Mongolia: Dinosaur bones and camel rides

From the urban bustle of Ulaanbaatar to the rural expanses of the Gobi Desert. We left from the northern part of Mongolia to the southern areas of the Gobi desert. Upon landing at the small airport in Dalanzadgad, Mongolia (where we were the only plane), we headed off for two hours on a dirt road to the Three Camel Lodge. The Three Camel Lodge is a collection of Mongolian round houses, called gers, or yurts, as the Russians call them. These are the traditional homes that Genghis Khan used when conquering the largest swath of land ever controlled by a single man.

From the Lodge we then did a side trip to the Flaming Cliffs where we will found some dinosaur bones that are 70 to 250 million years old. We also had some time to ride camels and take a small hike into the Gobi Desert Forest: a bunch of scrub brush a that stand out in this sea of grasslands and sand dunes.
Ellen, in her embrace of the planet, rolled down the sand dunes prior to our adventure on the Bhactrian Camels.

Factoid: Fossilized dinosaur bones stick to your wet tongue, rocks do not.

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia: Gers/Yurts, Horseback riding and prayer

Today has been wonderful: temples, yurts, art history, horseback riding and more. Last night and this morning were cold. It actually was snowing while I strolled 'Ubi' last night at 11PM. Ulaanbaatar is like a gold rush town: lots of energy and growing fast. The Mongols are a nomadic people that are attempting to deal with urbanization. We started with a visit to the only remaining Buddhist temple in Mongolia. There were over 70 destroyed during the communist rule of this land. Countless monks were also killed during that purge. This lone remaining temple welcomed with a magical prayer where the locals all held ribbons of silk that the monks fed out to the group. After the chanting reached it's peak the monks drew the silk out of the hands of the locals and the locals circled the temple while the chanting continued. Each stopped by the alter to offer prayer, and then they backed out of the temple to the awaiting sub-freezing morning. From there we went to a local Mongolian house about 15 miles out of town. As we arrived they were herding horses back into the compound of yurts (gers). After a visit inside one of the gers, Ellen and I were fortunate enough to ride a Mongolian short horse. Following that we witnessed some long-pole lassoing and the traditional game where the Mongolians ride bareback and grab bags from the ground while hanging down off thier steed. Finally we went to some museums and to a cashmere factory.

Factoid: Over 50% of the 2.8 million population of Mongolia still lives in gers today.

more on life on Mongolian Plains - Gers, Horses

Rand and I both rode the longhaired horses owned by the family whose Ger we visited. (That's Rand in the blue jacket).

We learned that the 70 year old woman (the beautiful lady in Green) who lived in the Ger had inherited it from her parents and that it was 90 years old. She hopes to leave it to her children.

The Ger is heated by a small stove - dried cow dung is the fuel. It has a waterproof felt roof with a round hole at the top covered by clear plastic. The poles that hold up the roof are decoratively painted.

Being nomadic, the family moves when the grazing land for its horses, cows, camels and goats is bare. The heaviest part of the Ger to move is the felt, so they are sure to wait until 3-4 weeks after any rain because any moisture makes the felt much heavier.

Mongolian Performing Artists

Tea cup dancer (who dances with tea cups on her head) and the Throat Singer (see Rand's video of his unique style of singing from his throat)

the full orchestra of traditional Mongolian instruments

Most Amazing 11 yr old Contortionist

We had a great treat tonight, having a full display of local Mongolian performing arts during dinner. Here was the amazing 11 year old "contortionist". Aminiaa was trained from the age of 6 for the last 5 years and she never stopped smiling! We also were treated with the national champion throat singer. This gentleman was capable of creating both the highest highs and lowest lows with only his voice. The highs were generated with so much purity and the lows had a vibrato that pulsated the whole room.