It's been a while since my last post and part of the reason is I was enjoying my sister's company, right here in Mongolia! Though this place now feels like home to me, she had many of the same "culture shock" reactions that I initially did upon arrival here. There are so many amazing things to see and do here, that I wanted to share with my sister, though time was of the essence.....
We visited many of the museums in Ulaanbaatar, as well as several Buddhist temples, a quilt shop and the fair trade store, Martha & Mary. While in my home town, we went to both museums, one of the temples (where we watched and listened to the monks chanting), the horse monument for which the town is named, ate at the local vegan restaurant as well as a guanze in the market.
A weekend trip to a local soum for a small Nadaam celebration was also enjoyed! We had the pleasure of going with Leah and Haanda who were invited by the governor, so we were treated very well there! Seeing a horse race from a speeding Jeep was an awesome (though not so comfortable) experience! Sue got to enjoy airag, as well as plenty of vodka toasts during Nadaam as well. Sue told me that she was just happy to spend time with me and I have to agree, that was the best part of the visit.....hanging out, spending time together, talking or not... it was good:)
The one thing she really wanted to do that we didn't get to, was ride a camel. Hmmmmm.... perhaps after Mongolia I'll live somewhere else that has camels.....
