Being on the train for 30 hours starts to make everyone go crazy look at this...
After crossing the border the train was carefully checked for stoways... in the process all the bathrooms were locked and I needed to go to the bathroom. We waited and waited and waited and finally I had to demand the bathroom be unlocked... I asked the car manager (we named him PorkRind Face for all his unhelpfulness) if I could get in and he said that because the Mongolian military (soldiers) were watching from the outside and the customs officer was passing through the car it would not be possible and he would have to wait... I told him that I needed a bottle (implying I could not wait) in order to persuade him to unlock it but he took it seriously and gave me the bottle... faced with no choice I had to use the bottle... and I went in the intercar-airlock compartment... unfourtantely halfway through, soldiers started peeping in from the outside and the customs officer (a Mongolian woman) started asking what I was doing right in the middle of the affair... somehow I managed to get through the situation.
Found my first Mourin Khuur on the train... it was in the dining car...
The next morning we woke up pretty late. We had stayed up through the night talking with the train passengers and eventually managed to become friends with quite a few of the passengers. At one point we all went down to the dining car to get some midnight snacks, but we found out that they were closed... and we continued to notice that they dining car was closed all too often, it had an extremely slacker dining car staff that would lie about what they did and did not have from the menu. They would just sit there and play cards and thought Mike also could not speak Chinese but they were surprised when Mike heard them planning their lies right in front of us and he spoke up.
Anyhow, we all went back to bed and fell asleep and woke up in the late morning to the Mongolian grassland. We got off at a stop to see what the town was like and ended up making a cash withdraw from the ATM, the Mongolian currency is denominated in the 1000s and can look a bit deceiving at first. Its cool with all the wonderful artistic designs on it, take a look at this picture...
The first town that we stopped in on the train and picked up some money...
The train came around several huge bends into a grassy meadowed forest land... with plush hills rising all around. It was a warm feeling and also a very liberating atmosphere. The train eventually passed some huge antenna towers for the local radio and TV stations in the capital which we were headed to.
Mike enjoying the train ride.
Adnan enjoying the train ride.
Adnan enjoying the train ride.
The Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert and the train
Dinosaurs in the Gobi Desert (still alive!)
Little Ghengis
Rocking!
Within 30 minutes we had arrived at the final train stop, it was the union station in Ulaanbatar. It was a triumphant feeling for me to have arrived here... I initially wanted to visit Mongolia when I was about 17 years old. I am not sure what the exact reason was, but I think that I had studied about Gurs and the nomadic way of life in many regions in Mongolia... I was always attracted to the idea that a non-technological existence could possibly lead to a higher state of consciousness = being insync with the natural world and exposed to the elements: a shorter life but closer to the spark of life itself!
Then in college I became interested in Mongolian music, expecially both male and female singing styles. Everyone is probably familiar with Khoomie, the famous Mongolian singing. I have been studying it for about 7 years, and it
gave me a chance to test it out on the locals and get some feedback... all this was in my head as we travelled there... and when we step off the train it was pouring rain. I did not have an umbrella so I was vastly unprepared for the conditions. We walked along the streets of Ulanbatar after dropping our bags at a youth hostel and we felt an extreme sense of lawlessness.
The traffic and water drainage planning was lacking as every single intersection, small street and turn was jam packed with traffic. Cars honking trying to get a couple of seconds ahead. The pools of water surrounding us
was also challenging... in order to go up the sidewalk we often had to walk on sidewalk curbs to avoid our shoes getting submerged in the water. It was really fun as we had to coordinate with parties passing
from the opposite direction (there was not enough room on the sidewalk curves for us to go at the same time.)
Dodging the puddles along the street.
During lunch I found some environmental literature printed in Mongolian... could not make out the Cyrillic but I could make out the melting illustrations of the north pole increasing every summer and the SOS sign:
Anyhow we made our way into downtown got a Taxi and went straight to the place the ambassador warned us not to go: the black market.
A woman performing at the Black Market...
