Sitting by Ugii Lake

Tuesday, August 21st 5:30pm At Ugii Lake

I'm sun burned and wind swept after a full day outside by the lake. Instead of camping in the steppe last night, we decided to drive a little farther and stay two nights at the lake. We had to ditch some monastery ruins tht was on our itinerary because the river was running too high and we couldn't cross it. We had been warned by a local farmer who had tried to cross on his horse but couldn't. But our driver had to see for himself, and indeed, we couldn't cross it. So we gave up and drove to the lake earlier than scheduled for a bit of R&R.

Today I read, walked around, swam and took pictures of a horse drive. A few hundred horses camp through our camp on the way to the UB butchers. But what a beautiful scene to see so many horses running free. Speaking of horses...the local speciality at this time of year is fermented horse milk. It has a little alcohol in it from the fermentation process which involves a goat skin. But it won't get you drunk. It kind of tastes like buttermilk.

Sitting by this little lake, or the ocean, as the locals call it...life is calm! There is a light breeze that threatens to become a strong wind. There are a few ducks diving for fish. The sun is dipping lower and will soon be behind potential rain clods. There is a ger and homestead across the lake from where I sit and where the sun will soon set. I can smell the pasta concoction our cook and guide, Navcha, has created for us tonight. And JP is cooking it while she changes and sings "What a Wonderful World" in her tent. At her request, I wrote down the lyrics for her and she has listened over and over to it on JP's MP3 player. She is so funny!

She told me a story similar to that of the Weeping Camel (a great movie!). If a Mongolian mother doesn't accept her baby immediately, they will put it down on the ground in the way of a herd of horses. Seeing her child in danger she wil want to hold it and care for it. But in reality, the horses will never trample the baby. Never!

Camping in a ger

Monday, August 20th Ger house, Little Gobi

I'm sitting in a ger house near the little gobi, or the end of the gobi and next to a tourist camp. But we are staying at the worker's house. I'm not sure if he gets paid or not, but he got dinner last night and he played cards with us for awhile. His wife is away in another village waiting to give birth. He was so busy with the tourist camp, we had the ger to ourselves, both a blessing and a bit of a dissapointment. It would have been fun to get to know an entire family, but you take what you can get I guess. I slept on this couch/bed that seems to be dedicated to a lama or God. That was a little strange, maybe sacreligious--not sure! But everyone else seemed to think it was ok.

I was worried there wouldn't be enough light in here because there are no windows. But when the sun camp up, he opened up the top and the morning light poured in! When we arrived yesterday afternoon, it was sunny and warm but everyone predicted a thunderstorm was coming, so we asked this guy if we could stay with him. Good thing too...it poured REALLY hard that night! Thunder, lightning and then an amzing starry sky! It was so wide and open and expansive! The milky way was brighter than even at Lake Baikal or our work site in the jungle. At one point we were playing cards and had the door open, which always faces south. The lightning bolts were striking right out in front of us--perfectly framed in the door way!

Adventures in Mongolia

Mongolian National Orchestra! Throat singing and all! I am in love with throat singing!

Happy Birthday JP!

Mongolia Desert lunch with our Japanese 4WD, Japanese speaking driver and English speaking guide!

Staying in a ger! Loving life!

The travel buddies found sand dunes!! A happy happy couple (of friends)!

A Mongolian Day: Sumo, Puppets & Throat Singing

Sumo's Biggest Fan & Me

I got a picture with him in Nagoya too! He's at ALL the sumo tournaments! He usually sits directly in view of the TV camera. Look for him...you'll see him!

Saturday was the big Sumo Tournament in Uozu, just two towns over, just 30 minutes away! I was psyched. Ever since I saw sumo in Nagoya this summer, I've been hooked. And if you read my blog...you might remember this post I have a few favorites, okay, I'll be honest, I have a crush on these three: Asashoryu (Mongolian), Hakuho (Mongolian), and Kotooshu (Bulgarian). All my favorites were there, all the big boys were there, and I was so excited! Seriously, rock stars, movie stars, TV starts, they don't excite me, but these sumo guys....they got me excited!

But I don't get excited about all of them. For example, this guy, Buyzan 武雄山...isn't my type!




This guy isn't my type either! He's one of the biggest I've seen. And he isn't even that good (i.e. he didn't make the official program)! Important rule of Sumo: Big DOES NOT equal good. Some of the best aren't all that big, relatively speaking of course.






Iwakiyama 岩木山 isn't my type either. But he was milling about and the nerdy glasses look did get me. I mean, look, we could almost be related! He is kinda cute!

But this man, Asashoryu, is my kinda guy!! Okay, I know, the picture sucks, but the most important part was that I was standing close enough to take it. And two seconds later as he walked by, I reached out and touched his right tricep. So smooth and so strong!! I was giddy! Unfortunately, Hakuho and Kotooshu were entering from the other side. So I got some pictures of them from a distance, but nothing blog worthy!

Read Sumo Headlines

スーホの白い馬　After sumo, Owen, Linea and I went to dinner in Toyama--Santoshi's, a great little Indian restaurant! I hadn't been there in months! After downing our chai we were off to our next Mongolian adventure, a puppet show based on a Mongolian folk tale accompanied by a musical ensemble from Mongolia. In brief, it was AMAZING! Mongolia just jumped to the top of my travel list (great music and cute sumo guys). The music was phenomenal. This wasn't just any random group. This group has played for the heads of many states all over the world. The singer is a national treasure. And one guy even did some throat singing! I had goose bumps! Unfortunately, we couldn't take any photos. But the puppet show was extraordinary too! And to top it off, a local English teacher, was one of the main puppeteers! I went home and tried to look up the group on the internet to buy their CD, but haven't been able to find anything. So....keep your eyes open....if you see anything by "The Mongolian State Morin Khuur Ensemble." BUY IT! BUY IT FOR ME, PLEASE!

And then today, I got up at an ungodly hour to go to the Toyama Masters Long Course Swim Meet....and now I'm exhausted and I'm going to bed.