Mongolia - What a place!!!!!

11/18/07 - I am finally getting to add comments...its been longer than an month and i apologize...i will be adding more pictures too tonight :) gotta grab the bull by the horns and such....so here's the info about mongolia....enjoy :) i sure did :)


this is the entrance to the gandan temple...one of the largest in mongolia and the largest in ulan baatar...it is a working temple and the mongolians all come in to pray and burn incense and guests pay an entrance fee to see the super huge wooden standing buddha...it was a wonderful place...
i love this shot of the monk walking through a second gate to get out of the temple...what was really funny to me was that this guy took out his cell phone seconds after i took the shot...i am always suprised to see modern technology combined with being a monk...

this was the portion of the temple the monks were chanting in...it was an amazing sounds and just made me think about all the oms i could, but we were not allowed in to see....

this is me with one of the prayer wheels...one that was painted...these are usually not seen in the mongolian or tibetan buddist temples...usually there are metal ones of bronze...remember...you chant and spin the prayer wheel always clockwise....if you spin counterclockwise you are demolishing the past...keep that in mind.....

this was the funniest monk...and i love that he wouldn't open his eyes for the picture...he wouldn't explain that to me either...but he had no problem taking the picture...he told me i was married...and when i said no...engaged he said...nope i said...in a relationship he said...i said no....had two kids...i said no...it was hilarious...and then he said i would live a long and happy life...simply hilarious....

welcome to the steppes of mongolia...i love this picture...its of the ger camp i stayed at...it could accomodate 90 people...and there were only 10 there...i had a ger all to myself and we were allowed to wander all over the place...we saw an amazing storm roll in while we were there...

this was my personal ger...and although its made of fabric...it was really warm and really large...it was built to accomodate 4 people...so to have one all to myself was pure luxury...

this is the interior of the ger...the painted furniture was stunning and the bed was really comfortable and really warm...as it had a horsehair blanket on it...every thing in the nomadic life of mongolians is based on the horse....and they are expert horse people...they learn to ride around the age of three...simply incredible...and they ride standing...it was amazing to watch...

this was one of the spectacular sunsets we had while i was out at the ger camp...although my camera has this incredible setting for sunsets...this one really was quite beautiful :)

we went and visited the nomads that lived about 1 km away from the ger camp...and when we stopped by the grandsons were milking the goats...goats are the other main staple of the nomads...and usually the girls milk the goats...but this family had only one little girl...so all the boys were trained how to do this as well...she would be joining them in a few years though :)

this is the internal view of the nomad family's ger...members of this family were horse trainers and were very successful...what you see are their medals for their bred horses...as well as their altar for buddha...they were very busy getting horses ready for the horse festival Nadaam that was happening the week after i was there...i was sooooo bummed to have missed it...but hopefully i will get there someday for the festival....

this is the bed the parents of the family slept in and we were sitting on the grandparents bed across from this...the kids sleep on the floor...and there was a smaller ger for the teenager boys, as they were growing too old to sleep in the same ger as their parents and grandparents....when you enter a ger, just like in a temple, you walk clockwise always...even if you have to go all the way around to greet someone...its interesting....

in ulan bataar they had this exhibit in the main square of fancy gers you could buy...inside they were amazing...and the exterior of this one was set up like ghenghis khan's - the black and white head gear are what was outside when they were in the middle of peaceful times...if it was just black, that would mean they were at war and if it was just white, they were visiting friends of the empire...in mongolia they called him chinggis khan...not ghenghis....

this is the inside of the swanky ger...it was amazing...they could put this up in 1-2 hours and could take it down in 1/2 an hour...it blew my mind and was cool to watch...

here is ghenghis khan...in all his glory...this is a HUGE statue on the outside of the parliament building in the main square of ulan bataar...most of the building is under construction...but this statue of him is amazing....they have one of his grandson...kubla khan as well...not nearly as large though....ghenghis was the MAN!!!!

i really liked this statue, also found in ulan bataar...the symbols on the front of the statue were symbols they found of a first group of people that lived in mongolia...i love the symbols... mongolian is quite an interesting looking language...i recoginize nothing and it sounds very poetic....

this is ulan bataar from my hotel room...in the distance on the hill there is a HUGE white representation of ghenghis khan made of rock...just an outline and very hard to see...but amazing none-the-less....ulan bataar was an interesting city, but you can do it in less than two days...and at the moment it is a cross between a construction site and a shanty town...if you are looking for its charm though...go soon...because it will look like everywhere else soon....but if you do go to mongolia, get out of the city and get to the steppes...i can't wait to go back and see other parts of the country...it was incredible and stunning and i loved it :)

this is the gobi desert from the train i took between ulan bataar and beijing...it was REALLY hot....and sand got everywhere...even with the windows closed...it was definitely a ride you needed a shower after....but it was cool to see them switch the train wheels in china....the gauge of the wheels is not the same between countries...it was wild....