Here we found all kinds of interesting antiques, a few cheaper instruments including the Mourin Khuur (I purchased and have been playing one for about 4 years... I originally purchased mine when I was in Japan and
saw a very excellent Mongolian orchestra Altaintsurai headed by Khaasbatar... the sold me the fiddle and donated the proceeds to vaccination charities throughout Asia. I also finally purchased horse hair strings for the instument recently and replaced the inferior nylon strings. Two of us purchased jackets here at this market, I think that I will enjoy wearing this jacket for the rest of my life.
Mongolian Jacket
At the market we ran into a really nice musician promoting the upcoming Nadaam festival: an annual event held every year in July around the 12-14th. You could consider it the Christmas of this country.
The entire festival is in celebration of Nadaam, a horse festival and racing and sports extravaganza held throughout the country with large events in the capital as well as just out in the countryside. The friend and fellow musicain that we met, Hulegu eventually became our main contact in Mongolia and we really enjoyed spending time with him. He was a sound engineering student on hiatus (having obtained part of his masters in Washington D.C.). He heloed us ti enjoy various events in the upcoming days... that night we got some food in downtown after making a long walk back from the black market... my cold was getting even worse... extreme coughing, weezing and drainage occurring simultanously. After eating we took a rest for the night and prepared for the upcoming festival days, the excitement was just beginning.
The next day we did not do too much because everyone was tired from the train ride and a couple of us had caught the killer cold... so we stayed inside for most of the day and got ready for the next day which was the opneing ceremony for the Nadaam Festival.
As you can see the city is rapidly expanding:
River Pollution:
and the Coal that is being burned in the winter in the local Gurs is turning the sky black! Its like the 1940s all over again.
When we got up the next day the first thing on our list was to see the Nadaam Festival opening ceremony... it was filled with live music, wrestling, dragon dances, horse and military style marches...
All the variation in jacket color...
After the opening ceremony we went outside and had our first taste of fermented Mongolian horse milk... (I had tried Tuvan fermented horse milk when I was in Tokyo at the 2nd Annual Khoomie Festival about a year before.) The taste as a bit sour but we enjoyed it. Since I was sick I could not really taste all of the flavors, but I would have a chance to try some more on the train ride back to Beijing later in the week.
Kids Dancing On Top of Lotus Flower Displays
From the distance...
After the festival we tried our first horse milk:
After that, we got on a crowded bus and road out into the country side about 40 miles to the location of all the horse racing... along the way we got our first glimpse of the cascading/rolling grassland hills and the big sky... probably looks a lot like eastern Montana except much more hilly. Finally when we got there we were really hungry and decided to get some food. Mike and I tried to wait in the line for a food stand and it was the worst experiencing with Mongolian line butting, people butt more in Mongolia and more aggressively than anywhere. After about one hour we got sick of waiting and went on to the art booths... that was the coolest part... there we ran into Hulegu again... he showed us around, Adnan did some art on a piece of wool, we watched a small orchestra perform and then went the arts council performance tent.. they had brought in booths from republics surrounding Mongolia including Altai, Baikal, Tuva and other regions of siberia... most of the republics are part of the Russain federation now.
The great grasslands in Mongolia at the Nadaam Festival filled with horses!
Riding Horses at Nadaam!
Local Folk Musicians Performing at Nadaam!
Gurs lined up across the steppe!
People enjoying the festival
Local Musicians Playing Folk Music
We ran into a Tuvan throat singer here and he sang for us and then I sang for him... we also sang a Tuvan folk song a bit together Dyngledai
Here is the Tuvan Contemporary Version: (Push the play button on the video to watch.)
This is my favorite song from Tuva:
We exchanged contact information and then i talked a bit with the arts council manager about their programs.... later that night we saw the first annual Nadaam concert on the steppe, it was great to be part of the first concert. It was a collaborative project put together by both Mongolians and Koreans... therefore there was a combination of performances by both Korean and Mongolian artists. The show started around sunset and slowly set as we were watching (since Mongolia is pretty far north like Germany the sunset is around 11 p.m. and it is a bit cold at that time.
