If it is Thanksgiving, it must be India

We are going to all the circled spots, starting with Mumbai.  Flight leaves Thursday, Nov 7 at 3:00. We are packed and anxious to be on the way.  Couldn't quite figure out how to fit Jessie the cat into the suitcase so she is staying home.  It takes 24 hours to get there, we arrive Nov 8 at midnight their time.  We hit the ground running for an afternoon sightseeing trip around Mumbai.  Many of the same sights we saw last time, but it will help adjust to the time zone if we stay awake--and every city is different each time you visit.  We will stay overnight at the Taj Palace Hotel.  You will remember it as the place where the terrorists attacked from the bay and hit the hotel.  All patched and secure.  Will send updates when we can...

Tundra Lodge Polar Bear Adventure, Churchill, Manitoba, Canada

Latitude 59 degrees--the sub-arctic

Arrived in Winnipeg Thursday the 17th.  Spent the night in the Fort Garry Hotel, an old railroad hotel, right across from the train station.  Parka and boot try-on for borrowing.  We tried to not take a parka but they talked about the winds (50 miles per hour) we might expect so we gave in.  We did not bring their boots.  

Orientation dinner met people from Australia, England, many states and one from Canada.  Morning chartered flight to Churchill on a prop plane, 2 1/2 hours north.  Little snow around, expansive landscape, small lakes off the bay, a few spruce trees, willow bushes, lots of rocks--it is a desert, tundra ecosystem. Flurries throughout the afternoon and into the evening. 

Bus out of town to the tundra rovers transfer site.  Stop at the entrance to the Wildlife Management area.  This is the last time we will put our feet on the ground until we come back to Churchill to leave.  Lunch on board the rover as we make our way to the lodge while searching for wildlife along the way. Birds on the way, and a red fox.  Magic as we drove up to the lodge, a polar bear under the kitchen/dining car. After watching from the rover for a while every one headed to the lodge and on to the balconies to take pictures.  We don’t touch ground for three days, loading and unloading is from rover balcony to lodge balcony.

Two bears around the lodge woke up to pay attention to us every so often.  After dinner an arctic fox sprinted by.  He stopped in his tracks to take a look at us but quickly went off into the darkness.  

The lodge is an interesting arrangement. Start with staff car, the dining kitchen car, the lounge with a tiny bar, two sleeping cars with 4 bathrooms in middle. Sleeping is one per room in a single upper or lower bunk. Our good news-we are in lowers. Just enough room to turn around. Each room has a small widow. 

Dinner was very very good. We have a chef and sous chef. Chicken citrus marinade with carrots, salad and great soup, blueberry tort cake for dessert. Yum.

Bed early but up often due to snoring and doors and just a new place. Too cloudy for any aurora borealis action. Maybe tomorrow night.

Oct 19th-First full day on the tundra. Up at 6 with breakfast at 7. Eggs and asparagus, cereal, bacon, fruit etc etc. Today the 29 of us split into morning and afternoon groups for trips on the rover. We went out in the morning. Lots of Ptarmigan, an arctic bird. it is white with black on tails. Feathers on feet and legs so it can walk on the snow. Dives into snow banks to escape the cold and sleep. Looks a wee bit like a puffed up grouse. Saw several arctic fox again, (8 so far), eider ducks, snow buntings (a perching bird), four or five polar bears, the best of which were two sparring males.  They went on for quite some time, hugging, dancing, biting, pouncing and rolling about.  Every so often they would part and lie down for a bit before one of them would get things going again.

So you might be wondering by now why polar bears are here.  It turns out this is the first place they can get on the ice when it forms in the Hudson Bay.  When the ice melts, which is now happening three weeks earlier due to global warming, they make landfall where ever they happen to be.  From June on they head back to Churchill waiting for the ice to return so they can go out to hunt for seals.  They don’t eat once they leave the ice.  They lose 2-2 1/2 pounds per day during their slow trek.  Churchill polar bear season is when they are gathering to get back on the ice.  The little lakes and ponds (fresh water) are getting thin ice on them or their edges overnight.  The bay ice (salt water) will begin to form in a few weeks and goes in and out for a few weeks before one night forming for good and the bears are gone.  The male bears are often twice as big as the females, 6-8 hundred pounds.  Moms are keeping their young with them longer and the sons often outgrow mom before leaving to be on their own--2 1/2 years.

The clouds are breaking up ever so slightly so we are hoping for aurora borealis tonight or tomorrow.

Sunday, day two on the tundra.  Another good breakfast, blueberry pancakes.  We were in the afternoon group so did not have to rush out after breakfast.  Annie, one of the guides is a yoga instructor so we had morning yoga, chair or mat at your choosing.  Terrific session, she can explain where your body should be in a way that helps you get it there.  Following yoga she led a experiential creative writing session.  We concentrated on different senses while stepping outside for a minute at a time.  We wrote down impressions, observations, feelings and then shared our favorites.  Annie then used our snippets to create a poem about our experiences.  Very cool.  Two groups, two poems, we were part of poem number 2:

A minute is a long time

A minute is a long time

when I should have zipped my jacket.

I feel out of sync with nature and

My nose is cold.

When I should have zipped my jacket

I saw the willow trees reaching for the sky!

My nose felt cold, but

I smelled the damp earth.

The willow trees reached for the sky.

My cold hands hurts and

I smelled the damp dirt

with a hint of evergreen

My cold hands hurt, yet

The wind changed direction

making the hint of evergreen unrecognizable.

My corduroys are not warm enough!

The wind changed direction so

I smelled the butter from the kitchen.

My corduroys are not warm enough

the wind goes through my clothing.

I smelled the butter from the kitchen,

I could taste it

The wind going through my clothing

makes one minute a long time

I swear I could taste it.

The bay, the quiet, the solitude

One minute is a long time

for a bear sleeping in wait.

The bay, the quiet, the solitude

bring deep breath, peace, and tranquility

but that bear is waiting on the dirt that

smells of a damp earth.