this is the beautiful mongolian dining car...so different from the russian trains and the chinese trains...it puts them to shame...i love all of the wood...and they actually had good food too...shocking :)

this is me of course...very happy to be on this mongolian train...it was so different and like being in complete luxury after the train ride from perm to ulan bataar...but that was an experience i would never trade.....okay...more coming...enjoy this and GO TO MONGOLIA - you'll love it and fall in love with it...i can't wait to go back :)

The trans-Siberian Experience (partly)

9/16/07 - hey there folks...sorry it has taken me a dog's age to update my blog...i just don't to seem to have enough hours in the day....i am back in romania, at school at this point...tomorrow we actually have a week away from school for our outdoor education trips...i am hitting the road with the 8th grade....should be a bunch of fun...i just want to get on the bus and get the thing started....we stay in hostel...which is a big step down for a bunch of these kids...and we also spend one night camping....which for another bunch of kids, this will be their first time in a tent...definietly a learning and bonding experience....

anyway...on with the blog show...the following pictures are the ones i took while on part of the trans-siberian railway...from perm, russia to ulan bataar, mongolia....what an experience....i ended up on a mostly trader train...which was such a learning experience...most of the passengers were traders from mongolia, who were doing their bi-weekly trip to and from moscow with their goods....the train itself turned into a traveling store...which had anything and everything you can imagine...from clothes to shoes to car parts to porn to food to appliances to umbrellas...it was just incredible....every stop we made along the way, the traders would bring their goods off the train to the russians and the russians would sell food to those on the train...it was just like a traveling market...i guess it happens about every week or so....just an amazing form of selling and buying....

this is the name of the train in russian....from moscow to ulan bataar....the train was quite crowded and our berth, which was to hold four people, really had six...it was me, a british guy and two mongolian couples....talk about a tight squeeze....and after five days of no real showers or running water....it was quite gross...the train does get cleaned once a day by the provenistas...but they don't scrub it or anything...and your cabin just gets swept out....the provenistas were totally on the take the entire trip...i think the couples actually paid extra money so they could stay in the same bunk...it was sly and so black market....i even gave the provenistas money so they would let me use the bathroom they kept locked....it was much cleaner that way :)

in this shot you can see one of the traders...this woman made tons of money...she sold everything from shoes to dresses to jackets to warm-ups...and she had people who actually worked for her from the train so they could make a bit of money along the way....it was just incredible the swapping of bills and just how much money was on this train....we had one of the biggest traders in our car...not our berth, but in the car...and he had money over fist...euros, dollars, mongolian money and russian money...it was incredible....

when we were in between stops the stuff would be stored everywhere it could fit....so this manequinn was in the hallway, behind the door to the smoking area....walking through the cars you would come across rooms that were so packed with stuff, you had no idea where the people in the berth slept....crazy....what was even crazier was what happened about four hours before the russian border...there was mass of activity to hide everything from the border control people...in the ceilings, the floors, the walls, in the seats...and of course everyone asked the westerners to store things in their luggage...we weren't really searched for illegal goods....its because russia wants to lessen the amount on the black market in mongolia...however, the patrol people that came onto our car were paid off by the provenistas...its all a matter of $$$$$$

this is the samovar...there was one of these on every train i took this summer...it was a constant supply of hot water for coffee and tea and cup of noodles....i lived on instant noodles...the easiest and cleanest thing to make and eat....thank goodness for the samovar :)

this is a typical looking town in siberia...all wooden houses...some of which are really nicely painted with bright and fun colors...most towns are really small...and even though it was the middle of the summer...it was still rather chilly at night....but most houses had their own garden to grow veggies in the summer when the sun was up for most hours of the day....

of course we saw streams and rivers and such along the way...it was amazing how often i would find myself staring out the window for hours at a time...the scenery was really mesmerising...it really reminded me of alaska...which i guess makes sense latitudinally speaking....it was beautiful countryside...if you have never been...you should go :)

this is lake baikal...the largest freshwater lake in the world...it has many species of animals that are endemic to its waters...we saw it at sunrise...i woke up just in time to see the sun coming over the lake...it was stunning...i would like to go back here so i could stop and check out the lake...maybe in the future...you never know....

i took this picture by just hanging my hand out our window of the car...at this point we were in the last day on the train....the scenery was starting to change...not as many hills or birch trees...in other words...we were headed into mongolia...one of the most beautiful places i have ever been....

