Asia - Mongolia - Tenth Week

Asia - Mongolia - Tenth Week

Day 69/11 3.11 Sunday  Ghangis Khan Statue 

Up very early but the lodge was not open so back to the Ger and prepared for a shower while Marnie prepares for the day and proofs week 9 log. To the lodge at 8:30 to publish  and read mail before we find out there is no coffee, jelly for bread, or any remnants of western food, as the place caters to Koreans. After a couple attempts to get something we’d eat, the chef made us eggs, bacon and cheese. We left the camp and arrived  at Chinggis Khaan (Mongolia’s Statue of Liberty) huge statute. He founded the largest land mass under one government in 1206. We toured the place from bottom to top and took lots of pictures. If you can see in the picture the many car paths (not roads) across the  prairie/wilderness expanses that provide grazing for the animals to live on year around without any other supplements for their diet. We have been reduced to driving, eating and trying to figure out  what to write about. 45deg F at noon..what a change. We entered the national park and found the Tengeriin Elch Ger camp (Heavenly Envoy Camp). We are in the Tereij National Park, drove past Turtle Rock and went on to  Aryapala Initiation and Meditation Center high on the hillside. Marnie and Odka climbed all the way to the top while the driver and I watched from the bottom. Thereafter we rested til dinner of mutton and noodles with a spicy carrot salad. Bed by 9 in our Ger.

Day 70/12 3.12 Monday  to the mine & UB

Sleep good in our overheated ger with the door as the thermostat to cool  the temp down. Outside temp is very moderate, I’d say around 25F. The National Park’s, mountains are much more rugged, rocky and craggy than the land further east which we crossed over the last two days to go to the monastery. Next, we drove to the collapsed underground coal mine which is now being mined by scavengers who go down in dangerous places to dig some coal to sell. The community there is using the old site for dumping their garbage to discourage the mining. Back to the Zaya guest house by 10:30. We rested and slept til 1 when we went for a walk on the Main Street. At 3:30 we went for dinner at the Mongolian BBQ place with Odka’s friend who is a lawyer (defense) in private practice. It was very  difficult communicating about these technical issues as everything needed to be translated as he does not speak English. What we understood is just the justice system is based on the Russia model. There were recent revisions in the system but they are not clear. There are no juries, depending on the type and severity of the case there are 1-3 judges who hear and make decisions about a case. There is a citizen observer who monitors the trial but does not have much power. We talked for 3 hours as we ate. We then headed for our guest house but were tied up in traffic for more than an hour and we felt bad for our driver. To bed early after catching up on two days of news.

Day 71/13 3.13 Tuesday  off to the west and herders 

We feel we took a chance on touring Mongolia at this time  of year and it’s not panning out as hoped. We don’t understand courts, we can’t observe parliament and we spend a boring amount of time driving - rather disappointing since last Thursday. Guide and driver are good and understand. We see little else to become involved in within the city but will take one more long journey to more herders for a last ger overnite. Guest house is out of napkins and coffee. We left at 9:30 but did not get on the highway til 10:30 due to marketing and  gas. Arrived at desert  and herders’ ger about 3. We had to laugh- herders living in a ger powered by solar cell and storage batteries with wife glued to her cell phone and he is glued to a small  tv watching afternoon comedy soap while on a cell. Family has a month old baby and day old sheep and lambs. The small animals are in the ger between feedings to prevent against the strong cold wind and zero temps. The mother and Odka are cooking dinner with homemade noodles and mutton plus a few  other items. We went for a Bactrian camel ride, being led into the desert area and we saw a dead baby camel, a new lamb and 300 sheep and the rest of 20 camels. Eating at 5:30. As momma breast feeds dad trims  the rest of the meat off the remaining sheep bones and then breaks the bones for the marrow which he shared with his wife. Baby is bundled. The three babies, 1 fat tail lamb and 2 goats needed feeding so they brought the mothers in the ger and worked on the first time mothers to stand and allow the little  ones to suck. Including Marnie. The wind  is howling outside and it is been cold in the ger and it is heated with junk wood and dried manure. The lamb has settled beside the stove (cooking and heat source) in the center of the ger. Dinner was noodles and mutton made from scratch..not bad. To bed in piles of bed clothes on a board bed at 8 in a semi warm ger bed. Awake several times but drastically at 3 when I felt hypothermic as I could not catch up on heat and felt colder and colder until driver (who shared our ger w/5 beds) and Marnie built up the fire. Outside to the bathroom was excruciating. We helped the newborn lamb and goats  suck their first delivery  mothers for the second time as we waited on special pancakes for breakfast.  They tied the sheep to a bench to keep her in one place while the lamb fumbled around. The temp was well below 0C but the wind has died. We paid 8$ for our camel rides. Morning cowboy movies were on. We learned the family has a car and his motorcycle is broken (being fired this am). They have 3 older kids who go to school 30K away and who board in town on weekdays. I am ready...

