The next ten or so posts will cover all the places I visited on this past trip, some familiar and well-loved and some new.
The two-week trip with Pokey emphasized the best wildlife viewing places that I’ve found. We headed west out of Ulaanbaatar on a sunny August morning….
and spent two productive days at Hustai, seeing lots of takhi and other wildlife. The wildflowers were still in bloom, too, which was lovely.
Little by little I’m getting caught up, but there are a couple of really interesting irons in the fire that I’ll be posting about in the weeks ahead that have taken a fair amount of email time.
In the meantime, there’s this trip I just took, during which I managed to find some sketching time, both in my journal and in my iPad.
First are the ones I did in my Moleskin sketch journal. They were pretty much all done in five minutes or less for the small ones and maybe twenty for the one that crosses both pages. Some were done during lunch stops, some at camp between drives. The cows and sheep were done at the home ger of my driver, where I got to stay overnight. That wonderful experience will rate its own post:
Since no one pestered me while I did the above sketch, I got out my iPad and did a couple more quick studies.
Before we left on our “wildlife tour”, Pokey and I had time to wander around UB. I took her to the Museum of the Chojin Lama. Since I had been in the temples before, I got out my iPad and did a little sketching of a few of the statues flanking the entry stairs of the main temple.
Five wonderful weeks in Mongolia just flew by. I managed to spend three of those weeks in the countryside: two weeks doing the “wildlife watching” tour with nationally-known sculptor Pokey Park and then a week of camping with a guide/cook and driver.
Lots of great reference and stories to match will be posted here in the weeks to come, but for now I’m still catching up and working on a couple of new projects, about which more later.
In the meantime, here’s a collection of the photos that have me in them, most taken by our great driver/guide, Khatnaa, who brought his own camera and who definitely has an eye as a photographer.
One week from tomorrow I’ll be leaving on my sixth trip to Mongolia. I’ll spend six days in Ulaanbaatar and then will be going out to the countryside with a fellow artist, sculptor Pokey Park. I’ll be showing her the best places I’ve found for viewing wildlife: Hustai National Park, Baga Gazriin Chuluu Nature Reserve, Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve and Gun-Galuut Nature Reserve.
Depending on internet availability, I’ll do a post when I can.
This trip is a little different because I haven’t had to buy any new gear, just make sure I’ve got it packed. And for that I’ve got a list I’ve honed over time.
I’m expecting to see very visible changes in Ulaanbaatar as the economy heats up from the start of various mining operations and a flood of would-be investors pouring in from all over the world. But I know the timelessly beautiful countryside, my beloved earth roads and the hospitality of the herders will be there for me and now I get to share it with a fellow artist.
I’m finishing up the painting of Carolina parakeets and intend to debut it here on Friday, but otherwise, until I post from Land of Blue Skies….daraaa uulzii! (See you later!)
I’ll be leaving on my 2011 trip to Mongolia two weeks from tomorrow. Things are pretty simple this time, no new gear to buy for a change. Duffles are out and I’m starting to collect various things I’m taking and staging it all in the guest room.
I’ll be staying with a family in Ulaanbaatar for the first week, seeing friends, getting a couple of new del made and doing some sketching. I’ll also be checking out how much things have changed since last year, when there was a lot of sidewalk repair and general clean-up going on in the central part of the city.
It will also be interesting to see if any of the traffic calming measures are working. At this point, the biggest adrenaline rush I get in Mongolia is crossing the street in UB. On my first few trips, I literally waited at a corner until an elderly Mongol or a young mother with small children came along and then I crossed with them, figuring they would get at least some consideration.
The last trip, I finally (mostly) figured out the pattern and started to cross on my own. The drivers cut it really close, but aren’t actually trying to hit anyone (mostly), so the safest course of action is to do what they expect. This does, however, often leave my lizard brain screaming at me that “You’re gonna die!”
But I still like the crazy city, which has great energy and vibrance, along with some really cool architecture and good restaurants. And it’s such a contrast to the countryside, with its earth roads, incredible scenery, wildlife, herders and quiet.
Two weeks to go….
I’ve come to believe that one way to learn about someone else’s culture is to find out what some of the popular proverbial sayings are. Mongolia is no exception.
A Mongol Facebook friend has been posted proverbs from what seems to be a new book. Fortunately, he has translated them into English, which means I can read them myself and share them with you.
If the mind is clean, fate is good (Sanaa sain bol zaya sain)
Greed keeps men forever poor, even the abundance of this world will not make them rich.
Wise men talk about ideas, intellectuals about facts, and the ordinary man talks about what he eats.
One who has strong body will be a warrior for a generation
One who has a great wisdom will be a hero for thousands of generations~Injanashi
Easier to love a dead hero than a live king
This is the biggest holiday in Mongolia. Ulaanbaatar pretty much shuts down for a few days while everyone celebrates and attends competitions in the Three Manly Sports: horse racing, wrestling and archery.
I got to see all of it, including a local celebration, in 2009. Here’s some photos, ending with a wonderful music video by one of the most famous singing groups in Mongolia, Nomin Talst. The group is no longer together and this video was made some years ago, but it still gets played on the music video channel around this time of year. And it’s one of the things that hooked me on Mongolia. I had to find out more about the kind of people who are shown in it and who clearly know how to have a good time today, while preserving their ancient traditions and sports.
And now….Nomin Talst singing “Minii Mongol Naadam” (My Mongol Naadam):
Today is Independence Day in the United States of America. We’re 235 years old. Not bad, all things considered. It marks the date of our Declaration of Independence from England and the British Empire and states the reasons why this was necessary.
The Declaration was largely written by Thomas Jefferson, who also became our second President, and its first sentence was one of the first times that human rights were proclaimed.
“We hold these truths to be self-evident, that all men are created equal, that they are endowed by their Creator with certain unalienable Rights, that among these are Life, Liberty and the pursuit of Happiness.”
By way of contrast, the Great Mongolian State in 805 years old this year, counting from 1206, when Chinggis Khan was declared the Great Khan of all the Mongols. There have been difficult times, including a loss of independence more than once, but in 1990 Mongolia had its own Democratic Revolution. The Mongols today enjoy the same basic freedoms as Americans, including freedom of the press and assembly, one of the few Central Asian countries whose citizens can exercise these rights.
Some of who we are as Americans can be traced back to the Mongol Empire. Some of what Mongolia is becoming can be traced to what America has always stood for. It’s obvious to me that our countries should be good friends now and in the future.
I had gone out very early from the research camp at Ikh Nartiin Chuluu Nature Reserve this past July and had settled down on a rock to see who would show up at the water hole.
I looked up and saw these two rams checking me out as they scanned their surroundings.
The sun was just hitting the cliff tops, so they really stood out against the morning sky.
For the painting, I wanted to give a sense of the landscape that they live in and how comfortable they are on tilted surfaces that would make most of us somewhat nervous.
Soon after I took this and some more photos, they came down onto the valley floor and joined up with some buddies for a drink and a graze.
I got to watch them for about half an hour.
And yes, after 2 1/2 years, I’ve updated the look of my blog with a new theme. I finally found one that I liked and that has new features and functions the previous one lacked. Let me know what you think!
Susan Fox, American Artist 