I have had a busy week or two here in Mongolia! In the past 2 weeks I have helped my colleagues write two proposals, done some work for the National Aids Foundation and organised and helped facilitate marketing training.
In the last two days I have organised a discussion and debate between students at Methodist College Belfast (my old school) and my debaters at MEA. The discussion covered topics like traditional clothing, what music they listen to, what team they support in the world cup and what is their school day like. It was a fantastic opportunity for my students to learn about Northern Ireland. In the debate the topic was countries should ban the import of goods produced by child labour. It was great for my students to see experienced debaters in action and to practice debating against native English speakers. Apparently the Northern Irish kids really enjoyed it as well, which is a relief! I did this as part of my Global Action project which I have to do as a VSO Youth for Development volunteer.
We also had our work picnic at the weekend. It was an interesting experience to say the least. It all started out fine, with a Mongolian barbecue (Khorkhog) which was very tasty. But from the moment we arrived until the moment we left everyone was drinking heavily. I found it to be a very unpleasant atmosphere, as when I refused to have any more alcohol it was not accepted by my colleagues and they tried to force me to drink more. It seemed a real waste of resources - MEA paid for the alcohol, and there was no point to the event other than to drink. There were no activities, no walking, nothing. We camped overnight and had breakfast the next morning and the drinking just continued. Alcohol abuse is a real issue in Mongolia and the culture of heavy drinking just aids this. It was a real shame that what could have been a great outdoor event was wasted.
However it didn't ruin my weekend. On Saturday I got the bus up to Darkhan where some of the other volunteers are based. Drakhan is the second city of Mongolia, but is isn't really much bigger than a large town. It is in the middle of the countryside about 4 hours north of UB with the road passing through some beautiful scenery. Darkhan has much more greenery and open space than UB has and it was lovely to get some more fresh air. The Darkhan volunteers took good care of me, introducing me to the range of Koika, Peace Corps and other ex pats living there and giving me a great tour of the place. Darkhan has some interesting sights including the standard Ovoo's etc, but also they have the only suspension bridge in Mongolia, a Buddha statue and a childrens park. The childrens park is pretty amazing, it is huge and has a number of play parks, carnival rides and even singing animals along the footpath. Of course there were no kids there when I went but I could imagine it is great for kids. It was really nice to get to spend some time in another new place, and to see the countryside vols.
I am currently preparing for my big summer trip! I get 6 weeks of holidays now because MEA closes for the summer. I have lots of exciting plans including visiting Chinggis Khan's birthplace (and the local spa!), visiting Khuvsgul again (this time in summer), visiting the reindeer herders, experiencing naadam in the countryside, visiting my colleagues family in the countryside and hopefully visiting the Gobi desert! I hope to come back with lots of stories, pictures and not too many insect bites!
Wednesday, 30 June 2010
Friday, 18 June 2010
Mum's big adventure!
So apologies to all of you who haven't heard from me for a week, but Mum was visiting on her big adventure! Her first Solo trip since her elective in NZ before I was born!!
It was a jam packed week! I gave her Friday morning off after her late night arrival (and because we stayed up late after that talking!) but then we were in full motion. After she had her first Mongolian meal of Mutton (which she didn't find a love for!) with my colleagues we headed out in the sunshine to Choijin Lama temple (which may have given her nightmares) and the Natural history museum where we saw some amazing dinosaur fossils - to see so many fossils that have been found in Mongolia in the last 100 years was amazing. Then it was out to meet some other VSO volunteers for dinner at the Bull hot pot restaurant. We had a lovely dinner and then headed to Ikh Mongol for a drink in the beer garden and Mum got a chance to learn a little about the health system in Mongolia.