Day 72/14 3.14 Wednesday back to Ulaan Baatar  

Breakfast at 8 of fried bread made of the same dough as noodles with butter added and coffee. Ger is two uprights to  a round piece which accepts the spokes of the roof. The walls are diagonal lattice that supports the walls and receives the Spokes of the roof. The entire structure is covered by felt blankets. The interior walls have hangings all the way around to create a dead air space for wall  insulation. There is a hole in the point to vent the stove pipe and for a vent to open and exhaust interior air- too hot or too cold. Edge of the sand dunes and the area of wolves, so they work hard to protect their animals. Now that it’s only cold and nothing but blowing/sifting snow, the herders can use Chinese motos (costing less than $1k) to get to town and check herds. We drove east for a couple hours and the guide and driver had lunch. We then attempted to see the wild horses in Hustai National Park, but the horses were in the high mountains and snow drifts blocked the road. We quickly decided to not even try because we had already been stuck once in nowheresville. We came on to Ulaan Baatar and toured the indoor Black Market where I bought my coat  and belt. Finally, we ate at Casaopnria and came on the the guest house where our valuables were awaiting our organization. We went for a walk and tripped thru a very upscale department store which exceeded our expectations. Back to our room to read and write after cleaning up from herder life. The trip to the herders was tedious as  we spent so much time driving, satisfying to be close the animals and the land, and exceedingly uncomfortable.

Day 73/15 3.15 Thursday  to Parliament Museum 

Up at 7 for exercise and for breakfast. Looks like we can stay here til about 4 tomorrow which will let us go to dinner and the airport. They won’t let us observe Parliament, but we will purvey the State history museum. The museum requires an interpreter as it is not designed to help the non- Mongolian speaker/reader.  After coffee at Tom n Toms we took a prolonged drive thru a ger district. We passed thru the ger area and on to the summer cottages of the wealthy city people. We visited the sister-in-law of Odka and her baby in the ger in the village. 60+% of the inhabitants of Ulaan Baatar live in the ger district because they can’t afford city prices. A ger runs between 1500 for the building  to between 5000$s and 15000$s if land is included. We ate at 4 at Mongolian BBQ and went back to our house. Mongolia is the least densely populated country in the world. Pasture or desert comprise 90 percent of its land; the remainder is forested or cultivated. Most Mongolians live in rural areas, and about a third are nomadic or semi-nomadic, engaged in livestock herding. About 11 to 7 % unemployment but the number really represents “underemployment”. Friends think it might be much higher and up to 40%. For your info...middle age is 45 to 65.

Day 74/16 3.16 Friday to the airport for 11:50 flight

The construction of big buildings and small ger village buildings ceases during the winter-the high rises are empty everywhere..no workers or machinery. Will restart in the end of March until the end of October. Up at 7 for exercises and 8 breakfast. We walked to the State market to buy Mongolian country symbol stickers. We were picked up 1 after talking to house owner (great guy with dual citizenship) and tried to go to a museum. It was closed so we went to a market to look and eventually bought new backpacks. Went to Odka’s apartment to meet her mother and have coffee (and great  dumplings). Then to Mongolian BBQ again for leisurely eating and talk. Off to the airport in Bad, bad traffic so it took over an hour. As we sat we found the suggestions to Chris re our tour and rated the outcomes..sent to Odka. Hoping to check-in. Checked in and loaded for a midnite takeoff and 4 am landing in Seoul. Waited 6+ hr and reloaded for Chicago at 10:30 AM Saturday. Landed in Chicago at 10:30 AM Saturday, as we lost a day flying east. Van Galder to Madison arriving 1:35 at Dutch Mill.

Day 66 3.17 Saturday  HOME

It’s 37 hours from ULAANBAATAR — HOME

Time to publish

THE END OF THE ADVENTURE.... we were impressed that we as 70+ year olds could get it done....