these are the mongolian guys i shared the berth with....our stay together didn't start off easy...but by the end we were chatting frequently...they were both very excited to be headed home after being in school in moscow for the past six months...noc, on the left was in the berth with his wife...he had one more year of dental school and she had just finished her medical degree....and they were headed home to see the child she gave birth to in january, who they left with her parents while they finished their year in school...it was a crazy story, and i know they were so excited to see their daughter....

this last shot is me, after five days with no shower...gross....the married mongol couple let me wear their mongol hat...it was really cool of them to let me do this...what a trip of a lifetime this was...i learned about many things in the world i had no idea existed....i met cool people and had a glimpse of a very different way of life...i don't think i could ever be a trader on the trans-siberian...but if i had grown up doing it, obviously it would be a different story....it was the trip of a lifetime...but i am not sure i need to do it again :)

time for me to hit the road...hope enjoyed this update...i will put mongolia up soon...it was an amazing place...can't wait to get back there....but now i need to prep for a trip with 8th graders :) hope all is well and happy fall :)

Perm, Russia - the edge of Siberia!

8/22/07 - hey there folks...welcome back to the blog...well, as you know i am back in romania and school started this week...so i have been at work the past three days and can say i am really tired...i forgot what waking up early, driving in crazy traffic and working with kids all day was like...its been a long week already....BUT things look to be going just fine with the kids this year...most are excited to have me and not many have said they hated science this year...which is good because i taught about 2/5 of them last year :)

anyway...i haven't assigned "graded" homework yet so i am trying to get an update done here....this one is for Perm, Russia...which on some maps is referred to as the beginning of Siberia, but other places it is the town just before the Ural Mtns....depends on the map and who you are talking with i guess....i was in perm for four and a half days...three of them were spent kayaking with two super people - Yelena and Andrey...lena was my interpreter and andrey was my guide...and yes, they were only for me...which i found absolutely mind blowing...lena's english is better than mine and andrey is an outstanding outdoorsman and vodka drinker...it was a terrific visit and they really love where they are from...the stories were great...the cooking was tasty...the paddling was stunning...the thunderstorm experienced was incredible and their friendships are treasured....you should get to siberia...its amazing and beautiful...and reminded me a lot of alaska.....go if you can...and tell lena and andrey i sent you :) on to the pictures...hope you enjoy looking at them as much as i did taking them :)

this shot is of the train i took from moscow to perm....it was about 16 hours long...i shared this compartment with one other woman, who only spoke russian...and suprisingly they fed me dinner...it was really comfortable, as you can probably see from the picture...very different from the compartment i was in from perm to ulan bataar...but that's another story :)

here's a shot of lenin found in downtown perm....you find him everywhere...and of course his tomb is in red square...perm has quite a few parks for folks to hang out in...you always find folks playing chess and backgammon in the parks....it was a beautiful day i toured the city of perm....which is where dr. zhivago takes place....

this shot was taken in a village two hours south of perm...this is an "old believers" house...there are very few of these people located in russia any more...they have renounced all creature comforts...kind of like the amish in the states....lena and andrey were saying the couple that lives here is in their 80's or 90's....beautiful house don't you think...most of the houses in siberia are made from wood...not really sure why, but there are tons of woods there, so maybe that's why...also there is a TON of birch trees....its beautiful...

on the way to the river we were kayaking on, we stopped at this monastery on a hill...its in the middle of nowhere and is located in a beautiful area...it is still under renovations...and on one of the walls you can see where past church going folks were shot for what they believed in...the bullet holes are still in the walls on the outside of the church...they are leaving them there to remind them of what can happen and what they don't want to have happen again....

this is the water source for the church and the priests and nuns that live there...they say this is a form of the fountain of youth...i didn't get any water...but its been said its the cleanest water in all of russia...and its in a cool building too :)

this is the view from the church...isn't it beautiful...green as far as the eye can see...i am telling you this place reminded me so much of alaska...it was a gorgeous day as well...you could see for miles and miles (km and km)....

we saw an amazing field of lupine and just had to stop...there was a deep shade of purple and some white mixed in...awesome and the field smelled sooooo clean...it was stunning :)

the sign above shows an ice cave we visited on the way to the river as well...it was incredible...and it really had ice in it...stalagtites and stalagmites....some had colors and others they had lit up with colored lights...as we reached the deepest part of the kungur ice cave the guide shut off all of the lights...and that was PITCH black...and a bit scary :)

here i am at one of the deepest parts of the cave...i can't remember what the sign said...but i love the cyrillic language...even just to look at...i was the only tourist on the tour that wasn't russian...so lena translated for me and then the guide had to explain what she was doing...it was funny....

here's one of the cooler named parts of the ice cave...its the dante section...do you like their representation of an ice devil??? it was cool with the lights shining on it...

