wonder, I talked to myself to get a souvenir shot of myself in this great historic place. Unfortunately, the camera that I placed on top of the tripod fell down to the floor due to the strong winds!!!! I try to reach for the camera but due to the stiffness I'm suffering from the cold, I can't move fast so the camera together with the tripod fell down! Despite the incident, I still consider myself lucky as only the camera battery cap and the lens filter broke. Well, I still got 3 more cameras for backup J so no problem and will have the Canon service center fix it at home. Afterwards, we went to visit ancient palace museum such as Underground Palace, Ding Ling Relics Museum, etc. Then we went to eat at an ordinary restaurant and was surprised to spend RMB 500 (around P1800!). For ordinary dishes such as porkchops, hare meat, bola-bola soup, vegetable and fruits, this is OVERKILL!!!!! We then went back to Beijing to meet my eclipse buddy friend from Switzerland, Olivier Staiger, at Beijing International Hotel at around 6:00pm. We then went up to the hotel's rotating dome restaurant and had dinner there. We were glad to meet again as we last met in Khon Buri, Thailand. After dinner, we then try to look for comet Hale-Bopp at the tower but wasn't able to see it due to clouds (hmmm.......... PAS member Gary Cortez and Allen Yu are not with me..........why? J ........) The next day, Olivier and I went to Mongolian Embassy to process my visa and with the help of Mr. Basansuren, the high ranking Mongolian embassy official, my visa was processed promptly as it normally takes around a week or more to process a visa. Afterwards, we went to visit the Ancient Astronomical Observatory where we can see how ancient Chinese uses their ancient tools to calculate the heavens. We then take a subway to the Beijing Planetarium and meet our counterpart, the Beijing Astronomical Society and discuss with them about their plans for the eclipse. They will go to the northern tip of China in the province of Mohe which is almost near the boundary of Russia. Unfortunately, the planetarium was closed on Monday so we went to CTV tower to have dinner there and try to locate the comet again and we stay there up to around 9:00pm. Well, hazy skies again foil our attempt to locate it. So after having some coffee in Sawasdee Restaurant in Novatel Hotel, I went back to my hotel to get some sleep as I will be going to Ulaan Batar at around 9:20am tomorrow. During my flight to U.B., I could see the vast mountain range between Gobi Desert and likewise saw some snow on the mountaintop. As we near U.B., I saw vast plains all covered with snow! I think this will really be a very cold eclipse trip in Mongolia. When our plane touched down in U.B., temperature was at a cold - 6 deg C J After my guide took me to my hotel, we went out to have lunch at the Star restaurant and later proceed to my guide's office, MIAT tour. There, I met Mr. Enhbayar, Gana (my tour guide) and Mr.Baatar, the manager and boss respectively and we talk about the eclipse and my trip to the city of Darhan on March 8. The next few days before March 8 were spent in going to see some scenic places within Ulaan Batar such as Military Monument, Kublai Khan statue and the park within and also the Mongolian Observatory in the mountains. I got to see some of the best views of Comet Hale-Bopp here in Ulaan Batar as the comet is circumpolar here but during the mornings that I'm observing and photographing the comet, temperature is typically around -15 to -18 deg C in the early morning hours and I'm having numbness , soreness and frost bites in my hands and feet (like needles pricking at your skin). On the day before E-day, my driver and guide depart from U.B. at around 11:00am and we arrived to the mountain camp in Darhan at around 4:00pm. The three of us were given a private ger (a traditional house made of felt) and after having dinner, we all get to sleep as we need to be up early in the morning. At around 5:45am, I was awaken by the loud noise outside our tent, and when I got out, Shucks! It's snowing!!!! That means bad for us as the Sun might get clouded out. All the people in the camp were panicking and we all went to the hill top to get some eastern horizon clearance as the eclipse starts low in the eastern horizon. The sky did not clear up during first contact and I was praying that we will be spared with some moments of totality. A few minutes before totality, the clouds near the Sun was thinning and we could see a blurry Sun almost 95% covered already and the clouds cover the Sun again a few minutes before totality and I was able to just see a 95% eclipsed Sun and it was gone! Eventhough we didn't get the best to see this eclipse, I was able to clearly view the Moon shadow racing across the clouds and the snow-covered plains and mountains. The Sun appeared again 30 minutes after third contact and most of us are already packing up and didn't mind the partial phase anymore due to frustrations. As for us, we headed back to the city again like a child deprived of his candies L The next day, I went to meet Olivier Staiger in Ulaan Batar Hotel and we proceed to a restaurant to meet his other group companions like Fred Espenak, Ken Willcox and Jeff Begens, a fellow eclipse chaser whom Olivier met during the May 10, 1994 annular eclipse in Bolivia. It was a happy moment for me to meet and make friends with them especially Fred & Ken who are experts especially in the field of solar eclipses. After lunch, we took some time chatting before my guide took me to the airport and took the flight back to Beijing. I then depart from Beijing to Manila via Hong Kong and arrived in Manila at around 9:00pm. Eventhough with some bad lucks and frustrations, I still consider this one of the most memorable trips I will ever have..........Cloud outs......fallen camera.......snow...........and Comet Hale-Bopp at its finest!!!!!!!!   For more highlights of my Mongolian trip, click here.  

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