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....
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