here are some of those stalagtites and stalagmites...they met in the middle and made a wall of ice... some of the ice walls were closer to the pathway we walked on...which was nice and smooth and lit well in most parts...although definitely not something you would find in the states, as people did slip in spots and in the states that would equal lawsuit!!! but it didn't matter, as russia is not the same as the states in that respect....

in the last part of the cave they had a christmas tree...and only had to change it out once or twice a year...beause it is so cold down there in the cave, the tree takes a long time to die...so they bring a new one once or twice a year....and keep it decorated all year long...

after the ice cave we went and had lunch...and out came the vodka for lena and i...andrey was driving and did not drink because of it...he did however, make the russian style toasts before each shot...at the end of lunch lena napped from the vodka and andrey and i watched the scenery go by...he didn't speak english and don't know russian...but it was comfortable... later we drank vodka together and he referred to it as the great communicator...the shot above is of me and the kayak we used for the three days with the three of us and our tents and supplies and such...it was terrific....

this was the tea kettle we used continually...russians really like tea...but only if its super hot (as in temperature)....i couldn't keep up with them here...they were both great cooks...you could tell andrey has done this a million times...and then after dinner he hiked back to where we started, drove the truck about 90 km away where we were stopping, parked the truck, hopped a train to where we started, jumped off of the train and then hiked back to where we were downstream...all without GPS....it was very impressive...and its something he just does everytime they take folks on the river...crazy...he knows the river and woods like the back of his hand...incredible....

this was the village we set off from...it was the last bit of civilization we saw until we finished the stretch we covered...but we did see quite a few other boaters and kayakers...its the thing to do with kids and everyone was having a great time...even when it rained... as you can see...the houses are all wood...and of course we saw power lines and tv antennas or satellite dishes everywhere we went....and cell phone towers too...we were never that far from civilization...

this is the spot we made camp the last night....and had a HUGE thunder and lightning storm...which, even though we were about 6 ft above the water line, i thought we might get washed away...at one point the lightning and thunder cracked right above us...and andrey was in a puddle in bare feet...yep....he felt it....crazy...and it was the loudest noise i have ever heard...scared us to death....but when it wasn't raining the view was spectacular....

here we are at the end of the river run...the backdrop is the area of the usva river we passed through...isn't it beautoful...i loved it and these two folks were excellent people to take me along...i treasured their knowledge and now i will treasure their friendship :)

as we headed back to perm, we stopped at this prison, perm-36, which was used during the time of the gulag...i was just confused and obviously knew nothing of this aspect of russian history...but i definitely understood it when i left....so many people were worked to death because they were political prisoners...and this specific prison was still be used in the early 1990s...which is freaky...the only other thing in the area is an insane asylum...which is still used...an institution for men...it was interesting to be there....

this is a view of some of the 20 different gates and fences prisoners would have to escape through...it was said no one even bothered to try to pass through them to freedom...there was no where to go outside of the fences...crazy...and when they felt you could handle more work, they sent you further into siberia to do just that...

here's lena next to the transportation truck to the prison for the "extra-special" prisoners...the ultimate political dissidents were brought in this way...30 or more of them packed into this truck...standing, no sitting or laying down unless you died on the way....gross...

this is a view of the entrance gate and guard tower and guard house...it really was in the middle of nowhere and if you escaped they could see you in this very flat land...it was interesting to learn about the gulag and why existed and i hope that the russians don't let anything happen like this again in their country....and that if we see something like this that we stop it as well...

back in perm lena and her boss, sergey, gave me a very thorough tour of their town...the pride in their voices was unmistakable...they took me to their military museum...this tank was important, but i don't remember why...the main thing in this museum they were very proud of was the missle launcher that shot down an american spy in the 50's...it was interesting to see, but i think they were disappointed i didn't know more of my history of russia and russia + the states....oh well...i learned a lot of information :)

this was one of my favorite buildings in perm...it was built by a wealthy man and he had images of his daughter, who lived far away from him, carved at the tops of the columns of the building and they were all from pictures from when she was between the ages of 1-16...it was beautiful...

and talk about fatherly-love...

this last picture was sunset from my hotel room in perm...it was a stunning sunset...and the flags are of russia and perm's own flag as well...such a peaceful way to finish my time in perm :)

okay...enough info about perm...hope you can see just how beautiful place this is...and if you go there you have to get out of the city into the woods and mountains...they are amazing :) i will try and get my pictures from my trans-siberian railway trip up in the next week or so...and then mongolia...we'll see what happens...i hope all of you are well and happy and have been enjoying your summer...and if you are starting back with school...i hope you have a wonderful year...be sure to send good vibes this way for my year too...and i'll keep you posted on what is happening in life, love and the pursuit of happiness....peace out....