Still No Luck

Two weeks ago, we commenced upon our second trek in an attemp to get to the elusive Manzushir Khiid. Now, you are probably expecting a tale of dramatic failure, and I will not disappoint.

We left at 8:30 am. Now, it has become illegal to climb the mountains to the east of our school, which posed a small problem, since it is necessary to do so to get to our destination. Through a little cunning and stealth, we made our way through the forest to avoid the less than overwhelming guard. once we were at the top of the mountain, the thick forestry was a plesant change of pace to the wide open plains that the majority of the country is comprised of. We continued on until noon, when we stopped for a nice lunch, protected by a large rock formation. After lunch we continued along our planned route, when dilemma struck. There is a single pass between two valleys that is essential to take. This pass, however, is covered with gigantic boulders and the pile is about 100 m wide, 200 m across and about 70 m high. After a brief attempt, we decided that it wasn't worth crossing, and we would try to go around. Unfotunately, "around" resulted in going down the mountainside.

Where do you think we ended up? The exact same valley as the last time. Not willing to climg back up the mountain, we followed the valley right to the same ger camp where our last trip ended. It seems that this ger camp is located in the gravitational centre of the universe, unknowingly pulling us toward it, despite taking a completely different route than the first time. As for the elk, there was no attack this time, but there were signs of them everywhere. We did see one in the distance, but it took off before any of us could even get a camera out.

To conclude, Manzushir Khiid cannot be reached on foot from Zaisan.

Disease Outbreaks and Weekend Plans

Mongolia has apparently been stricken by a contagious disease outbreak. Hand, foot and mouth disease has forced all classes up to and including grade 5 to be cancelled for at least this whole week. While this means that I have no students for the week, there is no shortage of work to be done.

To clear up a couple of misconceptions, allow me to provide a small amount of knowledge.
1. Hand, foot and mouth disease is NOT the same thing as foot and mouth disease. Foot and mouth disease affect livestock, and not people.

2. I am in little to no danger. Hand foot and mouth disease is passed easily amongst people who do not wash their hands regularly. Thankfully, this is a habit I am glad to say that I practice regularly. Also HFMD, while it can be carried by older people, tends to strike young children (usually younger than 10) as they have not developed a strong enough immune system. By chance, and, I think, through a little skill, I have survive to a ripe old age that is nearly three times that which is commonly stricken.

On a completely unrelated note, this weekend Dan, Andrew, Terry and I have decided to make an overnight hike to Manzushir Khiid. Okay, so this may sound a little familiar (see September posting), but we are determined to make it there. We have taken some additional precautions this time. To begin with, we will be bringing a compass and topographical maps. We have also made the decision to avoid any type of antlered animals. Finally, we have our "wonderful" experience to draw upon, and we know that we should, under no circumstance, go to the bottom of any mountain. Now, I realize we did not plan to get attacked by elk, go to the bottom of the mountain and get lost last time, but I believe that our combined 21 months of worldly experience will prevent such things from happening. In any event, expect a post next week informing you of how we got attacked by elk, ran downhill, and became utterly lost.

Coming Back

It's official, I will be returning to Mongolia for another year. I signed another one-year contract recently, securing my job. Fear not, I will still be returning to Canada this summer. My flight has been booked for June 28 and I'll arrive in Toronto just before 9 pm. I will be in Canada until August 17, when I fly out of Detroit (I refused to allow them to fly me out of Toronto again). From Detroit I fly to Washington D.C. (I know, kind of the wrong direction). After Washington I fly the tremendously long flight to Tokyo where I will spend 2 days (country #8 in less than a year) before continuing on to Ulaanbaatar. I will be back here on August 20.

Visitors and Shameless Plugs

There is nothing better than having visitors. This goes double when you live in a foreign country. Back in January, Sean and Erin - whom you should recognize from my Siamese Adventure blog (shameless plug #1) went on a journey that would take them through Ulaanbaatar. While their adventures deserve a good read - and you can find link on my Siamese Adventure blog (shameless plug #2), they didn't quite seem prepared for Ulaanbaatar. Since I can't provide nearly as good of an account of our time together here as Mr. Sean Mullin can you should read about it on their blog - the link to which can be found on my Siamese Adventure blog (shameless plug #3). What I am willing to say is that having visitors have a great way of getting you to go see those thing you just haven't checked out yet. So, at their prompting, we toured the Winter Palace - which is only a 30 min walk from my place. A small note - there is no heating in this landmark, I had only been back in Mongolia for a week after 35 degrees in Cambodia and Thailand for the previous 3 weeks - which you can read about on my Siamese Adventure blog (shameless plug #4) and the temperatures in Mongolia were a balmy -45. What I'm getting at here is that more of you should come and visit me here to encourage me to keep going out to see the sights. There. Now it's your fault if I don't do it.

The Absurdity of Mongolia Returns

Last night, Naomi and I grabbed bite to eat after doing some grocery shopping. Through the window of the restaurant we witnessed a man, whom we assume to have been drunk, getting pummeled by a woman. At first it seemed to be a simple assault, but upon further watching we noticed a few things that were odd about the picture.

1. No one seemed to care.

2. The woman removed the man's coat and sweater, leaving only his t-shirt.

3. We first thought she was trying to take his money from his pockets, but it turns out she was actually taking his pants.

4. She started to walk away with his clothes.

5. Only at this point did the man put up any opposition by running after the woman.

Somehow this just seems so... normal now.

Mongolian Eagle Festival

Okay... so I lost my memory cards for a while, and I finally found one (I promise more updates when I find the other one). A few weeks ago, Maureen, Naomi and I headed out to Terelj to witness the Mongolian Eagle Festival. The festival was being held near UB for the first time, as it is a Western Mongolian tradition. Obviously, we seized the opportunity to spend $30 and spend the day watching people drag fox pelts behind a horse, having their eagles catch them, and then a few bouts of goat wrestling - the goats don't do the wrestling, two men, riding horseback, play a kind of tug-of-war with a goat. All of the competitions are designed to show how good of a hunter the man is, using his eagle.

Okay, so the picture doesn't show what's going on so well. Check out the video

Eagle festival competitor. Not sure how you win this, but I know how you lose. One eagle just kind of flew away and landed on the mountain... guess it's not such a good hunter.

Big Mongolian men, wearing traditional Mongolian dels, with giant eagles. They seemed to like carring them upside down for some reason.

Still Alive, I Promise

Sorry it's been so long since there has been any update on my end. Unfortunately, report cards, parent-teacher conferences and weeks of illness take their toll, and have a way of maing one not want to do anything. On that note, I promise to start having updates appear in the next couple weeks covering my 2 month blog absence.