On Saturday my colleagues had decided to take us to the countryside and I had no idea what the plan was! It was a fantastic day. We headed to the massive Chinggis Khan statue where we saw another fantastic museum in the base and then we took a lift up the horses tail, walked through his belly and posed on the horses head! Then it was back in the car and we headed back to the time of Chinngis Khan at the 1300 theme park. I was worried it would be very tacky, but in fact it was very well done. We visited a number of different camps - a Shaman camp, a farmers camp, a book camp etc and dressed up in the various costumes, got our names written in traditional Mongolian script and played traditional games. Our day finished at the kings palace where a visiting dignitary had organised a mini Naadam so we got to watch wrestling which was hilarious with the little dances they did in advance. Then we watched children as young as 5 or 6 participating in a horse race which may only have been 2km but was tough. This was followed by an archery competition. These are known as the 3 manly sports and the big Naadam will be held in mid July. After the Naadam we went to the kings ger and had another Mongolian meal so Mum got to try some mutton soup and fried mutton pancakes! This was the only wet day of the whole visit so being in the car driving around the Mongolian countryside between gers was a great way to do things.
On Sunday we started our countryside trip to Khustai and Terelj. Khustai national park is about 100 km outside UB and it took us 2.5 hours to drive there with a short break (not by choice!) at a medical Ovoo which had plaster casts and crutches lying on it - so a good stop for a visiting doctor! I had warned Mum before she came that we would be staying in a very basic ger camp with drop toilets etc. When we arrived we discovered that it was a 5* ger camp with running water, toilets, 3 course meals, cutlery! But it was perfect for Mum and we were staying in a regular ger which was a great experience. In the afternoon we headed out on horse back across the steppe to visit a herder family. Mum got up her courage enough to enjoy galloping across the open Steppe and it was a great ride. The poor herder was asleep when we arrived, but he soon showed us true Mongolian hospitality with milk tea, fermented yoghurt and biscuits.
In the evening (after we convinced the Mongolians Mum was vegetarian to allow her to avoid mutton) we picked up a tour guide (who is studying international relations!) to go and see the Prezwalski horses. These are wild horses which were extinct in Mongolia because they were all transported to Europe for the zoos. In the 1990's the started a reintroduction programme and now there are around 300 living in Mongolia in their natural habitat. Khustai parks is one of the areas of reintroduction and we assumed we might catch a brief glimpse of them during our drive. However as we arrived at the watering hole just before sunset there were 4 herd of horses making their way down. Out of 300 horses we saw over 30!! Including a couple of foals, one who looked like he had just been born today! They were beautiful and made an amazing sight. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Mongolia! Although I got a lot of great pictures of the horses the marmots were a little more elusive - they would pose just long enough for me to get the camera out and focus but before I could take the picture they would disappear! Very frustrating!! But we saw an absolutely beautiful sunset over the surrounding hills.
We had a lovely evening in the ger including lighting the fire which we didn't really need, and listening to the crazy Mongolians playing basketball in the dark!
The next morning Mum and I left the guide behind to take a short hike up the hill surrounding the ger camp. It was amazing to see the grass that looked so green from the ger camp was actually bedded in sand and growing up throughout it are blue, purple, yellow and white flowers. On the top of the hill there were rocks and flowers that were the picture of the flower gardens people pay lots of money for! And we looked down into the valley over the green hills and over to the small sand dunes nearby.
We headed next to Terelj national park which was a long drive, and even longer with the guide questioning why we were not keeping him for the trip. The reason was we were heading to the Terelj hotel, the only5* hotel in Mongolia to relax and enjoy good food and a spa experience! He didn't quite get it. The hotel itself was phenomenal, so different from my usual lifestyle in Mongolia! The pool was refreshing, the sauna and jacuzzi relaxing and the cocktails delicious! The food was great too - the first time I have had fish in 8 months!! All imported of course but a wonderful treat!
The spa was also a wonderful treat and we left the hotel feeling clean, relaxed and refreshed. Unfortunately due to car issues that relaxed (and clean!) feeling didn't last too long in a smelly small car with no suspension. But we did make it back in one piece. We had a quick turn around before heading out to the Moonstone cultural show. We arrived in an unassuming theatre but they put on a great show of traditional dances, music and contortionists, all in colourful traditional costumes. It was a great introduction to Mongolian culture for both me and Mum!