Central Asia - Mongolia - Ninth Week

Central Asia - Mongolia - Ninth Week

Day 62/4 3.4 Sunday  to the Eagle Hunters Spring festival 

-25c/-14F.  Up at 8 to exercise and pack all our clothes for being outside  all day and for an overnight outside the city near the  festival. 10 am pickup for the festival, arrived at 11. We shopped at the merchants who had their wares lying on the ground at the festival as we waited for the start of the program. The program started when all the Kazak with eagles rode over the hillside in a line on small horses. We bought a stitching table pad.  Then we met Chris (Scottish- Christopher David McTaggart) and Oko (Mongolian) Smith, our tour designer and the boss of Mongolian Secret History (MSH), and Purevdorj Odka (our guide) with whom we eventually went to lunch after the bare-handed  bone breaking contest...nice lunch together of dumplings  with meat therein. The hillside above the ger guest village was covered by rental sledders. All this action and motion confused the eagles during the competition and some went off course to the sledders rather than the Kazak on the horse down the hill. We looked around for opportunities for pictures of the MSH banner in unique situations..with Bactrian camels, Kazak horses, Golden eagles, the Kazak lady from the west from whom we bought goods. Mx. Purevdorj Odka is our guide .... We bought 1 item from our favorite lady (who rode the bus 2 days from the far west with goods) and when we paid  double what she asked, she loaded us down with 3 more items and helped with a picture. We were freezing so came back to our cold ger and got the fire guy to lite us up for heat (wood burning stove in the middle of our ger). When our ger cools off cuz the wood fire burns out we call the fire guy to restoke us...pre set for 10pm and 6am. We leave the door unlocked for him. Dinner was at 6pm with set course dinner of bbq beef with Odka in the “largest” ger in the world. Our hands got very cold trying to take pictures in the below 0 weather and our feet eventually froze up from the drop in ambient temp of our boots and clothes. Finally the ger started to warm but our feet didn’t follow quickly. By the way the toilet is 1/2 block away from our front door across the frozen tundra like conditions. 8pm -21F. Sleeping in long underwear and socks incase the fire stops heating before our firemen times. We shall pee outside. 

Day 63/5 3.5 Monday festival to a trial (if)...

Oh what a nite. Yellow snow! The 10:00 fire builder restarted our stove as the ger   was freezing... then the heat built to sweltering. I woke up to the weather and Marnie was stripped bare reading news of the destruction of America-madison.com and the WP. We actually opened our ger door wide open and let the cold in (-20) and the heat out for 30 minutes. Thereafter, we adjusted the  opening of the door with our favorite piece of wood to moderate or build the heat- the door was our thermostat. Another nite of 100 for the cpap. Added  a little wood for Heat at 6. Walked up to take a pic of the Ghangis (Chinggis) Khan statue. -13F...Breakfast at 9 then a short nap til the eagle program started. First up was hawk flying where a hawk was released and the owner spun a live bird on a 4’ string, enticing  the hawk to dive and catch the bird after serial misses and finally taking it down range to eat. Next was a presentation by Didi (the orphanage mom) to the Eagle Huntress who could not go to Hollywood for the  award for her film by the same name. Then there was bow shooting and horse riding competition for which we did not stay as we were rushing to court. As we were leaving we were asked to allow an interview for TV on the Eagle News. We had a muddled interview in 2 languages. We came to our hostel and redressed and were off to a court house and sat in on a civil case related to a death and insurance payments. It was a 3 judge panel and one citizen juror. The plaintiff lost so the guy did not pay for the companies debt. Marnie has a bad cold and just hung in. We went to dinner at a Mongolian BBQ and came home early. I’m having elevation sickness problems. Mx. Purevdorj Odka (like Vodka without the V) is our guide. 

Day 64/6 3.6 Tuesday Around Ulaan Baatar 

We ride around in a right side drive Toyota Land Cruiser. Up at 8 to sew my new jacket, eat breakfast, and prepare for tomorrow’s  countryside trip. Our guest house owner said he had seen us on TV the eve before. 10:30 we left with Odka for city tour, starting with the Gandan Monastery in the center of the city where the chanting Service was taking place.  I stood in a place where I could get eye contact with a 20+ something years old monk-we smiled and winked as he chanted. I moved to his side and noticed he was huffing tobacco on his thumb joint from a vial/jar out of a special sewn pouch like we did at our first meal at the ger. I subtly signal him and as the chanting ended he gave me a huff (my goal was to  see if I could nonverbally communicate and get tobacco) - no bowing or genuflecting. As we shook hands as he was leaving he gave me a huge dusting on my thumb and when I huffed it I sneezed and eyes watered - all had a laugh. BUT SUCCESS!  This monastery was closed 1938 to 1990 during the  socialist period- destroyed the temple to stop worship of religion/Buddhism in communism.Then we went to another temple building to a huge standing Buddha about 30 meters high. Odka snuck a not allowed pic. She showed her families prayer wheel with a dedication to her father who died when she was 17. Then off to the National Museum in a restored monastery where we encountered many groups of elementary school children as Tuesday there is no charge for nationals- there were a lot of high fives and punches with the kids and teachers. We then went for coffee to warm up and get a snack, before going to the top floor of the department stare to buy crafts, slippers, flanges, gifts, a huge writing book for 4$, and food/face cream. To finish the day early so Marnie could rest we ate chicken and big salads and got home in a huge traffic jam by 5. **** I discovered something amazing— the traffic drives like America on the RIGHT side of the road...but most of the cars (particularly Prius) are imported used from japan with RIGHT hand drive controls..so most cars are wrong sided for the traffic laws. Car purchased in Mongolia as new are LEFT hand drive cars like the US. ***