Deep breath, peace, and tranquility even as

I hear voices babbling

I am not alone, but separate.

Calm waters appear

  

I hear voices babbling

The beat of a ravens wing

Calm waters appear as

The horizon testifies to the vast visible distance.

The beat of a ravens wing.

The bear sleeps in wait

I am alone, but not separate

So a minute is not so long after all.

The bear sleeps in wait

the small sprawling plants and

the sticks standing starkly

remind me, I am not separate.

It is almost quiet in this here tundra shelter.

Slate colored streaks break up the white clouds.

The crumbling tower marks our way

our way made with big tires

carving.

The crumbling tower marks our way

Rays of sunshine beautifying the trail

carved by rovers going and waiting

while the bear sleeps.

Rays of sunshine beautifying

willows guarding, bay water breaking, shoreline connecting

While the polar bear sleeps

I am at peace, blessed, lucky even.

Willows guarding, bay water breaking

I feel myself swaying in the wind

I am at peace, blessed, or is it lucky?

I hear my heart beat.

I feel myself swaying in the wind

I taste dry air

I hear my heart beat

It is almost quiet.

I taste the dry air

hair tickles my face

it is almost quiet

while the bears blinks that slow lazy blink.

Hair tickles my face

the bear kerplunks back down to rest

with a slow lazy blink, he waits.

It is almost quiet in this tundra lodge.

------------------------------

After lunch we were off on our tundra rover adventure.  Our driver, Jason, was exceptional and had the eyes of an eagle.  He found us arctic hare, a cross fox and ermine in addition to the numerous polar bears.  Our favorite bear today was fondly named Yoga Bear due to his stretching routine performed for our enjoyment.




Ermine are not often in trees, so we think a fox might have scared him into climbing.  Jason was surprised and pleased to find out the white blotch was an ermine and not a paper towel.

Back to the lodge for the evening.  Another great dinner and continued company from "Grandpa Bear"  He adopted the area behind the lodge as his own and kept many other bears from invading his territory.  You could see that he was old, and smaller than other bears passing through, yet they respected his growl and moved on.  We learned from our leaders that when bears lose their teeth they can no longer feed and die.  They live far longer in zoos due to their dental care then they do in the wild.  Some of our young fellow travelers from Australia wanted to adopt him and collect money for dental care.  They made a collection jar and Annie and Bonnie are checking with WWF to see if individual adoption can actually occur.  We all grew fond of this bear as he was there morning, noon and night.  Sue would often roll over in the night to look out her little window to be sure that he was there.  Nancy went out to greet him every morning from the deck behind the kitchen.






 Grandpa









Our evening was punctuated by several bears sparring right beneath our windows.  The view from inside was typical of our trip.  As the evening wore on, all the bears left except for Grandpa.  We were all once again under his watch, and he under ours.

On the other side of the lodge we could see the full moon and a lonely bear.




Monday, day 3 on the Tundra. This was a full day on the rover, out by 8:00 for one last day of searching.  All hands on deck.  We found another arctic hare, courtesy of one of the travelers excellent spotting. The highlight was watching a bear travel across the ice that had formed overnight on one of the freshwater ponds.  Early on he pounced on the ice with his from paws to see if it would hold and to practice breaking through.  Then he walked while evenly distributing his weight with his paws stretched out as far as possible to keep from breaking through.  He left sliding tracks behind as he moved forward.  Near land by our rover he started to slip and slide--quite a sight when a polar bear is on his knees sliding about.  At one point on paw went in but he managed quite skillfully to extract his paw, continue forward and make landfall.

As we stood on the rover balcony, he came over to sniff our feet and explore the rover.  He hung around for at least 1/2 hour when we left to see what else the day had to offer.

On the way back Jason stopped the rover and let people drive, starting with the youngest traveler from Australia.  It is like an oversized school bus so Nancy gave it a try. Except for the bumpy roads and loose steering, it was not too hard to handle.  It was hard to judge speed.

After some of the best macaroons in the whole world, we went back to the lodge for our last evening.  Leg of lamb for dinner, another leader presentation and lots of chatter in the lounge as we realized the trip was coming to an end.

Tuesday.  Making tracks off the Tundra.  Up very early for a 7:00 departure.  We said our good byes to Grandpa and the staff, who were wonderful throughout the trip.  On to the rover to connect with the bus for our ride back to Churchill.  Stop at the Polar bear Jail where they temporarily house the bears who venture into or close to town.  It was a snowy, blowy day and we were glad we had our parkas.  We toured the town, hit the souvenir shops and enjoyed the Eskimo museum with an incredible collection of First Nation artifacts and art.  A goodbye lunch and we were off to our charter flight back to Winnipeg.  Our last night reception was held in the hotel, everyone had plans to be on their way the next day to many corners of North America and the world.  We were headed to Steinbach Manitoba.

Steinbach.  Our friends Russ and Diane Fast picked us up and showed us around parts of Winnipeg.  We had lunch and then drove to their home in Steinbach.  What a beautiful home.  We enjoyed  dinner with their daughter Ariana and husband Ryan, son Samuel and girlfriend  Katrina.  We also met their latest addition to the family:  Scott the cat.  We have no pictures of this part of the trip, except for Scott, the cat.

We miss Scott, but are glad to be home with Jessie.

