Mongolia Monday- The Saga Of The Scissors

When I went to Mongolia last July on my AFC Flag Expedition, I knew that arrangements had been made to meet with some unknown number of women at the Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve research camp to talk about helping them set up a felt crafts cooperative. I sorted through all my sewing stuff and came up with a pretty good-sized bag of needles, thread, notions and one extra pair of very good sewing scissors to donate to the cause. You can read about the meeting and see photos of the four intense days I spent with the women here.

The scissors, I found out late on the third day, were very, very, did I say very, popular. I was asked during a last meeting of everyone, if I could get more scissors. Sure, I said, how many pair? One for everyone, so 20 pair. I knew I could figure out some way to do this, so I said yes.

Then a burly man in a del, clearly one of the herders who had spent most of his life out of doors and who had quietly come in and was sitting by the door, raised his hand. Through my translator, he shyly asked if it would be possible to get 21 pair. His wife hadn’t been able to come to the meeting, but he would like to give a pair to her because it would make her happy. Yes, of course. I still choke up a little when I remember him sitting there in a ger full of women (Mongol women can be formidable), summoning up the courage to ask a total stranger for something for his wife.

My gift scissors being used to cut out the fabric for a del for my husband. The women made two, one for each of us, in three days. Notice that there is no paper pattern. The skill to make these traditional Mongol garments is either passed down or there are classes where it is taught.

Then, during a series of “competitions” that celebrated the end of the meetings, everyone divided up into teams to do skits. One team did theirs on where the scissors were because everyone was wanting to use them.

I think what is being said is something like "I need to cut this. Where are the scissors?"

Fast forward and I’m back at home. My husband generously offered to donate the money to purchase the scissors through his company. I got on the internet and in touch with one of the staff people at the Denver Zoo Foundation. It turned out that a fabric store chain had 8″ Gingher sewing scissors on sale at a very good price. Sewers know that Ginghers are about the best you can get and that’s what I wanted the ladies to have.  So they were ordered and delivered to my contact person at the Zoo.

Next was how to get them to Mongolia. We’d hoped to send them over with someone, but no one was going in the near future, the scissors weighed a fair amount and, with security being what it is, we felt like it was a lot to ask for someone to take them on a plane, even in checked luggage.

The Director of the Conservation Biology Department, which is who I work through, said that the only reliable way to make sure they got to where they needed to go was via FedEx, so that’s what we did. That cost over $400. My husband had included $100 for shipping in his original donation and the Zoo picked up the rest. So far so good.

The scissors arrived at the airport and then it got complicated with customs paperwork that none of us knew had to be done ahead of time. More fees, which my husband covered. But the scissors were in UB and in the possession of the right person, who would make sure they got to where they needed to go.

All along I’d had this vision of the scissors arriving in the winter when the women didn’t have as much work to do, so would have time to make felt items to sell this summer. And it would be cold and things would be difficult, but maybe this would be a nice mid-winter surprise. And I would be announcing that this endeavor of my Art Partnerships for Mongolian Conservation had been successfully concluded.

Unfortunately, this winter has turned out to be what the Mongols call a “Zud”, heavy snow and extreme cold, as in below -40F, which is a “normal” winter low. Haiti has the world’s attention, deservedly, but for those of us who care about Mongolia, there is a crisis happening there, too. I wrote to the scientist who goes to Ikh Nart every month and who is going to deliver the scissors, asking how my friends are. His reply was that he hasn’t been able to contact anyone, but will let me know when he does. I suspect that he can’t even get to the area right now. Conditions may not improve until April. I know that the Mongols are resourceful people and they’ll help each other through this, but I am concerned. I’ll be very glad when I hear that everyone is ok.

I’ll post as soon as I have news. In the meantime, I’m making my plane reservations for the next trip in July/August.

