Musings in Mongolia

Friday, April 26, 2013

13th Century Park

Craftsman's Camp

Thursday was a big day. We traveled 96 km. to 13th Century Park.

Lots of empty space

This theme park represents the living conditions, skills and culture in the days when Chinggis Khan formed his great army.

Zorgeo in front of the Khan's Palace - The flags represent the tribes unified under Chinggis Khan's reighn

Jangar was our tour guide and Zorgeo was our van driver.

Jangar between two carts

The ride was paved expect for the last 8 km. where we experienced some countryside road conditions in our 4 wheel drive van.

Countryside driving

We had previously visited these camps last summer during the Senior Couples' trip. It was great to experience these camps with our three daughters who were visiting Mongolia to see the sights in winter.

Guardmen's Camp

We went to five camps: the Guardsman Camp,

Guard and his son

the Craftsman Camp, the Shaman Camp, the Palace Camp, and the Education Camp.

Shaman Camp

People are hired to man the camps year around though some employees rotate in-and-out 2 or 3 months at a time.

Hitler borrowed the swastika symbol from one of Mongolia's 21 tribes

The Nomad Camp doesn't function until summer when a nomad family comes to live and take care of their herds. There is a small drive between camps. It seemed like each camp had a photogenic child who captured our attention.

Notice the rosy cheeks on this little girl - and the rest of the children

There were period costumes at three of the camps - Guardsman, Places and Education Camps. We ate a meal at the winter palace because the Great Khan's Palace is too big and expensive to heat in the winter. We went to the Khan's (King) camp for a dress up opportunity.

A Mongolian lunch

After the Education Camp, we were invited over to the caretaker's personal ger where they showed us a pen full of newborn lambs and kids.

Education Camp - chess set in foreground - Mongolian script on the wall

Proud owners of lambs and kids

It was probably the best visit of all. On the way back to Ulaanbaatar, we stopped at the Chinngis Khan Statue.

Beyond cute!

Modern nomads

We had two more stops, one where camels were made available for tourists to ride and the second was at the song and dance theater for an evening performance. These picture will be shown on our next blog.

Friendly Mongolian dog know for its distinctive "4-eyed" markings

Here is the rest of the story told in pictures.

Original Mongolian BBQ: the 3 hanging shields in foreground were used for cooking meat

The children of 13th Century:

"I used to fit in this cradle but now I'm not so sure"

Grinding wheat with grandchild looking on

Out for a walk

Over here!

She wanted to show us her lambs

We joined the fun

Ewe and her newborn lamb

Dress up with a prop.

Our three lovely queens.

These hats may have gone out of style

King for a day

We had a hard time breaking away

So long to 13th Century Park

Wednesday, April 24, 2013

Wednesday - A visit to Parliament - History of Mission program

Scene from "A Day in the Life of Mongolia"

We had arranged with Puje a tour of Parliament for our daughters. Puje used to work in Parliament and had the connections necessary to get an invitation.

Nine flags of Mongolia made of white horse hair and brought out only for ceremonial occassions

The tour was expanded to include all the former Senior Missionaries and Mission Presidents who came to Mongolia for the 20th year commemoration of the church being established in Mongolia.

The black flag symbolizes the flag of war
We visited a museum within Parliament, toured places of significance and viewed a 40 foot panorama of a "Day in the Life of Mongolia" - a famous mural depicting scenes from Mongolian life and culture.

Chinggis Khan, the founder of the Mongolian nation and empire

After the tour, Tara got a haircut and the women had a Mongolian lunch.

Flags and symbols of Mongolia

I was involved in interviewing for an article on the 20th commemoration of the church being established in Mongolia. There was a display set up through the church building with historical photographs of the 20 year era.

Gift from the governement of India

The evening ended with Tawny and myself attending a special meeting featuring early pioneers of the church in Mongolia recounting their memories and telling stories of the early beginnings of the church here.