UB, the Gobi, UB and home

We are home, after a 36+ hour trip.  Flew to Seoul at midnight, arriving at 4:00 am.  Oddly enough even the runway in UB was bumpy.   Sue had found us a transit hotel room for the 13 hour layover and we slept well for 7 hours.  The best part was the shower--hot water with great water pressure--hooray.  Now to finish the last few days of the trip:

We went back to Ulaanbaatar for an overnight and left early in the morning for the Gobi desert.  We were surprised and happy with the weather--cooler than MN and not the 100-110 degrees predicted.  We began in Eagle Valley and spent the day hiking.  Normally the valley, located in the southern Altai Mountains, contains a spur of ice--not this year.  Global warming seems to show it effects everywhere.  Beautiful craggy rocks with purple, red and yellow wildflowers everywhere--a bit of rain made the canyon walls sparkle like diamonds.  Pikas (cute, small guinea pig like rodents) provided entertainment as they darted from rock to rock and down into their holes during our walk. Before we entered the valley we visited a small museum with examples of local domestic and wild camels and many birds and mammals of the area.  Also had a few dinosaur eggs and bones.  The area is rich with dinosaur history. Back to the ger for dinner.

In the morning we drove, again, to Khongoriin Els, Mongolia's largest sand dunes.  Out of the flat steppe the dunes rise hundreds of feet.  Some of the group took on the climb to see if they could make it to the top to hear the dunes sing.  They made it 2/3 of the way up the dune, but two drivers made it to the top.  Quite impressive.  Coming down is fast and fun as you can run or slide.   The sand is so fine it is almost like dust as it blows.  Next stop, camel herders, where we rode the two humped bactrian camel.  A bit easier to ride then the one hump but Nancy is still found of the Morocco experience, but Sue loved her two hump camel.  They were soft, very tall and very gentle--felt like a camel coat since they had recently been shorn.  Back to the ger for a Mongolia hot stone feast known as a khorkhog.  A goat and veggies are cooked between layers of hot stones in a pit.  Interesting taste, a bit chewy but very mild and edible.  Thanks to our hosts.

The morning brought a drive to the flaming cliffs of Bayanzag--a famous archeological site--and reminiscent of the red rocks of the US southwest.  Lots of successful dinosaur excavations, many paleontologists think this is the mecca of the fossil world.  Lots of geods in the area.  We had a great time walking and looking at rocks.  Back to camp for the last night in the gobi.  The stars filled the night sky from horizon to horizon.  Very special to see them fill the heavens.  Still can't believe it rained and was cool most of the day into the evening.

One last bumpy ride back to the airport.  Saw gazelles and broke an axel on our van--that says it all.  Arrived safely, flew back to UB and visited one more art museum and had a final dinner together at a Mongolian bbq.  We were entertained by a power outage and then a group of modern throat singers, horse fiddle and drum group--quite exceptional music.  You have not heard anything until you hear throat singing.  By the way, Mongolian rap is pretty good--van music.

Farewell to our fellow travelers from Canada--and the long trek home will be made tolerable by our memories of Mongolia.  Bayarlaa--thank you.

Trip to the North and to Naadam Festival

Back to UB for a day--Visited the summer/winter palace of the last king of Mongolia.  Again beautiful silk embroidery, buddha and other statues, series of 22 or 24 buddhas with different faces of feminine characteristics.  It is said that every woman can find her face in one of them.  They also had 3 identical statues that were part of a set of 10,000 each commissioned from China, Tibet and Poland--interesting variations in the artist quality and attention to detail.  Tibet won.

It is no surprise, given the amount of goats, yaks and camels that we have seen that cashmere is a Mongolian big business.  We were fortunate enough to tour a cashmere factory seeing the process from the time the wools are sorted, de-haired, cleaned, died and knit into a final garment/product.  Quiet an impressive operation, one of the largest in Mongolia--it was well lit, clean and with safe working conditions compared to many factories around the world.  They employ 1300 workers in three shifts.  A red cashmere hoodie will be coming home with us.

We spent the afternoon shopping on Peace street while others went to visit a Ghengis Khaan complex 50 k out of town.  Then a nice evening dinner of spaghetti at the Irish pub.

Morning departure to the airport, delay (time was filled watching a combination inauguration/state of the union ceremony) and then on to the Naadam Festival and another Ger Camp. on the way into town we stopped at a small local Temple just as the monks started a ceremony they perform only about once a month. It is called the Call of the Mountain. The spirits are invited down from the mountain to protect or bless the town. We were invited in to watch by the monks. It was quite a ceremony. Singing, chanting, and offering. Monks ranging from about 10 to elderly. Drums and cymbal accompanying the chants. We were invited to share ceremonial biscuits /cookies after we joined in walk around the temple as offerings were made and shared. After the ceremony we walked the grounds and found a “Amusement Ride”. Nancy, Carole, Phil and Cecelia precariously peddled a cart like thing around a monorail like track. What were they thinking!

A stop snacks and then on to the grocery store for water beer and snacks. Then back in our 4 wheel drive vehicles and up the valley to our Ger. First Yak siting on the way caused a stop/walk across a field. 

Nice Ger, but a little lacking in western style bathrooms and showers.  Another adventure. 

Morning brought the opening ceremonies for the Naadam Festival.  Nadaam means games and the festival dates back to Ghengiss Khaan.  Side note--it is believed that 6% of the worlds population can be traced back to Ghengiss Khaan.  Back to the ceremonies--kind of like the olympics, athletes and sponsors and horses march in a parade around the stadium--a military band units are on the field.  Speeches are given, flags raised and troops of kids entertain.  It took the entire morning.  Then the games began--wrestling, archery, bone throwing and horse racing and some volleyball.  We went to the Ger for lunch and then saw a bit of the archery in the afternoon but our timing was off for everything else.  

Back to the Ger for the evening--have we mentioned that the roads are not paved, like a tilt-w-whirl redo.  Little did we know it would seem smooth compared to the road in a few days to the national park lake--that comes later.  Another double rainbow at dinner time.  A ger raising demo and then they shared some artifacts that will be placed in the ger as a museum.. A rifle that is 150 years old, a bear skin it killed, goat horns, carving and a beautiful chess set.  Most mongolians play chess so our Canadian entrant Phil was no match for the owner of the camp.  The night concluded with a traditional mongolian dinner and the playing of the traditional horse fiddle.  

