Ghengis the Great! (and a day in the countryside)

Genghis Khan Statue

54km from Ulaanbaatar, in the spot where Genghis was purported to have found the golden whip,  stands a stainless steel statue of Genghis on horseback.  He cuts quite an imposing figure, perched atop a building in the Mongolian wilderness, measuring some 40 meters high! You can ride an elevator up through the back of the horse to access the horse's mane.  From there you can enjoy panoramic views of the surrounding countryside.

In the horse's mane

Dad and Ash

View from the top

Within the complex there is a small museum, recreation area, restaurant, souvenir shop and conference hall.  And if you want, you can play "dress-ups"! 

They look so totally harmless?!

The Royal Family

In the Terelj district there are some great places to stay the night or just to relax during the day.  This restaurant/accommodation house had a great hill for sledding.   Ashley and I "double-dinked" which wasn't a great success.  The sled immediately did a 180 degree turn and we were hurtling down the hill backwards bellowing with laughter. It was a lot of fun.

Ash going full speed ahead

Sledders

Turtle Rock was one of the many sights in the area

Dad and Ash

Ash's friends-our first visitors to Mongolia

Crossing a frozen river

A character filled bridge.  It's seen its fair share of contractions and expansions!

Surrounding scenery

Eagles by the roadside

Majestic bird!

BIG BOYS' TOYS!

This tank can go for miles if you're prepared to pay for the fuel!

Ashley and Luke decided it would an "opportunity of a lifetime" to drive a tank, shoot rifles, machine guns, AK47's and RPG'S (Rocket Propelled Grenades).  Only in Mongolia!  Just head along to the not so secret Military training school, lay your  $$$ (Tugs or US currency) on the table and shoot away!  I went along as the official photographer (and partly because my maternal instincts were saying "you should go!").  For my efforts I was rewarded with temporary deafness and the inconvenience of being stranded in the Mongolian boondocks for 3 hours after our Land Cruiser broke down!

Take your pick!

 This lovely assortment of deadly weapons arrived in the boot of a very old Toyota, wrapped in a blanket!  It seemed rather surreal watching them unload.

Ash taking aim AK47? They all look like "a gun" to me!

RPG in hand!

 Not sure why we didnt think of taking a video of this awesomely powerful weapon being fired??  I was assigned the job of catching it all on camera but once the grenade was launched, the boom was so loud I was completely startled and disorientated.  (Still shots are always good :) )

Luke about to fire. See the coordinators in the back, they know whats coming!

A SATISFIED CUSTOMER

Zaisan Memorial

I love this picture so I stuck it on top!.  It's one part of the circular mural depicting scenes of the Russian space Program. (Just a tad idealistic!!).  You can just see the city below.

Ash and I making our way up.  Its a lot more challenging than it looks!


We live at the foot of the Zaisan Memorial, just a quick hike up the wrong side of the hill! The conventional route is a bit further away and requires tackling around 300 stairs.

The monument was built in honor of the Soviet and Mongolian soldiers who died in WWII. It features a statue of a soldier, a circular memorial depicting mosaic scenes of friendship between Russia & Mongolia and a large granite bowl with an eternal flame.  It has panoramic views of Ulaanbaator and surrounding hills (on a clear day!).

Our Apartment Block as seen from half way up. Our block is the first on the left.

Mosaic scenes are encircled in this concrete halo.

 Ash trying to keep warm.  Would have been around -20

 Russian soldier

The Eternal Flame the following morning after a light snowfall.

View taken from the monument as the sun was rising the next morning! (and as the clouds were moving in!! :(

TSAGAAN SAR - Office celebrations

The third day of Tsagaan Sar is usually when work places gather together. Sim's office had their own celebrations at the Tipney's home for which we dressed in our Mongolian deels.

So here we are in our outfits.  Ours were purchased at the "State Department Store." (Sounds awfully  socialist!)  The store is definitely a remnant of Soviet occupation.

We had a lovely afternoon eating traditional foods, meeting new people and enjoying the impromptu entertainment.  Ashley and his friends also joined us for the occasion and were very gracious in responding to requests to participate in the talent show which consisted of an Aussie "choir" singing Waltzing Matilda, a poetry recital,  a Philippine group singing love songs and a sweet 4 year old Mongolian girl singing and dancing amongst other acts. Quite a treat!  (All interspersed with countless toasts of Mongolian vodka !)

Office Colleagues

Faith and Jacob

That's Ash shooting out of Luke's knees!

Ash attacking the boiled Lamb like a true Mongolian

TSAGAAN SAR - Mongolian New Year

Tsagaan Sar, signals the end of Winter and the beginning of Spring (although I'm at a complete loss when it comes to recognising any sign of Spring right now!).  It has been one of the most important celebrations of Mongols for centuries along with Naadam, celebrated in July.

We have thoroughly enjoyed all the New Year celebrations and both Sim and I even purchased our own deels, the Mongolian traditional garment worn on both casual and special occasions, in keeping with Mongolian tradition. Of course, it was made even more special to have been able to share the festivities with Ash and his friends.  Not many people will be brave enough to visit us during a Mongolian winter!

Last Saturday, we were very fortunate to be invited to  share Tsaagan Sar festivities with a typical Mongolian family in the Tuv Province. The journey took over an hour and was quite amazing in itself.  At a certain point, which to the untrained eyed was clearly unidentifiable, the bus turned off the road and headed cross country for  quite a distance.  There seem to be no defining features on the terrain that could assure you you were headed in the right direction.  The landscape was visually spectacular wth flat, snow-filled plains and rolling hills against a backdrop of pristine mountains,  bright blue skies and immense nothingness for miles and miles. Totally awe inspiring.  Its hard to put into words or capture on film but here is our pictorial of the day. (Click on any of the images to enlarge)

From whence we came!  (It was the same looking in any direction )

Below: the bus couldn't make it up the last hill so the last 300m was on foot.

I just liked this pic!

.....and as we came over the hill after having been cross country for quite some time now,  there it was!  Our hosts' ger.  A sight for sore eyes ! (I have to admit it was getting a little too remote for my liking). 

Up Close.  The ger which hosted 25 guests!  I love the satelite dish and solar panel.  The door of the ger always faces South.  This is one of my favourite pictures.

The wife effortlessly served copious amounts of steaming buuz and
salt tea alternately from this one pot. 

The head of the ger is in the brown deel.  We were entertained with some folk music played on the morin khuur, one of the most important musical instruments of the Mongolian people.  The layered cake on the table is called il buuv.  The number of layers should be odd. Traditionally grandparents have 7, parents 5 and young couples 3.  To the right (obscured) is the uuts, sheep's back and tail is a must on the table.

The oven sits in the middle of the ger with steaming buuz inside  (meat dumpling with either minced mutton or beef, flavoured with onion, garlic and salt)  Delicious.

Ash and Sim.  They must have just came inside as the ger is warm inside.

A view of the ger construction from the inside and the lamb with its head sitting neatly on top!

Their horses are small but very sturdy.

Luke, Ash and I

The herders can be seen from a distance (middle) homeward bound.

Home. Mongolian herder living at the camp

Ash enjoying scenery from the top of a hill

More stunning views - it's hard to get perspective.

The way home! You can see the tyre tracks left from our inbound trip!

All in all it was an illuminating day and quite unforgettable experience.