Karakorum to Mountains and Dunes

  Khoyor Zagal, Mongolia
Sunday, July 8, 2007

Sunday, July 8, 2007
Karakorum Tour / Mountains and Sand Dunes

Dear Readers:

01 Erdene Zuu Monastery Walls

02 Erdene Temples

This morning we visit Erdene Zuu, a monastery and temple complex once inhabited by over 2,000 monks. The sun shines brightly on the buildings, but the distant skies are dark with thunderclouds, creating a beautiful contrast for photography. We wander the site at leisure until our guided tour commences. I learn a lot about Tibetan Buddhism today, and it only whets my appetite for the tour to Tibet I am planning for 2008.

09 Chanting Prayer Flags

11 Monks Chant Before Entering Temple

The final part of our tour includes observance of a worship service with the monks. It commences with two young boys climbing a platform tower and blowing in conch shells, then reading from some of the prayer flags on the platform before blowing the shells some more. I couldn't help but compare and contrast this manner of beginning a Buddhist prayer service with the "call to prayer" as practiced in the Moslem religion today. Things change over the centuries, but sometimes they seem to remain the same from religion to religion.

12 Falcon

13 Traditional Costume

We return to our ger camp for lunch, then drive several hours to the Khogno Khan Mountains. A brief hike on the sand dunes near the mountain is cut short by a rain storm, but we reach the heights of the mountains to clean, crisp air ideal for photography. We spend a fun hour clambering around among the rocks, and then visit a small monastery across a broad valley and in the cliffs of another mountain. The monastery was destroyed during the Russian times, but the granddaughter of one of the monks has made it her life work to replace the ruined buildings with functioning temples. We meet her, and she tells the fortune of a group member who has a birthday tomorrow. All seems bright in his future, according to her prognostications.

14 Mountain Hike

15 Hercules

Our ger camp for the evening is nearby. After settling in, several of us decide to ride Mongolian horses. This is an instance where my expectations are high and I get a letdown. The horses are nice enough, but I envisioned being able to gallop like the wind across the vast expanse. This beast is having none of it. I have to do far more than gentle encouragement to make him break into a trot, and a canter requires an absolute flogging. It is exhausting. Furthermore, the terrain is pock-marked by holes made by rabbit-like rodents which are everywhere, so the guide tells me I must stay on the road and not gallop across the fields like I see the horseman doing in the distance. One guy has a very skittish horse, and he walks back to the camp. We are led up into the hills for marvelous views over the ger camp. I have no photos to share since I expected to be galloping and left the camera back at my ger, but the mental images and the memories of us singing our way down the mountain will be with me forever.

16 Fortune Teller

18 Monastery View

We arrive at dinner in a jovial mood, and I engage in some banter with a client that involves a risqué twist in reply to his question about whether he should sit at the head of the table. Soon thereafter we notice that one of the women in the room is wearing a t-shirt with OKLAHOMA written across the front and back. What ensues is a full-throated rendition of the musical number of that name. It is all too much for a man of what we assume is German extraction who is sitting at a nearby table with his guide and family. After our song he goes ballistic on us, saying how culturally inappropriate it is for us to inflict our nationalistic songs on the people in the room, and how there are young people present who should not have to be exposed to our ribald remarks (something to that effect, delivered with real anger).

I am absolutely flabbergasted, and begin to respond to his accusations, but the guys at the table hastily urge me to save my breath, as any protestations will obviously fail to make an impression on one whose mind is now dead set against us. It is obvious that he is listening to whatever we say, so we change the topic to something innocuous like the weather, and continue in this vein until they have left the room. Another group with some Australians in it makes a point of thanking us for the song on their way out the door.

The day ends with an absolutely magical sunset. We only have tonight and one more night in ger camps. I think I am going to miss this daily routine of moving from camp to camp across the endless horizons once we return to Ulaan Baatar.

Hugs,
Dan