Yaks, Reindeers, Eagles and Camels

Ok, got little bit time to write in here again. Well where was I? Somewhere in mongolia. Okay so Mongolia 3 weeks did go by really fast there. There was so much I wanted to do or I wanted to see, but was not able to them all in that time frame. We basically started out with Gandan Monastery which is in UB. It is a pretty cool monastery that survived many years of changes. My apartment was right across this Gandan temple. Because it is so close I use to go there quite often before joining the church. I remember when dalai lama visited there was so many people and I also went there before my big final test. We also went to Natural History Museum. I remember it being the coolest museum. But the museum still looks the same as 10 years ago. They quite a bit dinosaur exhibits there but the big T-rex was not there as it was traveling in Europe. We get to see smaller T-rex but it was still like 12 feet or something. Countryside was fun, we drove to Lake Hovsgol along with many other locations such as Amarsanaa temple, Taihar rock, Karakorum, etc. There are total of 21 states and we visited 8 of them on our trip. So we can say we almost visited 1/3 of the country. It was fun to ride on Land Cruiser 80. It was an suv made exactly for Mongolia or Australia. Our total gas price for 5 day trip was whopping $700. Gas price was little more in Mongolia and rough terrain also contributed in high gas usage. But the pics we took and experiences we had cannot be measured by money. Camel and Yak rides were fun. Eagle on your shoulder picture was cool. Volcanic crate and 2 million years old Lake hovsgol one of the cleanest lakes in the world. It was interesting to see Badarchin “Bums” in Mongolia walking around and seeking adventure. We picked up 2 swiss couple out nowhere walking and they did not speak Mongolian and sleeping in Nomadic’s yurts and helping herders. It was really green in the countryside and the livestock was everywhere. Hills and mountains all covered with animals and herders. It was interesting that although the land size was so big there still was so much livestock everywhere. Fresh Mare’s milk, Yak butter, Raindeer tea and butter were some interesting food we tried. For me of course they are normal but for Ash it was not. Well time is up I gotta write later.

Mongolia after 7 years or really in 10 years

So I flew to Mongolia the flight is really short and sweet. When I got there there was Mongolian citizen line and foreign visitors line at the immigration. I thought I will be done so quick since I am Mongolian national. I was wrong. They made me wait there for like 30 mins. Got questioned about how I left the country and new registration had been done on my passport etc. What happened was that they did not see departure stamp from Mongolia on my passport. Last time when they put the stamp on my passport the ink was really faint and they missed to see it. Anyways, I made it through and then got picked up by my family and was able to experience Mongolia. The road from airport to UB was pretty messed up. Just like when I left the country 7 years ago. I was shocked that after this many years why have not they fixed it. It was nice to see my family after many years. I had tsuivan as my first meal there. After I got there I found out the summer plumbing project has started in the city and each districts takes turn. This time the place I was staying had their turn and was told that hot water should had been back a month ago but it had not. Luckily Mongolian air so dry that I did not sweat a bit and my skin looked better than in 7 years just being there. I did not take a shower but no sweat and my skin was back to normal perfect look. Strange how my skin preferred Mongolian weather over any other place’s. I had about a week before Ash came to Mongolia. The air quality in the city was pretty bad due to too many suv’s and cars. It was nice to see green Bogd Khan Mountain right next to Ulaanbaatar. Although in Utah the mountains are right in Salt Lake it did not look the same as Mongolian mountains. The Bogd Khan Mountain looked more natural and beautiful than Utah mountains. Very green. I guess this summer it rained quite a bit. It was still little chilly but I liked that kinda weather. As far as food is concerned people are eating little too much mutton nowadays. Cuz they are costing half the price of beef. When I was in Mongolia it was mostly beef. Mutton did taste gross in steamed form but was really good when it was fried or boiled. I did not that much first few days. Took me 3-4 days to really get used to the food. I will write more later. This is getting really long post.