Day 65/7 3.7 Wednesday to Mongolian Secret History & Herders

Up early to organize for our move to another facility and pack for our trip,   exercise, and eat. A floor mop pic- a wooden frame that the loose scrubber cloth goes over during use. 9am pickup and northwest out of UB. 25k for Monnaran Farms where they have solar electric for 6500 houses and  heated/solar greenhouses for raising strawberries financed  and owned by Japan. Half tires planted to designate people’s property already allocated but not built on or fenced. When a place is built upon it is fenced, like fencing out animals rather than in.  Cattle and horses free to roam in seeking of grazing grass, as there are few  fences. 2 miles off the main road we arrived at Mongolian Secret History Tourist Camp in a beautiful austere valley at noon and had lunch. The building is lite wood  with heavy log beams and rugged planking. There was a mentally ill traveling Portuguese lady being escorted by a different tour co -  boy was she wacked. After lunch we went to the herder’s ger and proceeded to get stuck twice in the snow. The driver and herder on his horse shoved the LC out. I rode the mogul horse to the ger and we visited with beautiful couple in their 60s. After dumplings with horse meat we began on vodka and fruit alcohol getting stoned shot after shot. They had a cat which reminded us of Lloyd and he was on Marnie’s or my lap nearly the whole time. We went to feed the yearling calves and the new calves with mixed grains. Thereafter and beyond reason  we drank more and were dressed  as traditional mongols for pictures. The woman of the House was a vet and he had worked in construction before becoming herders. During our conversation we had her sing a song and what a voice. They generally moved 4 times a year for pasture. Then I was given a traditional shirt made by the mistress of the ger. We left in alcoholic trouble as Marnie laid down and I wrote. Dinner at 6 of chicken and RICE. Just withdrawing from an afternoon of shots as dinner finished. Off to bed as a party is starting in the dining room. 60% of Mongolians smoke.

Day 66/8 3.8 Thursday back to Ulaan Baatar 

UP at 7 for exercises and reading/breakfast at 9 and leaving at 10 to take vodka  to herder couple and get a ger and valley pic. The thaw line in the valleys is 2 meters. Then we drove back to Ulaan  Baatar, stopping at a pass to take a picture at prayer flags. The austere mountains with little vegetation makes us doubt the frequent herds of cattle, horses, and sheep/goats get any nourishment as they work around the snow for morsels. Once in the city we went to the State   Store for more life supplies and ideas. Then to lunch at the dirty flag restaurant before checking into our new room for an afternoon rest. Our observation is that Buddhism is much more relaxed in Mongolia compared particularly to Cambodia. When we passed thru the booth on the tollway our wheels were sprayed to reduce the spread of mad cow (the problem for which our tour to the camel races and subsequent activities has been modified) outside the quarantine area. As we came into UB we saw soviet-era apartment housing built in the 70-80s, the first we have seen and visited since our first eastern bloc visits after the Wall came down. They are extremely shabby now and have little redeeming quality beside warm/dry/solitude (in Slovakia they are called “sleeping room” because they are so small and uncomfortable). These apartments are owned, not rented, in UB and they are not remediable by remodeling - They need to be replaced.

Day 67/9 3.9 Friday Out east toward the temple

Up at 7 for exercise and breakfast..leaving at 9:30 and into a traffic jam. The  streets of UB are very clean as workers are constantly on the street using brooms and rolling garbage cans (even cigarette butts  are swept up). We went east on A0501 for 235K stopping for lunch in Baganuur. We ordered a big Caesar  salad, however it was like nothing we’ve seen before by that name. The dressing wasn’t Caesar, there  was very little lettuce, some spongy croutons, and cucumbers, tomatoes, and chicken (we think). We stopped at  a pass for a prayer flag photo and stopped for a herd of sheep/goats. There had to be 500 animals in the herd and I slowly worked toward them until I was among a straggling group. We then turned North at Tsenternandam for 65K on frozen dirt but little snow prairie-crossing streams and thru  some snow always trying to find the best track among the many  tracks going our way. There were no homesteads but many large herds of cattle, horses, and sheep - actually, horses out numbered cattle. The terrain reminded us of the Alto Plano in Bolivia. We finally got to the town of Omnodelger with 5820 people with  many fences and all dirt roads- there seemed to be little layout of the place  other than roads and town center where people did not claim land and build. Most homes were buildings with few gers. We went for a walk to the town center in 25 degrees temps (finally warming up) and met 3 girls who were seniors in high school and were all going on for advanced degrees. We are staying in a local-local hotel tonite. You would not believe the outside toilet- boards over a dug hole with the middle board in each stall missing - that’s all. The snow on the prairie and the frozen water have dissipated (from  solid to vapor without passing thru a liquid state) as very little of the ground was wet, except at low spots in creeks. 28 million sheep, 20 million goats, 500 Bactrian camels, and 4 million horses. 92 million people ..... feeling bad - lethargic all day and exhausted at 8pm so to sleep.