Off to the “Art and the Animal” Opening Weekend and an Update on the Mongolia Women’s Craft Collective Update

Taking a break from painting for the next week, so y’all are going to have to hang tuff to see the next step of the big argali painting. Tomorrow I’m off to the opening weekend festivities surrounding “Art and the Animal”, the annual majored juried show held by the Society of Animal Artists, of which I’m proud to have been a member since 2002. As those of you who follow this blog know, earlier in the year I learned that I had finally gotten into the show after coming up short for five or six years. I’ll try to blog a little of it while I’m there.

In other (great) news, along with some more pictures of the felt work:

Felt purse with horse motif
Felt purse with horse motif

Yesterday I had an eagerly anticipated phone conversation with Gana Wingard, the Mongolian scientist (she’s married to an  American attorney who specializes in natural resource law) who was my translator and liaison for my meetings with the herder women who live in and around the Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve. I came home on the 30th and she stayed to run the Earthwatch team, so I was out of touch for almost a month with anyone who could tell me what happened next.

The women went home the same day we left for Ulaanbaatar, but most of them plus more local men and women, came back on August 5 to clean out the spring that serves both the herders and the research camp. They also created some spots for the argali to drink.

Two physicians came and provided information and advice on infectious diseases like swine flu.

The Bag Governor and his wife (a “bag” is the smallest administrative unit in Mongolia) were there, too. Amgalaanbaatar, or Amgaa, who leads the argali research from the Mongolian side, gave them and the other local people who had not been at original meetings a briefing about the new association “Ikh Nart Is Our Future”. He also brought, by request, 3 meters of good thin felt from Ulaanbaatar that the ladies, according to Gana, very carefully divided up square foot by square foot.

Ibex purse custom made for a Chinese researcher studying argali; i did the drawing on the felt
Ibex purse custom made for a Chinese researcher studying argali; I did the drawing on the felt; the writing is old Mongolian script which, I think says "Ikh Nart" and the Mongol name they gave her "Ibex" or Yamar

The director of the association, Boloroo, was very happy to receive a laptop computer, which she badly needed for the association’s recordkeeping. The computer was given to her by the research project on the condition that I find a replacement, which is something I’ll be working on. If anyone reading this can donate or knows where I could buy reasonably, a good quality fairly new laptop, please let me know.

There has been no time for Amgaa to research prices for the felt press, so that has had to be put off until October.

Ikh Nart formalized a sister park relationship with Anza-Borrego State Park last fall. I haven’t really met any of the park people yet, but they have donated a fair amount of equipment and help with things like signs. Amgaa visited them in California in January, his first trip to the USA. Six people from the park were at Ikh Nart while Gana was there with the Earthwatch team. Boloroo came to the camp on a motorbike with a selection of craft items. The Anza-Borrego people bought over 100,000 tugrik (about $100) worth for themselves and as gifts. As you can imagine, I was thrilled to hear about this. Two of the American Earthwatch staff members also purchased over $150 of crafts. This means that at least a small income is already flowing to the women who showed up and worked so hard while I was there.

Eyeglass case; closure and stars from notions and extra craft things I brought as gifts
Eyeglass case; closure and stars from notions and extra craft things I brought as gifts

There are two more Earthwatch teams this year and Boloroo plans to visit each one. She has also contacted my guide who was interested in commissioning traditional felt rugs and it looks like something will happen there, too. All in all, a terrific beginning. It was hard not to have been there for what came next, but I’m looking forward to seeing everyone next year!

One woman also brought this child's khurem, or jacket, that she made, wanting to sell it because it was too big.
One woman also brought this child's khurem, or jacket, that she made, wanting to sell it because it was too big. All the ribbon decoration was done by hand. The jacket body is blue wool.

First Known Photos of an Argali Sheep Crossing a River

I have just received confirmation that I have taken the only known photographs of a Mongolian argali sheep crossing a river. This occurred at the Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve during my Flag Expedition on the very first morning of observations. In fact, he (Dr. Reading believes it was a yearling ram) was one of four of the first argali I saw on the trip.