Summer Trip Korea Part1

We had a great long vacation this summer. I took a month off of work and Ash took 2 weeks off. We had different flights almost the whole trip except only one flight we were together. Last time I left the states was when I visited Korea and Mongolia for a short time like a week back in 2004. I mostly took flights inside the US since that time and noticed that significant change in Airline industry when it comes to internation flights. I took Korea air and Singapore air and both airlines Entertainment system changed completely since last time I flew internationally. Probably because of the recent advancement in computer and entertainment in general. I stayed at PJ and Lorri's for a week. I had no problem of finding their place. Since last time I was in Seoul, this city has once again transformed itself. Most of the subway’s are upgraded with glass protective doors like the ones at airport usually. People dress so much better now in Korea than they did 7 years ago. More advancement had been made in Korean Hyundai car industry. Yes they are nation that love their national products. I did travel countryside and to Busan of Korea by their new bullet train. I love the Korean countryside. Lush green pointy low hills and rice farming everywhere. The railroad from Seoul to Busan went through at least 100 mountain tunnels tells you how expensive the project was. I visited my brother who was working there by Busan. I took several buses to get there. Some of the mountains in Busan reminded me of Hawaii. Busan in general is not high techy city like Seoul but it has its own Pearl Harbour or Honolulu feel to it(not as exactly the same) The beach there was not as pretty as North shore or Hawaii’s but still got nice long sandy beach. People there for sure have different fashion style than Seoul. They do have many tourists visiting Busan. I did go out quite a bit in Busan with my brother. Busan did have subway but pretty small and have little older payment system like how seoul subway was 7 years ago. Seoul’s subway payment system got complete makeover now. There was not whole a lot to see in Busan compare to Seoul. But it did have quite a bit natural spots or temples to go by the shores. I spent in a motel in Busan with my brother, awkward experience since mostly couples go there. We found out it was a lot cheaper to spend night at JimJilBan Korean public bath place for like 7500 Won. Cheapest crappiest motel was like around $60,000 WON. On my birthday Ash I went to LotteWorld. It was pretty fun there. Almost 90% of the people there were couples who were on dates. In the States 90% of it would be families with their kids. That shows you how young Korea is. Seoul did become one of the most advanced tech cities due to its later development, almost everything was built with future technology in mind unlike old Europe and states they built their city anew. I will write later more about the trip.

Mongolia Trip Recap

Sain Baina yy,

I have made it to Mongolia! It is pretty unique and crazy! The apartment we are in is kinda nice. I have yet to have a warm shower. I guess there is maintenance going on so they turn the hot water off and on. The toilet is WEIRD... I am still trying to figure out how to flush it.... It is chilly and windy today.... Munk got some awesome stuff here shopping for dang good prices. I am excited to go shopping! Munk's mom said I have lost weight so she is trying to stuff me full of things, but my appetite is a little smaller here... maybe because it is mutton and I am just not used to that taste. I ate Tsuivan for breakfast and that was really yummy. They bought beef/steak for me hahaha. Munk and I have a nice room and a bed, but no pillows hahaha. All of our electronics work here so that is nice. We are at a crazy internet cafe right now. They are playing what sounds like Hindi music, but Mongolian language. The part of the city we are in is still developing, but nothing like Korea. We have two doors for the entrance with about 7 locks so I think we are safe. Anyways, I don't have much else to say except the airport was tiny. You practically walk off the plane and there is customs and then go down some stairs and there is the baggage claim. That is it~ anyways, I will update you more as I experience it. Munk has to get some registration paperwork here or he can't leave the country... so we are trying to do it. We leave for the country side tomorrow so we will not have any contact for about 5 days. We will travel 500km over about 2 days in a land cruiser to get up North. I am sure it will be even colder up there.

Country Side Adventure in Mongolia

Day 1

We left Ulaanbaatar early in the morning and on our way we visited some states that were already celebrating Naadam. They were horse racing, which was fun to see. We drove a lot all day. We were on paved road some of the time, but mostly dirt roads that have made me sore. We went to a Buddhist temple called Amarbayasgalan, what a mouth full. On our way there, we saw some Swiss hitch hikers that were stinky and we gave them a ride to the temple. I had to sit by them on this bumpy road... The temple was really cool. It is not like the temples you see in Korea or other parts of Asia. This temple is very old and there are munks still practicing in them. We got to go inside and listen to them read prayer roles. I saw two lil rebel munk boys that were playing on a smart phone... I dunno how they got it since they are in the middle of no where. At the temple there is a mini stupa that you crawl into, stand up in, look through a tiny whole, and make a wish. We did that and boy - it was a tight fit. After visiting the temple we drove on ward to lake hovsgol. We stayed in Moron, the city close to lake hovsgol. Munk and I stayed in a Motel called "Grand Motel". It was not grand by any means. There was no shower or hot water from the bathroom that was public. Our room was a closet and the bed was a slab of wood. This bed was also smaller than a twin size bed. So as you can imagine, it was somewhat of a sleepless night and having a couple of drunks yelling, fighting, and throwing things at each other outside our room didn't make matters any better; however, it did provide some entertainment.

