After a busy day of firing kalashnikovs, last minute gift shopping, and frantic packing, I left Mongolia late last night.
It’s weird to be leaving Mongolia; after spending three weeks there, primarily in Ulaanbaator, I was starting to feel like a local. I knew which coffee-shops to hang out at, was on a first name basis with the folks who run the vegan restaurant Luna Blanca, and even managed to learn to read Cyrillic.…
I’m pretty sure the whole thing began as a joke, one of those times when you say, “look at that sign, wouldn’t it be funny if we did that…”
A few weeks ago my dad and I passed a sign advertising a chance to fire an RPG, go to a Mongolian shooting range, and more. After laughing about it for awhile, we decided we had to check it out.…
More photos
The Black Market is one of the largest open-air markets in Asia. Visitors can purchase anything from a ger (Mongolian tent) to solar panels or antiques there.…
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On Thursday (September, 16th) my dad and I piled into an minibus and headed out of Ulaanbaator (UB). Outside of UB there are few paved roads, and most people get around on Land Cruisers, old Russian Jeeps, minibuses, motorcycles, or horses.
After several hours of driving (still on mostly paved roads) we reached Oguun Hid (Old Man Monastery). Present day Oguun Hid is mainly in ruins, a legacy of both the Manchus and the Soviets, although efforts have been made since Mongolian independence in 1990 to build new monasteries and continue the Buddhist traditions of the area.…
After awhile all of the tour companies’ signs start to blend together, but these folks really found a way stand out from the crowd! I’ll let you know how much it costs to fire an RPG.
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I just got back from terrific day in the Mongolian countryside. My dad’s colleague Munkhbaatar took us on a day trip to visit his family. Munkhbaatar’s family are nomads, who live a life that is a mixture of old and new. Like most nomads, they live in a ger (a Mongolian tent) and spend their days tending to their livestock. Unlike nomads of decades past their ger is equipped with satellite television, and when it comes time to move to a new site, they load their possessions into a truck.…
I arrived in the capital of Mongolia, Ulaanbaator (UB), about a day and a half ago– the 12 hour time difference is messing with my sense of time– and I am just starting to get a feel for the city.
Overall, the city feels stuck sometime in the 1970s– what else could possibly explain the sheer number of discos? In addition to discos, pubs seem to be the main form of entertainment for locals.…
