Well, the summer turned into fall, and fall turned into the holidays and excuses, excuses, etc etc. I’ve been duly ignoring the blog. I do apologize, but now I’m back for your reading and all-things-photo pleasure. The next few entries are some images and thoughts on our trip to Mongolia in the late summer/early fall. It’s not really photography based, but there will be photos and it’s my blog so I’ll write what I want. Enjoy!
Mongolia is a vast and interesting place with a rich history and a culture to match. (You can google the history lesson on Chinggis Khan and communist control.) Nestled between China and Russia, Mongolia is the poster child of democracy for a formerly communist nation. Despite the trials of their recent history, Mongolia lacks that sense of desperation that can be found in third world countries. Yes, there is poverty, but there is not a lot of crime and very few peddlers vying for money at tourist hot spots. Maybe it’s just that there aren’t that many tourists, almost none during winter. Or maybe it’s simply that in this land of nomads, livestock and genuine hospitality, nobody goes hungry.
Ulaanbaatar
We started our journey in late August, just as summer was sighing her last breath with fall tapping at the back window. Flying in to Ulaanbaatar makes for a scenic landing; the city of about 1 million is condensed at its center and expands into a series of ger camps on the outskirts of the city. Along the countryside, single gers dot the rolling landscape amongst a seemingly confusing network of lines swirling on the ground (I later found out these were roads and highways, but more on that in another post).
As the world’s coldest capital city, the weather turns chilly quickly and early before the city sets in for a long and cold winter. After the day we landed (which was a lovely 80 degrees farenheit), we whipped out our chilly-weather clothes as the rest of our family and friends sweated out the worst heat wave in decades back in Texas. No complaints here, so far.
Ulaanbaatar is not the prettiest of cities in the world as most of it was built by Soviet communists in their typical high-on-function, low-on-aesthetics fashion. Since their liberation from the Soviets in 1990, however, a few modern buildings and sky scrapers have popped up around Sukhbaatar Square (in front of the parliament building) adding a delightful contrast to the otherwise bleak building facades.
Amongst the one million citizens of UB, you get the full gamut of personalities, from faux-hawked kids to countryside nomads to suited businessmen, all jam packed into one neat little package. Only the really old ladies or people performing traditional Mongolian music and dance wear traditional clothing anymore. Yes, even in Mongolia everyone’s homogenized.
Among the hustle and bustle of the city is a gentle blend of both Russian and Chinese influences with a big helping of the strictly Mongolian nomadic culture thrown in for good measure. There are also some unavoidable Western influences when it comes to clothing and music and the like, however, this is (so far) the only capital city I have visited in which I did not see a McDonald’s or a 7-11. Unfortunately, I’m sure it’s only a matter of time. Once you get used to walking on a lot of unpaved and uneven pathways and probably some of the worst traffic in the world for such a small city, Ulaanbaatar is a pleasant city to explore that offers most of the usuals for a metropolitan area: history, arts, good food, and one million friendly faces.
Todd Maternowski
January 7, 2012 at 8:42 am
Cool article. Reminds me of the very beginning of the film Alexander Nevsky. A Russian prince is betraying his city to an approaching Mongol horde. The Russian is waiting impatiently, when the Mongol horseman comes up, smiles widely and says “Sorry, we saw a town and couldn’t resist.”