Adventures in Asia: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

The Idre Guesthouse and Tour company is managed (and probably owned) by a lady named Mrs. Tsetsegee.S, who carries herself in such a way that she seems to be remarkably powerful.  Her employees treat her with incredible deference; even those who don't know English managed to refer to her as "my boss."  Anyway, when we asked Ms. Tsetsegee this morning if we could call a cab, she told us we should just use her driver.  So, I mapped out where we wanted to go, including where we wanted the driver to wait, and she quoted us a very reasonable price (about $7) and translated our plans for us to the driver.

Our first stop was a couple of kilometres up the road, the Gandantegchinlen Monastery.

The first building we entered here charges admission for foreigners.  

It houses UB's largest Buddha.

More interesting to me, however, were the countless smaller Buddhas that lined the three walls behind and beside the large Buddha.

There were also bowls with fire in them that worshipers were doing something with.  This particular ritual was not one I had seen elsewhere, but unfortunately I did not get a chance to photograph it, or figure out what exactly was going on.  Mongolian Buddhism is heavily influenced by Tibetan Buddhism, and this was the first place we visited in Asia where the Dalai Lama was honoured.

From this building we moved next door.

We were the only people inside, other than a monk chanting and ringing a bell for a lady (I assume this was some type of blessing).  We also saw this interesting scene.

We assumed our visit was done at this point, so headed back to the van.  Our driver was fast asleep in the back, and we decided to wander around the compound a bit more and let him nap, because there was more to see and we were in no rush.  We got to see this statue, which depicts a story that we saw illustrated all over Mongolia.  It's a story that comes from Tibet, and shows animals working together to reach apples in a tree.  The lesson, according to our guide, is that cooperation allows living beings to accomplish more than they can individually.

But the best part of the monastery was yet to come (although unfortunately pictures were prohibited).  The building we went into was not in any way remarkable, but inside some type of service was happening with about forty monks, most of whom were sitting in pews with books in front of them.  The service involved chanting, throwing rice, burning incense, and so on.  We felt a bit out of place at first, but other laity were inside (albeit all Mongolian), and many were sitting in pews along the walls.  An older lady smiled at me and moved such that I assumed she was expecting me to sit by her, so we sat down and observed the service for about ten minutes.  It was amazing.

Monks continued to arrive as we sat there, taking their places in the pews and joining in the chants.  Two elder monks presided over the service, and at one point one of them rose to wave incense sticks over the other monks, as well as the laity who were sitting down.  Many lay Mongolians were simply circling the room and then leaving, often bringing offerings of food or money, and pausing in front of various shrines.  Eventually we joined the moving line of people, and at one point observed monks "shushing" people for talking too loud.

By now we have literally visited countless Buddhist sites in Asia, but this was a unique one yet again, and really, really fascinating.  In terms of a chance to observe people practicing Buddhism, it was probably the best place we have been after Shwedagon in Yangon. 

Returning to the van this time we woke up our driver and headed across UB to the Narantuul Market, known to English speakers simply as the "black market."  Getting there allowed us to really experience UB's infamous traffic, but we arrived, eventually.

We were going to the black market out of curiosity more than anything, although if we had realized how great a place it was we may have gone with a shopping list!

Over and over we had been warned to be careful here, because it is notorious as a haven for pickpockets, but these warnings seemed to be over done to us, and we felt quite comfortable after a while. 

Andrea bought herself some socks, but other than that we simply "window" shopped.

Most of the market stalls are outdoors, although there is a large indoor portion as well.  I think it is probably the largest market I have ever visited, except perhaps for an enormous pazaar in Istanbul, Turkey.

Probably the most interesting section to us was the section selling ger parts and furniture, including stoves.

We ended up walking around here for almost an hour, and really it was only because we told the driver we would be no more than an hour that we left.  It was a really fascinating place to visit, but in retrospect I wish we had gone prepared to do more shopping, because it also seemed like a great place to buy things.

Our final destination with our driver was Chinggis Khan Square, UB's city centre, and the site of Mongolia's parliament.

Here we stumbled upon a bit of a world fair, featuring booths from various countries, and cultural performances.

We toured the square, and ate lunch nearby.

The Mongolian arms reminded me of the explanation our guide had given us about the Mongolian flag.

The arms are once again Tibet-inspired.  Fire, the sun, the moon, and yin and yang are all included in the arms, and the two pillars on either side represent China and Russia, in between which Mongolia is landlocked.  On the flag, the arms are set on the furthest right of three vertical stripes: red, blue, red.  The two red stripes once again represent China and Russia, with the one to the right (the one upon which the arms sit) representing Russia.  The fact that the arms are on the "Russia" stripe indicates Mongolia's closeness to Russia as opposed to China.  The blue stripe is for Mongolia, because it is known as the land of the blue sky.  Incidentally, the most impressive office tower in UB is on Chinggis Khan Square, and is known as the Blue Sky building.

From the square we walked back to the guesthouse, making a final visit to the State Department Store (this was actually our third visit, because we had gone here last night after getting back to UB!), and posing for a trick photo with a heavily-burdened camel.

Adventures in Asia: Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia

Today we woke up after another wonderful sleep.  We enjoyed both nights in the gers, much to our surprise.  Ger sleeping seems to combine the best of camping (fresh air) with home comforts (a bed, shelter).

We ate breakfast of eggs, sausage, fruit, bread and jam and then set out on a hike towards the Aryabal meditation temple or monastery.  We took a path up a hill and over a ridge and past some cows before descending into a valley, where the gate to the monastery complex is.  The monastery is set halfway up a mountain, and is a retreat for Buddhist monks from UB.  There was no one but the gatekeeper there when we arrived.