Day 2

We woke up and headed from the lake. It took us about 3 more hours of bumpy driving to get there, but it was beautiful once we did. The first thing we did was visit the reindeer ppl. We went into their tepee and talked. They gave us boortsog, which is a hard bread thing and then they gave us a reindeer butter kind of thing to put on it.

Reindeer butter/cream doesn't taste very different from cow butter. We also were given reindeer milk tea. Not so yummy. Pretty bitter. In their tepee we sat on reindeer skins and played with the fuzzy antlers. It was interesting to talk with the reindeer shaman lady. She told me I should not wear gold and sliver together, but only wear one at a time or else Munk and I will get a divorce in 2 years and never progress. Mom (munk's mom) who is a shaman said she is full of it. After talking to them we checked out the reindeers. They were cool~ Yaks, horses, cows, and goats were everywhere just grazing around the lake. It was really cold there. We then ate lunch which was too salty, but okay. After the lake we headed onward to the volcano and found a yurt camp to sleep in for the night. Again, munk and I shared a tiny twin size bed. The yurt got very warm and was good at keeping the rain out.

Day 3

After waking up in the yurt I tried to take a shower, but the hot water lasted 2 minutes and they charge about 5 dollars for showers, but because mine was cold, we didn't have to pay. We had breakfast and checked out the lake we slept by and all the ovos (rock shrines). It was really cool. We then went on to the volcano and hiked up. It was really huge and cool to see. The view was amazing from up there. On the top were some Kazak Mongols that had an eagle. We took pics with the eagle and let the eagle perch on our arms for about .80 cents. Pretty cool. It was pretty heavy and had a deadly grip. After the volcano, we stopped by some random yurt in the country side and talked to the family. They let us in, fed us curd, which wasn't too bad, mares milk, and yak butter/cream. The Yak butter/cream was DELICIOUS! I didn't know at the time, but the mares milk we were given was fermented. I only took a sip and after tasting did not want anymore. It is like SOUR and bitter milk.Then we went down and headed for the famous rock in the country side. It is a huge rock that is located in the middle of a flat field of grass so it is random that it is there. Legend tells that a great Mongol wrestler put it there. Once we got there we found a guy with a Yak that was giving tourists rides. So, I rode a yak around the big rock. It was cool, but the Yak kept making noises as if he thought differently. After the big stone we went to Khara Koram, the old capital of the ancient Mongol empire. It was really cool. We saw a rock turtle from the 13th century. Then the drive took us up the mountain and we saw a "penis" stone that is popular in Mongolia and legend has it that if you ride it, you will become pregnant. I didn't ride it. Anyways, we then headed off to an area in Mongolia that the wind brings sand from the Gobi to. It is a thin strip in the middle of a grassy land that is dessert. We rode camels around in the sand and had a great time. Then we drive home.

The country is beautiful. Most beautiful I have seen. Green rolling hills, rocky mountains, a mixture of the two. Overall I was just amazed with how green it all is and all the life there is. Everywhere I looked, I saw goats, sheep, horses, yaks, and cows grazing where ever they pleased. The car ride was crazy, the driver was going 60 mph on dirt roads and I was being thrown around since there weren't any seat belts. His car broke down once and his lights went out, but we were able to fix it.

I hated the driver culture here though. You are expected to pay the drive a set fee and then all of his food, housing and whatever else he wants. I got frustrated when he bought more gas than he had money for and asked us to pay an extra $65 than we had already given him.

Anyways, I didn't like the driver much at all, but we got to see a lot. I also got sick while I was out there. I am recovering now. I have a sore throat, runny nose, and am fatigue. I have been resting a lot today.

:)