Today was a banner day - we experienced so many important elements of Mongolian rural life.
We have been continually intrigued and amazed by the rock formations in the mountains in Terelj National Park. One of these is Turtle Rock which was our first stop this morning. We enjoyed hearing the story of the queen whose husband said she had to leave her jewelry behind if she wanted to continue on their difficult journey, and she decided to stay where she was with her jewelry. She stored her treasure in a hole in Turtle rock and lived there the rest of her days. The thing to do there is to take a photo kissing the rock, which, of course, we did.
From there we went to a Buddhist temple on a gorgeous mountainside. It was a public temple meant to educate people about Buddhist teachings, so there were lots of illustrated sign posts with Buddhist sayings and sutras, lining a steep path up the side of the mountain on the way to the temple. After crossing a swinging bridge, we were faced with a daunting staircase. The bonus was we could take photos in the temple which was beautiful. The mountains and meadows all around were lovely, so we really enjoyed the hike up to the temple, even though we arrived somewhat breathless. The altitude (about 5700 feet) enhanced the challenge.
After the hike, we stopped in an art gallery/coffee shop, and enjoyed the lovely work by a famous Mongolian artist whose artwork was actually included in the NASA Lunar Codex. There was also some supporting of the local economy before we left.
After lunch, we learned how to make Mongolian Barbeque (guess what was for dinner).
Our afternoon excursion was to visit a famous eagle hunter (ranked second in the country) and horseback archery practitioner. He demonstrated summoning his eagle (with help from his 11 year old daughter who carried the heavy bird long distance up a hill), retrieving a rabbit (it was only the fur for the purpose of the demonstration) from the ground while riding his horse (with help from his 7 year old son), and horseback archery. We all had a chance to hold one of the eagles. It was a wonderful afternoon.
We also really enjoyed the ride to and from the site. We saw herds of the “five muzzles” (goats, sheep, horses, cows/yaks, and camels), incredible grasslands and mountains, temples, huge statues, and lots more.
Before our barbeque dinner, one of the staff people at the lodge demonstrated the Mongolian milk tea ceremony and traditional dance - she was amazing!
And then we enjoyed our traditional Mongolian barbeque - lamb, marinated in yogurt, cooked with herbs, salt and pepper, vegetables and a beer - cooked with hot stones in a big pot, and then over a low fire for several hours. It was delicious!
We were dreaming of eagles at night. It will be sad to leave this beautiful place, but other parts of Mongolia are calling to us!
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