Day 68/10 3.10 Saturday on to the monastery 

Up at 7 but no one is up so we walked to the town  center. The village is not alive at 7:30 and only steam is rising from the chimneys. The town is laid out by possessed lots and fences there around, so streets end up wide dirt uneven paths. 8 breakfast. There is an open area between the hotel and  school/center which apparently was to be a park, but it is in disarray. Many big furry from winter dogs run free but our dog here is on a 4 foot chain with no house or ground cover. Apparently he sleeps like the rest of the animals with no protection. School starts at 8:30.

AM morning...4 hrs drive on the continuing prairie to Baldan Bereeven Monastery built in 1777 by Tseveendorj and housed 6-8 thousand monks of the  yellow hat sect. Biggest monastery in east...destroyed by communists in 1937 and 5-600 monks were killed. Mongolians were forbidden to worship until 1990. 11 inches of average snow here but the cold is much worse than home. Chinggis Khaan is the Mongolian spelling for Genghis Khan. 

Up at 7 and since breakfast wasn’t open marnie and I walked to the town center is clear but cold —-conditions. Breakfast with out WiFi and of to the monastery by 9. We drove over prairie lands with some snow and small frozen creek crossings. We got to the monastery and toured for two hours. Then back in the car for 100 miles of prairie and melting  snow trying to figure which of the worn paths were the best and did not end up off course. There were few markers or signs to help us select among the many vehicle trails ahead and  crossings. There were amazing long vistas of tan-brown of stubble, winter-dominant grass with backdrops of mountains, some with most, partial and others with no snow (south facing are clear). In the 200 miles of prairie and hard road we were never out of site of some herd of animals- mostly sheep and goat, followed in number by horses, and last was cattle. We did come across one 20 head herd of Bactrian camels. After 100 miles on hard road we got to our ger camp near the home and statue of Genghis Khan. Now waiting for dinner high on a  mountainside  overlooking the park area. This is our 4th major adventure overland in a Land Cruiser.. 1. this adventure for over 100 miles in eastern Mongolia to see the monastery; 2. Two trips thru the Alto Plano in Bolivia above 12000 feet where the back of the vehicle dropped down and a wheel, then the brake drum, sped past the car (we found enough nuts to put the brake/wheel back on (‘97 & ‘03); 3. Our own from Madison to Panama City Panama and back one winter; 4. From Kathmandu, Nepal to Lhasa, Tibet overload near Everest thru China in ‘03 with Kelzie.

 Odka’s facts and fictions about Mongolia

• Currently, Mongolia is one of 35 countries whose citizens have travelled into  earth’s orbit
• Mongolians often say that those who constructed the Great Wall must be great, but those who forced them to construct it must be greater.
• Two humped Bactrian camel - In the world 30% of the camels are one humped, only 10% of camels are two-humped camels. Mongolia takes first place by numbers of two-humped camels in the  world.
• In Mongolia before the Communist purge of 1929-1937 there were more than 700 monasteries, more than 100,000 monks. After the  Communist purge no monks were left and only 6 undestroyed temples remained. Monasteries were destroyed, monks were killed, imprisoned, exiled or forced to join the army or the Party.
• UB has 9 districts and one is 100K away.
• Military service is compulsory but can be pay to avoid.
• The fourth Dali Lama Yondon JAMES (1589-1616) was a Mongolian. He was born as a grandson of the Mongolian king Altan Khaan and was given perfect knowledge and very special care until he died in Monastery Braivan, Central Tibet.
• Chinggis Khan built the largest land under his governance the world has ever had about 1260.

Did you know?

• That territory of Mongolia is three times the size of France but its population is 30 times less that that of France
• That the number of livestock in Mongolia is 20 times more than the country’s population
• 20 million sheep and nearly as many goats, both used for meat and cashmere.
• That Ulaanbaatar is True Nomad? The city changed its location 29 times before   settling in the present-day location.
• that the first dinosaur egg was discovered in Mongolia in 1922.
• that the first National Park in the world was established in Mongolia in 1778. The Bogd Khan mountain range was declared as a National Park.
• That Mongolia is the number one country with the biggest numbers of houses per capita.
• Mongolia was the first to introduce paper money to the world

Gandantegchilen Monastery

• Buddhist University of Mongolia was established in 1920. the University contains  modern education with  traditional teaching methods.
• There are two departments:
• The department of Internal Sciences which include major in Buddhist Philosophy and Chanting.
• the department of common knowledge which includes Tibetan, Sanskrit and English language majors as well as a Traditional Medicine and Astrology major.

Asia - Vietnam to Mongolia - Eight Week

Asia - Vietnam to Mongolia - Eight Week

We had an 8 course meal at 7:00, followed by lecture re: area and asleep by 9. 

Day 55 2.25 Sunday the islands of the Bay of Tonkin 

Great sleep and rushed to breakfast at 7:30 and then a lecture..1900+ limestone islands with straight up-down sides with rough vegetation, and some have baboons. There is a  3.5 meter tide and we are about 1.5 meters deep. Kayaking in the morning for 1.5 hours thru the nearby islands and in small caves. This is the area the US claimed the north shot at the ship, the incident that allowed the Tonkin Bay Resolution and the official start of the Vietnam war. We got underway and had time to read and nap. We went ashore for a beach bar-b-q and a climb thru a cave, leaving us in need of a nap. Dinner was another multi course dinner with every type of meat, noodles, and rice represented. After reading we died in bed. 