Horse racing the morning--the race was for 3 year olds and is 30 kilometers across the steppe.  They love their horses and the riders are all young boys, mostly bareback.  Race takes about 30 minutes, they run full out the whole time.  First five place and the last gets the full stomach prize.  Our ger camp had two entrants, one came in 4th, the other 20th.  The race was attended by thousands, all pushing to get front row views of the finish line, we fended them off for an hour to hold our spots.  Our friend Ted protected us the onslaught from the left.  Fortunately Nancy was next to someone on a stool so he did not move towards us.  The fans run to touch the winning horses in order to have good luck all year.  

Then off the the stadium to watch the 4th and 5th round of the wrestling. Lots of ceremony and dancing the eagle dance by the wrestlers. There are no weight classes so the participants pair off and have a go.  The strongest pick their opponents so they can pick anyone.  It was surprising to watch the skinny little guys win when they wrestled the heavyweights.  Quickness, center of gravity and stamina are all necessities.  They stand to wrestle and the first to get the other to ground wins--no time limits or rounds.  The winner does an eagle dance around the flag pole and the opponents do an interesting victory/concession dance.  

The men wear little wrestling shorts and open vest tops as a result of a women entering long ago dressed as a man.  She won and the costumed changed to the current outfit so it would be impossible for a woman to do that again.  Women do participate in archery and volleyball.  The bone throwing is bit like tidily winks.  A launch pad rests on your knee and a square bone is flicked toward a target about 8’ away.  It was fascinating.  Four participate at a time and the judges chant while they wait for a participant to launch their bone.

Lunch at a hotel in town followed by a smooth highway ride for 100k with a stop at the Deer Stones.  And then 35K on a great rutted road.  Sue said she would like to get out and walk.  But the end took us to a gorgeous lake side setting in the mountains, much like going up north at home.  We are about 18K from the Russian border.  More on the activities here later.  We leave tomorrow morning for UB and then the next day to the Gobi.

Up early this morning so we can write about the last two days by the lake.  A stunning setting on a mountain lake.  We arrived for dinner and two full days of activities--boat ride to see the reindeer people and their reindeer.  We saw three, the heard of forty is across the lake.  They live in tepee, with a mongolian name something like wort.  Nomadic but children go to school and they get from one side of lake to the other by car.  They ride the reindeer with a saddle, but mostly in the winter.  We sat in the wort and talked with mom as wood boiled on the wood stove to make pipes. As we looked around we saw a cell phone taped to the wort supports.  Floors are dirt covered with hides and we were welcomed with reindeer milk tea.  We bought a carved reindeer that her son made.  Back by boat along the wooded shore reminded us of many other places is the world but the surrounding shores of steppe and mountains let us know we were someplace special.

Local women come to camp daily to sell Mongolian wears.  Had fun shopping and interacting with them.  They spread the goods on blankets--jewelry, socks and hats of sheep, yak or camel wool, felt slippers, bone carvings and other wonderful handmade items.

At happy hour we started an archery tournament, which was interrupted by the cows coming to smell the yak skin target.  Edith finally chased them away successfully and the games proceeded.  Lessons were followed by great cheers as the target was struck.  Bow was make of bone and arrows were not exactly straight--a good excuse.  And good fun.

Sunday morning we went horseback riding.  Handsome, well kept horses from the neighboring herders with herder guides.  Up the hill followed by dogs playing, chasing ground squirrels and generally enjoying the event.  Once up the hill the land opened before us to gers owned by the herders, we rode for about an hour.  Coming back around gave an expansive view of the lake and the shores--it was spectacular, quiet and a wonderful morning.  

The afternoon was spent hunting for rocks on the beach.  Many look like wood so we are wondering if they are petrified wood.  Others glisten as if they are filled with silver and gold, most smoothed over by time.  Then there is the quartz.  Stunning.

More archery, happy hour, dinner and bed.  Every night they build us a fire in the little round wood stove in the middle of the ger and early in the morning they quietly come in to build another.  All is quiet until they start the fire with a small portable blow torch.  Whoosh.  Sounds like hot airs balloons as they make their way from ger to ger.

We were worried when the stove pipe was supported by a rock, eventually after our ger filled with smoke we discovered the rock and rust had punched a whole in the pipe.  A new stove arrived yesterday morning--what a difference.  Off to the airport.

And we continue...

We learned alot at the Mongolian National History Museum.  Went through the history of the country era by era.  Met Ghengis Khaan and his family and saw the expansive mongolian territory they conquered--up into Poland, down to Cambodia and west into Roman empire.  Their armies moved in groups of 10,000 including families, herds and possessions.  When a major attack took place, they could come together to form an army of up to 100,000.  Each warrior had 3-5 horses with them so as not to exhaust any one horse on any one day.  The whole thing was quite remarkable.  Mongolians love their horses today as they did in the 1200’s.  One room was full of beautiful tribal costumes and hat.  Sue wanted to bring all the hats home.  The last room showed the history of moving to a democracy, first freedom from China and then from the Russians.  A socialist country until the 1920’s and then communist until their first president was elected in 1990.  Education is compulsory and land is free.  Nomads/herders pay no taxes but salaried workers do.

Keeping with a Mongolian theme, we had lunch and the Grand Khaan Irish Pub!!  Need we say more.

The Gandantegchenling Monastery is the largest working monastery in UB (Ulaanbaatar).  In 1938 the communists destroyed 900 monasteries and killed the monks or forced them to join the army.  In 1990 after the democratic revolution Buddhism began to flourish again.  The monastery includes temples, libraries, colleges and schools.  They are building a new statue of Buddha, of which the feet are the only part completed--they are 6 feet to the ankles.  The Japanese are funding the project.

Our pre-dinner show was the National Academic Theater performing folk songs and dance.  Absolutely stunning.  Costuming as well as the music and variety of unique instruments and voices coupled with great dance from different tribal backgrounds.  Sue’s favorite was the hats and the throat singing.  Can’t explain that one.