Oe of the big draws of Mongolia is the souvenirs - cashmere, felt and kazakh crafts. So of course we had to go shopping! Our first port of call was the cashmere shops which are a bit off putting as they are out in the factory district - not such a salubrious looking areas. And as Mum and I didn't have a landcruiser to travel between the shops we walked and took taxis - making us stand out a little from the other shoppers. But we had a successful morning of shopping before heading to visit the book ger I have set up. This was a visit to a ger district as well which was a good thing for Mum to see and there were plenty of children using the room so I am pleased it is working so far!
As it was Mum's last full evening we treated ourselves to cocktails at the top of the MCS tower overlooking UB and then dinner at the French Bistro. The cocktails were amazing and the food was absolutely divine (as was the wine - I will have to bring my expectations down again) It was by far the best food I have had in Mongolia so far! And that I will have I am sure!
Because Mum's plane didn't leave until 11pm we had a whole full day to finish everything up. We started with a visit to one of the health projects a VSO voluneer is running in a family group practice. As Mum is a GP she wanted to visit the equivalent of a GPs surgery while she was here. And we did visit one of the painfully average ones, where Mum got to watch an innoculation morning - and I avoided looking at the needles! There was a complete lack of privacy, training and organisation but it gave her a real exposure to health care in a ger district in Mongolia.
We had time to squeeze in a little bit more shopping (for felt, kazakh products etc) before a visit to one of the working monastrys in UB - Gandan Monastery. It has a massive gold statue inside the main temple but it is also more peaceful and tranquil than the choijin lama temple museum and it was good to let Mum see a working temple.
Unfortunately we ran out of time and Mum had to return home and I had to go back to my regular volunteer life. There were tears at the airport but not too many!!But it was great to share my Mongolian experience with Mum even for a short time and I will miss Mongolia and my wonderful colleagues and friends when I leave. I have only 6 weeks of work left and lots to achieve before I finish, and 5 weeks of holidays, so it won't be too long until I am home again.
It was a jam packed week! I gave her Friday morning off after her late night arrival (and because we stayed up late after that talking!) but then we were in full motion. After she had her first Mongolian meal of Mutton (which she didn't find a love for!) with my colleagues we headed out in the sunshine to Choijin Lama temple (which may have given her nightmares) and the Natural history museum where we saw some amazing dinosaur fossils - to see so many fossils that have been found in Mongolia in the last 100 years was amazing. Then it was out to meet some other VSO volunteers for dinner at the Bull hot pot restaurant. We had a lovely dinner and then headed to Ikh Mongol for a drink in the beer garden and Mum got a chance to learn a little about the health system in Mongolia.
On Saturday my colleagues had decided to take us to the countryside and I had no idea what the plan was! It was a fantastic day. We headed to the massive Chinggis Khan statue where we saw another fantastic museum in the base and then we took a lift up the horses tail, walked through his belly and posed on the horses head! Then it was back in the car and we headed back to the time of Chinngis Khan at the 1300 theme park. I was worried it would be very tacky, but in fact it was very well done. We visited a number of different camps - a Shaman camp, a farmers camp, a book camp etc and dressed up in the various costumes, got our names written in traditional Mongolian script and played traditional games. Our day finished at the kings palace where a visiting dignitary had organised a mini Naadam so we got to watch wrestling which was hilarious with the little dances they did in advance. Then we watched children as young as 5 or 6 participating in a horse race which may only have been 2km but was tough. This was followed by an archery competition. These are known as the 3 manly sports and the big Naadam will be held in mid July. After the Naadam we went to the kings ger and had another Mongolian meal so Mum got to try some mutton soup and fried mutton pancakes! This was the only wet day of the whole visit so being in the car driving around the Mongolian countryside between gers was a great way to do things.
