Episode 12

After crossing the border into Mongolia I was getting quite excited as I would see Cybil who runs the Oasis guest house again, I rather liked Cybil and Dimitri would likely be about, he and David had become friends last year. Since last October when we left Dimitri and his girlfriend Gulnara have got married though she is not here, she is still back in Russia organizing a new passport, quite a process there apparently. L keeps saying that the soviet system is alive and very healthy still.

We had not gone very far when we took a detour to visit a bow and arrow workshop (bows only). The craftsman here is quite famous in Mongolia for producing extremely good bows. They are used in archery competitions especially in the Naadam festival that is happening all over the country in July. He explained to us how the bows are made using ibex horn and leg sinue to give them shape and strength. He even had a 'my' size bow for me to try. L should have a photo, I think I have potential!

Another detour we made was to visit the Amarbayasgalant Buddhist monastery. This involved a trip over some basic Mongolian roads. Initially we did find a sign but beyond that we just used the sat-nav to give us the general direction and took the tracks that headed roughly in that direction. Fortunately Lonely Planet gave the GPS location for the monastery for this very reason.

This is lovely rich grassland for grazing cattle and sheep and the valleys are fairly wide with high mountains separating one valley from another. The landscape is dotted with the white dots of the herdsmen’s Gers, (Yurts). Sometimes a single ger at other times clusters of them, they usually come with a 4wd vehicle parked beside, a motorbike or two, a TV antenna, and/or a satellite dish. The nomadic life sure ‘aint what it used to be’. L, being a trifle remiss does not yet have photos of these scenes for you, she had better improve her act or I will have to find a better secretary and assistant.

This monastery dates from the mid 18th century. The cluster of maroon coloured buildings that form the monastery sit at the bottom of the hills with one set of steps leading up to a white painted stupa above to one side and another to the bell shaped temple on the other side. We arrived just as the young novice monks were opening up for the day and we wandered about looking around. There is an outer wall and then an inner wall enclosing a number of small temples off to the sides and a couple of large pavilions one behind the other. This is the same basic style for monasteries and also palaces in Asia.

A few of the novice monks came and collected a large drum that they then carried off to a small temple where a number of the older monks had gathered. Once there the drum was beaten and the monks chanted the morning sutras. At this point a good number of other tourists turned up and all entered the little temple to sit and watch the monks. The small poorly ventilated space soon became overcrowded and quite oppressive with the beating of the drum and the smell of incense. Too much for L and D I fear so we took our leave. At least one cow was meandering around the monastery grounds.

A lot of roof maintenance must be planned because there was a great area of roof tiles stacked inside and outside the outer walls. The monks have a separate dormitory building off to one side of the monastery.

There are remnants of pine forest on some of the hill and mountain sides, so at some time in the dim and distant past much if not all of these hills would have been covered in pine forest. As we neared Ulan Baatar there was more pine forest and now looking out the window of the Oasis dining room we can look upon pine clad hill sides.

We camped each night in open grassland, there not being any alternative. Always there was a ger or cluster thereof not far away. Large flocks of sheep, herds of cattle and mobs of horses were shepardered past where we camped sometimes by a herdsman on foot or mounted on the small Mongolian ponies or roaring about on motorbikes. My human derived a great deal of entertainment from watching them try and muster the cattle and cut out a specific animal. These people may be exceptionally good horsemen but considering they have been herding these animals for 1000’s of generations their stockmen’s skills are very poor. As for the dogs, they are not trained at all and merely seem to complicate matters. Australian stockmen and campdrafters, and dog trainers could certainly teach these herdsmen a thing or two.

Everywhere there are these little animals, quite like mere cats or prairie dogs. They have their burrows in the grassland, a real hazard for galloping horses or an unwary human. Many like to have their burrows in the middle of the dirt tracks or on the dirt verge of the sealed roads. They pop their heads up and look about just as mere cats do and chose to streak across the road in front on speeding vehicles.

So now, here I sit in the Oasis dining room, back in my office and Cybil calls it. One of the girls here has great respect for me, she calls me Mr Ben, I could get used to that. This is just the greatest place for meeting other travellers. They arrive here from all different directions using all sorts of modes of transport and depart in the same manner. David has been looking at the ongoing problems with the car, assisting others with some of their problems as they have, in turn, given assistance to D. Today he is getting the oil changed then after that we may go and do some sightseeing in Ulan Baatar. Then again, as the weather looks more than a trifle bleaks that may be postponed:

© Lynette Regan 29th June 2013