OFF TO THE GERS

Friday morning we departed by bus to drive Khogno Tarniin Els to spend our first night in a ger camp.  The area is a long strip of sand, brought the winds, and stretching from the Gobi to the central regions.  The expansiveness of the land and sky is breathtaking.  No trees, wind is blowing constantly and gers and herds dot the landscape as far as you can see.  Some rain last night provided a glorious double rainbow.

We visited a local nomadic family, a woman and her two grown sons have 6 gers and 1000 head of cattle, sheep, horse, and goats.  While the gers look tiny from the outside, 17 of us were in there comfortably to talk with the owner and learn about her family and life.

Dinners at the gers are westernized mongolian, meet, rice, potatoes tomatoes and cucumbers, various sauces which Sue and I do not get since we are allergic to garlic and get sauceless or mild sauce meals.  The first night we picked through the garlic dinner and then they brought us each a huge plate of pork instead, we had enough to share and appreciated the effort they make to accommodate us.  

Saturday off to Khogno Tarniin Els- where we went to Kharkhorin, the ancient capitol of the Ghenghis Khaan empire.  Stopped at an ancient sculpture on the way in, placed on the hillside between the village and a monastery.  The monks used to sneak out at night and travel to the village--to shame them the Lama of the monestary had a granite penis sculpture placed in the pathway.  The night time travel stopped.

The town is smaller now, with one of the oldest, and now preserved, monastery built in 1580.  The town is mostly permanent wooden bungalows with some gers scattered about.  The older generation prefers gers while the young generation wants houses.  There are some brick homes and each plot of land is surrounded by a high fence.  Blue and red tin roofs dominate the city landscape.

The monastery is surrounded by a wall and 108 stupas.  108 is an important Buddhist number.  Quite beautiful and active with monks and locals coming to worship.  Three temples make up the restored portion and a ger and a tibetan temple are used today.

The preservation project has reclaimed wall art that was intricate and colorful.  The rooms were original used by four monks who chanted together around a fire with left soot over the wall paintings.  Silk art and tonga paintings abound.

Sunday morning we climbed to he top of a hill to see the past and present mongolian empire depicted on huge curved walls of stone.  Then we took off for a long day’s drive to Khusti National park.  The landscape was gorgeous, green green green with huge rolling pastures and sometimes granite hills and outcrops.  Dotted everywhere were herds of horses goats or cattle.  Today’s landscape  was highlighted by the blue, blue sky and the Georgia O’Keefe clouds.

The roads go along fine for a bit the then a pile of dirt blocks you way and the construction detour begins.  Bumpy doesn’t describe it.  Sue says it is like riding a tilt-a-whirl for 8 hours. The temporary road is often deeply rutted from rain and many times there are three to four different track trough the grass to choose for travel--like off roading in a bus.   Our driver is quite amazing.

A beautiful and gently friendly dog joined us for our picnic by the side of the road.  Sue made a bargain with him, wait patiently and we would reward him.  He obliged and had a virtual feast of meat  pies.  The portions are far too generous for us.  Several horses with foals stood off to the side and the cattle was off in the field.  4 hours to go....

The national park is home to the Takhi horse (Przewalskii horse).  It is an ancient wild horse that was near extinction and has been reintroduced to the area.

First days in Ulaanbaatar

Sain baina uu--Hello

We have been here for three days, two on our own, sort of and then today with the entire group and the first official tour day.  Day one we wondered to the State Department store down Peace Avenue.  It is a modern department store just like you find in the US but a bit smaller.  Spent quiet a bit time on the top floor looking at local crafts--hats, boots, carvings, paintings and cashmere.  Bought little since we were tired and found some items at a fair trade store along the way.  Ate at the Amsterdam cafe.

The city is modern and old all mixed together.  In 1921 it was a town of only ger buildings, so even the old is fairly new.  It has grown rapidly to 1.5 million people in a county of 3 million.  With it comes all the issues of a city--traffic and bad roads....And just fun we will tell that it is hot.

City is in a bowl, surrounded by green big hills (little mountains).  High, high blue skies that they represent in the blue on their flag.  Costs are comparable to US, so no particular bargains.

We fell asleep at 4:00 pm and got up at 7:30 to get ready for bed at 9:00.  Skipped dinner and woke up at 4:00 am.  Not quite on local time yet.  The group of early arrivers went to a temple and then we split off to go to an art museum.  Had two canadians with us who were quite surprised by the traveling exhibit of Arctic Canadian photographs.  We enjoyed the photos and especially the Mongolian art, fairly contemporary but also depicting nomadic life.

Happy July 4.  We will finish the news of today at a later date....

Mongolia, here we come.

Several people have asked us where in the world is Mongolia.  As you can see on the map, it borders Russia to north and China to the south, east and west. It is one of the largest land-locked countries in the world.

Our trip itinerary is marked on the map with our dates for coming and going around the country.   We will be in Ulan bator  or Ulaan baatar several times.  We think we will have internet access there so will  send our blog updates then.  If we are lucky and have it more often, you may hear from us...

We leave June 30, flying to Detroit, then over Canada, Alaska and down over Russia to Seoul, South Korea and then we pop northwest to arrive in Ulaan baatar late July 1.  We meet up with our travel guide in Seoul since she is one our flight last flight with us.  We have a few days on our own before the rest of the group, all Canadians, arrive.  Our travel group is World Wide Quest, a new operator for us.  We think we are headed off on a great adventure.  We will keep you posted....

Last chapter--Dubai

We had 3 days in Dubai, one with the ship and two on our own.  Day one took us on a tour of the city, mostly through the "modern" parts of town--less than 15 years old.  City is interesting as it is spread out with clusters of high rises here and there, often grouped by type of business.  We shopped at the modern souk with lovely shops and local artifacts.  Our purchase was a Dubai Starbucks mug!  Oh well.  The highlight of this trip was seeing the Burj Al Arab Hotel.  The beautiful building built to look like a sail.  You need reservations to get to the building so we were glad we were having high tea there.  The interior is quite contemporary with fountains, aquariums and is gold and royal blue in color.  It is triangular in shape on the inside.  High tea was on the 27th floor which was really the 54th as every floor is a duplex--202 suites smallest is 1800 sq feet, largest is 8400.  It is built on an island.  Tea was good but the view, architecture, and design were the special parts of the visit.