Day 56 2.26 Monday back to Hanoi  

Up at 6:30 and breakfast at 7 as the boat pulled anchor and headed for HaLong by about 1:30. We  toured the floating fishing community and passed thru a pearl farm. We watched the seeding of a clam and how they load the clams on frames and keep them underwater for several years. Lunch was at 11 and then prep for deboating. Overcast, cool, and rainy for the last three days. All our clothes are dirty and smelly so they shall be washed tomorrow. Picked up at the dock at 1:30 for the van trip back to Hanoi with a shopping break at 2. We passed a huge Foxconn factory 20 miles from Hanoi. We arrived at May De Ville hotel at 5:30 and organized for the next section of our journey by 7. Dinner at the hotel instead of roaming the street and this gave us time to relax tonite. We found out today that the manager of the tour company (Hien) saw our interview at the festival on television. This boat and kayak experience really demonstrated how much strength, mobility, and agility I’ve lost over the last several years and 2ndary to prosthesis. It was still a good time even if limiting.

Day 57 2.27 Tuesday last day in Vietnam

 The countryside.... up at 6 for exercises and breakfast. Picked up at 8 by  Dui Thi Phuong (girl) and Trinh Nam Tien (guy) to walk thru Chem temple for an extended description of the dragon figure. Then across the road on the dike for the Red River into the village of Dong Ngac to a private home where Marnie got a bike and I had a ride on a moto driven by a young lady. It was a scary ride as we went down narrow streets, made tight turns and were hassled by other traffic... necessary to close my eyes again. Our guide was a gadget guy and used a small voice amplifier and communication phones when riding. We toured the village and went to the market and to a Buddhist temple in the central village. We discussed the contributions of monks to parishioners with devout Buddhists- they had no better answers for the lack of a social mission and outreach than the monks  in Wat K. Next we went to the community center where community elders used to manage the issues of the village, now done by the communist party. We then went back to the home and made spring rolls. When they were cooked  we had a very good lunch made by my moto driver and her aunt (it was at her aunts home). We discussed inheritance procedures where a son inherits but not daughters. After lunch we went to observe tofu being made using soy beans from Canada. The ladies fermented the bean sauce and then compressed the results into 1/2 kilo squares, making 100 kilos per day ( probably the equivalent to one hrs production in the US). We then went  to our car and to the flower growing area - to Lien Mac and Dong Ngac village. The first activity was to visit with a man who demonstrated tree grafting for us. We then mounted bikes and a moto for an extended ride through commercial flower and vegetable fields- beautiful, prolific, lush, and healthy, being worked by hundreds of workers in thousands of fields-mums, roses, daisys, Lillys, orchids, etc., and on the road we saw huge batches of the fresh cut flowers packed on the back of motos on the way to the market. We watched the harvesting of leeks by a couple  whose small 3 row field will take 3 days to harvest, after which they will sell in the market. We reloaded in the car to met and pay Mx. Hien the balance of our bill: $180. She was not what we expected at all...such a warm and hugging person... with kids/family and a good foil. We made suggestions 1. Increase fee and don’t mention cost of credit card usage 2. Have the guide eat with tourists, 3. Give tourists the opportunity to sit in the front seat of the tour car. We then got a ride back to our hotel and looked for a jacket. Then to our room to read and finally to the restaurant for dinner. 

Day 58 2.28 Wednesday on our way to Mongolia 

Up at 6 as Marnie was exercising and as I was ruminating about packing.  Packed and off to breakfast and reading at 7. Got GSC eval forms by email but went swimming in a current pool instead of working thereupon. The water was cold but refreshing and I could not advance with my best stroke against the artificial current in the pool. Back in the room Marnie and I worked on our evaluation forms for GSC. I’m trying to get a picture from Tien of my motorbike trip yesterday. Worked diligently for 2.5 hours. It has been overcast for nearly a week. We left the May De Ville Hotel in Hanoi Olde Towne just after 12:00, took off from Hanoi at 3:30 and arrived in Bangkok at 6:00 as planned. Here we learned we must wait nearly 3 hours until the Mongolian Air desk opened so we could get boarding passes, which required us to check into Thailand, stand in line for an hour to get the boarding passes, then check out of Thailand and sit for another 3 hours before loading and taking off -and go thru security in each direction! Luckily I was pushed in a wheelchair to expedite the process by a young guy with a 2 1/2 inch long finger nail. Ate a bite and sat for 3 hours...loaded, exhausted. 

