Blogs from Darkhan, Mongolia, Asia

Spring has sprung! I am probably speaking too early but there is nothing like seeing (and more importantly, feeling) temperatures in the negative teens (and single figures during the warmest part of the day) rather than negative twenties and thirties! Even the ice melted off my apartment windows! The lead up to Tsagaan Sar (Цагаан сар, literally 'White Month', Mongolian Lunar New Year) felt so much like Christmas at home. There was a major shopping frenzy, work slowed down, including work days being unofficially shortened, and the black market seemed to be brimming with more sheep carcasses than usual. Why? See my photos - all families cook up a whole sheep for the four day event. Tsagaan Sar is all about family, honoring the elderly, visiting, and celebrating the end of 81 days of winter! The ... read more

I had a memorable Christmas/New Year period - not likely to ever be repeated as I will now describe in more detail! Pre-Christmas in UB For the first time since August, I caught up with my Mongolian 'foster mum'. I stayed with Duya and her family as part of the VSO In country training 'home stay' program. Since then, we have been in touch my email only. We had a great lunch at a Chinese hotpot chain restaurant called 'The Bull'. I, of course, opted for the chilli soup option for my hot pot and was rewarded with the hottest meal I have experienced in Mong - it was sensational to have tasty, hot food. Staying at Farrah's apartment in UB (whilst she was having a break at home in the Philippines), I was lucky to ... read more

11 and 12 December 2010 represent 28 hours worthy of their own entry! Whilst I will give a comprehensive run down of the weekend, the photographs tell the story much better than my words. Warren, the only Australian I know living in Darkhan, chose to spend his final weekend in Mongolia with me, 2 Swiss girls, Brigitte and Rita, and a German, Ramona, at a little ranch in the Darkhan soum (district) of Orkhon, about an hour's drive from home. As we met at the Darkhan post office at midday on Saturday, they was a low muttering of "why are we doing this?" on this very wintry weekend but we had made a commitment so off we went. The drive was fantastic as I got to see my first bactrian (2 humped) camels in Mongolia. There ... read more

Not many words with this entry as most of the pictures are simply repeats or variations of pictures I have taken in warmer weather! This is like my 'Spring' entry from the UK in April 2010 where it was all about the look, feel, and mood of the UK in Spring. This is the look of Darkhan as we approach winter proper. Mongolia has lived up to my weather expectations! Most days are clear with bright blue skies. However, in the last few weeks, the occasional overcast day signals we are about to experience some snow fall. So far, the actual amount of snowfall has been limited to between 5-10 cm at a time. But the temperature is now constantly below freezing so the snow that has fallen is hanging around - dangerously when it comes ... read more

A note of caution: Please don't read this entry too critically. I have plenty of good things to say about this beautiful country I find myself in, but there are some aspects of life here which I wish were absent. I simply want this entry to read as my personal perspective as to some of the more remarkable aspects, both positive and negative, of my everyday life here in Darkhan. The Good * So far so good on the 'land of the blue sky' being accurate. It is slowly cooling down here, wintery low teens most of last week but followed up a stunning blue sky day on Sunday. The evenings, however, are consistently chilly. The heating in my apartment came on at the end of September and in the office in early October which makes ... read more