Dr. Reading also noted in his reply to my query that “Well, I don’t think anyone ever doubted that argali cross these relatively shallow, relatively slow rivers (at least I never did).  All ungulates (and most mammals) swim pretty well and you need something a LOT more substantial that the Kherlen River to stop them.”

The main reason, I believe, that no one has gotten photographs is that the only place where argali have been studied in any depth is at the Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve, which has a few small streams, but no rivers. Research has begun at Gun-Galuut and, in fact, an Earthwatch team is scheduled to be there for part of their time in September, but the emphasis has been on capturing and putting radio collars on the argali, not behavioral observations.

The four sheep that I watched were on the opposite side of the river from their home range, Mt. Baits. Their behavior appeared anxious and finally one bolted back across the river. He climbed up on a high point and looked back. The young ram finally turned and ran back up onto the mountain. The other three argali seemed indecisive and ultimately did not cross, but moved up onto a smaller mountain where I finally lost sight of them.

The group of argali down at the Kherlen River
The group of argali down at the Kherlen River
Suddenly one jumped in
Suddenly one jumped in
And made quite a splash
And made quite a splash
And then swam directly towards us
And then swam directly towards us
Where's everyone else?
Where's everyone else?

Here are detail shots of the main three photos:

Detail: jumping in the river
Detail: jumping in the river
Detail: the splash
Detail: the splash
Detail: swimming across the Kherlen River
Detail: swimming across the Kherlen River

Visit my official Artists for Conservation Flag Expedition page

Back Home In California

I had a pleasantly uneventful trip home from Mongolia. Glad to be home, but already plotting the trip next year. I was able to get to the Hi Fi music shop in UB and buy a few CDs of contemporary Mongol music, so I’ll have fun painting to that until it’s time to go again.

Yesterday afternoon, I had a final get-together with Gana Wingard and Sukhin Amgalanbaatar. We brought Amgaa up to speed on what had happened during the meetings with the women at Ikh Nart and talked about what the next steps should be.

I showed him some of the pictures I took of argali. It looks like I may have the first and only documented evidence of an argali crossing a river, which I saw on the first morning out at Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve. Up until last year, the only argali research in the world was being done at Ikh Nart, which has no rivers, streams, lakes or creeks. Apparently one scientist has maintained that they won’t cross water. I guess no one told the Gun-Galuut argali since at least four of them had before we got there and we watched one come back across. I’ll be working to confirm the significance of what I saw and what it means in terms of what is known about argali.

Today is “My mind is in California, but my body is still in Mongolia”, so I’m going to take it easy, unpack, do laundry, hang out with my husband, pet the cats and dog, maybe putter in the garden if the sun comes out and think about the past three weeks spent in a country that is starting to feel like a second home.

Sunset, Arburd Sands
Sunset, Arburd Sands

Visit the AFC site here

I’ve Returned from Ikh Nartiin Chuluu

My trip to Ikh Nart was amazingly successful. It seemed like all the stars aligned for my three days of meetings with the women who want to start a crafts cooperative.

It’s going to take a bit to sort it all out and write it down coherently, but the punchline is that they got the word out, fourteen women took a five day felt workshop a month or so ago, and, when they showed up at the research camp (a half hour early), their new Director, Boloroo, handed me a fourteen page proposal and the ladies spread almost two dozen felt craft items out on the tables we’d set up.

To say that we were off and running would be a major understatement. The ladies even had a name for their group- “Ikh Nart Is Our Future”- ready for my approval. I approved. Immediately.

I had purchased four meters of felt in UB to give them and, in three days, all of that was turned into slippers, purses, a large rug and a variety of other things.

I also brought the fabric for them to make del for my husband and I. They finished both of them, fully lined and all the fastenings made by hand, sewn on manual sewing machines and ironed with old irons heated on a propane stove, in three days.

The next step will be to work out the details of the $800 loan that they have requested to buy a felt press, since their intention is to make the felt themselves, not buy factory-made.