Day 59 3.1 Thursday  arrive Mongolia  

We loaded at midnite in Bangkok and took off for a 6+ hr flight to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. Very poor sleep and much butt pain, tho Marnie slept better. We landed by 7:30 in snow and -28 degree temperatures, losing 120 degrees overnite. Our guide, Odka (vodka without the “V”), and driver picked us up at the airport and  we immediately felt cold; by the time we got to Zaya Guest House in the central city at 9:00 we were frozen. The guest house is very nice inside and an old Soviet  built building on the outside. We has  time to get settled then were picked up at 10:30 to go to the “black market” (just the name, not the type) for a Mongolian winter coat for me. Not finding any and having to get to our  host family for lunch, we went to their ger village in the suburb area to the 100 square meter property given the family by the State gov’t. On the plot they had built a ger and a small house. The lady volunteered to host/prepare our  lunch and was paid by the tour company. The house was home to great grandma and the children’ grandparents. The center-located charcoal heated stove/smoky ger with TV housed the daughter who worked for the tour company and her husband with their 2 yr old girl and 3 yr old boy. The home had a shared well and outside toilet, but had a washer, microwave, frig, and cook top. The post-Lunar New Year menu was presented for us - Cakes, cookies,  yak butter, milk-salt tea, veggie soup, mutton, dried curds, milk vodka, cucumbers, greeting tobacco sniffing, and meat dumplings - all traditional Mongolian foods and presentation. We played with the children and talked with the retired grandparents (power plant repairman & shop assistant) and the kids’ mom. Retirement in Mongolia is dependent on  one’s job, the harder the job the earlier the retirement, so grandfather retired at 55. The grandparents care for their grandchildren during the day so their daughter can work. Her husband was a civil engineer. We then went to an inside market (2nd largest) and I tried on several traditional outside jackets/coats. I settled on a $40 traditional short heavily lined jacket. Against Odka’s better judgement I bought a ger trimming  material for a tie sash and bought a hanging used to upgrade the decoration of the interior of a ger for $6. Then we got Marnie toothpaste, as TSA confiscated hers coming out of Thailand loading for Mongolia. We were dropped off at our hostel at 4 to rest (but we actually wrote and read) before dinner at 7. Dinner, included on our tour, was 4 courses with chicken filet and we paid to have our driver included. (We will eat at this restaurant chain of 10 very nice restaurants many nights while here.) Home by 9 to finish the day after being up 36 hours.

Day 60 3.2 Friday Ulaanbaatar schools

-6 degrees F this am/-21 C ....Breakfast and exercise before 9:00 pickup to go to two schools which specialize in education of the disabled. On the way we purchased several bags of treats for the students. At the school we spent time with the Director, who had started teaching there 21 yrs ago, to learn the history; the school has been around since 1967 for mentally disabled/ physically challenged. Teachers’ spec ed teacher certification was only instituted 3 years ago. We toured many classrooms from academic topics to sewing, shop, crafts, agronomy, speech/language, PT and OT, and  daycare for autistic children. The seventh grade had cultural and social class. Showers and haircuts were provided for underprivileged. The two neatest experiences; 1. I touched or high fived, or fist bumped with every kid (even paralyzed) in every room and they were very responsive to touch, 2.  In the day care room we had the greatest demonstration of autism we’ve ever seen- I offered to high 5 with one boy who began to approach me with his hand cocked and ready, when he got 4 feet hand to hand he backed up before touching, I kept my hand up and he reapproached, getting 3 feet hand to hand and backed up, I kept my hand up and he reapproached, getting 2.5 feet hand to hand, again 2 feet...then he retired to his desk. This was the best/cleanest/purest/simplest demonstration of the autistic dilemma or behavior we ever experienced. $20 contribution to the school. 

From there we went to the University of UlaanBaatar to meet with Economics professor Erdenechuluun “chuck” Tumur for discussion of economic conditions in Mongolia. He is working on a Ph.D and has taught since ‘97...his generation of Econ teachers were the first to understand and teach capital economics, unlike the communist economy practice in Mongolia before 1990. His family was herders with 10 camels (a large number for a herder family and they were basically work tractors), 500 sheep and 100s of cashmere goats, and some cattle with no fences and can’t buy land. They get contracts from towns (like our counties) to graze and live on the communal govt land. Tradition and longevity had a big part in who could contract for the land...”we could not get enough migrating acres (or buy any acreage) to farm in Mongolia”. Crop farmers can buy land. He spends his summers with his 3 boys working the family animals as they move the animals to graze and then move their ger on the contracted  area. GDP 5 years ago was 17%, then down to 1.7% for awhile, and now up to 3%. Mining contribution 30%, agriculture 15%, tourism 10% of GDP. The competition between mining and agriculture is growing over land use issues. The dairy industry is small, and crossed beef herds are developing and expanding. Agriculture is moving from subsistence to profit agriculture. Severe weather several years ago caused the loss of 10 million animals from the 60 million overall herd numbers. The govt has reversed the diminishing number of Bactrian camels with where they were moving toward extinction. We discussed agr micro loans with 6 month loans at 2.5%  interest for agriculture-like buying and selling animals on short term. He  teaches micro economics, basic Econ, regional and agriculture Econ. Then we went to eat a big lunch and later a dinner (again we asked the driver to join us)...all meals are included in our tour package. 