Getting on top of a artistic horse sculpture...
Performers at the concert
Sunset
Wonderful Stage Host
Everyone Enjoying the Music
Beautiful Mourin Khuur Playing
After the show we talked to the producers of the show, got on the bus back to Ulaanbatar... after we got there it was really late, but there was fireworks going off around the city, the atmosphere was really nice... although by that time I was getting so sick that I was getting to the edge. We went back had some pizza and talked to the Hostel staff (Monica) who was the waitress and Hostel owners daughter... after that we went to bed for the night.
Back at it the next day with a new style!
The next day we decided to take it easy again since we were getting sick from a long day out the day before.
On the following day, we decided to take a trip to the nearby national park and book a tour through the hostel.
We hired a driver named Sola, she eventually became our friend as we sang along together in the car.
She shared local songs and we shared our songs with her... the trip to the park was about 1.5 hours from Ulaanbatar.
We visited a cave, did a horse back ride, visited another families Gur and had some foods. We returned to the camp we started the horse back ride fromand we stayed in a Gur. We also sang songs for other people camping there (included were locals and Koreans - seems to be lots of Korean tourists).
Turtle Rock
More Saurs!
Sola our friend and driver
The Rock Distinguished as the Rock that Looks like A Guy reading a Book!
Horse Back Ride Across the River!
The Yak with a Cool Hairdew!
Everyone after the horseback ride...
The Gur we stayed in...
The following day we returned to the city and my friend Shuree arrived from Washinton D.C. (We had been friends since college an this was the first time to meet her in her homeland.)We met up for lunch and spent a few hours together, I introduced her to my other friends and we went to a vegetarian cafe... she was so busy since she had just arrived there that she
could only visit with us for a few hours. Shuree is working at the World Bank and has a masters degree from John Hopkins University, she is a really good friend of mine and I was glad to have the chance to introduce her to the rest of my friends.
Me and Shuree
After that we met with Hulegu once again and had a final drink together. He showed us some of the music he had recorded and we sang Khoomie together for the first time.He said it was his first time to hear an American singing Khoomie... he mentioned that he would be returning to the U.S. to get his masters degree within the next couple of years.
He sent us back to the hostel and also came to the train station when we departed to say goodbye. It was a really nice trip to Mongolia and I am glad to have met him and the others.
Our next stop would be the border town on the Mongolian side (this time we would not take a train through Chinese territory back to Beijing and would instead use a bus.)
)
Anyhow, we all went back to bed and fell asleep and woke up in the late morning to the Mongolian grassland. We got off at a stop to see what the town was like and ended up making a cash withdraw from the ATM, the Mongolian currency is denominated in the 1000s and can look a bit deceiving at first. Its cool with all the wonderful artistic designs on it, take a look at this picture...
The first town that we stopped in on the train and picked up some money...
This is how the train cars are converted to the Mongolian tracks.
Late in the morning we talked with a train passenger coming from Turkey, he was a mongolian ambassodor to Turkey at the Mongolian embassy in Turkey. He informed us of many things about Mongolia but we found our own way once we got there, and that it was a lot different than we expected...
The train came around several huge bends into a grassy meadowed forest land... with plush hills rising all around. It was a warm feeling and also a very liberating atmosphere. The train eventually passed some huge antenna towers for the local radio and TV stations in the capital which we were headed to.
Mike enjoying the train ride.
Adnan enjoying the train ride.
Adnan enjoying the train ride.
The Gobi Desert
The Gobi Desert and the train
Dinosaurs in the Gobi Desert (still alive!)
Little Ghengis
Rocking!
Within 30 minutes we had arrived at the final train stop, it was the union station in Ulaanbatar. It was a triumphant feeling for me to have arrived here... I initially wanted to visit Mongolia when I was about 17 years old. I am not sure what the exact reason was, but I think that I had studied about Gurs and the nomadic way of life in many regions in Mongolia... I was always attracted to the idea that a non-technological existence could possibly lead to a higher state of consciousness = being insync with the natural world and exposed to the elements: a shorter life but closer to the spark of life itself!
