The last week in Ulaanbaatar has been a combination of work related meeting and workshops, language classes, socializing with other volunteers and exploring Ulaanbaatar.
Last weekend started with a fashion show put on by the Foundation for Wool & Cashmere Development NGO which a couple of VSO volunteers are involved with. The clothes where modern, innovative designs that I’m sure I could only wish to afford! I’ve been trying to get my hands on some wool yarn to knit with but thus far everyone’s been telling me that it’s impossible unless you’re a mass manufacturer, I am determined to prevail though!
On Saturday I ended up at the Museum of Natural History. Dinosaur fossils have been excavated from several areas in the Gobi Desert for decades. There was a 3m tall 5 ton flesh-eating tarbosaurus, and the “world famous fighting dinosaurs” – a velociraptor with it’s teeth buried into a protocerotops buried alive when a sand dune collapsed on them 80 million years ago forever preserving the attack!
Sunday I walked just south of Ulaanbaatar with a few other volunteers and laboriously climbed a big hill on the top of which were some ovoos. Ovoos are big piles of rocks found on the top of mountains where Buddhists come to make offerings to spirits. In accordance to the tradition I walked around the ovoos clockwise three times, tossed an offering (another rock) and made a wish. We walked along the ridge of the hills for a bit sucking in the view of the steppe on one side and smoggy UB on the other and then walked through a forest on the other side to get down.
That night I went to Иx Монгол, a bar where I saw an awesome local band which uses traditional Mongolian instruments and throat singing to perform wicked rock-ska-punk music. Their CD is supposed to be available for about $5.50 – if anyone’s interested email me!
On Tuesday a few of us caught the North Korean Circus’ last performance which was spectacular. The balancing acts and trapeze show were unlike anything I’ve even seen and with my stomach in my mouth I really felt that the performers were truly risking their lives to entertain me at times!
Those are my adventures as of yet, I’m in Ulaanbaatar for another 8 days with lots of plans so hopefully many more to come!
3 comments:
Wow Jazz! Sounds like you are having a fabulous experience!! Keep the blogs coming so I can live through your adventures! Take care and have fun!
sounds amazing...I'm really interested in countries realizing their fibre resources and trying to promote to the western world. I was just reading about a similar organization in India focusing on khadi cloth. Keep up the great blog, I love reading it!
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