The complex includes several buildings, but a long pathway leads up towards the main mediation hall.  Countless posters line the path, outlining Buddhist principles.

There are also several shrines along the route.

It took us probably at least fifteen minutes to reach the top, what with stopping to read the signs and looking at the shrines.

Unfortunately the mediation hall was locked when we reached it, so we couldn't actually go inside.

 But we did look around, and went further up the hill to visit a shrine in a cave.

A handful of other tourists were arriving as we descended, so we felt lucky to have had it to ourselves.

Back at camp I went climbing up the mountain, climbing so high that Andrea could no longer see me to summon me for lunch.  Luckily for me our guide has an excellent whistle and upon hearing it I assumed I was being called back down.

Lunch was soup again, but this time with noodles.  During lunch our guide asked us if we would mind taking some other people back to UB in the van with us.  Of course we said no, so after lunch we were joined by four girls about our age who had come out to Terelj to spend the night and visit friends.

Now full, the van headed out of the park, stopping briefly at the 12 (100) (1000) Monks Cave (the number of monks referred to in the name differs, I guess).  The name comes from a story: in 1937, during the Stalin religious purges, monks were being slaughtered, and so 12 (100) (1000) hid in the cave for thirty days without food or water and yet all survived.  Our guide was convinced 1000 was impossible, and I'm inclined to agree; even 100 seems unlikely to me, although the cave is quite large.  Nonetheless it was a neat spot to visit, and using my cell phone as a flashlight, I made my way right to the back where, not surprisingly, there was another little shrine.

From the cave we drove out of the park and then further east along the highway to the Chinggis Khan Statue Complex. 

This massive statue of Chinggis Khan on horseback was built for over $4.1 million to commemorate some anniversary of the Mongolian state.  Frankly this place is a bit of a white elephant, but I suppose no tour of Mongolia is complete without a visit.  Perhaps somewhat like Alexander the Great in Greece, Chinggis Khan's importance to Mongolian culture is remarkable given how long ago he lived.  My sense is that he (as well as shamanism) represent aspects of Mongolian history and culture and identity that communism attempted to stamp out.

The statue includes an lookout platform above the horses head, allowing for a view of the surrounding landscape, and a close up of Chinggis Khan.

From the statue complex we drove west toward UB, making a single stop to allow me to hold a Kazakh's golden hunting eagle.

The bird weighs about thirty pounds, but thankfully the spread wings took a lot of the weight off my arm.

Actually, our guide said this particular eagle does not hunt, just sits on the arms of tourists.  But Kazakhs are known for hunting from horseback with eagles.  Most Mongolian Kazakhs live in the far western part of Mongolia, but just east of UB there is a Kazakh community that has mined coal there for generations.

From this stop we were about another half hour or so from UB, where our tour ended where it began, at the Idre Guesthouse.

Adventures is Asia: Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, Mongolia

From Khogno Khan, we drove east back towards UB.  Terelj is just west of UB, so our trip involved driving the same route we had yesterday, and then through UB to the other side.

The trip was just as bumpy and occasionally interrupted by animals as it had been yesterday, but now I was sore from the camel ride the day earlier, so I found it a bit more uncomfortable being tossed around the van's back seat (there were no seat belts).

For lunch we stopped in a village at a dumpling restaurant.  Here we were served what I assume is more traditional Mongolian milk tea, and neither Andrea or I could take more than a few sips.  The fat and salt were just too much to bear.  The mutton dumplings, on the other hand, although shockingly greasy, were delicious.

Andrea and I were both surprised to realize the restaurant lacked running water, and we were sent out back to another pit toilet.

We reached UB around 16:00 or so, stopping briefly at a supermarket to get some snacks and beers, etc., and at a gas station for gas.  From the gas station I took a photo of one of UB's poorer neighborhoods, which typically consist of gers in small yards.

As we flew into UB we had seen that the city is surrounded by these neighborhoods.

From the gas station it was another hour so drive before we reached Terelj.  Our first stop was Turtle Rock, a rock formation famous for its resemblance to a turtle.

Because it is so close to UB, Terelj has much more infrastructure than Khogno Tarna, which really was just wilderness for the most part.  Terelj even has electricity run out from UB!

The family we stayed with here is not nomadic, and it is obvious the majority of their money comes from tourism, not agriculture, where as clearly it was the other way round for our Khogno Tarna family.  Based on what we could see in our valley, I would guess Terelj must be the most popular tourist destination in Mongolia--and even UB residents come here to escape the city.  This gave it all a much different feel than we had had the night before.

Terelj is set among mountains, and there are far more trees and far less grassland here than to the south and west.  Our family's camp was the highest in the valley, so just behind our ger was a mountain, which I climbed up several times.

As with so many spots in Mongolia, the slope had a small ovoo built on it.

Another difference is that there are far smaller herds, probably because there is far less pasture.  Our family had about twenty cows, I would say, and less than ten horses.

They had a single goat, which seemed to be a pet, but not sheep or camels.  Other families in the valley have yaks in their cow herds, but our family did not.

Dinner this night was prepared in a little cookhouse, rather than the family's ger, and was mutton and vegetable soup with sourdough bread.  It was also delicious, although once again quite fatty.

The night was much cooler than it had been the day before, so our host lit us a roaring wood fire in our ger's stove, which heated the ger so much that I opened the door to let some cool air in!  I became entirely convinced that this stove could heat a ger adequately in the winter.