Flag of Mongolia

Mongolian license plate

Soyombo Symbol

         The Soyombo Symbol is the national symbol of Mongolia. Please go to the link for a description of this very interesting symbol.

Map of Mongolia showing the location on each of our three ger camps

         There are four coal-burning plants that provide electricity to UB and also add to the pollution.  However, the first wind farm was just opened this year to provide some cleaner electricity.

Preparing to serve milk tea

            For dinner tonight we ate at another Nomads - Khaan Bar.  We had a nice salad, pot roast, a noodle layered thing, and vegetables, with chocolate cake for dessert.  We were surprised by the entertainment.  Four men dressed in traditional costumes played and sang Mongolian folk songs.  Lucky translated the story lines.  The instruments were a pipe flute, two or three stringed instruments, a Jews harp, and a double-throated guitar.  The most interesting was the traditional throat singing and whistling that they could do.  It was unique!  The flute player was able to breathe in through his nose and out through his mouth so it looked and sounded like he never had to take a breath.  The same was true when he whistled.  Afterwards the performers came out and talked to us and signed the CD's some of our group bought.  It was a pleasant dinner surprise.

Mongolia folk music group

Sun., 6/23/13 - Ulaanbaatar
        Today we toured the city of Ulaanbaatar.  As we drove past some open space with goats and gers (Mongolian round tent houses) Lucky said that the government is busy building apartments in UB to move the people out of the gers and into the city.  There are no trees left for firewood to warm the gers so they burn trash and tires, which greatly increases the pollution.  Half of the 3.8 million Mongolians live in UB.
         Our first stop was to climb 300 steps to the top of Zaisan Hill for a 360° panoramic view.  The city is surrounded by four mountains.  The monument at the top of the hill is a 1971 war memorial to the Russians for helping defeat the Japanese who invaded Mongolia's eastern border in WWII.  Russian and Mongolian soldiers are depicted in mosaics around the top of the memorial.

Keeping the streets clean

Apartment construction

Gers in the city

A group of gers partly hidden by a fence

Genghis Khan on the hillside

Buddha statue

Zaisan Hill War Memorial to Soviet soldiers

Zaisan Hill War Memorial to Soviet soldiers

Russian Army defeating the Germans

More apartment construction

View of the city and two of the coal plants from Zaisan Hill

Another city view from Zaisan Hill

        We spent some time at the Gandan-Tegchilen Monastery learning about Mongolian Buddhism. 
        We spun prayer wheels to send the prayers off in the wind, walked through the Vajradhara Temple where monks were chanting.
        The site also has a Buddhist University and a Library with one million sutras in Mongolian, Tibetan, and Sanskrit languages. 

Gandan-Tegchilen Monastery courtyard

Boys wafting burning incense fumes toward themselves

Vajradhara Buddhist Temple

Feet of the statue of Buddha soon to be built

        Our next stop was the Sukhbaatar Square area.  In the center of the square is an equestrian statue of Damdin Sukhbaatar, one of the leaders of the 1921 revolution. The parliament building, the opera and ballet theater, and other government buildings surround the square.  In front of parliament is a statue of Genghis Khan.
        Today the square was crowded with people attending a rally of the Democratic Party and their candidate for president. 
        We walked to the National Museum of Mongolia.  This was an absolutely wonderful museum.  In the first hall we learned about the ancient Deer Stones that were burial markers.  Another hall exhibited Mongolian clothing of different tribes. Of course there was a painting of Genghis Khan, who ruled until 1167.  His grandson was Kublai Khan.
            The hall of traditional Mongolia was also interesting.  On display were instruments: Morin Khuur is the two stringed violin-like instrument and the name of the flute is Ikel.  These were the instruments that we heard last night at dinner.  The display of Mongolian games included dominoes, ankle bones (of which we learned later), chess, and several 3-D wooden puzzles.
 

National Museum of Mongolia

Light post in Sukhbaatar Square

Blue Sky Tower, a hotel and office building in UB

Blue Sky Tower, a hotel and office building in UB

Monument to Damdin Sukhbaatar

Political rally in front of the Parliament building and statue of Genghis Khan

National Academic Theatre of Opera and Ballet

        We ate lunch at a Thai restaurant and then toured the Zanabazar Museum of Fine Art.  It started with 7th and 8th c. art items from burial mounds and progressed to ink drawings, paintings, and appliqués.  It was uniquely Mongolian.

        Up the street from the museum was a Mormon church with a Buddhist stupa behind it.

Zanabazar Museum of Fine Art

Mormon church

Mon., 6/24/13 - Ulaanbaatar to Gorkhi-Terelj National Park
        Today, on the way to our first ger camp, we did two activities that are part of every OAT trip: a visit to a school, or orphanage in this case, and "a day in the life of" a local family.  In UB we spent time at a kindergarten orphanage for children two to six years old.  It is run by the government with additional support and funding from the Grand Circle Foundation.  After the 3 and 4 year-olds entertained us with songs and readings, we helped them with art class, which involved molding clay.  I made cats and rabbits with them.  Next we attended the birthday party they held for the kids who had birthdays in April, May, or June.  There was more singing and dancing performances by the little ones.  They had a special meal with cake and a bag of gift candy.  Grand Circle also presented the orphanage with a washing machine, vacuum cleaner, and flatirons.  This was the cleanest facility and kids I think we have ever met. They were adorable.

Sign for the State Orphanage we visited

Modeling cats and rabbits

Modeling cats and rabbits

Entertainment for the party

The birthday party

Mongolian musical instruments

Yatga (large and small)
Topshur (banjo-like)