It's snowing - in APRIL!

We are still enjoying our time in Mongolia. Yesterday we went to the National History Museum and learned a great deal about the many of thousands of years of Mongolian history. It really was a tremendous empire before it became a country that most people don't know much about! What brutal, but amazing history.

Yesterday afternoon, we took a trip to the GIANT central market. I had no idea what we were getting ourselves into. The bus ride was interesting as we were tightly squashed in between many Mongolians on the city bus. However, once we got to the ger- lined suburbs and made our way to the market - our eyes widened and we stood for a moment figuring out what to do next.











When they say you can buy anything - they really mean ANYTHING! From furniture to clothes to kitchen appliances to mufflers to gers. My big purchase was a traditional Mongolian coat. Two older people are wearing them in the second picture above. Mine is purple and I really love it. I needed a long coat for New Haven anyway, so this will work find. I'm sure that I'll be the only one in Connecticut with a Mongolian coat...but, all the better for it.

Last night we met up with our Peace Corps friend who works here. He took us to an Indian place for a delicious dinner and on the walk back to our guest house it started snowing!! We were excited (and I learned that my coat is very effective against snow) and we enjoyed catching snowflakes on our fingers and nose.

Well, it apparently snowed all night because we woke up to a thin blanket of white on the city and surrounding mountains.

Outside our window

This morning we explored Megjid Janraysig temple. It is one of the only temples that was preserved under the communist regime and it is beautiful. On the road up to the temple complex, we passed several Shaman skin tents. Though Buddhism is the primary religion in Mongolia, there is still a strong shaman presence and many people seek shaman medicine - even in the city.

The temple itself was magnificent. We both felt like the Mongolians who were there to worship were very sincere in their prayers (as opposed to the very showy, but often hollow religion we'd become used to in Thailand). The walls of the temples were covered with quilted hangings of beautiful (darkly colored) fabrics. Those praying came in and walked clockwise around the temple turning the prayer wheels (and sometimes with prayer beads as well) as they went and stopping to pray at the altar and the Buddhas. It was really interesting. We didn't feel comfortable taking pictures inside the temple, but here are some from the grounds:

the gers where the monks live

a lady leaving the temple

(my coat is similar to hers)

the temple grounds with mountains in the background

snow covered grounds

one of the side buildings with a light dusting of snow

The main temple in the complex housed the Megjid Janraysig Boddhisatva - it is a staute of a female Buddha, 26.5 meters tall. The statue was absolutely incredible.