We went to the top of the hill to see the Soviet-Mongolia memorial to their partnership in the invasion of Mongolia by Japan in the ‘30s and the invasion of Russia during W2II. At the top I met a large class of junior high students who gave high fives and were anxious for a picture ..

Then we toured the 2nd largest  Cashmere factory with 800 workers in the afternoon. We were able to see the knitting operation/ machines, the assembling areas with women on specialized machines, and the marketing area. The cleaning, spinning, and dying area was closed as they had a glut of finished threads that needed to be used up before spinning more. They had sophisticated and complex machinery that you would not expect in a developing country. 

Over dinner we discussed many interesting Mongolian topics. $7.50 dinner for the driver and last nite $11. 70% of Mongolia’s population is below 40 yrs of age / 60% under 28 years old. We  have been astounded by the number of Priuss on the streets here, estimate at least 40% of the cars. Many of them are used vehicles brought in from Japan to get a reduced value for the market here. The cars are right hand drive and right lane driving. Ulaan Baatar (took over from Beijing before the Olympics) is the most polluted city in the world partly because it sit in a valley at 4300 feet among 4 mountains and there is a terrific inversion in the cold weather from the winds passing over the top of the range. The pollution is so bad the coniferous green trees are black and stay that way until spring rains. The flag we were looking at outside appears black when it is really light blue and red, waiting for spring rains. In addition, the city has 4 coal burning power plants and is building a 5th - they used to be outside the city but when the 1/4 million population city expanded to 1/2 of the country’s 3.5 million citizens they overgrew the plants. Finally, back to our hotel in an exhausted state. Ulaan Baatar is a clean and well organized and best looking city we’ve been in this trip, except for the pollution and a constant traffic jam.

Day 61 3.3 Saturday to the eagle hunting festival

-21C at 8am...allowed to sleep late. The shoulder strap on my daypack was repaired yesterday with the help of the Zaya’s guest house (“charming and budget guest house, fully renovated”) owner who lived in the US for 11 years and went to UT and is a dual American citizen. We live on the 3rd floor of a decrepit Soviet style building in a back dead-end street in a beautifully decorated facility with twin beds, a shared bath, 3rd floor with good  security, breakfast included. We will rent the room even on the 6 days we are away so we don’t have to repack and store our piles of summer, winter and “smart” clothes. Marnie is tired of standup toilets and I’m tired of not being allowed to flush TP. At noon we left for lunch and then to the orphanage in the ger district a few miles out of “UB”, as the kids call it. We had a group picture and ate pizza in the skills center bakery (a new facility recently completed with a spa room and sewing room). We then were given a tour of the several buildings spread around the large 3 acre plot on a hill side by a 14 year old with excellent English, taking part in a school opera and on the debate competition team. The 47 kids live in small age groups in different buildings and have an activity center with a music room with traditional  instruments, a yoga/rest room, a mongol library, a foreign languages library, a computer room and a tv/movie room. The area has a dozen gers used for volunteer housing in the summer and a part time doctor as part of the staff. We then talked with the director for 1.5 hrs about her 25 year history and the school and it’s condition/needs, and the allied guest house in UB, small  orphan. Group in UB, and orphans who have grown up or attend a university tho still attached here - fascinating discussion. Back to UB for dinner (we get several course lunch and dinners included) and bed by 9:00.

Supersize double Snickers for $1

-6 degrees at 8 PM

HIEN REPORT...TRIP ADVISOR ....

FOOTPRINT... is the way to go...

We had a 21 day tour with Footprint

Our itinerary was detailed and timely, designed with our input and preferences, but flexible as needed...We never expected they could meet all the obligations and do so on time.....they did, every day and every time...it was amazing as detailed and complicated as our tour was to be able to sample so many of the wonders of Vietnam.

Thorough, from the Mekong, around/in Ho Chi Minh City, Nha Trang, Hoi An and the Tet Lunar New Year Holiday, Hue, Hanoi, SaPa area, Ha Long and the Bay, and more of Hanoi. 

... each day with a different guide and different driver or means of transportation... 3 overnite train rides, several boat trips, overnites on the Ha Long Bay boat, and excellent hotel accommodations...sometimes for short periods to allow for being refreshed and catching sleep between events.

...excellent food and dining facilities where our plan included meals (always special and focused on our learning about Vietnamese food and habits). 

The cost was very reasonable for the detail of our trip, the quality of our guides, the care of our housing, and the vastness of our itinerary.

As a result of our experience with Footprint we think we now have an understanding of life and the culture in Vietnam.

Dr. E. Rick and Marnie Beebe

8906 Royal Oaks Drive

Verona , WI 53593

rmbeebe@gmail.com

608/497-1123