Gachuurt 19.04.2008

Should I say when the winter finish and the spring arrives...

This saturday a few expats headed to Gachuurt, 20 kilometer from UB and yet so different. A beautiful village by the river. Where Debora has been living for the last 5 years (i think).

Already exceptional place it reached a pick when you see the grass fighting it's way out and the river carries the ice that has been melting. The last 3 days we've been blessed by a unusual warm weather (unfortunately when i write this the winter made it's way back, today is particularly cold again!), spend this time by the river seemed to be the best option.

I should probably use this moment to explain what spring mean for mongolians. Contrary to Europeans, Mongolians despise the spring, as here spring carries the 4 seasons in one day, you can go from extremely hot to extremely cold in a matter of hours, but whatsmore it carries the so unpleasant dust/sand storms... it can sometime make it difficult to see more that a few meters ahead, plus the disagreeable taste in your mouth and your crying eyes.. the other day was quite exceptional, i should carry my camera around to prove it to you, the visibility was almost nile....

Manzshir / Zuunmod 13.04.2008

The weather is getting there and the little trips outside de city too!

This time we headed to Zuunmod, the capital f the Tuv aimag, to visit the Manzshir monastery, or the ruins of it.

We packed ourselves in a microbus, arrived to the Zuunmod, which by the way is a beautiful little city, impressively clean and organised... wondered around, spend some time at the museum... We then tried to find someone who could bring us to the ruins of the monastery. This couple brought us there in their amasing 4x4...

The manzshir... is still gets me that Russian destroyed everything they could this place is beautiful, the location is amasing and the view impressive. You can still see the foundations of what it was but there's nothing left except a few walls. We wondered around, had some food, enjoyed the sunshine and headed back to UB. And to congratulate ourselves for such an effort (not), we ended up having a nice cold beer in the most kitsch place i've seen, the garden lodge, where the window were covered with fake grass!

Wrestling 12.04.2008

La lutte ici est le sport national! la totalité des règles m'échappent... mais voila ce que j'ai compris... 200 et des des lutteur se retrouvent sur le terrain, il se battent entre eux, par couple le gagnant va au 2d tour et ainsi de suite, donc pour cette fois 8 tours. Les lutteurs sont classes par catégories mais le poids et l'âge d'y sont pour rien. N'importe qui peut participer (homme bien évidement). Les deux premiers tours les lutteurs sont accouplés selon une classification qui m'échappe, puis après le plus haut classe choisit sont adversaire. Il y a une danse de l'aigle au tout début (voir vidéo sur youtube) ou la féminité de chacun est mis a l'épreuve... C'est assez exceptionnel de voir des mecs d'une taille pareil exercer une Pte danse si gracieuse. A la fin de la lutte, ça va très très vite en générale, le perdant passe en dessous du bras du gagnant. Ceci dit parfois c'est l'inverse car c'est une question de respect...

Bref, 4 heures après et tout n'était pas fini! mon derrière carre je suis partie! la prochaine fois il faudra arriver au milieu, histoire de voir la fin! Ca a durée en tout et pour tout 6 heures 1/2!

Frenchie Night! 11.04.2008

Que vive la francophonie... C'est tt ce que j'ai a dire! que ca fait du bien de passer un debut de soiree a pouvoir s'exprimer aisement! Je vais aussi mettre une ptt video sur youtube, voila ce qui se passe qd des frenchies (come on nous appelle ici) se retrouvent un vendredi soir apres une longue semaine de boulot!

Mais c'est qu'il fLIme l'imbecile.... je sais c'est une private joke et tres peu comprendront, c'est pour vous les biloutes! un ptt peu de Mayorque a Ulaanbaatar!

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Arthur, aka le frenchie

Daniel, qui nous a rejoint plus tard...

Darkhan again!

Darkhan, the lonely planet does not recommend spending time in that city. Is the second time i went there and somehow i do not agree with the guide. It's true is not much to see, but it has for me the charm of mongolia. Is a city in the middle of nowhere, with those amasing russian blocks but wherever you are in the city you can see the mountains, and realise there's no much around. It has his own charm and this time seemed to me so peaceful. Maybe because i needed to get out the capital. Or maybe cause work seem smoother. Last time i went was pure pleasure, as for this time it was for work. To conduct a training/workshop with some social workers. And i allowed myself an extra day of tourism and quality time. Went to have a close look at the buddha who looks over the city, visited the black market and enjoy the night life. Just walking around (suffering from the dust/sand storms) made the trick!

We had snow and we had sand storms!

The praying wheels.

When you turn them the prayers inside are released and heard...

At "Queens" with Aimee.