Ulan Bator
I just spent the day walking around and enjoying the weather. Warm and sunny. I have that the UB is not that pretty a city and not a bad description. Again, I get impressions that the Soviets built it just to warehouse people. Seems a shame that the destroyed temples and monasteries just to build ugly apartment buildings.
I did witness a local festival or some sort with some traditional Mongolian horse back riding.
Dear Diary,
Now I think that I have seen everything. I was walking along in my innocent and childhood way down Peace Avenue in Ulan Bator and what did I see but a Mongolian midget or dwarf (I did not have time to determine his proportions) and he was singing and dancing The Macarena Mongolian style. It was so funny. Unfortunately I did have my camera with me as I think this would be a You Tube Caption for the ages.
I went out to the Mongolian country side to do some hiking and it was great. I also stayed in a traditional Ger with a Mongolian family. They basically left us on our own other than meal time. I went horseback riding for the second time in 6 months. The horses were docile, well trained and slow. Not the demonic beast from hell as I originally thought.
The steppes are barren, flat and barren. Lots of domestic animals grazing.
I went to a monastery today with a 26 meter tall Buddha. The Soviets destroyed many of the monasteries here and the original stature was sent to St. Petersburg and this is a replacement. The pictures do not do it justice but it was incredible.
Frankie’s Baby Sitting Service
This is a little bit strange. There was a women with her two daughters staying at the hostel. Her daughters are very cute and lively at 4 and 2. I am playing with them and the next night I see them again. The mother is sick with food poisoning so I offer to go to the store for her to get some water and such. The two little girls want to come with me. The mother says sure. So here I am in hand in hand with two strange little girls walking down Main Street in Ulan Bator. There was something in me waiting to get picked up for kid napping charges.
Off to China tomorrow.
The
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