Got up early, packed ready to check out — we would be away from the hotel for two nights before returning on Sunday. Went downstairs and had breakfast, before checking out and leaving the main part of our luggage with the hotel until we returned. We didn't need to take much for the next couple of days, which were destined to prove very interesting.
Uni and Ganbold arrived promptly at 8am, and we were immediately on our way. Destination: Kharkhorin National Park. This is a long journey, 4 hours, over some somewhat bumpy roads. We stopped in at a supermarket for some supplies before we left Ulaanbaatar — giving us a Mongolian supermarket experience — but were soon happily on our way. Ganbold showed his great expertise, giving us a great ride — Suzie, somewhat prone to motion sickness at times, had no problems at all. The conversation in the van during the trip was lively, with Uni giving us information about what we were seeing, or what was coming up, which led into discussions about life in Mongolia and in Australia. We learned about Uni's life with her family and at school, and we in turn talked about our own life, our kids and grandkids. We were really having a great time with our two hosts, and were pleased that the four of us had been thrown together.
And then Uni revealed that this was her first ever experience as a tour guide! She was learning as much from us as we were from her! If this was her first time, then we were very lucky to be part of it.
We took a break at a roadside stop at about 11am, and then pushed on.
Further on, a bit after midday, Ganbold turned in to a Mongolian Restaurant he was familiar with. On the road earlier we had met up with one of the cars from the Peking to Paris Rally, and Warren was just about to comment that they might catch up with us while we were stopped, when all of a sudden one buzzed past us!
Ganbold
pouring tea
Our lunch
We all went in for a true Mongolian lunch of nariyn makhan khurga (нарийн махан хуургаa, Mongolian mutton dish) with true Mongolian tea — suutei tsai (сүүтэй цай) — a brew of water, milk, tea leaves and salt, surprisingly tasty and refreshing.
Continuing on, we turned in to a patch of desert in the dead heart of Mongolia, where people were indulging in camel rides.
Uni asked us if we wanted to visit Erdene Zuu Monastery. As this was one of the sites Warren had researched and particularly wanted to go to, the answer was obvious. So we turned in to it at 3:15pm, and spent a couple of hours there.
This monastery began being built in 1585, using stones from the ruins of the old Mongol capital, Kharkhorum, nearby. It contained inner temples surrounded by an impressive wall containing 108 stupas (108 being a sacred number in Buddhism). It was damaged during the wars between Dzungars and Khalkha Mongols in 1688, abandoned and partially dismantled by the locals. It was rebuilt in the 18th century and by 1872 had a full 62 temples and housed up to 1000 monks.
In 1939 the monastery was virtually destroyed by the communists, leaving only three inner temples and the external stupa wall. In 1944, Joseph Stalin pressured the Mongolian government to rebuild the monastery as "proof" that his regime allowed freedom of religion.
In 1990, on the fall of communism in Mongolia, the place was turned over to the lamas and Erdene Zuu again became a functioning monastery, which it is to this day.
| An eagle outside the monastery | 
|
Chinggis Khan
Ugedei Khan
Khubilai Khan
The Silver Tree
We visited the Kharkhorum Museum, just outside Erdene Zuu, and learned a lot more about Mongolian History — particularly about Chinggis Khan (Genghis Khan, Чингис хаан, 1162-1227) and his successors, Ugedei Khan (Өгөдей хаан, 1186-1241) and Khubilai Khan (Хубилай хаан, 1215-1294). We also saw a painting of the Silver Tree, a famous part of Genghis Khan's capital here, and which appears in some form or another all round Mongolia. Made of gold and silver, the fountain gushed wine which would be drunk by visiting potentates and officials.
Then we set off for Urguu Tourist Camp where, after dinner, we would settle in for a good night's sleep in a Mongol ger (called a 'yuurt' in Russia), the felt tent used for centuries by the nomads, and still used extensively throughout Mongolia.
Dinner itself was tsuivan (цуйван, a Mongolian beef and noodle stew) — delicious!
But after dinner there was another treat in store. Because of the kindness of a local nomad herder family, we were invited down to their ger to meet the family and talk about life as a herder. We happened in at a rather stressful time, as one of their horses had wandered further than it was supposed to — they insisted it was not lost, but simple a little delinquent! — so the men of the family had just come in after looking unsuccessfully for the truant. Still no worries — they knew roughly where it was, so they just had to round it up tomorrow!
After a lovely time with this family, we returned to our ger and to bed.
No comments:
Post a Comment