Back to Ulaanbaatar and the Cultural Show

Off roading, the main way of getting to the remote rural areas.

From one trail to another.

The women were very happy to see the sign at the end of the plaza. He seems to be pointing the way.

This is an intersection. I wish I could have gotten an aerial view.

Then we got lots of rain.

The cultural show.

Traditional instruments...

and dancing.

The Buddhist mask dance.

The bands in front of the Chinggis Khaan statue in the main square.

The horseback soldiers and the horse hair banners.

July 10^th.

This was a good day for a travel day. We left the last ger camp in light rain and by the time we got to the city it was raining heavily.

Buhuu and the drivers were worried about the traffic going to Ulaanbaatar because of the two-day national holiday. Therefore, they decided to drive on the sealed road part of the 300 kilometres and then drive off road on two-wheel dirt tracks for the bulk of it until they had to re-join the highway leading into the city.  The off roading was very picturesque but bumpy. In many areas there were multiple tracks going in the same direction or leading off to the left or right. The drivers sometimes chose different tracks and frankly I have no idea how they knew which to follow. There are no direction or destination markers. One time we lost one of the four 4x4’s and had to phone him and arrange a meeting spot.

When we got back on the sealed road it was clear sailing for a while before we turned onto another road and got bogged down. We were stuck in crawling traffic for a couple of hours. When we got into the outskirts of the city we tried to stop for lunch at two places, but they were too busy. Finally, Buhuu found a local restaurant in the basement of an industrial building and we ate there.

After that we drove further before stopping at a Cashmere factory. The women were excited about this, but they didn’t find the prices that great and no one bought anything.

We finally arrived at the J Hotel by 5:00 pm, two hours later than expected. Buhuu had told us earlier in the day about the Mongolian National Song and Dance Ensemble at the Tumen Ekh Building which he recommended as a good cultural show. He said that it was about a twenty-minute walk from the hotel and it started at either 4 or 6 pm daily. Tony and I had decided to go, but because of our late arrival we had to rush to get organized and leave. Buhuu gave me a map with the name of the place and marking the walking route. Tony said he knew the way. We disagreed about the initial direction, he wanted to turn right and my map said go left, so we went separate ways. The upshot is I got there just in time to buy one of the last tickets and he got there too late. I really enjoyed the show as it included the traditional costumes, dancing and musical instruments. They also featured their traditional singing including the very strange throat singing. The last two performances were a female contortionist and the religious mask dance. I had heard about this type of dance at several of the monasteries I had visited in Bhutan, Tibet and Mongolia but we were always there at the wrong time to witness it, so that was a treat.

When I left there, I decided to walk to Chenngis Khaan Square. When I got there, I found three marching bands and a group of soldiers dressed up as Mongolia soldiers. I stood there and watched the State Horse Hair Banner Ceremony as the soldiers mounted up on horses and to the sound of the bands rode around the block of the square. Then I walked back to the hotel to go to bed.