Tourist Traps and Culture Clash

Well it wasn't a real ger, I shouldn't have gotten my hopes up. The whole past 2 days have been sight-seeing at tourist traps, or trapped on a bus. To make matters worse we have an unlikeable guide named Alice. I know she is just as frustrated with us as we are with her, but it doesn't make her much easier to take. We were traveling yesterday, and one of our ladies needed to use the restroom. Alice had the driver stop at an abandoned building and told the woman she could go in there and pee. I guess the usual tourists she shepherds would be ok with that, but we weren't. Of course, when we stopped to use the restroom at the next toll booth, I thought maybe the abandoned building would have been better.


We drove for a long time and ended up at the "Singing Sands" dunes near the Yellow River. This is a big tourist destination, sort of like the Monahans Sandhills, only with lots more stuff. I paid 40y to ride a camel, took a cable car to the top of the dunes, and decided not to slide down, since I've done that a million times at Monahans.
Back in the bus covered with sand, I slept for 2 hours and missed the giant traffic jam at the exit for the yurtel. The driver and Alice were prepared to wait in the traffic, but when Lynne found out we could go a little further and see Genghis Khan's Mausoleum instead of waiting til today, negotiations took place and we went on.
We left the mausoleum, and the bus driver was not sure about the route to the yurtel, so he asked at least 3 people. We ended up on a dirt road in the middle of nowhere for a couple hours - it was starting to get dark. I did get to see a lot of rural Inner Mongolia, which looks at lot like New Mexico, but poorer.
We finally got to the yurt tourist trap after dark. The staff met us dressed in traditional clothing, serving the worst tasting rot-gut moonshine I've ever had. We were ushered into the dining hall, where a play was just beginning. It was a sort of dinner theater, with a play on stage and more drama from the drunk Chinese tourists at the next table. One of the men was so drunk he kept going onto the stage. The actors and dancers continued their performance of traditional songs and dances like this was a common occurrence. We explained to Dr. Who, our Chinese host, that in the US the guy would at a minimum have been thrown out, and probably arrested. But not here.
Afterward we checked into our rooms in the fake yurts. There was a kang in each room, so I felt a little better. Several of us went out to star-gaze, and then the loud party started. Over by the dining hall was a giant bonfire and ear-numbing music - hip-hop and modern. Everybody was line dancing around the fire. Some of the performers from earlier were break-dancing... not exactly what we expected to see here. As the fire died down they did the "bunny hop" and then all disappeared. Peace and quiet - we all slept well.
Up early for tea and breakfast. Since nobody wanted to pay 180y to ride a horse we left at 9:30 for a 4 1/2 hour ride home. We got here at 7:15 tonight. We were in an area that has a lot of coal mines, and it seems it is all transported by truck. We got stuck in a traffic jam near Baotou, where there's a Y in the road, with a sort of traffic circle. It was backed up for miles. They said "could be hours, could be days" for it to unjam. All because of the thousands of coal trucks moving China into the 21st century.
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So we are back at the same hotel, but the condoms and underwear are gone from our rooms. We fly out tomorrow for Nanjing. The pictures are on line, but not captioned yet.
be safe, watch out for coal trucks,
rem