On Sunday we started our countryside trip to Khustai and Terelj. Khustai national park is about 100 km outside UB and it took us 2.5 hours to drive there with a short break (not by choice!) at a medical Ovoo which had plaster casts and crutches lying on it - so a good stop for a visiting doctor! I had warned Mum before she came that we would be staying in a very basic ger camp with drop toilets etc. When we arrived we discovered that it was a 5* ger camp with running water, toilets, 3 course meals, cutlery! But it was perfect for Mum and we were staying in a regular ger which was a great experience. In the afternoon we headed out on horse back across the steppe to visit a herder family. Mum got up her courage enough to enjoy galloping across the open Steppe and it was a great ride. The poor herder was asleep when we arrived, but he soon showed us true Mongolian hospitality with milk tea, fermented yoghurt and biscuits.
In the evening (after we convinced the Mongolians Mum was vegetarian to allow her to avoid mutton) we picked up a tour guide (who is studying international relations!) to go and see the Prezwalski horses. These are wild horses which were extinct in Mongolia because they were all transported to Europe for the zoos. In the 1990's the started a reintroduction programme and now there are around 300 living in Mongolia in their natural habitat. Khustai parks is one of the areas of reintroduction and we assumed we might catch a brief glimpse of them during our drive. However as we arrived at the watering hole just before sunset there were 4 herd of horses making their way down. Out of 300 horses we saw over 30!! Including a couple of foals, one who looked like he had just been born today! They were beautiful and made an amazing sight. Definitely worth a visit if you are in Mongolia! Although I got a lot of great pictures of the horses the marmots were a little more elusive - they would pose just long enough for me to get the camera out and focus but before I could take the picture they would disappear! Very frustrating!! But we saw an absolutely beautiful sunset over the surrounding hills.
We had a lovely evening in the ger including lighting the fire which we didn't really need, and listening to the crazy Mongolians playing basketball in the dark!
The next morning Mum and I left the guide behind to take a short hike up the hill surrounding the ger camp. It was amazing to see the grass that looked so green from the ger camp was actually bedded in sand and growing up throughout it are blue, purple, yellow and white flowers. On the top of the hill there were rocks and flowers that were the picture of the flower gardens people pay lots of money for! And we looked down into the valley over the green hills and over to the small sand dunes nearby.
We headed next to Terelj national park which was a long drive, and even longer with the guide questioning why we were not keeping him for the trip. The reason was we were heading to the Terelj hotel, the only5* hotel in Mongolia to relax and enjoy good food and a spa experience! He didn't quite get it. The hotel itself was phenomenal, so different from my usual lifestyle in Mongolia! The pool was refreshing, the sauna and jacuzzi relaxing and the cocktails delicious! The food was great too - the first time I have had fish in 8 months!! All imported of course but a wonderful treat!
The spa was also a wonderful treat and we left the hotel feeling clean, relaxed and refreshed. Unfortunately due to car issues that relaxed (and clean!) feeling didn't last too long in a smelly small car with no suspension. But we did make it back in one piece. We had a quick turn around before heading out to the Moonstone cultural show. We arrived in an unassuming theatre but they put on a great show of traditional dances, music and contortionists, all in colourful traditional costumes. It was a great introduction to Mongolian culture for both me and Mum!
Oe of the big draws of Mongolia is the souvenirs - cashmere, felt and kazakh crafts. So of course we had to go shopping! Our first port of call was the cashmere shops which are a bit off putting as they are out in the factory district - not such a salubrious looking areas. And as Mum and I didn't have a landcruiser to travel between the shops we walked and took taxis - making us stand out a little from the other shoppers. But we had a successful morning of shopping before heading to visit the book ger I have set up. This was a visit to a ger district as well which was a good thing for Mum to see and there were plenty of children using the room so I am pleased it is working so far!
