Ok enough of that. Im sure you all want to hear about Mongolia so here it goes!
After a 1.5 hour flight to Seoul, South Korea and a 5 hour layover there, and then a 3 hour flight to Ulaan Baatar, we arrived at around midnightish. We learned right off that America is one of the only countries that DOENSN'T need a visa to enter Mongolia! Yay! Finally the Americans get a break! We also learned that flights in the summer only fly at night there due to the high chance of dust storms during the day. Apparently, at 30,000 feet there can still be a substantial amount of dust in the sky and when sucked into the engines, turns to glass... yeah, not a great idea. So, flights come in at around 11:30 - mindnight and leave around 1:30am.
Adam's parents weren't to arrive for another day so we had a whole day to spend with Alex and Chesney (Adam's older brother and his girlfriend). We took a little tour around town, and then went to the black market for some souvenir shopping. The black market was basically just an outdoor bazaar with anything and everything you could ever need, minus food. They had clothing of all kinds, modern and traditional. They had a HUGE section on ger materials. (A "ger" is the real word for a "yurt" -- the traditional tent like house the Mongolian herders live in.) It was so crowded in there, though that we all held hands to avoid losing each other. We also learned quickly that Mongolians dont like big crowds either and to get people moving along, they stick their fist in the back of the person in front of them and start pushing! So, the whole time I had someone's fist in my back... not so pleasant. I asked one of our guides later if that was normal or just cuz we were foreigners and he said, "oh, thats normal. I hate it when they do that!" Anyway, I bought a traditional Mongolian outfit called a "del". Its a long turquoise coat with little colorful flowers on it. Very cool! And it only cost me about $20! Not bad. Adam got a wide-brimmed Mongolian hat that resembles a cowboy hat and a mongolian patterned jacket. Also very cheap.
The next day, after the parents got there we bummed around town some more, bought more souvernirs, saw some temples, went to a traditional dance and music concert. That was really amazing. The dances and clothes are beautiful and the music is incredible. They use many different kinds of instruments like the "morin khuur" or the horse head fiddle. Its looks like a guitar but with only 2 strings and you have a bow like a violin. Its beautiful!
--Ok, I admit, I didnt take this picture. I didnt manage to get a good pic of the fiddle close-up so I got this off google.... sorry!--
--The family at an old Buddhist temple in UB--Anyway, there were also some contortionists there that were fascinating! Ive never seen people twist and move their bodies like that before! They looked almost alien, like the girl from the exorcist... though not evil.
Then the next day we went to the Naadam Festival and unbeknownst to us until we go there, it turned out to be the 800th anniversary of Chinggis Khan! (Genghis Khan is a mispronunciation and a mispelling -- not sure from where.) As a result, this year's Naadam was especially big and exciting! Prince Andrew, and many dignitaries were there for the opening ceremonies and on our way to the stadium we saw one diplomatic convoy after another! All with their countries' flags on the lead car. It was pretty cool! Once in the stadium, we didnt have any seats so we stood at the very top row against the outer ledge. Fortunately, the stadium was really small and I think we actually had the best vantage point. The opening ceremony was a couple hours long but very showy and eventful! Singing, dancing, performances, and a reenactment of Chinggis Khan. Everything was so coloful too! No drabness at all in their clothes. Also, Mongolia is the land of goofy, Dr. Seuss-like hats! The royalty wore them mostly and we had loads of fun trying them on in the souvenir shops.
--The traditional flag of Mongolia. Yes it's the white pom pom looking thing.--
--The Mongolian version of a mobile home!--After the ceremony, the games began: wrestling, archery, horse racing and ankle bones (similar to paper football where you flick a piece of wood at a pile of ankle bones to try and knock them over... keep in mind this is a serious national sport).