Last night on the ship, dinner in the main dining room, packing and saying goodbye to new friends.  Disembarkation was at 8:30 am and we were off on our own adventures.  Taxi to the hotel--upgraded to a two bedroom suite with a view of the city and the Dubai Creek.

Went to the mall of the Emirates to see the indoor ski slope--chair life, bobsledding, tobogganing all in the desert in a silver dome of sorts.  Real snow, they loan you the jacket, pants, skis et al....for a mere 200+ dollars.  The mall was huge, did we tell you this is the city known for shopping.  Roamed for a while and then went to the Gold Souk in the old part of Dubai.  On any given day there are 10 tons of gold on display in the windows.  Holy smokes.  We looked by came hope empty handed.  Sue was tempted but having turned over a new leaf....

Back to the hotel for a rest before hitting the attached shopping mall--festival city mall, the third largest in Dubai--over 370 stores and 90 restaurants built on the creek.  Every shop you can imagine is here in one or another of the malls.  Columbia to Prada. And if you walk out the other end of the mall you will find IKEA and an ACE hardware the size of a walmart store.

Today we had ressies to go up the Burj Khalifa tower.  Tallest building with longest single stage elevator with the fastest rise.  163 floors, we went to 124, the highest occupied floor is 154 with offices.  830 meters tall with 27 terraces.  It is a y shaped building.  Fairly clear day so the view was amazing.  The buildings below looked like models in our pictures.  Spent time in the mall--found the Harley store and the suitcase store so all is well.  Lunch at Potbelly and a short fountain show.  Back to the hotel for time to blog, shower and late check out before out 10 pm flight tonight.  It has been fun to share our trip with you.  While we loved to travel, Dorothy had it right, there is no place like home.

Nancy and Sue

Muscat Oman, Fujairah UAE and Abu Dhabi UAE

We are winding down.  In port in Dubai, what a way to end.  Tea at the Burj Hotel this afternoon and disembarkation tomorrow.  The past few days have been busy and fun:

Oman found us in the city of Muscat which is beautiful.  Unlike the other big name cities in this area this is a city of low rise buildings in keeping with the desert landscape.  It is the second cleanest city in the world.  While it keeps its Arabic heritage in tact it also has a touch of modern thinking evidenced by it's art galleries and women's rights in schools and public office.  Oh what a day we had...First stop was the fort--an hours drive out of the city center so we got to see some country side.  The fort was quite interesting and nicely renovated to display period furnitures and living.  The views of date orchards and local village were stunning.  We drove through the village to a mountain spring oasis.  Families were there enjoying the warm waters, cool shade and favorable picnic sites.  We all put our toes in the water to get a fish nibbling pedicure--quite fun and it tickled.

And then drama began.  A woman fell and hit her head on the curb.  It bled as head wounds do so she looked pretty ragged, covered in blood and mud.  Two docs on the bus helped out and got her wound cleaned and covered and advised her to head back to the ship.  She wanted to stay with the tour so after 1/2 waiting we all took off.  20 minutes out of town Sue and I spelled the engine from the back of the bus and shortly there after we were stranded on the side of the highway.  Remember how hot we keep saying it is, sitting in a closed bus is even hotter.  45 minutes later we had a replacement bus and off to the remainder of the tour.  Stopped outside a mosque for a photo stop, wished we could have gone inside.  Then we went to the ship and convinced the woman to see the doctor after which she could meet up with us if she wished.  Off to the Ritz palace hotel--WOW.  Had a terrific buffet lunch and enjoyed the beauty of the lobby.  It was a former palace converted to a hotel.  Met a group of Indian people in the lobby from all the over the world.  Had a great conversation and got invited to their classical Indian music concert.  Unfortunately we were on our way to Abu Dhabi.  Next stop the souk to shop, not much to be had.  Our wounded fellow traveler returned to the group no worse for the wear--after five stitches and a tetanus shot.  Back to the ship.

Came to port in Fujairah the next morning.  We were amazed by the number of oil tankers waiting to enter port for loading or unloading--4-5 hundred was the predominant estimate.  We found out later the loading there means they do not have to spend $35,000 to navigate the Straights of Hermuz.  We have never so many ships.

Our trip today was a mountain safari, actually back into the northern part of Oman.  1 1/2 hour drive out of town then onto the gravel road into the mountain and canyons.  Past goats and Bedouin camps on our way to 3600 ft.  Sue's favorite was the goat in the tree.  The mountain trip reminded us of Sedona, Arches national park and the Grand Canyon.  Beautiful geological formations.  Stopped at the top for a quick refreshment break--guess what, for once it was not hot!!  Back down we went...good thing we were in four wheel drive vehicles.

Abu Dhabi is the richest of the emirates.  20% of the population is native and 80% foreigners.  We went to a museum which showcased development plans for the new Louvre, Guggenheim and National galleries on a previously undeveloped island.  Also in the plans are golf courses, hotels (St Regis is already there), resorts and villas.  Should be quite amazing when completed.  The Guggenheim will be the largest museum in the world and was designed by Geary.  The architecture is new and modern contrasting with ornate palaces and hotels.  The ocean front promenade is lovely and full of activity and families.  And then it rained, and rained some more.  Unusual for the desert and it was finally cool.  We thought of our friend Jill because of the number of Bentleys, Ferrari, and Lamborghini cars to name a few.

What a gorgeous mosque--absolutely stunning.  The previous Abu Dhabi king and one of the founders of the UAE built the mosque with his own money.  It has 84 domes, largest hard tied carpet in the world, chandeliers from Germany and white marble from China and Italy.  WOW.  Can't even express how breath taking it was.  Sue said it reminded her a bit of the Taj Mahal with it's inlay world on the walls, floors and columns.





