I landed at the airport in Mongolia and passed through customs.
When the automatic door opened and I saw the faces of the people who welcomed passengers with boards, I realized that I had arrived in this country.
So far, I have traveled mainly to Europe. Or the UAE. This is my first Asian tour, to Mongolia. The faces I saw at the airport were, of course, Asian faces. Same Asian face as us. However, the feeling of passion was different from Japan. They, probably travel agencies, (There are no trains from the airport to Ulaanbaatar city. Travelers use buses, taxis, or cars arranged by travel agencies.) they hold up a board with passengers’ names on it and call out the names repeatedly. It reminded me of other airports I used to go to. People just waiting impatiently with boards. On rare occasions, I found someone whose name was similar to mine, and casually took a picture next to and made fun of me.
Look around again and check the amount of passion and I repeated in my mouth “Ah this is Asia.”
Come to think of it, when I went to France for the first time, I thought, “Oh, I’m in Europe.” Not “I’m in France”. Until then, my map of this world was irresponsible. Japan, my country. And America, Europe, Asia, and the Middle East. Well, if there is a test, I can write the names correctly. But there was no difference that I can understand truly. It’s like a geography class. Although I want to sing in many places, I want to connect with local people through my performance, I want to know the myths and folktales of the areas and I want to feel the difference in climate of the areas. But I’m not a natural traveler. My interest is people and ancient stories. But does that mean we need borders for that? What do you think?
Yes, so the first thing I felt in Paris for the first time was the simple excitement of “Wow, Europe!” Then I walked around the city, met people, and of course drank wine, and little by little I got a real sense of ‘Oh, this is France’ and ‘OMG, I’m in Paris now’. Then I realized that there is no country named “Europe”. France and Switzerland are completely different, and Belgium is also different. Italy is completely different. No surprise. About us. Japan, South Korea, China, and North Korea are completely different countries, aren’t they? Even just looking at Japan, Tokyo, Kyoto, Hokkaido, and Okinawa are completely different.
Thankfully, I had the opportunity to go to “Europe” many times, and each time I experienced a real feeling of each country and each area. Even in the same France, Paris, Lille and Marseille were completely different. Every place is connected with the smiles of the people I met, and all of those places are wonderful.
Okay, Mongolia.
I’m still thinking only “Ah, this is Asia.” What will I feel next? Who will I meet in this country? Then, what kind of feelings do I have for Mongolia?
At that time, I didn’t know the word “limit” and was just filled with expectations.
If you want to read in Japanese, here!
Next is…
-2- The city similarities
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-2-the-city-similarities-f1645f082f9
-3- A deception called peace idiot
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-3-7799dfa4fff7
-4- Camel lullaby
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-4-camel-lullaby-a84d7f19f2a0
-5- The Journey of the Book
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-5-the-journey-of-the-book-f52184886aa1
-6- People who want to go outside and people who want to stay inside
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-6-4bcd8f507c54
-7- The ger, the desert and the horror
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-7-the-ger-the-desert-and-the-horror-9b88de1f1ed
-8- Journey to the Gobi Desert
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-8-journey-to-the-gobi-desert-a70c8e20310f
-9- Chuang-tzu’s “The Dream of a Butterfly”
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-9-chuang-tzus-the-dream-of-a-butterfly-bffaee1917f8
-10- Red land, Bayanzag
https://ekotumi.medium.com/travel-to-mongolia-10-red-land-bayanzag-b6504247c3e3