As it was Mum's last full evening we treated ourselves to cocktails at the top of the MCS tower overlooking UB and then dinner at the French Bistro. The cocktails were amazing and the food was absolutely divine (as was the wine - I will have to bring my expectations down again) It was by far the best food I have had in Mongolia so far! And that I will have I am sure!
Because Mum's plane didn't leave until 11pm we had a whole full day to finish everything up. We started with a visit to one of the health projects a VSO voluneer is running in a family group practice. As Mum is a GP she wanted to visit the equivalent of a GPs surgery while she was here. And we did visit one of the painfully average ones, where Mum got to watch an innoculation morning - and I avoided looking at the needles! There was a complete lack of privacy, training and organisation but it gave her a real exposure to health care in a ger district in Mongolia.
We had time to squeeze in a little bit more shopping (for felt, kazakh products etc) before a visit to one of the working monastrys in UB - Gandan Monastery. It has a massive gold statue inside the main temple but it is also more peaceful and tranquil than the choijin lama temple museum and it was good to let Mum see a working temple.
Unfortunately we ran out of time and Mum had to return home and I had to go back to my regular volunteer life. There were tears at the airport but not too many!!But it was great to share my Mongolian experience with Mum even for a short time and I will miss Mongolia and my wonderful colleagues and friends when I leave. I have only 6 weeks of work left and lots to achieve before I finish, and 5 weeks of holidays, so it won't be too long until I am home again.
Thursday, 10 June 2010
Book Ger and VSO summer conference
I have had a very busy week with work, VSO stuff and a VSO summer conference, not to mention my Mum arrives in Mongolia this evening!
On Tuesday we finally opened our second Book Ger in a Khoroo of UB called Amarlan (this is not how you spell it!). It was really important to me because it is a project I have worked from the start. I (and Mum!) found the organisation (who of course have a link to Hillsborough). I got in touch with their UK office, who were interested and put me in touch with their Mongolian office. I then built a relationship with the woman in charge there, developed and submitted a proposal and had it accepted! Even better for a fundraiser it was a project able to be implemented quickly so within 2 weeks of the contract being signed we had the open day. For me it is great to see something I have worked so hard for actually being implemented and to see the kids so excited about the books and toys was wonderful. Also the day was beautiful with blue skies and temperatures above 30, so the community members who turned out got to see a beautiful building. And the kids put on some great dancing for us which we really enjoyed!
I spent the rest of the week doing VSO related stuff. There was the annual quality framework review which was a day long review of VSO's activities for the year and I was one of the volunteer representatives. We have had a couple of new volunteers arrive so on Thursday I did a city orientation for one of the new arrivals. Interestingly for 2 of the new volunteers this is their 3rd VSO placement and they are finding VSO Mongolia very different from previous placements. And on Friday I had my leavers workshop which went through all the things to expect in terms of emotional, practical and pastoral when leaving VSO. It was a tough day but it needed to be done.
Of course because of all the VSO happenings lots of vols were in from the countryside and I have had my spare room full for the whole week! I really enjoy it because it means I get some company, new conversation and fresh faces. But I wasn't expecting the couple who stayed with me to get married while they were here!! They had a private ceremony at the embassy here and only told us all afterwards! I am so pleased for them!
On Sunday we all headed off on the train to our summer conference in the countryside of the Selenge Aimag. We stayed at a summer camp run by one of the organisations one of the VSO volunteers works for, and the money we pay to use the camp goes to support their activities working with child labourers, child trafficking and child prostitutes. So it was good to be able to support them.
The camp itself was lovely situated right beside a river in a valley surrounded by beautiful green hills. When we arrived the weather was beautiful so after we dumped out stuff off we headed straight for the river! The water was lovely and we had a great time swimming and sunbathing.
Unfortunately the weather went downhill from there and the rest of the conference was pretty cold and wet. We were staying in wooden cabins with holes in the walls and no heating so it got pretty cold at night. During our sessions we ended up wrapping ourselves in the blankets from the beds to keep warm. I had brought some thermals to wear as pyjamas but ended up wearing them all week!