Gana Wingard, the biologist who made the trip with me as translator and liaison, was as blown away as I was at how much effort they had put into this. We were going to go out early and late to look for argali and ibex, but never had the time. The schedule and pace was set by the women and it was non-stop. I did see and photograph some argali on the way into the reserve and on the way out.

To Jeff Whiting and everyone at AFC- I can absolutely guarantee you that you have gotten your money’s worth and then some for awarding me this grant. There are single mothers and poor families who will be benefiting for years to come because you made it possible for me to go to Ikh Nart.

Here’s a few photos:

Argali ewe on rock
Argali ewe on rock
The ladies arrive at the research camp
The ladies arrive at the research camp
Laying Mongol felt rug design
Laying out Mongol felt rug design
Ladies working on felt projects
Ladies working on felt projects
Me with new friend
Me with new friend
Sewing my del
Sewing my del
A felt purse with Ikh Nart patch which was given to me as a gift
A felt purse with Ikh Nart patch which was given to me as a gift
Ready for customers; eleven Aussies, as it turned out
Ready for customers; eleven Aussies, as it turned out
A "maikhant" or summer tent; me in my new del with the AFC Flag
A "maikhan" or summer tent; me in my new del with the AFC Flag
Group shot, including Aussie tour group members
Group shot, including Aussie tour group members
Four argali that we saw as we left the reserve this morning
Four argali that we saw as we left the reserve this morning

 

Onward to Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve

But first, when we got back to UB, I needed to go by the Nomadic Journeys office and pay for the trip. Jan Wigsten, who I worked with to plan my itinerary, was in and he spent about a half hour with Hatnaa and I chatting and kind of de-briefing us about how the trip had gone. It was pretty windy when we went back to the car and by the time we were halfway down Peace Ave. on the way to the hotel, it had started to rain. By the time we pulled into the Narantuul’s parking lot it was……hailing. Hard. The water level in the parking lot was already rising, so, once again, Hatnaa positioned the car so that the back end faced the storm and we sat for about 20 minutes right by the entrance ramp to the hotel door, waiting for it to stop or at least just go back to rain.

We finally got me and my stuff inside and I got my long hot shower. I called one of the Mongolian scientists that I’m working with, Amgaa, and he was free for dinner. He came over to the hotel and we walked a short way down the street to a restaurant that serves Mongolian food. At that point, neither of us knew whether or not Gana Wingard was going to make it in.

But she called the next morning and said the flight from Seoul went with no problems. The storm had cleared out. She came over to the hotel with her nephew, who is in his third year of studying biology at the University. We all went to lunch and then braved the notorious Black Market, now called the Narantuul Market. Nothing illegal goes on there except pick-pocketing. The drill is to take nothing in with you except your money, which you hold in your hand. The market was busy, but not crowded and we had no problem at all. The best way to see it is to go in with no money and just walk around. Needless to say, I don’t have any photos.

It’s a huge covered area with stalls selling everything. Our mission was to buy three or four meters of felt for the herder women to experiment with since we think that they can do well making traditional Mongolian felt carpets to sell. I also bought all the fabric needed for them to make del for myself and my husband.

———-

The driver picks me up at 9am this morning. We then pick up Gana and head south to Ikh Nart. I will be back in UB sometime in the afternoon of the 28th. Gana has been told that it is very, very hot at the reserve. We will do our argali watching in the early morning and in the evening and have our meetings with the herder women during the day. Fortunately, I have found that the same felt covering that keeps a ger warm in cold weather, also keeps them reasonably cool when it’s hot. And the nights can be quite cool. I might even need my down sleeping bag.

I hope to post again at least once before I come home on the 30th.

Bayartai!

