MONGOLIA 2006
On September 17, 2006, I was on my way back to Mongolia, this time on my own. Working with Nomadic Journeys, a Mongolian-Swedish joint venture, I planned my own itinerary to include four destinations, two of which were for the purpose of seeing Mongolia's wild horse, the takhi (Przewalski's Horse). I also wanted to visit the legendary Gobi Desert and watch the sun go down over the Flaming Cliffs, made famous by the fossil discoveries of Roy Chapman Andrews' Central Asiatic Expeditions of the 1920's. Finally, I wanted to go back to Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve to see the argali sheep again. I was more than a little stressed and scared to take off on my own to what most Westerners consider a remote and exotic destination, but once I got there and checked in at the tour company office, I knew that it would be a great trip. And it was! So, come along with me and get a taste of the land of Chinggis Khan!

ULAANBAATAR ("RED HERO") THE MONGOLIAN CAPITAL
1 Sukhbaatar Street, Ulaanbaatar. My first stop the morning of my arrival. Nothing drab about the architecture. The entry to the Nomadic Journeys office. There is a great little Mongolian café a few doors down. I had lunch there one day later in the trip and was the only Westerner in the place. Huge lunch of soup, Khuushuur (fried meat dumplings), salad and side dishes for about $3. Yum!
The Natural History Museum across the street to the left of the building above. A wonderful rambling old place, kind of a storybook museum from the 19th century. It will probably be updated and much improved in the coming years, but will certainly lose its cozy informal charm. One example of the taxidermy mounted animals in the museum. As in many museums on a weekday, this one had quite a few students hard at work, paper and pencils in hand.
One of my favorite finds in the museum, the Camel Room, complete with a full-sized taxidermy mounted bactrian camel. It was full of everything camel- photos, paintings, scultures, folk art and camel gear like saddles and harnesses. The main dinosaur hall. This a complete fossil of a 3m tall, five ton carnivorous Tarbosaurus. Dinosaur fossils are rightfully a great source of pride to the Mongolians since so many important ones have been found in their country.
It's not very big, but looms large in paleontology- the famous Fighting Dinosaurs, one of the must-sees in Ulaanbaatar. It's amazing. You can clearly see that the protoceratops on the left has the raptor's front leg in its mouth and that the raptor has its back leg buried in the stomach of the protoceratops. This is just as they were found, but how? One theory, which made sense to me when I saw it, was that they were buried in a sand or mud slide so quickly that neither had time to move. It was found in the Gobi Desert in 1971 by a joint Polish-Mongolian team. Dinosaur eggs. Roy Chapman Andrews' Central Asiatic Expedition in the 1920's found the first ever fossil dinosaur eggs in the Gobi Desert. The news was a national sensation and made Andrews famous. The irony was that he was really in Mongolia trying to prove that humans originated in Asia and wasn't primarily looking for dinosaurs at all.
The National Museum of Mongolian History is a modern building that contains artifacts from the entire span of human history in Mongolia. Not surprisingly, one of, if not the, most popular parts of the museum is the third floor collection of items from the time of Chinggis Khan and the Mongol Horde. This is a view of one end of the Chinggis Room, with a statue of the great man himself.
Real, honest to gosh, 13th century Mongol armor from the time of Chinggis Khan. There is also a chain mail hauberk and a coat of riveted metal plates from the same era. Chinggis Khan is considered by the Mongols to be the father of their country, similar to how Americans view George Washington. Eight hundred years ago, he united all the various Mongol tribes for the first time. Of course, the West and the countries he and his Horde conquered have taken a dimmer view of his accomplishments. During Soviet times, even talking about him was verboten. One of the utterly fabulous historic dresses in the costume hall at the museum. It probably looks a little familiar to any Star Wars fan.
The entrance gate to the Chojin Lama Temple Museum. Built in 1904, it survived the almost total destruction of Mongolia's 700 monasteries by Stalinists in 1938. Around 17,000 monks were taken and never seen again. I was gratified to see, while I was there, a few individuals coming in to pray and make other observances. So, the temple complex is once again being used as intended, although there don’t seem to be any monks in residence. This colorful "herd" of horses was a delightful surprise that I saw as I walked through the gate. It was apparently a project for children and they did a marvelous job!
The altar in the main temple. The interior was lush and ornamented almost beyond belief. It seemed, as was probably intended, that one had entered another world. This colorful work of art was in a niche to the left of the altar. The layers of what looked like cut-outs of thin wood were a real eye-catcher
Tsam mask. These masks are used in a recently revived ceremony with Shaman-animist-Buddhist elements, the purpose of which can be to drive away evil spirits or to teach Buddhist principles. The is one of the most fantastic things I've ever seen! The pink part of the mask is made up of zillions of coral beads. I would estimate that it is at least 16" from the bottom of the jaw to the beginning of the headpiece.
The elaborate rooflines of the various temples. A large, probably bronze, incense bowl in a passageway.
Next: Hovd and Khomiin Tal