Holiday in Mongolia

It's a rainy day today in Mongolia; perfect for blogging. For this leg, we booked a tour through a company. We were hoping it wouldn't be too large of a group we were traveling with, and it turns out the "group" is just the two of us! Our guide, Anu, is awesome, and making the experience very special.



The view from our hotel in UB

We arrived in Ulaanbataar on Sunday and spent the day sightseeing in the city. We went to Gandantegchenling Monastery, which is actually 10 temples located on the same grounds, and the National Museum. We learned lots about the form of Buddhism practiced in Mongolia, which is the same as is practiced in Tibet, as well as the history of Mongolia. Ghengis Kahn has many statues in his honor throughout the country, and a large part of the museum is devoted to him.

The next day we left for Gun Galuut Nature Preserve, where we will stay until Friday. We are staying in a traditional ger, or yurt, without electricity.



Our ger



A row of gers


The ceiling, decoratively painted

It's very peaceful here, though there is much to do. Today was supposed to involve horseback riding to a nearby lake, but the weather isn't cooperating. We got caught in a downpour while on a hike on our first day here, and even though we got soaked, it was a great time. Yesterday, we rode on a yak cart to a local family's ger and made lunch, noodle soup, with them.


The yak cart



On the way to the ger



Anu and Jay eating the noodle soup we made


Alison makes "perfect" Mongolian noodles, according to the family



The baby likes the soup! We asked Any if she had seen the movie Babies, and how accurate the Mongolian experience was. She said that the only thing out of the ordinary was that the family had a cat and chicken, and most families don't. She said it's typical for parents to tie the babies to a bedpost so that they don't get into trouble!




It's hard to believe the trip is coming to an end so soon!


- Posted using BlogPress from my iPhone