Visit the AFC site here

Back to Ulaanbaatar

In the evening after the mountain ceremony, we went for one last drive and ended up poking around the ruins of an old monastery that is tucked up into a narrow canyon. The entry point and the site itself has many aspen trees growing in and around it, some with blue scarves (khadak) tied around them. It was a very peaceful place. After all the normal, but sometimes noisy activity that had been going on around the ger camp, we chose to just sit up on some flat rocks in the quiet, watching the sun go down. It was a very nice way to end my stay at Baga Gazriin Chuluu, knowing that the next day was a long road trip ending up back in very noisy UB.

Left side of canyon entrance
Left side of canyon entrance
Right side of canyon entrance
Right side of canyon entrance
Interior of monastery building with aspen trees
Interior of monastery building with aspen trees

We left for UB around 9am the next morning. Back across the steppe.

Earth road on the steppe
Earth road on the steppe looking south towards Baga Gazriin Chuluu
Tahilgat Hairhan, the moutain we saw on the way south
Tahilgat Hairhan, the mountain we saw on the way south

Among the many things I learned from Hatnaa about Mongol culture is that, out of respect for the spirits who dwell there and the fact that the top of a mountain is the closest one can get to Tenger, the sky, you never say the name of a mountain while you are within sight of it. One refers to it as “Hairhan”, which is a term of formal respect. So I asked him what the guides say to the tourists who inevitably ask what the name of this or that is. They parse the issue by saying that the mountain’s name is Hairhan. Which is absolutely true, in a sense, but allows them to honor an important custom. Near the mountain there were a couple of people herding their animals.

Traditional herding of goats and sheep
Traditional herding of goats and sheep
A somewhat more contemporary method of herding camels
A somewhat more contemporary method of herding camels

Finally, we came in sight of Bogd Khan, the sacred mountain which lies to the north of Ulaanbaatar and is also the world’s first nature reserve, having been set aside in 1778. Still on my list of places to visit. On the other side was the end of this wonderful road trip and a long, hot shower.

Bogd Khan Uul in the distance
Bogd Khan Uul in the distance

Visit the AFC site here

Images from the Field; Gun-Galuut and Baga Gazriin Chuluu

My guide/driver, Khatnaa, picked me up at the hotel at 9am and off to the countryside we went. I’m just going to hit the highlights here due to time constraints. I’ll cover each location more in separate posts after I get home.

We were about 40 minutes out of UB when we came upon a Kazakh man on a bicycle with his two year old golden eagle perched on the top of stack of parcels. What a way to start the trip!

Kazakh
Kazakh Man and his eagle

We arrived at the Gun-Galuut (pronounced “goon-galote”) after a pleasant two-hour drive. Lovely tourist ger camp overlooking the valley of the Kherlen River. Here’s my ger-

My ger at Gun-Galuut with AFC flag
My ger at Gun-Galuut with AFC flag

We got settled in. I walked down to the river and sat by it for awhile, caught up on the Journal and got organized for the upcoming fieldwork.

View from my ger
View from my ger

The next four days took on a basic pattern of getting up at 6am, out the door by 6:30, game drive until about 9, back for breakfast, do what needed doing, back out after early dinner by 6:30, drive until light gone between 8:30 and 9. Fall over. Repeat.

The first morning, while Khatnaa was scanning the hills, I took a look along the river and, halfway through the first sweep from left to right spotted four young argali rams on the other side of the river. We were off to a good start. Here’s a selection of other images. I’m saving all the best stuff for the paintings, but these will give you an idea of what I saw.

Kherlen Gul valley
Kherlen Gul valley
Endangered Siberian white-napped cranes; one of three pair in the reserve
Endangered white-napped cranes; one of three pair in the reserve
Siberian white-napped crane and domestic yaks White-napped crane and domestic yaks
Domestic bactrian camels
Domestic bactrian camels
Posing with the flag
Posing with the flag
Argali
Argali; the big group of 14 we saw

After four fabulous days at Gun-Galuut, we drove back through UB, where I picked up a copy of a bird guide and we ran a couple of other errands. Then it was south to Baga Gazriin Chuluu,  with a one night stay at Arburd Sands. It was windy and there were dark clouds around. We stopped for lunch and could hear thunder in the distance. Then it got interesting.

