Our hosts were Jargalsaikan and his wife Tuya. We stayed with them in the yurt ( ger ) on the left for two days and nights. The encampment is in Bulgan Aimag ( an Aimag is similar to a province or state ) about 15 kilometers from the village of Gurvanbulag,where they spend the winter.

With two children of the encampment.

The inside is very comfortable. A video of daily life will be uploaded shortly.

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Mongolia – with only 2.5 million people in 600,000 spare miles is the most sparsely populated country on Earth. The center of the Asian Continent is an empty spot on the globe !

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Horses are central to Mongolian nomad life. They provide transportation,clothing,meat and milk. The horses are small but very strong and have a wider head – related to Prezlowski’s Horse ( re-released into the wild a few years ago) – these are the horses ridden by Genghiz Khan.
Special thanks to our Horse Guide Tanj !

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Below are some Mongolian food pictures. The food is hearty and hot – perfect for the eight month winters where temperatures can drop to 60 below zero.

Goat Porridge – milk and meat from just outside the ger.

Kumys – mildly alcoholic ( less than beer ) fermented horse milk.

Horse.

Mutton Dumplings.

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We rode these camels for about 20 km. Not uncomfortable. They speak with a nasal sound similar to a whining dog.

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Every Tuesday morning at 8:05 , Train K23,the Trans-Mongolian Express, leaves Beijing Railway Station for the 30 hour journey to Ulanbataar,Mongolia. From there it is possible to connect all the way to Moscow. It is truly the way to arrive in Mongolia- to get a sense of how large,empty and remote this Central Asian nation is.

The Route.

The timetable all the way from Beijing to Moscow.

Midnight Crossing.

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Our final day in Mongolia was spent touring Ulanbatataar – the booming capital home to half of Mongolia’s 2.9 million people. It has the distinction of being the world’s coldest national capitol – January temperatures average close to 40 below zero ( C/F) even in the daytime. On this July day ,the temperature was pleasant – in the low 60s ( 18 C) and down to about 40 at night ( 5C ) . There is an excellent recent article in the The New York Times.

Lamasery. Beautiful ceremony inside with drums,chanting and bells – photography forbidden.

Peace !

The Communists shut down all temples and monasteries in 1922 and they did not reopen until 1992. Buddhist Life thrives once again.

The Natural History Museum has the world’s largest collection of dinosaur bones – all from Mongolia. It is currently under reconstruction.

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From Shanghai we flew two hours South to Guilin – the main city of GuangXi Autonomous Province. Bordering Vietnam, the area has very hot,humid summers and cool foggy winters. Above ,we journey down the Li RIver towards Yangshuo. The cone shaped karst mountains begin here and are prevalent though Northern Vietnam and into Thailand.

On the banks of the Li River in Guilin.

Guilin, at 3 million people, is considered a large town or small city by Chinese standards.

Yangshuo is considered a village, at 300,000.

The area is very fertile,with rice paddies everywhere.

Rich in all cultures.

Some of the world’s most fantastic views.

A Fish Pedicure.

In a Very Peaceful Temple.

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In a few hours we depart from Hong Kong back to MIami – via Tokyo and Dallas -completing our journey Around The World.

This is the first video upload for Mongolia. More are coming -we are finally in a hotel that has decent wifi speed. While we have a fair amount of horse riding experience,we cannot say the same for camel riding. We had a guide to take us across the trackless steppes of the Northern Gobi.

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