Ulaan Bataar

June 21, Friday. Today was a long, busy, and very interesting day spent mostly off the train. Once we crossed into Mongolia, we began to see the occasional ger (yurt) as well as the more usual wooden houses. 

This is what a pretty fancy ger looks like.

Here are several gers mixed in with small houses.  The gers are less expensive
and are often put up by people who could not otherwise afford housing.

The Mongolian countryside--a huge change from the parts of Siberia we have seen.
It is far more arid, more hilly or mountainous,  and has very few trees.

To us this looked like a pile of junk, but our guide told us it is a sort of totem. People start with a stake or a dead tree and then begin to pile offerings around it, hoping it will bring them luck.  More people continue adding things, even including rocks, empty plastic water bottles and old rags.  We were appalled by the amount of roadside litter we saw in this largely unpopulated landscape. At least these totems have a purpose.

We saw far more livestock in Mongolia than we have seen up til now.
Cows, goats, horses, yaks, all grazing in this vast land.

We left the train at 10 AM and drove in a stifling bus with an inoperative air conditioner through Ulaan Baatar's heavy traffic to our first destination.  The city was intended to be home to half a million people.  Today it claims well over a million with more coming every day.  The infrastructure is in no way able to keep up, so traffic congestion is almost as bad as in Bangkok.

Along the way, we passed this example of a ger with two totems nearby.  Shamanism is still practiced in Mongolia, and is often combined with Buddhism  just as these totems combine symbols of both religions.

We finally arrived at the Gandantegchenling Buddhist Monastery, where we were warned to beware of Ulaan Bataar's notorious pickpockets.  We didn't see any of those, thank goodness, but were plenty annoyed by the hoards of pigeons that filled the square. Outside the temple we admired a pair of enormous feet, supposed to be the first section of what will be a gigantic outdoor statue of Buddha. Inside,as usual, we were not allowed to photograph, but we could admire the huge golden Buddha that stretched several stories over our heads, smiling benevolently down on us from far above. In another building, adult monks were chanting the prescribed mantras of the day while several rows of twitchy boys, who were supposed to be learning the chants, were doing what boys do best--squirming, whispering, and ignoring their elders. 

The largest square at the monastery is home to both pigeons and pickpockets.
We saw plenty of pigeons, but were not troubled by crime.

Pigeons like this shrine as much as people do.

The main temple.  Inside, a golden Buddha fills the entire space all the way up to the highest roofline.
Outside, the feet of another Buddha await more body parts.  Coming soon, we were told.

This is the ambitious plan for both the feet and a new temple complex.  Buddhism was banned during communist times when Russia ruled Mongolia.  Since the fall of communism, religion has made a strong comeback here.

I wish we had been allowed to take pictures inside.

A different temple in the same complex

The beautiful roof

My favorite monk was dressed in the usual red skirt topped by a red tee shirt that said PRADA. I couldn't help recalling the movie title, The Devil Wears Prada, but his handsome young face and ready smile belied any comparison. 

An older monk in full regalia...

...and another.  I don't know what the different colors signify.

Young monks enjoying the day

 Thanks to the AC problems on our bus, a new one was ordered to meet us at our next destination, the Museum of Natural History. Alas, before we could set out, our bus died completely. Several moments of confusion ensued, but eventually Tutu, our pretty young Mongolian guide, procured a small temporary bus to get us to the museum. This delayed us enough that our museum tour was hurried and cut a little bit short, but the Museum itself was interesting and well done. My favorite exhibit hall contained the typical clothing worn by Mongolia's many tribes in the old days before western wear took over. These costumes were worn by the ordinary people, not their leaders, and many were quite beautiful with elaborate beadwork and embroidery. Too bad we couldn't take any photos!

This monument, outside the museum, commemorates Mongolia's rejection of the death penalty.

The museum was very nice

Better late than never, our new air conditioned bus arrived and we set off for the long drive to the national park where the nomadic lifestyle of the "real" Mongolia has been preserved. Two hours bumping along really dreadful roads combined with the lateness of the hour to make us very happy to finally arrive for an excellent lunch in a very large ger (elsewhere called a yurt) all set up banquet style. Once again, John and I were served food we could eat, except for the fried egg that accompanied our rice and vegetables. John gave his egg away, but I kept and ate mine, feeling a stronger need for protein than fear of consequences, of which there were none.

This national park combines space for people who have lived at least part time on this land for eons
as well as campgrounds for relative newcomers to the ger lifestyle.

This small ger was near the dining hall.  Is that a pool hall in the background?

