Across the Steppes of Mongolia

I started the day at what I thought was the Museum of Mongolian History, but it turned out to be the Natural History Museum. The locations were incorrect in my Lonely Planet (LP) guidebook. The Natural Histroy Museum is a hodge podge of flora, fauna, reptiles, and huminoids. LP's description is more colorful: "a serious throwback to the Soviet era...The general impression, however, is that you've stumbled into a warehouse of a long deceased taxidermist...Some of the animals have been fixed with puzzling expressions, as if they remain perplexed as to how they ended up in such an unfortunate state." You can't make this stuff up! The description is accurate, but LP forgot to mention the floor-to-ceiling orange valour curtains, my personal favorite.

I left the museum with the intention of visiting the art museum on the next block, as well as the Federation for the Preservation of Mahayana Tradition, a Buddhist Cultural Center across the street. Unfortunately, I could find neither, and this was after looking for them yesterday, too. Maybe I'll try them again when Max gets here. Instead, I opted for lunch at Khaan Buuz, Mongolian Fast Food. It is not even close to what we think of when it comes to fast food, but these little restaurants are very popular with the locals. I managed to order, eat, and pay without uttering a single word. I had Khuushuur, fried meat pancakes. You may know I have an aversion to pancakes, in the traditional sense, but these are more like stuffed (mutton) sopapillas. I also had shredded carrot salad that was mighty tasty. I thought I got a great deal yesterday, but all together, with a cup of tsai (tea), I paid $1.30.

After lunch, I walked to the Victims of Political Persecution Museum. That was a downer. During the Communist purges of the 1930's approximately 25,000 were killed. Of those, about 17,000 were monks. The walls were filled with pictures of the victims, written convictions from trials, and memorabilia. The last room is saved for the icky stuff. They had a display of about a dozen skulls, which had been discovered in a mass burial site of 600 monks. The skulls were lined up and almost all of them had a visible bullet hole in the front. It was horrifying to think the USSR could have been so scared of a belief. I guess it hasn't really changed much, given China's recent "purge" of their own in Tibet. The museum got me interested in following up on the history of the Communist purges when I get home.

I left the museum for another. On the way, I noticed on the hillside a gigantic outline of Genghis Khan. On the hill to his right, there was gigantic script writing. I think it said, "Go Mongols" but I'm not sure.

I topped off the afternoon at the Choijin Lama Temple Museum. The grounds consist of five temples, none are actively being used. The Temple of Peace was my favorite. The ornate decoration and variety of buddhas was impressive. It was small on the scale compared to the main temple. The main temple was a little over my head. Something about "violent, protective deities" and being punished severely in the next life. Throughout the temple artwork depicts men being disemboweled, skewered, tongues cut out, arms cut off, heads and legs severed, etc., as well as demon-like creatures eating little people. I was happy to recognize a few things, including a large garuda mask.

I fly to Olgii tomorrow. It will be a completely different experience, as it is much more rural, the people are nomadic, and the majority religion is Muslim. I guess I can take pork off the menu!Read more

I landed on the dirt airstrip in Bayan Olgii province last night around 8pm. Max and Alex picked me up and drove me to Alex's apartment. The building is concrete, needing serious patchwork, with exposed rebar on the stairway. The apartment is small, but Max and I will share the living room until some guests leave her mother's ger. My first day in Olgii was one of laughter and embarrassment. Alex's apartment does not have a bathtub, so we all packed up and went to the bathhouse. I'm still traumatized from my experience in Turkey, but there was no other choice. Actually you pay 1000 for a good douche, and you're set for a few days. (That's the equivalent of $1 and douche is the Kazakh word for shower.) I used extra soap, knowing it would be a few days before returning. Following the showers, Max and I visited the market. It is an outdoor maze of wood and aluminum stalls filled with clothes, shoes, dry goods, dairy products, fruits/veggies and lots of meat parts. At noon we met her mom at Altai Crafts (www.altaicraft.com), her women's project. From there we went to a Russian restaurant, where I had borsch (beet juice soup with cabbage, carrots, beets, potatoes, and mutton balls) and a peroshky (deep fried dough stuffed with mutton, rice and onions). It was delicious. Max and I returned to the market after lunch. We ventured to the food area. There was a pungent smell that turned my head. I realized I was looking at hugs blocks of cheese bigger than basketballs. They also had large blocks of butter, from which they cut what you need.

On the way out of the market, Max bought an "ice cream" cone. I tried to talk her out of it, but she insisted. When the vendor opened the cooler, there 30-40 cones, like the swirled ones at Dairy Queen, stacked up. I'm convinced it was not a dairy product. It did not melt, and it really wasn't that cold. Max said it was terrible. I didn't try it. Eating petroleum is off the chart for me.

As I was taking a photo of the ice cream, two men volunteered for a picture. I took it and remembered Max told me she always gives people a little change in exchange for the photo. So I gave them the equivalent of two cents and started quite a ruckus. We had Max's mom's interpreter, who said they didn't want my money. They were totally insulted. "Max, you told me that was the protocol!" Max explained you only pay little kids, not old men. Oh well.

By the way, 5 people were killed and 300 seriously injured in the UB riots. Crazy.Read more

We hired a driver and went to the countryside today. What an experience! There were no fences and the expanse of the land is endless. The landscapes touch both ends of the sky, with peaks and valleys filling in the canvas. You just drive. Although there are some tire tracks, you can pretty much drive anywhere. We first went to Sagsoi to see a "stone man." It is a three foot stone memorial dating to the Turkic period, about 500 years ago. Near him and along the way, there were several large mounds of earth and rocks, which are Turkic burial sites. It was tempting to go dig it up but completely inappropriate. We had lunch in Tsengal. It's the first meal I couldn't choke down. Goat liver, or something hideous like that, on rice and pasta. I couldn't get the taste out of my mouth. Yuck. I picked off as much of the meat as I could and had several bites of rice and pasta.

We came home via Ulaanhuus. It is in a green valley surrounded on all sides by hills. The yurts dot the valley floor, which is speckled with yak, sheep, goat, and horses. We drove out to a family's property to see their wool camels. Max got in the pen with them, but I stayed outside of the pen. They were freakin' me out. They were hairless, and their little humps hung to one side. Their gray skin was wrinkly and rubbery looking. Apparently when they shed in the summer, they shed it all. I'm so glad my dog doesn't!

Once we got back in to town, we had dinner at the Turkish restaurant. I had a terrific lamb kebab, which made me forget the awful lunch experience. Tomorrow we will be going to a Kazakh wedding. I knew I should have packed a decent headdress.Read more