Genghis Khan and the Yak Attack

Genghis (pronounced by the locals Chingis) Khan is the best thing that has ever or will ever come out of Mongolia and the locals know it.* His warriors conquered 1/2 the world with speed and ferocity and his souvenirs (ie hats) are found everywhere and his likeness is on everything from brands of vodka to...um...other brands of vodka.**

One thing Mongolians do well though is stick to what they know. Around 25-30% of the population are still nomadic moving one or more times a year so their livestock can graze. Also, despite centuries of rule or influence by neighbours China and more recently Russia (who imposed the use of cyrillic despite the existance of traditional Mongolian script which sort of looks like a cross between Chinese characters and Arabic and is written downwards instead of accross), Mongolia has a rich and unique culture based around religion, family, Ger tents, the love of all things Genghis and...yes...vodka.

Take religion for example. Buddhism in general is a very superstitious religion. The version practiced in Mongolia is really really superstitious crossing Buddhist beliefs with nature based Shamanistic practices from times gone by. All of these rituals are performed because they are meant to bring "luck" or "good fortune".

Take spinning these things (I forget what they are called) usually located near or immediately outside temples. The canisters are said to contain sacred scrolls of knowledge which when spun bring good fortune or success. Wouldn't success be more likely if the people actually read or otherwise learned something from the scrolls to then apply to daily life?

Ulaanbaatar

We stopped just long enough in Ulan Battur long enough to marvel at the fact that this is in fact a capital city. It is quite small for one thing and quite noticably dirty looking for another and there is no Starbucks for another!!!. Some "highlights"include:

• All the cars and busses seemed to be hand me down versions of 15 year old Chinese or Russian ones.


• If 4 people are trying to cross the street then you take your life in your hands but if there are five or more then traffic is compelled to stop to let you cross.


• Every car on the road is potentially a taxi but none of them are marked as such.


• In an effort to mitigate alcoholism certain areas of the city will designate certain days (say the 1st of the month) to be alcohol free. This would be a great idea except that not all areas of the city ban alcohol on the same day so from the Mongolian BBQ restaurant where we had dinner (but no drinks) on 1 March it was a 5 minute taxi ride (in some random guy's vehicle) to the pub across the bridge which was allowed to serve.


• Unemployment is said to be somewhere near 30% and even when there were jobs I didn't get the impression they were that good so it shouldn't have been a surprise when, in broad daylight about 100 m or less from the hotel entrance Mike and Ana got mugged (but not hurt) for their pot noodles which they had picked up to take on the train to Siberia.
  

Ger Tents and Horses and Yaks (and Fuzzy Camels)! Oh My!

By far the best part about Mongolia, other than getting a really awesome Ghengis hat which I wore everywhere and which was surprisingly warm for a souvenir hat, was heading out into the countryside and staying in Ger tents. It wasn't quite as rustic as I initially thought (one of the Gers had a satalite dish on the roof and there was a lady who came into our tents and stoked our fire every 3 hours***) but it was still a unique experience.

The tents are set up with a wood stove in the middle and beds all around. In an authentic Ger the man's side (tools, hunting weapons) is the left and the women's side (kitchen) is the right with a wood stove in the middle and you are supposed to enter the ger and walk around it counter-clockwise (for some reason - presumably luck related). Of course nobody told me this stuff until after I had walked in, turned right (clockwise) and selected the first bed (on the ladies' side). Oh well. I did remember to bring the vodka so all was good.

Speaking of vodka...by luck or good fortune (or maybe Buddha's intervention) we happened to be in Mongolia at the tail end of the Mongolian New Year. Mongolians celebrate by feasting with family for 3 weeks or something.

Near the camp where we were staying were some authentic Nomadic camps and we visited an elderly couple who were happy to have us and talk to us about their life and culture. The guy was a former Math professor at the university and tended to his cows while wearing a blazer (classic!!!). He only changed into "traditional" Mongolian garb after we arrived.

Apparently as part of the New Year celebrations it is customary to offer guests food and drink. It is also very rude to refuse. The food being delicious dumplings and the drink, initially being hot milky tea but soon enough the man, happy to have some drinking buddies, broke out the vodka.

So despite being quite hung-over from finishing off a bottle of vile Chinese vodka that I had picked up from the Silk Market while playing Mongolian Monopoly the night before, we were compelled to have 5 shots of vodka each before 11am. Just in time to go horseback riding.

The cold and fear of falling off a horse because we'd been drinking was enough to sober us up and good thing too because riding these small horsies was another highlight. I couldn't pronounce my horse's name so I just called him "Genghis Jr" and we ruled the plains (for approximately 45mins).

Collectively we had some trouble getting our horses to follow instructions. The main reason for this was that the instructions were in Mongolian, which is hard enough to pronounce at the best of times, but when the instructions aren't actually words but a kind of hissing sound, that makes it virtually impossible to get right. It was probably for the best though that I couldn't instruct my horse to gallop as, for obvious photographic reasons, I had ditched my safety helmet in favour of my Genghis hat.

One of the highlihgts of traveling generally is the opportunity to see weird animals. To the locals a Yak is just a cow and a fuzzy camel crossing the road is a traffic jam.

But to me a Yak is a crazy and exotic creature that I have never seen up close before with an awesome name.**** And a fuzzy camel with round snowshoe feet bigger than dinner plates crossing the road is a fascinating sight.

Going Postal - Mongolian Style

Unfortunately Mongolia wasn't only memorable for positive reasons. By far the worst part of going to Mongolia was my trip to the post office to send home some Genghis based souvenirs. This time I will actually spare the detials but suffice it to say that after going to the post office on a weekday afternoon, the ensuing frustration and chaos made me understand why alcoholism is such a big problem in Mongolia. A wee nip of vodka anyone?

Photos: 1)Genghis and Genghis Jr. Ruling the plains. (or steppes as the case may be) 2) Nothing beats Grand Khan vodka. And don't let anybody tell you differently. 3) Man in traditional Mongolian silk robes outside temple 4) Worshipers spinning those spinny things clockwise. NO. counterclockwise I mean! 5) Ger tents. 6) Inside the Ger 7) Warm and toasty outside ther Ger in new coat and Genghis hat. 8) Ger camp from up on the ridge 9) Blazer wearing nomad pouring some new years shots for breakfast 10) Genghis and Genghis Jr. 11) Yak 12) Fuzzy Camels 13) Parcel finally being weighed. Actually posted much much later.

*Although I must say that Miss Mongolia is not too bad either, eh?.

**I opted for the "Grand Khan" vodka because it came in a funky metal case but could have just as easily enjoyed "Chingis" brand which also looked delicious.

***This was a bit weird actually especially on the first night but as it kept the tents super warm it was service above and beyond. 12 and 6 I can see but the 3am stoking

****One of the best stories the old man told us was how a pack of wolves had taken down one of his Yaks (hmmm...I can't seem to write Yak without capitalizing it...well they are pretty awesome so that's good enough reason for me not to change it) on the other side of the mountain. It had everything, mountains, wolves, Yaks, death, wolves, Yaks, vodka....