The wrestling was interesting for the 1st five minutes. The only rules are no punching or kicking although we saw plenty of wedgies and nut-grabbing! Once the knees or elbows of your opponent have touched the ground you're out! The archery was interesting too. They would shoot the arrows not at a circular target you would imagine but at a flat board on the ground. What struck us as odd was that their coaches or friends would stand on either side of the target AS THE PERSON WAS SHOOTING! They would then instruct them if it was too far to the left or right, etc. Crazy...
The next morning we went out of town for about an hour to where the horse races were taking place. When we got there, there were gers set up all over the place for restaurants, and then we saw about a dozen pool tables set up. Men were playing pool with their horses beside them! Funny what kinds of western things they've picked up. In Mongolia it's pool tables and copious amounts of sweets. In Japan it's egg salad and corn soup... something to ponder....
Anyway, there was no race to be seen so we asked what the deal was. "Oh the racers got here at 6am to register and then walk the 28km (about 15 miles or so) to the starting line." It was now 9:30am or so and they were already racing their way 28km back to the finish line where we were! Note: The jockeys for this particular race were about 4-6 years old. In this country they learn to ride when they learn to walk!
So we go to the finish line and wait. Finally, out on the horizon, coming over a sloping hill we see some black dots! As the first five come in everyone is screaming and shouting, I turn around to see how many people are watching and am face to face with a horse! The pool players must have just jumped on their horses and come to the finish line where everyone else was! It was a line of horses directly behind us. Kinda unnerving. Anyway, a bit later we see a kid coming in and about 100 yards from the finish line he jumps off his horse as the horse collapses and falls. Vets run over and start kicking the horse in the chest to try and get its heart beating again, but to no avail. The horse was dead. The kid was crying and the parents came over to console him -- it was most likely his favorite horse. This happened a few times over the course of the race. We saw about 5 dead horses. We even later saw some horses come in without riders! Toward the end some kids just got off and walked their horses back to save the horse's life. Supposedly this race was longer than the usual 25km. The horses train for about a month beforehand and are practically starved during that time as well to keep their weight down. I guess its a fine line... That part was really sad.
--This is a girl I saw at the horse race. She was wearing a "del" from the western area of Mongolia near Khazakhstan.--After that we had some traditional mongolian bbq (which, by the way usually does NOT include veggies). They would heat these big black rocks until they were red hot and then dump them into a metal container with all the raw mutton,leave it there and the stones would cook the meat. It was delicious! (There were some veggies and I mostly ate those.) What was really amazing and hard to describe or even express in pictures was the sheer feeling of vastness and open space. When you get out into the country, there's absolutely NOTHING but rolling hills and grassland. It's so peaceful and astounding at the same time, especially after living in Japan for a year, where every last inch of usable land has something on it. Also, the smell of the grassland there is very different. It's very fresh and herby -- the "grass" isn't really grass. I think there's a lot of chamomile, and I saw loads of Edelweis actually (the famous flower that grows in the Alps). Anyway, I dont think I could ever get tired of the smell out there.
The next day we went and saw a Russian monument on a hill, and the Golden Buddha next to it. Not sure what we did after that. We were pretty pooped that day. But on that Friday (?) we all met at a European Cafe where we were to meet our tour guides and take an old russian jeep out into the country where we would stay at a ger camp. (by the way, at the moment Im eating a strange japanese sweet someone just gave me... a crepe thing with mochi inside... a sweet rice paste... its very odd.) Anyway, I must say the 7 hour trip into the countryside was pretty uneventful but sooooo bumpy we felt like we'd been in a martini shaker for 7 hours! It ended up giving me a headache and temporary nausea. The "paved" roads were built at the beginning of the Soviet reign and are now so potholed that most people, including us, took the dirt roads beside the highway cuz they were smoother! We saw plenty of marmot, cranes, sheep, goats, horses, herds of camels and many a ger. Some gers were getting high-tech. It wasnt uncommon to see a ger with a satelite dish and a solar panel or a wind generator beside it! Plenty of sun and plenty of wind in that country!
