Now For Something Totally Different – Mongolia

If there is a more interesting and exotic place on Earth I haven’t come across it yet.  Mongolia is remote, rugged, and steeped in traditions borne of its peoples’ early nomadic lifestyle following their herds of horses, camels, sheep, goats, and cattle across the vast steppes and grasslands of inner Asia.  The country looks a lot like our American West with vistas extending beyond the curvature of the Earth and human eye sight.  A Wyoming or Montana cowboy would feel totally at home on the plains and mountain passes of Mongolia.

It is hard to imagine that this rugged land produced one of the world’s most brilliant military strategists and sophisticated rulers of his time.  Ghengis Khan conquered and ruled much of the known world by gathering the many tribes of the steppes and creating a light Calvary the likes of which the world had never seen.  His warriors could ride for as much as ten days and nights without eating or stopping to rest.  They would sleep upright in their saddles on the move and would survive on a little of their horse’s blood for days.  Their skill with their laminated compound bows were remarkable and they could accurately hit their targets while mounted and at a full gallop.

I arrived in Ulan-Bator at 5:45 in the morning and after saying my good byes to my cabin mate Jacob caught a taxi to the Springs Hotel.  Fortunately I was allowed to check in and was showered and asleep by 7am.  After a short four hour nap I grabbed a quick lunch and walked over to the Lama Monastery and Museum.  The eastern architecture is unlike any in the west and the craftsmanship of the wood carving is remarkable.  I have provided photos of many of the buildings exteriors in the complex but unfortunately many of the temples prohibit photographing the interiors.

After visiting the monastery I walked back to the hotel and found Ogi a dart enthusiast  friend of  Paul Segal’s waiting for me in the hotel lobby.  Ogi, a native of Ulan-Bator had graciously agreed to show me the sites of Mongolia beginning this afternoon with the Ghengis Kahn Monument Park about 100 kilometers from the city.  I’m not sure what I expected but it certainly wasn’t a massive ____ meter aluminum statue of the great Kahn astride his horse.  The size of the statue is a bit overwhelming.  And most cool is you can climb a set of stairs inside of one of the horse’s front legs and get a panoramic view from atop the horse’s head.

While in the museum I tried on the clothing and armor of a Golden Horde rider which the locals found pretty amusing.  Apparently I’m a foot taller than the average Mongolian and about 100 pounds heavier.  And with my round blue eyes and white skin I looked about as Mongolian as Conehead in Tallahassee.  In addition to the huge statue and museum the grounds also had an incredibly life like full size bronze company of Mongol riders in formation.  Some of the riders armed with bows, some with swords, some with mace and others with their falcons.  Very impressive.

Mongols have an incredible tradition of using birds of prey for hunting and in combat.  I finished my visit to the compound by trying my hand at becoming a make shift perch for a hunting eagle.  I was surprised by how heavy they are.  I can’t imagine holding my arm out at a 90 degree angle with a big ass eagle or falcon sitting on it for hours on end riding across the steppes.  After five minutes my arm and shoulder had had enough.

After we left the Kahn Monument Park we drove over to Turtle Mountain.  And the mountain actually looks like a big turtle.  I spent about an hour hiking around and over the mountain and did fine until I came to a passage that was not meant for a six foot three big shouldered American.  You will see in the photos that I was never going to fit through a tiny slot in the rock face.  My Mongolian friend was sure I could and against my better judgement I gave it a try and got myself stuck with my chest and shoulders on one side and my stomach hips and legs dangling below.

The locals were quite amused at my situation – I was not!  Have I mentioned I am very claustrophobic?  Well I am and I was in the midst of a serious anxiety attack.  I finally managed to use my right foot to press against the rock face from below and use my arms to pull up on hand holds from above to unstick myself and inch my way up and back out of my temporary personal hell.

After cussing my Mongolian friend out for convincing me to do something so damn stupid we went back to the car park and who should I run into in the middle of no where Mongolia?  My Polish train cabin mate Jacob – small world.  Jacob told me about a monastery a little further up the dirt track that was worth visiting so off we went.

I’m not sure why but Mongols like to build their Temples high on the mountains.  After taking the car as far as we could we still had to hike another 45 minutes up the mountain to reach the Temple complex.  The hike up was well worth the effort though because the views were spectacular and the temple painting and carvings were eye popping.

Couple of amusing points though.  Along the hundreds of steps up to the Temple the lamas have positioned well over 100 little life messages for the traveler.  About half way up they have placed a huge prayer drum with a wooden arrow on top.  Above the arrow is a huge 10 foot roulette wheel with a number for each of the life message signs.

The traveler is supposed to spin the prayer drum and the number the arrow falls on is your personal message.  Mine read ”  Let alone not having any remorse about the evils that you committed,  Why do you wish to compete with others who have committed meritorious deeds?”  Clearly Buddhism is a fake religion.

The other amusing incident occurred while answering the call of nature.  The toilets for the Monastery are a series of four connected out houses with only three walls and the opening faced out from the mountain side facing a beautiful valley and distant mountains.  As I was finishing my business an older Australian lady rounded the corner and with some embarrassment apologized and scurried back around the structure.  I was trying to be nice and make lite of the situation and said.  “Its okay – this is the best view on the mountain.”  To which she replied “My we do think a lot of ourselves don’t we!  Guess it never occurred to her I was talking about the vista not my exposed self.

Having completed a full day of site seeing, gotten myself wedged in a crack in turtle mountain, been insulted my a dead lama, and exposed myself to an Australian Crone I figured it was time to head back to Ulan-Bator.  I guess I should mention that Mongolia has been corrupted by the worst of American Culture.  My young driver’s favorite music is RAP and though he understands less than half of the words plays it continuously.  He also is a rabid fan of American Movies – his favorites being anything based on a Marvel Comic book.

The other crazy thing is no mater how far off the beaten track I got or how small the grocery store they always had a can of coke for sale.  Some of these stores would only be a closet in a stone hovel with only a half dozen things for sale but. one was always coke a cola.  Makes me wonder if there is any square 25 miles on earth where you can travel and not find a coke.

In fact I was thinking that coke should run a contest and offer a huge cash prize for anyone who can find a remote corner of earth without coke.  They could even create a reality tv show around the contest.

I have included photos from my first day in Mongolia and I will shortly provide a second blog about my incredible day as the only round eye at a once every two year Buddhist ceremony and festival.

I apologize about this and future blogs on Mongolia and my 18 days in China but I was blocked from the internet by the Chinese Government and had to wait to publish anything until out of China and beyond the reach of the Chinese Secret Police.