But even though the weather was horrible it was great to spend time with all the VSO volunteers in one place, share our successes and challenges, and discuss ways to improve VSO. We also had some hilarious performances put on by each geographical area, including a great skit from Arvaikheer about collecting cashmere samples, and some contentious quizzes from the Staff and UB vols.
One of the volunteers brought his horses with him and during a dry spell a few of us went out riding through the valleys and hills around the camp site. These horses are very well looked after and the best looking horses I have seen since I arrived due to their glossy coats and fact they have been fed through the winter. So it was a real pleasure to ride a well trainined, well fed, happy horse!
Unfortunately we did have to return to reality and jobs eventually and so yesterday we boarded the train back to UB. Even the train journey was a great experience as it allowed us to watch the beautiful (rain soaked!) countryside go by!
On Tuesday we finally opened our second Book Ger in a Khoroo of UB called Amarlan (this is not how you spell it!). It was really important to me because it is a project I have worked from the start. I (and Mum!) found the organisation (who of course have a link to Hillsborough). I got in touch with their UK office, who were interested and put me in touch with their Mongolian office. I then built a relationship with the woman in charge there, developed and submitted a proposal and had it accepted! Even better for a fundraiser it was a project able to be implemented quickly so within 2 weeks of the contract being signed we had the open day. For me it is great to see something I have worked so hard for actually being implemented and to see the kids so excited about the books and toys was wonderful. Also the day was beautiful with blue skies and temperatures above 30, so the community members who turned out got to see a beautiful building. And the kids put on some great dancing for us which we really enjoyed!
I spent the rest of the week doing VSO related stuff. There was the annual quality framework review which was a day long review of VSO's activities for the year and I was one of the volunteer representatives. We have had a couple of new volunteers arrive so on Thursday I did a city orientation for one of the new arrivals. Interestingly for 2 of the new volunteers this is their 3rd VSO placement and they are finding VSO Mongolia very different from previous placements. And on Friday I had my leavers workshop which went through all the things to expect in terms of emotional, practical and pastoral when leaving VSO. It was a tough day but it needed to be done.
Of course because of all the VSO happenings lots of vols were in from the countryside and I have had my spare room full for the whole week! I really enjoy it because it means I get some company, new conversation and fresh faces. But I wasn't expecting the couple who stayed with me to get married while they were here!! They had a private ceremony at the embassy here and only told us all afterwards! I am so pleased for them!
On Sunday we all headed off on the train to our summer conference in the countryside of the Selenge Aimag. We stayed at a summer camp run by one of the organisations one of the VSO volunteers works for, and the money we pay to use the camp goes to support their activities working with child labourers, child trafficking and child prostitutes. So it was good to be able to support them.
The camp itself was lovely situated right beside a river in a valley surrounded by beautiful green hills. When we arrived the weather was beautiful so after we dumped out stuff off we headed straight for the river! The water was lovely and we had a great time swimming and sunbathing.
Unfortunately the weather went downhill from there and the rest of the conference was pretty cold and wet. We were staying in wooden cabins with holes in the walls and no heating so it got pretty cold at night. During our sessions we ended up wrapping ourselves in the blankets from the beds to keep warm. I had brought some thermals to wear as pyjamas but ended up wearing them all week!
But even though the weather was horrible it was great to spend time with all the VSO volunteers in one place, share our successes and challenges, and discuss ways to improve VSO. We also had some hilarious performances put on by each geographical area, including a great skit from Arvaikheer about collecting cashmere samples, and some contentious quizzes from the Staff and UB vols.
One of the volunteers brought his horses with him and during a dry spell a few of us went out riding through the valleys and hills around the camp site. These horses are very well looked after and the best looking horses I have seen since I arrived due to their glossy coats and fact they have been fed through the winter. So it was a real pleasure to ride a well trainined, well fed, happy horse!
