Shop til you drop!

We started the day at the post office for internet and a schedule of Naadam events from the tourist desk there. Naadam was originally a Mongolian celebration of the three manly sports: wrestling, archery, and horse riding. The Soviets reinvented the holiday, defining it as a celebration of the counrty's independence from China. This is their 87th year of independence, and the festivities started yesterday. We noticed on the schedule that a ceremony to salute Chinngis Khaan and Sukhbaatar was to begin in three minutes at the square. We hustled over there to watch the procession of parliament members, military officials, and miscellaneous dignitaries march upstairs to Khaan's statue and pay respects. Along the stairs were men and women in traditional dress playing music to accompany the ceremony. We left there to shop.

I'd been saving my souvenir shopping, so I wouldn't have to haul extra weight to Olgii and back. Equipped with a pocket of togrog (pronounce tukrik), Max and I went on a shopping spree. First we hit the State Department Store. A dinosaur of a building, five stories high and jam packed with everything you could possibly need: food on the 1st floor, books on the 2nd, electronics on the 3rd, clothes on the 4th, and souvenirs on the entire 5th floor. We loaded up then headed to the guesthouse to drop off the bags. On the way, we stopped for Mongolian fast food. It's not as simple as being home and ordering a number 3 combo meal with a coke. First you decipher from the pictures which item will be the least muttony. Then you point at the item for the waitress to take your order. Today the waitress shook her head, indicating they were out of buuz. I pointed at the meat pancakes. No have. How about the soup on the second page? No have. We waved her off for a few minutes, until we could find a few other items that might be palatable. When she returned we ordered what was available.

We watched TV while we waited. Some of the horse racing has started already, and the broadcast showed young men (boys) racing bareback through the Mongolian countryside. The races are divided by the horses ages. The youngest will race up to 45km. I've been told some of the horses drop dead from exhaustion at the end of the race, but I can't confirm that information. It's a lot like watching the Kentucky Derby, but it lasts a really long time.

After lunch we dropped our bags at Nassan's. We had invited Micahel Ann, from GB, to stay with us, if she couldn't find a room. She and Max had met a month ago in UB, and I met her in Olgii. She was at the guesthouse when we arrived, having returned from Olgii via a three day jeep ride across Central Mongolia. She noted she hadn't slept much nor bathed in three days. The trip didn't sound appealing. But she was up for more shopping. I noticed the city was packed with tourists and traffic. Naadam brings in a huge influx of visitors, and the atmosphere is much different than when I first visited UB. There is a sense of excitement and national pride. The locals remind me of the Mexican-Americans on Federal Blvd on Cinco de Mayo. They have Mongolian flags flying from their antennas and draped everywhere. The official two-day holiday really brings out their nationalism.

Later, Michael Ann bathed, and we met her friend Greg from Maryland. He introduced us to a group of his friends, and we had a good time talking for quite a while. Afterwards, we met up with Michael Ann for dinner at a VEGETARIAN restaurant!!!! It was delicious.Leggi altro