Back to the ship for dinner and set said for Dubai.  It is hot today....and so it goes.

We have plans to blog after Dubai adventures we are here for two more days.
Cheers.

Mumbai, India

Spent two full days in Mumbai.  Not a surprise to any of you, it was hot, packed with people, lots of pick-up cricket games on the street, cows, hindu shrines and flowers.

First day we went to typical sites--Ghandi's house/museum, shopping, a Krishna temple, a museum and hanging gar dents (built over a reservoir) and saw the victorian buildings that make up old Mumbai--note to mention a Bollywood movie viewing. We enjoyed the Hari Krishna temple, our temple guide was from New Zealand and was honest and open in his discussions with us.  The temple itself was beautiful, welcoming and clean with many deities, golden alters and decorative floors and walls.  Men and women sit on opposite sides of the temple to pray and each person repeats the Hari Krishna chant.  This was among the more memorable temples we have visited.

We went to a Cineplex that could have been typically American--popcorn, pop, and nachos.  Then there was a baked potato stand and Hindi food as well.  The Groods 3D was playing as well.  Many families were headed there.  We went to see Bollywood!!  It was in Hindi though every so often a few words of English were thrown in.  We got the gist of the movie in spite of no subtitles and yes they do break out in song and dance throughout.  The movie lasts 3-4 hours so we saw 40 minutes.  They are end happily since people do not want to spend hard earned money to be sad or challenged.  Good fun was had by all.  Nancy wanted to dance during the musical scenes, but Sue would have been embarrassed.

Much of the architecture and gardening in Mumbai is based on being a part of the English empire.  The gardens had sculpted topiaries--giraffes, elephants and carts with bulls pulling them.  Flowers were pretty and it was a site visited by Indian tourists as well as our bus loads from the ship.  Next to the garden is the Zoroastrian or Parsi burial site.  Quite interesting.  They believe that cremation or burial pollutes the land so bodies traditionally were left to the vultures to devour.  The last vultures died from city pollution several years ago and crows and kites take too long to accomplish the same task.  The Parsi's now use solar panels to speed the decay.  Bones are kept together in a central pit.  The priest and body carriers are the only ones permitted in the funeral area.  Famous Parsi's include the Tata family of commerce fame, Freddie Mercury of Queen and Zubin Mehta.

The Ghandi house, as expected, is quiet simple with a large library and small sitting/study room.  Walls are full of historical photographs and letters.  It is always amazing to be in the presence of places that have historical importance and whose occupants have made a significant contribution to society.

The museum was large and un-airconditioned so our visit was shorter then it might have been.  We were quite taken with the ancient sculptures of various Hindu deities.  We also enjoyed seeing miniature paintings with distinctive Indian themes and styling.

We ended our visit with a trip to the state store selling quality local crafts, clothes and jewelry.  This is were Sue purchased antique jewelry and a rug during her first visit to Mumbai.  We bought a blouse this time.

Back to the ship past the street cricket games.  Sunday provides space relatively free of cars for play.  Relative being the operative word.  Power nap before heading out to Mumbai at night with dinner.  Back past many of the same buildings and the beach lit up for night and packed with people.  Once the sun goes down, people come out to visit, eat, and have fun together.  Night cricket is played by lights on the various fields.  It was 11:00 at night and there were more people on the beach than you would find at a Twin's game.  This is truly a family friendly time.

Dinner was in a traditional Indian restaurant.  We learned that most Indian restaurants in the US are run by Pakistanis or Bangladeshis.  So this was unique for many.  The food spicy so Sue and I were cautious.  Many said this was the best Indian food they had ever tasted.  We can't tell was we ate, though curry, mint, lamb and chicken were main ingredients.  After dinner we went to the City Gate and saw many lit up horse and buggies made of silver.  That was a unique site and made for a colorful evening.  We saw the "Queen's Necklace,"  the lit-up main road edging the semi-circular bay.  Back to the ship for a short night before a full day tour the next day.  Cricket is still happening in the streets.

Day 2.  Past the same sites to begin our tour, cricket is now in the alleys as there are more cars in the street.  Our guide says it is a quiet morning but we would not have called it that.  Turned out that a general shop strike had been called by one of the political parities so there indeed was a bit less traffic.  We learned this at a local fruit, veggies, meat and fish market.  We we enthralled by the sites and were enjoying our walk when everyone began to close up shop.  Lots of discussion as some were not happy about the strike so we left quickly just to be on the safe side.

Different temple experience today.  A different Hindu deity where they make offerings of flowers, fruit and milk which they pour over the statues and rub into the statues as part of their prayer.  Several people rang bells as they entered.  This was a very old temple, 100 steps up (or in our case an old lift).  The clock in the lift said--"It is impossible to study on an empty stomach!"  A billboard in town professed "In a safe city, every day is women's day"  Two good sentiments.

We went the Portuguese part of town, also one of the only Christian areas.  Beautiful small old homes being threatened by developers wanting this prime land.  We visited a home and were treated to tea and sweets.  We toured the upstairs office/studio of the owner who is a designers.  Beautiful art collection and his robes and saris for the wealthy were stunning.  Back downstairs for a sari tying demonstration.  5 1/2 yard of material fit all sizes of women, pregnant or not.  We were all impressed by the flair that one strip of material can create when expertly folded and draped.  We found some boys playing cricket, of course, but this time we were able to test our skills as well.  sue and I both had hits though Sue's went farther and impressed the young chaps.


Back to the same restaurant for lunch,  but we found a dish we liked very much this time.  Not sure what it was but the flavor was mild and sweet.  Again, people liked the meal and we were full when we left--can't go wrong with rice and naan and our good dish.

