Remembering Mongolia

Tweet Hiking is a favorite sport of mine and I did a lot of it in Mongolia during my nearly two years there. Most weekends were spent in the hills around Ulanbataar -- in the summer (a few days in July) walking in the meadows with thousands of wildflowers -- in the fall -- among the yellow-leafed birches and -- in winter -- dressing for temperatures down around minus 20 or 25. This photo was taken on January 9, 2005, in the hills above a Children's Retreat -- a ways outside UB.

The photo below was taken a few days later at what was, at the time, one of the only dairies in Mongolia. It was operated by two New Zealanders and several Mongolian families -- including the family of this little girl. It was relatively warm that day -- about minus 20. The whole family in their Ger -- the frame consists of wooden poles and posts, usually a plank floor, canvas as the protective covering and a small stove. The family used animal dung as fuel.The Steppe. This is the main road from Ulanbataar, the capital, to Khentii, an eastern aimag (province) and the ancestral home of Chinggis Khan. This was snapped in 2004.Khovsgul is located about 900 kilometers west of Ulanbataar and has a huge fresh water lake that freezes over in the winter time. Trucks use it as a short cut during the long winter months, ocassionally a vehicle breaks through the ice. The gentleman in the photo below lives in a Ger in Khovsgul and was about 90 years old. He writes poetry and is also an inventor.