--Our ger camp--The ger camp we stayed in was just beautiful! Rustic and practical. Each couple got its own ger even though there were 4 beds in each. We had a single candle for the night and the bathrooms (surprisingly with flush toilets and showers) were about 100yd away. The dinner was held in a central main ger and was also very delicious. They had been told that I was "vegetarian" and so prepared a separate meal for me (most of the time just removing the meat), which really surprised me! The fact that they recognized the concept of vegetarianism was astounding to me since the Japanese still seem to think that fish, chicken and ham are not meat... *scowl*
--Inside our ger--That night at around 10:30pm we went to some nearby sand dunes to watch the sunset. So we took off our shoes, rolled up our pants and clambered on up to the top. We took pictures, watched the beautiful sunset and passed around a bottle of vodka in the mongolian way: in a circle, oldest to youngest. Dip your finger in, flick the vodka into the wind and then down the cup! At that moment I thought, "Wow, I'm the farthest from anything I've ever been."
--Adam and I on the sand dunes--
--Sitting on the edge of the sand dune looking at our gorgeous van and shoes. Not sure what our guide is doing there....just noticed that actually... hmmm--The next day we drove to Kharkhorin which used to be the capital of Mongolia if Im not mistaken and also is the location of Erdene Zuu monastery -- the oldest monastery in Mongolia. I was a little templed and monasteried out when we got there so I just hung back and kept to myself. There are some gorgeous pics that Adam took in the Shutterfly account, though, if you want to look.
Later that day, as we were driving back to the camp, the guides went off the road and started driving toward some random ger. We were going to visit a herding family, but I dont think they knew we were even coming! However, Mongolians are so friendly and hospitable that they welcomed us right in and sat us down. They then poured a bowl full of "airag" for us to drink and pass around the group 3 times. Well airag is fermented horse milk, but it didnt taste as bad as I thought! It was slightly carbonated because of the yeast and had a very yeasty warm milk flavor. Sounds disgusting I know. Adam had a hard time keeping it down. What's even worse/funnier is that you had to blow on it beforehand to blow all the yellow chunks and black specks away (bugs possibly.. who knows?). Hehehehehehehe! They also passed around a bowl of cheese that they make and dry in the sun on the roof. It was so hard, that if you bit down you might break a filling! So you had to suck on it... Theeeen, they passed around "shim" which is vodka distilled from cow's milk. I thought it was gross but Adam seemed to like it... In the summer they eat only "white" foods -- so milk, yogurt, cheese, airag etc. with a little tea for their vitamins and minerals. In the winter they eat the "red" foods -- mutton mostly. How they don't get scurvy I have no idea. Supposedly mare's milk is really nutritious, though and they go days with nothing to eat, just drinking airag... interesting.
On the way back from that Chesney and I saw some camels and made a comment about how cool it'd be to ride one. Well, Agge, our 22 year old (and very cute) tour guide said "You want to ride camels? ok!". Again they just drove out to the ger farm and asked gramps if we could ride his camels. "Sure! No problem!" Well.... have you ever stood next to a camel? They're HUGE!! You have to mount them sitting down. I think their heads may reach about 10 feet (?). Anyway, we all had turns riding these grumpy double humped camels around the farm. The kids lead the camels and one was really keen on getting them to run, but luckily he didnt! The last thing I wanted was to be on a runaway camel in the middle of nowhere Mongolia! I think I'd shit my pants! Anyway, that was a lot of fun and actually they're REALLY comfortable! With the double humps you get an arm rest AND a back rest, haha!
--Gramps and his camels!--
--Chesney and I--
--Adam and Alex--
--The parents. Bob tryin' to be a cowboy... not sure if that works with camels... but hey, whatever!--The next day was the day to return to UB and Adam and I had to take off that night/early morning. Chesney was super nice and made us some real chocolate chip cookies for the trip home! Thanks a million Ches, they were great! And thank you both for helping us with everything there and showing us a wonderful time. It was great to see Adam's family again and I really had an awesome time. Mongolia was a fantastic experience and quite possibly one of the coolest vacations Ive ever had. I would love to go back sometime!