We asked to do a bit of shopping.  Most went to the state store and we went across the street to roam the market.  Had fun seeing this is the daylight as we had walked through quickly last night.  Bought a few souvenirs and returned to the bus.  We came upon a yearly parade/ritual and took our guide by surprise.  By the way, did we tell you she was a bit of a feminist, told us what she really thought and we had a good time with her.  She saved the milk at the temple to give to a child on the street, she thought they would need it more than the god.  Just a sampling of her attitude.

Any way, the parade was a once in a life time experience for us.  Usually seen only in National Geographic.  This Hindu sect believes in self mutilization  as a form of penance for prayers that are answered.  They pierce their cheeks as put 15 foot poles through them, weighted by rocks on the ends.  People walk with them to pour water in their mouths along the route.  The hardest for Nancy to watch were the men with hooks in their backed attached to carts or cars that they pulled along the route.  Our guide explained all of this but was clearly distressed.  She said, "this was not on the itinerary."  Next we turned left to get out of the traffic jam and ended up in a slum, this was not on the itinerary either.  She explained that not all living in the slums were unemployed or poor, rather the cost of real estate is so outrageous that many have no choice.  The kids are likely to go to school and they have their own health care facilities in some of the slums.  But all houses had a satellite dish as we have found in many countries and slums.  A study has shown that cable t.v. has reduced the birth rate in poor areas--now there is entertainment.

Off to the city museum which we thoroughly enjoyed.  Miniature scenes of life in Mumbai mixed in with ancient city related artifacts.

Two days as sea, we needed the rest.  Played bingo today for the first time--quit laughing--the prize, uncollected, was $1000.  Now we have to play next time to see if we can win.  We are in the Arabian sea, soon out of pirate territory, as we head to Muscat, Oman.  Then we go through the Straits of Hormuz to the Persian Gulf and Abu Dhabi and Dubai.  Can't believe we are nearing the end.

Kochi (Cochin), India and another day at sea

Nancy got a gentle introduction to India by starting in southern India in the state of Kerala--known as the Queen of the Arabian Sea.  We took a tour called Traditional Sojourn and headed through town and into the countryside.  Traffic and roads were nuts but not as crazy as we will find in Mumbai and we were only driving on the wrong side of the road 1/2 the time.  Have you ever been in a bus with an interior door.  At the top of the entry stairs is a door, so we were in a passenger compartment separate from the driver and his assistant.  It was rather unique.  The countryside is not as populated in every square inch as in the north, or you just can't see it through the dense tropical vegetation.  Lots of palms, palm ferns as well as other trees and every type of spice plant you can think of.  In fact this area is known for it's spices and was a major spice port during early trade routes.   Many lakes, rivers and canals added to the tropical and natural beauty.

We started by visiting a small weaving factory that made cotton cloth for the government--sheets, towels and curtains.  All hand woven on one of 20 or so looms.  The sound of the shuttle cocks and the banging looms was loud and rhythmic.  All women working there, of all ages.  An elderly woman sat on the floor spinning threads and loading bobbins.  They get paid by the piece, it can't be much.  Watched a man outside carving wooden handles for tools. He looked old and the tool looked older.

Off the coconut oil extraction plant.  Again very small with primitive machinery.  They removed the shells for cattle feed. Extracted the meat and squeezed it through various machines to extract oils.  this was soap grade, cooking grade would need more purification.

Went to Hindu temple next.  They were celebrating a special holiday that comes once every twelve years.  The holy men chanted and threw flowers in this ceremony which lasts 12 days and one million flowers and ten million chants.  They also had special ceremonial art that looked like an exotic rug.  Made of colored sand, shells, rice, seeds etc.  On the ground for all to see and pray before.  It remains for 24 hours then is swept away only to have a new one created.  At the temple people line up to view the paining and every day free food is available.  People come to eat food blessed in a holy place.  When inside main temple building, men must remove their shirts and both were the finest traditional clothing.  No shoes of course for anybody and then there were the funny westerners with white socks on....The temple is a walled area with many buildings inside.  We got to visit the temple elephant used for ceremonies and transporting the holy men.

On to a short tuk-tuk ride during which Nancy was only terrified once as Sue laughed.  She had prior experience so knew what to expect.  Got let out at a canoe pick up spot and sat 6 passenger wooden flat bottom canoe with lawn chairs.  Poled along the canal for 1/2 hour past homes, gardens and forests.  Birds, ducks, cows and people were seen along the route.  It was quiet and many people used the word idyllic to describe it.  Ended at a country compound for a box lunch, catered by a hotel in town.  Then they shared traditional skills and crafts with us.  Tapping palms to make liquor.  They climb the palm, work the branches with a bone to stimulate production and let it seems for 7-8 hours before collection and repeating the process.  Rope spinning was fascinating.  Two women wove two strands at once from coconut fiber.  Then a wooden tool is used to spin the two strands together into one, very much like sisal rope.   This was our favorite.  We also saw coconut meat shaved from the fruit and the fibers pounded by hand from the shells after three weeks of soaking.  Once dried and cleaned they were ready for the rope.

A potter turning three pots while we watched.  A woman, his wife or mother, spun the wheel by hand while he worked.  He made a flower pot, a bank complete with coin, and a small bowl from the left over clay.  Watched two women pound rice into flour for baking--two long poles requiring careful coordination and rhythmic movement.  Also saw a women spin rope by hand, pulling and turning the fiber through her hands.  Several were weaving palm leaves for various purposes, baskets, roofing, fencing and floor mats.

On the bus and back to the ship.  Did we mention today that it was hot and humid.  It was very nice tour and day.

Sitting on the verandah today watching freighters go by and seeing streams of plankton go by.  It is a large ocean, though we officially in the Arabian Sea.  We have decided that now that we have all continents we might as well begin collecting oceans and seas.

Missing Jessie but not the snow we have heard about in MN.  Watching the news on Boston and Texas.  Glad all of our friends and relations are well and safe.  Cheers.  On to Mumbai.