Mongolia

Blue sky and bright sunshine just about every day has been a great pleasure to experience after China. Paula and I have been enjoying ourselves in Mongolia. Our two weeks here is almost up and we will be returning to Beijing tomorrow. Ulaanbaatar, the capital, is a big sprawling city of over a million people. There are a variety of buildings, from new modern skyscrapers to old classical buildings, block buildings from the Soviet era, and traditional gers and wooden shacks making up shantytowns on the outskirts.

Mongolians are strong, and warm friendly people, very anxious for us to like their country and to enjoy ourselves here. Everyone has been very hospitable. We have been staying in the apartment of a friend of a friend of Paula's, Tuul, and have gone to the summer house of her family on the outskirts of town. We were also welcomed by another friend, Sara, who runs a small Ger Camp several hours east of the city. The ger is the traditional home of the nomadic Mongolian, round with a wooden frame and thick felt between the outer and inner layers of white canvas. It is about 16 feet in diameter. The beds are traditionally placed along the outer edges. There is a wood-burning stove in the middle with a smoke stack extending through a hole in the top of the ger. There are no windows, but light comes in through the hole in the ceiling which can be open or closed depending on the weather. One has to stoop to get in through the wooden door of the ger. The sparse furniture is bright and painted with decorative designs. Carpets are on the floor and there is colorful fabric on the walls. The nomads are able to put up and take down the ger in several hours. Many city people live in the gers in the summertime, and then move back to the city for the winter.

Our visit to the Ger Camp was definitely a highlight. There are rolling green hills with very short grass and no trees. Animals roam freely, sheep, goats, horses, and cows. The cows are milked and then cream, milk, cheese, and yogurt are the products produced by the family. We watched Sara and her husband milk the cows and then prepare the milk products. Mongolians are real meat eaters, primarily mutton, but we were also served beef. There are few vegetables, only cabbage, carrots, potatoes, and onions. It was wonderful to hear the beating hooves of the horses as they raced among the gers. I had the opportunity to go horseback riding into the hills. We also took a very quick dip in a very cold river. Being out in the very fresh and clean air was wonderful.

Mongolia has been a free and democratic country since 1990 when the Soviets left. Their hero is Ghengis Khan who founded Mongolia in 1206 by conquering and uniting a number of tribes. Statues of Ghengis are in several places. We saw a huge new stainless steel one of him on a horse in the country that very majestically looks out over the countryside.

We spent four days in the Gobi Desert which was a relaxing experience, and where we celebrated Paula's birthday. The Ger Camp where we stayed arranged for the traditional musicians to play Happy Birthday on their horse head fiddles and the three musicians sang. Later they did throat singing, a special way of singing here in Mongolia. We also went for a camel ride on short camels that have two humps.

The desert stretches on and on and on, brown soil with gray rocks. There always seemed to be mountains in the distance which appeared blue. Goats for cashmere and sheep are everywhere, often herded by a man on motorcycle. There are also cows, horses, and camels. We tasted the beer made from mare milk, fizzy and sour, and we also tasted camel milk, also sour. The gers are few and far between. We were driven around in a 4-wheel drive vehicle on tracks that seemed to lead to nowhere, often amazed at how our driver found his way. Several times he would take off cross country, one time to chase a small desert fox. A highlight there was climbing a huge sand dune, about 900 feet high. It was slow going, but we were rewarded with a splendid view of the desert from above. We could see sand that looked like huge waves that extended far away. The dunes were called Singing Dunes, and it was true, the dune sang as we neared the top with a deep vibration each time we took a step. It was great fun racing down the dune and hearing the deep continual vibration.

In town we have visited museums, spent a day with a Peace Corps volunteer visiting small business projects, and Global Fund for Women projects. More about these later.