Then in college I became interested in Mongolian music, expecially both male and female singing styles. Everyone is probably familiar with Khoomie, the famous Mongolian singing. I have been studying it for about 7 years, and it
gave me a chance to test it out on the locals and get some feedback... all this was in my head as we travelled there... and when we step off the train it was pouring rain. I did not have an umbrella so I was vastly unprepared for the conditions. We walked along the streets of Ulanbatar after dropping our bags at a youth hostel and we felt an extreme sense of lawlessness.
The traffic and water drainage planning was lacking as every single intersection, small street and turn was jam packed with traffic. Cars honking trying to get a couple of seconds ahead. The pools of water surrounding us
was also challenging... in order to go up the sidewalk we often had to walk on sidewalk curbs to avoid our shoes getting submerged in the water. It was really fun as we had to coordinate with parties passing
from the opposite direction (there was not enough room on the sidewalk curves for us to go at the same time.)
Dodging the puddles along the street.
During lunch I found some environmental literature printed in Mongolian... could not make out the Cyrillic but I could make out the melting illustrations of the north pole increasing every summer and the SOS sign:
Anyhow we made our way into downtown got a Taxi and went straight to the place the ambassador warned us not to go: the black market.
A woman performing at the Black Market...
Here we found all kinds of interesting antiques, a few cheaper instruments including the Mourin Khuur (I purchased and have been playing one for about 4 years... I originally purchased mine when I was in Japan and
saw a very excellent Mongolian orchestra Altaintsurai headed by Khaasbatar... the sold me the fiddle and donated the proceeds to vaccination charities throughout Asia. I also finally purchased horse hair strings for the instument recently and replaced the inferior nylon strings. Two of us purchased jackets here at this market, I think that I will enjoy wearing this jacket for the rest of my life.
Mongolian Jacket
At the market we ran into a really nice musician promoting the upcoming Nadaam festival: an annual event held every year in July around the 12-14th. You could consider it the Christmas of this country.
The entire festival is in celebration of Nadaam, a horse festival and racing and sports extravaganza held throughout the country with large events in the capital as well as just out in the countryside. The friend and fellow musicain that we met, Hulegu eventually became our main contact in Mongolia and we really enjoyed spending time with him. He was a sound engineering student on hiatus (having obtained part of his masters in Washington D.C.). He heloed us ti enjoy various events in the upcoming days... that night we got some food in downtown after making a long walk back from the black market... my cold was getting even worse... extreme coughing, weezing and drainage occurring simultanously. After eating we took a rest for the night and prepared for the upcoming festival days, the excitement was just beginning.
The next day we did not do too much because everyone was tired from the train ride and a couple of us had caught the killer cold... so we stayed inside for most of the day and got ready for the next day which was the opneing ceremony for the Nadaam Festival.
As you can see the city is rapidly expanding:
River Pollution:
and the Coal that is being burned in the winter in the local Gurs is turning the sky black! Its like the 1940s all over again.
When we got up the next day the first thing on our list was to see the Nadaam Festival opening ceremony... it was filled with live music, wrestling, dragon dances, horse and military style marches...
All the variation in jacket color...
After the opening ceremony we went outside and had our first taste of fermented Mongolian horse milk... (I had tried Tuvan fermented horse milk when I was in Tokyo at the 2nd Annual Khoomie Festival about a year before.) The taste as a bit sour but we enjoyed it. Since I was sick I could not really taste all of the flavors, but I would have a chance to try some more on the train ride back to Beijing later in the week.
Kids Dancing On Top of Lotus Flower Displays
From the distance...
