Blogs from Kharkorin, Mongolia, Asia

Our next adventure took us about 4 hours to the west to the town of Kharkorin, the location of the former capital established by Chenghis Khan - Karakhorum. Erdene Zuu Monastery Our first stop was the Erdene Zuu Monastery, a Tibetan Buddhist monastery constructed in the late 16th century. We were told we had 90 minutes here, which seemed like a lot, but there was actually quite a bit to see and we wound up a bit rushed, or at least, I was. It was originally intended for the surrounding wall to have 108 stupas, 108 being an important number in Tibetan buddhism, but I did not count. It was also constructed using ruins from the old capital, which did not last long. At its peak, the monastery held 62 temples and housed over 1,000 monks. ... read more

20 juillet Je quitte ce matin le campement de yourtes alors que dans la pâle lueur du jour, les nomades détachent leur bétail pour leur permettre de disparaître dans le paysage jusqu'au prochain coucher de soleil. Les vaches reviendront d'elles-mêmes ce soir. Par centaine, les chèvres tout près seront, elles, récupérées parfois à cheval, mais plus souvent en selle d'une moto. Puis les chevaux eux, ne reviendront jamais. Ils seront récupérés au besoin, après un coup de téléphone (peut-être) d'un voisin de yourte, à des kilomètres de là. Dans la steppe, des nerveuses musaraignes et des écureuils de Sibérie s'éclipsent dans les bosquets de lichen à l'approche de notre véhicule. Les rapaces tournoient en un 8 infini dans le ciel vide, prêt à décocher leurs serres sur les plus imprudents carnassiers. Il y a peu de ... read more

Mongolia 2 I am sitting on the train from Beijing South Station headed to Jinan. The trip will take about three hours and I am off to see Du Ying, a friend from Madison who completed her PhD in economics last October. Wow- so much has happened over the past year, not to mention the last hour! I love to travel. I love meeting new people and discovering new places, but it’s hard to articulate and synthesize it all into a neat package such as a blog. This reminds me of when I studied art in college. I discovered that I have a proclivity to use all of the colors versus being selective. Whether it’s art or writing, I get so excited and want to convey a sense of wonder and amazement about what I am ... read more

Naadam - The grandest festival in Mongolia. It takes place around the same time in different towns across the land. We intentionally opted against being in Ulaan Baatar for the event because it gets way too crowded with tourists and locals alike and it's impossible to find accommodation there or even see the games properly. So instead we all decided (my Gobi companions and I) to check out the festival in the ancient town of Kharkorin, a former capital of the grand Mongol empire, but now reduced to a simple ramshackle Mongolian town, with a very small population and way less tourists. The Naadam festival is centered around the three manly games - Horse Racing, Wrestling and Archery, and are skills that all Mongolian men were supposed to posses to survive and defeat their enemies. Tume ... read more

Km travelled 12803 31.10.08 The little boy Dava shook hands with us and energetically waved standing with his family while our Jeep slowly turned on its bumpy way. Today we tried the half frozen river crossing. Without big success we have to say. Ochkhar stopped the car and got off to check the river and find out where best to cross, and at the end valued that we were in the best place. So we tried, as I said. The ice was very thick, not enough to support the car, enough to break the car's headlights. We eventually came past a lady on her horse that advised us about a bridge close by. Good. Good. After the failure in finding the Tovkhon monastery we decided to make an after lunch stop at the small Shankha monastery, ... read more