Mongolia Part 2

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About midway through our overland journey, we arrived at Karakhorum, the capital city of the Mongols built by Genghis Khan and his son in the 13^th – 14^th centuries. Bricks from the ruined walls of Karakhorum were used in the 16^thcentury to build Erdene Zuur Monastery, a short walk away, where we saw a terrific collection of ancient Buddhist art – sculpture and beautiful intricate tapestries hanging from the walls of the many temple buildings.




Erdene Kuur was Mongolia’s largest monastery before the Stalinist purge in 1937-39 when thousands of lamas (monks) were killed or impressed and most of the monasteries and temples were destroyed. We visited the ruins of several of these empty buildings as well as the archeological excavation of old Karakhorum, stepping over shards of ancient roof tiles that litter the ground. The Karakhorum Museum houses some exquisite artifacts that have been unearthed so far.




Wood is not as plentiful in the steppe as in the forests of the north so our fires here were supplemented with dried dung. Heat is heat. We lurched onward past mountain eagles through the diminishing vegetation as we left the steppe and entered the Gobi. Here the vistas are truly endless. The flat sands stretch to the edge of the deep blue sky. Bactrian camels forage on sagebrush-like shrubs that look like bales of hay spread out on the desert floor.



The highlight of our time in the Gobi was the day we spent at a Naadam Festival. Young men and women competed in overland horse racing, wrestling, and archery, as well as a thrilling event where riders on horseback at full gallop tried to pick up objects from the ground without falling off (or the horse falling over).



Another day, we hiked in Yoliin Am National Park where we watched the endangered Bearded Vultures soaring over a still-frozen river bed. On our last evening in the Gobi, we explored Bayan Zag (Flaming Cliffs) where the first nest of dinosaur eggs was discovered in 1923. The sun was brilliant although there were rainclouds in the distance leaving us with a glorious rainbow to color our memories of Mongolia.



We arrived safely back home in Portland on June 25, after three months of traveling in Asia.

Don't forget to scroll down to see the rest of the photos. Thanks for reading our blog!

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Comments

[Tom]

Welcome home. I loved every minute of your trip. Hope to see you guys soon. Tom