After the festival we tried our first horse milk:
After that, we got on a crowded bus and road out into the country side about 40 miles to the location of all the horse racing... along the way we got our first glimpse of the cascading/rolling grassland hills and the big sky... probably looks a lot like eastern Montana except much more hilly. Finally when we got there we were really hungry and decided to get some food. Mike and I tried to wait in the line for a food stand and it was the worst experiencing with Mongolian line butting, people butt more in Mongolia and more aggressively than anywhere. After about one hour we got sick of waiting and went on to the art booths... that was the coolest part... there we ran into Hulegu again... he showed us around, Adnan did some art on a piece of wool, we watched a small orchestra perform and then went the arts council performance tent.. they had brought in booths from republics surrounding Mongolia including Altai, Baikal, Tuva and other regions of siberia... most of the republics are part of the Russain federation now.
The great grasslands in Mongolia at the Nadaam Festival filled with horses!
Riding Horses at Nadaam!
Local Folk Musicians Performing at Nadaam!
Gurs lined up across the steppe!
People enjoying the festival
Local Musicians Playing Folk Music
We ran into a Tuvan throat singer here and he sang for us and then I sang for him... we also sang a Tuvan folk song a bit together Dyngledai
Here is the Tuvan Contemporary Version: (Push the play button on the video to watch.)
This is my favorite song from Tuva:
We exchanged contact information and then i talked a bit with the arts council manager about their programs.... later that night we saw the first annual Nadaam concert on the steppe, it was great to be part of the first concert. It was a collaborative project put together by both Mongolians and Koreans... therefore there was a combination of performances by both Korean and Mongolian artists. The show started around sunset and slowly set as we were watching (since Mongolia is pretty far north like Germany the sunset is around 11 p.m. and it is a bit cold at that time.
Getting on top of a artistic horse sculpture...
Performers at the concert
Sunset
Wonderful Stage Host
Everyone Enjoying the Music
Beautiful Mourin Khuur Playing
After the show we talked to the producers of the show, got on the bus back to Ulaanbatar... after we got there it was really late, but there was fireworks going off around the city, the atmosphere was really nice... although by that time I was getting so sick that I was getting to the edge. We went back had some pizza and talked to the Hostel staff (Monica) who was the waitress and Hostel owners daughter... after that we went to bed for the night.
Back at it the next day with a new style!
The next day we decided to take it easy again since we were getting sick from a long day out the day before.
On the following day, we decided to take a trip to the nearby national park and book a tour through the hostel.
We hired a driver named Sola, she eventually became our friend as we sang along together in the car.
She shared local songs and we shared our songs with her... the trip to the park was about 1.5 hours from Ulaanbatar.
We visited a cave, did a horse back ride, visited another families Gur and had some foods. We returned to the camp we started the horse back ride fromand we stayed in a Gur. We also sang songs for other people camping there (included were locals and Koreans - seems to be lots of Korean tourists).
Turtle Rock
More Saurs!
Sola our friend and driver
The Rock Distinguished as the Rock that Looks like A Guy reading a Book!
Horse Back Ride Across the River!
The Yak with a Cool Hairdew!
Everyone after the horseback ride...
The Gur we stayed in...
The following day we returned to the city and my friend Shuree arrived from Washinton D.C. (We had been friends since college an this was the first time to meet her in her homeland.)We met up for lunch and spent a few hours together, I introduced her to my other friends and we went to a vegetarian cafe... she was so busy since she had just arrived there that she
could only visit with us for a few hours. Shuree is working at the World Bank and has a masters degree from John Hopkins University, she is a really good friend of mine and I was glad to have the chance to introduce her to the rest of my friends.
Me and Shuree
After that we met with Hulegu once again and had a final drink together. He showed us some of the music he had recorded and we sang Khoomie together for the first time.He said it was his first time to hear an American singing Khoomie... he mentioned that he would be returning to the U.S. to get his masters degree within the next couple of years.
He sent us back to the hostel and also came to the train station when we departed to say goodbye. It was a really nice trip to Mongolia and I am glad to have met him and the others.
Our next stop would be the border town on the Mongolian side (this time we would not take a train through Chinese territory back to Beijing and would instead use a bus.)
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