After lunch we were offered the chance to ride one of the small but powerful Mongolian horses. Several of our fellow passengers took advantage of this opportunity. 

Mongolian horses are small but very strong

One of our number had the right idea.  She put on the gear and mounted a horse so she could have her picture taken.  then she dismounted and came on the bus with most of us.  Wish I'd thought of that!

Our train was graced by a very talented young Chinese pianist who is studying in Russia for two years.  He entertained us nightly in the bar car and took advantage of some of the tours during the day.  We also had a Chinese family on board.  Their 12 year old daughter wanted to ride, too.  She speaks fluent English and was delightful to talk to. She told me she plays a complicated looking Chinese stringed instrument I have never seen before she showed me a photo.  I predict great futures for both these young people.

This is the grandson of the herd owner.  If he looks like he was born on a horse, he probably was!

Our guide, Tutu says she doesn't ride often, but clearly it is in her blood, too.

Here is some of the whole gang. At least one of them admitted she would be sore the next day.

Most of us climbed back on our bus for a short drive to a real ger inhabited by a 74 year old dairy farmer. The ger was very nice inside. Certainly primitive by our standards, but neat, clean, and quite efficient. We had brought some welcome rain with us (Rain follows us everywhere!) so the top of the ger was open only a little bit to admit light but not much rain. Eventually our host closed even that gap, I think partly to show off the fluorescent light his generator was able to power. He served us a snack of his homemade yogurt, sweet bread, and homemade butter, of which he was very proud since selling these products provides his livelihood. He has 4 or 5 children and several grandchildren, most living nearby, as well as himself and his wife, who was not at home this day. He also has 30 head of cattle and about 50 horses in his herd. Typically, he and his family move twice a year, spending the winter months in a place where there is more open land to graze his stock. The ger can be disassembled in less than an hour, packed up, carried, and rebuilt equally efficiently by just two people. 

Our brilliant and efficient tour manager from the train, Tatiana,  telling our host we have arrived to see his ger.  People his age learned Mongolian and Russian in school, so Tatiana can speak with him in Russian.  Today's school children mostly learn English as their second language.

Tatiana demonstrates the need to duck when we go through the door

Our host readies the snacks he wants to share with us.  Inside, the ger, with only a small part of the roof open,  is surprisingly light and bright.  It is also very pretty, neat, and homey.

Slightly sweet bread and fresh butter made by our host for us

Some of his granddaughters enjoy seeing their picture. 

Driving out of the park we had quick photo stops to see a large herd of yaks, which looked like wooly mammoths to us!, and later huge eagles which had been trained to hunt smaller animals by their handler just as falcons do elsewhere.   

Even from a distance, we could tell these yaks were huge.

The local eagles were also very large.  This was a roadside attraction.  For a small fee,
you could put on the glove and hold one on your arm.  No thank you!

  

After a long and bumpy ride back to the city, we were taken to the State Department Store, now privately owned since Communism has been replaced by a democratically elected government. The big draw of this store is cashmere, which didn't interest us since we live in warm climates, but  a few others bought sweaters or scarves. We made another quick photo stop at Parliament Square. There we enjoyed the large open square and statues of a revolutionary hero on horseback, Ghengis Kahn, two of his grandsons (all looking like enormous seated Buddhas) and a couple of his mounted warriors as guards. We walked across the square to the restaurant where we enjoyed another excellent meal. Our fellow diners had tiny lamb chops, which they all agreed were excellent, and we were served delicious pasta with fruit for dessert instead of ice cream. 

The new Mongolian Parliament

This is Damdin Sukbaatar, who led forces that successfully overthrew Chinese occupiers in the 1920's.
After a time of independence, Mongolia was overtaken by Russia for a number of years.

A huge statue of Ghengis Kahn dominates the entrance to Parliament.  He is still considered a brilliant though ruthless man who managed to unite the many Mongolian tribes and eventually create an empire that stretched from Europe through most of Asia.

One of his guards

This is a building on the edge of the plaza. It reminded us a little bit of the Burj al Arab in  Dubai.

After dinner, Mongolian musicians entertained us with a variety of traditional local musical styles.

This female singer had a very high voice. 

This man's was VERY basso.

These dancers were portraying shamans, and their music was meant to inspire fear and awe.

The instruments they played were unusual in both shape and sound.

Back on the bus, back to the train, and gratefully to bed after a long but interesting day in Mongolia. Who EVER imagined we would travel to this part of the world!  Once again, it is so easy to see how alike people everywhere are despite differences in culture, language and religion, and how happy and peaceful our world would be if only governments were unable to cause trouble.