Hail; looking out car window
Hail; looking out car window

We found ourselves out in the open on the steppe in a violent rain and then hail storm. It was so bad that Khatnaa turned the car so that the back was to the wind to protect the windshield. The sound of the hail hitting the top of the car was really loud and left dents. All we could do was sit tight and wait it out.

Hailstone Hatnaa picke up off the ground
Hailstone that Khatnaa picked up off the ground
Road after hailstorm; the direction we were heading
Road after hailstorm; the direction we were heading

All the dirt track, or as Khatnaa called them, earth roads had become rushing rivers of water. Amazingly, he was able to pick our way across this safely and without getting stuck in his Mitsubishi Pajaro diesel SUV.

Kids wrestling in the rain
Kids wrestling in the rain

Finally, the hail stopped and we were able to go on. Khatnaa had only been to Arburd Sands once a number of years ago and when he became unsure of the route, he stopped a couple of times and asked for directions. These kids put on a wrestling demo for me while I waited in the car. They were really showing off their moves.

Young golden eagle by side of road
Young golden eagle by side of road

We started to see raptors by the side of the road once we got out past the storm front.

Upland buzzard
Upland buzzard

We also passed a number of ovoo. If it was a major one, we stopped, got out and circled it, adding a stone or small tugrik bills. Khatnaa honked at smaller ones as we went by them. More on ovoos in a future post.

Large ovoo
Large ovoo

We arrived at Arburd Sands and found out that the storm we had sat through had hit UB, causing the worst flooding in many years. At least 21 people died. If we had not gotten out of UB when we did, we might not have made it out of town at all.

Arburd Sands ger camp is a seasonable sustainable operation which is planned so that it leaves as little a mark on the land as possible. They use solar and wind for power.

Sustainable energy at Arburd Sands
Sustainable energy at Arburd Sands

There was an amazing display of thunder and lightning that evening, stretching from east to west. But it only rained during the night. No hail. The next morning we continued on to Baga Gazriin Chuluu Nature Reserve. But, as I am coming to realize is routine when one travels in Mongolia, there were interesting things along the way. Like when Khatnaa stopped at this well and, following the ancient Mongol tradition, drew a couple of buckets of cool water for the animals.

Hatnaa pulls water from the well
Khatnaa pulls water from the well
Sheep drinking the cool well water
Sheep drinking the cool well water

Meanwhile, the goats were seizing another, albeit temporary, opportunity to take advantage of the shade under the car.

Goats going for the shade
Goats going for the shade

We traveled across the rolling steppe, passing an enormous and impressive mountain, a small lake and many country people and their flocks of animals. Finally, in the distance, we could see our destination, Baga Gazriin Chuluu.

Baga Gazriin Chuluu rises out of the steppe
Baga Gazriin Chuluu rises out of the steppe

We arrived at the ger camp and went through the usual routine of settling in. Here’s my view through the door of my small, but comfortable ger.

View throught the door of my ger
View through the door of my ger

Khatnaa, as the guides usually do, started to chat up the camp staff. He found that one man, Onroo, had lived full-time at the reserve for three years and had a pretty good idea of where the animals were to be found. He went with us both mornings and proved to be indispensable.

The setting
The setting

Some of the fantastic rock formations.

Rock formations
Rock formations
Rocks, late afternoon
Rocks, late afternoon

Sometimes the going got interesting as we worked our way around the reserve.

Rocky road
Rocky road

The main species of interest here are argali, ibex and the cinereous vultures.

Six argali
Six argali

These animals were so tolerant of our presence that we were able to get out of the car and take pictures of each other with the sheep in the (somewhat distant, about 800 meters) background.

Onroo and Hatnaa in front of argali
Onroo and Khatnaa in front of argali
Me in front of argali
Me in front of argali

They’re at the base of the rocky hill to my right on a line with my cap.