Unfortunately we did have to return to reality and jobs eventually and so yesterday we boarded the train back to UB. Even the train journey was a great experience as it allowed us to watch the beautiful (rain soaked!) countryside go by!
Thursday, 3 June 2010
Horse riding and finishing a placement
The weather in Mongolia has finally warmed up, literally within a couple of weeks we have gone from pretty chilly days under 5 degrees to sweltering in temperatures above 30! The plus side is I am finally changing from a very pasty white (having spent all winter covering every exposed piece of flesh) to a slightly darker ivory colour! My poor skin isn't quite sure what is going on!
Anyway we made the most of the beautiful weather and over the weekend I organised a horse riding trip. 4 of us headed out to a camp near Zuunmod on Friday evening to ride over to Manzushir monastry, 20-25 km away. The first night we stayed in a ger at the site and got to take a short walk around the surrounding hills. Because we had a few days of rain everything is turning green and it is quite beautiful!
The next morning we were off on horse back across the beautiful green landscape. It was a nice ride, even if we did spend a lot of it riding alongside the road. We had quite a few flat spaces where we were able to get a good canter going which was nice. The best bit of riding we did was through the national park up to the Monastry. We rode through the trees which still had piles of frozen snow beneath them, alongside a lovely river. It was beautiful scenery.
The Monastery is situated on top of a hill overlooking the national park which is beautiful. The ruins of the old monastery sit beside the newer Monastery and there were many families there enjoying the beautiful weather.
From the Monastery we headed back out of the national park to camp for the night. It was an interested experience as the tents were pretty small and most of the poles were broken! But we survived and stayed dry which was the main thing!
The next day we rode back to the camp across more flat plains where we got to do more fast riding and see beautiful flowers!
When we got back to the camp they were setting up some new tourist gers and I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine watching them put them together. It is a really interesting process and so simple! I suppose it has to be as traditionally most families moved with the seasons and the availability of food for their animals, so they had to be able to pack everything onto the back of camels and move quickly!
Although the weekend was great it was a sad week too as I finished my work with CMTU. I have very much enjoyed having the variety in my work of spending time at the trade union and I have learned a lot about trade union activities. It was also nice to be raising funds for projects closer to my heart - human rights, international law training and environmental projects.
Anyway we made the most of the beautiful weather and over the weekend I organised a horse riding trip. 4 of us headed out to a camp near Zuunmod on Friday evening to ride over to Manzushir monastry, 20-25 km away. The first night we stayed in a ger at the site and got to take a short walk around the surrounding hills. Because we had a few days of rain everything is turning green and it is quite beautiful!
The next morning we were off on horse back across the beautiful green landscape. It was a nice ride, even if we did spend a lot of it riding alongside the road. We had quite a few flat spaces where we were able to get a good canter going which was nice. The best bit of riding we did was through the national park up to the Monastry. We rode through the trees which still had piles of frozen snow beneath them, alongside a lovely river. It was beautiful scenery.
The Monastery is situated on top of a hill overlooking the national park which is beautiful. The ruins of the old monastery sit beside the newer Monastery and there were many families there enjoying the beautiful weather.
From the Monastery we headed back out of the national park to camp for the night. It was an interested experience as the tents were pretty small and most of the poles were broken! But we survived and stayed dry which was the main thing!
The next day we rode back to the camp across more flat plains where we got to do more fast riding and see beautiful flowers!
When we got back to the camp they were setting up some new tourist gers and I enjoyed sitting in the sunshine watching them put them together. It is a really interesting process and so simple! I suppose it has to be as traditionally most families moved with the seasons and the availability of food for their animals, so they had to be able to pack everything onto the back of camels and move quickly!
Although the weekend was great it was a sad week too as I finished my work with CMTU. I have very much enjoyed having the variety in my work of spending time at the trade union and I have learned a lot about trade union activities. It was also nice to be raising funds for projects closer to my heart - human rights, international law training and environmental projects.
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