Ibex; two large billies
Ibex; two large billies of a group of five
Cinereous vulture
Cinereous vulture
Rock doves  in home habitat
Hill pigeons (Columba rupestris); a relative of our "beloved"urban rock pigeon

I ended up having a couple of wonderful cultural experiences also, which included a ger visit where I got to watch soup made with boortz, dried meat, and where we were served that and cream, aruul, yogurt and milk tea and also getting to attend a “mountain washing” ceremony that included chanting Buddhist monks, a horse race, wrestling and anklebone shooting.

In Yanjmaa's ger
In Yanjmaa's ger; she's making noodles for soup and Onroo is doing some weaving on her loom
Horse race spectators
Horse race spectators
Horse race
Horse race
Horse race
Horse race
Mountain ceremony attendees
Mountain ceremony attendees
Men in del and sashes; they look good and they know it
Men in del and sashes; they look good and they know it
Wrestling
Wrestling; almost ready to start
Wrestling
The Falcon of the Aimag doing the traditional Eagle Dance before a bout
Wrestling
Grappling for advantage
Wrestling
He fell on every opponent like this
Wrestling
The guy on the ground was up in a moment and ok; the Falcon won the competition
End of the event; last chance to chat
End of the event; last chance to chat

Visit the AFC site here

Back from the Mongolian Countryside!

I got back to UB a few hours ago. It was the road trip of a lifetime, wildlife wise. At both Gun-Galuut and Baga Gazriin Chuluu, I saw and photographed argali almost every time we went out on a “game drive”.

Some sightings yielded over 100 images in 20 or so minutes. I got argali in morning light, argali in evening light, argali at dusk, argali in shadow but doing interesting things.

There were large groups of rams, small groups of rams, nursery groups of ewes and lambs and mixed groups of both sexes.

I photographed one group of rams at Baga Gazriin Chuluu that was out in the open at the base of a rocky hill about 800 meters from the road. They were a little nervous, but didn’t run away. In fact, they ended up being so tolerant of our presence that we were able to get out of the car and take turns taking pictures of each other with them in the background.

A lion’s share of the credit for this has to go to one of the Best Guides Ever, Khatnaa, who seemed to have an uncanny feel for where the animals might be, even though he hadn’t really done this kind of thing before. He runs his own tour company, but took me on via Nomadic Journeys. His English is very good, so I learned a lot about Mongol history and culture and he helped me on my pronunciation since I am determined to learn at least conversational Mongolian.

Besides argali, I’ve photographed ibex, cinereous vultures, golden eagles, upland buzzards, black kites, demoiselle cranes, endangered Siberian white-napped cranes and even a lady bug. Plus Mongol horses and bactrian camels.

I’ve also been able to visit gers, eat Mongolian summer “white food” like aruul, cheese, yogurt, cream and airag and yesterday went to a local “mountain washing” ceremony, complete with chanting Buddhist monks, tons of mutton and gallons of airag, plus a 7km horse race, anklebone shooting contest and a wrestling competition.

I’m in UB tomorrow and then off to Ikh Nart, I hope. The weather has been, shall we say, unusual. About two hours out of UB last week, we got clobbered by a hail storm so serious that Khatnaa turned the car around to protect the windshield. Some of the hailstones were an inch across. He has dents in the roof of his Mitsubishi SUV. That fast-moving front caused serious flooding in UB in which 21 people died.

As we approached the hotel this afternoon, it started to rain here in UB. By the time Khatnaa had pulled into the parking lot, it had started to hail. We sat in the car for almost 20 minutes until it was just raining hard. Once again he turned the car so that its back was to the storm. He commented that he could never remember two storms like this in one month.

The scientist who I am to travel to Ikh Nart with is due in at 10:40 tonight. Whether the flight will come in is anybody’s guess with this weather. Stay tuned.

And photos to come as soon as I do the jpeg conversions.

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