Travelling not soliciting: Mongolia part 4 --Ulan Bator. The animals.

Mongolia- Part 4

For no particular reason except to even out the sizes of the parts of this blog, this part will deal with both the main city of Ulan Bator and the livestock and wildlife in the countryside.

Ulan Bator

“UB” as it is known to the expats who live there is, like most big cities anywhere in the world, a “world away” from the country that surrounds it. Nearly half the population of Mongolia lives in UB, over 1.3 million people. And yet less than a century ago it was a religious settlement, an important seat of Buddhist monastic learning and arts, around which grew up a settlement to serve the monastery’s needs.

All that changed with the Stalinist era when the Soviet Union imposed its vision of secular modernity. The monasteries were swept away (except for parts of the Gandan Monastery , the largest and most important one in Mongolia, some of which was preserved by the Soviet regime with a few tame monks to show foreign visiting dignitaries), a grid of wide streets and large Soviet-style public buildings were put up, and the people were decanted into the concrete apartment blocks so favoured in Russia.

So not much to see historically, except the Choijin monastery now a museum housing a superb collection of dance masks and brass statues, dwarfed by the surrounding high-rises.

My personal favourite was the small Gesar Sum monastery, a working monastery resurrected after 1990 but marooned on an island at the intersection of 6 chaotic traffic-choked roads. Inside its courtyard is a haven of peace. The local people of all shapes and sizes, from the poor to the well-to-do, wander in and out, some on their lunch break some dressed in their best who have come to give thanks for good fortune or the birth of a child. The monks chanted in the main temple and in a side temple other monks were dispensing blessings. Other shaven-headed, saffron-robed monks, on their break, were sat in the courtyard busy with their mobile phones.

Much of the Soviet infrastructure remains but the city has long-since outgrown it since the fall of the Soviet Union in 1990, and new infrastructure has not yet replaced it. Thus the city has the look and feel of a frontier town; vibrant and energetic but totally chaotic. Town planning is in its infancy so illegally built highrises stand half finished like decaying teeth.

Jaywalking and traffic light jumping are favourite UB sports. (Fortunately I am an expert jaywalker since it is also a national sport in the UK.) Streets and sidewalks are potholed. Traffic jams last all day and night.

Pollution from the coal-fired power plants on the edge of town hangs heavy over the city when the wind blows from that direction. The lack of a proper sewer system makes any trip through the south-western industrial suburbs a stomach-clenching experience, especially after a rainfall. UB (like Beijing) sits in a bowl-like valley surrounded by low mountains, a great location when shelter and protection from enemies was important but terrible for a modern city which is expanding daily and where all the pollution of modern life and industry is trapped in the bowl.

The surrounding slopes to the north are covered with gers. Gers are the favoured mode of living for Mongolians and they have brought it to the city’s gate.

The gers by their very nature are portable and so have not destroyed the land, but to the south luxury apartment buildings are being built and huge diggers and construction equipment are disfiguring and gouging out the hillsides, some of which are still the preserves of wolves and are supposed to be UNESCO protected, in ways that will be irreparable.

UB has appeal despite its flaws. People still live in the downtown area as well as in the ger districts so the city has a vitality not found in most American cities. There are plenty of quite good (not world class yet) restaurants serving a range of international cuisine. There are at least four “Irish pubs”.

There are a few designer shops among the tourist shops which line Peace Avenue, and the seven floors of the State Department Store hold everything from furniture to food. There are some tourists (most of which I suspect do not venture far from Ulan Bator) and plenty of NGO and Peace Corps personnel.

If obesity is a problem associated with urban prosperity in developing countries then UB is showing the signs. Alcoholism is also something of a problem amongst the men from the countryside who have been attracted by the promise of riches in the city –or have been driven to the city when their flocks have been wiped out by drought—and have been unable to adjust to city life or failed to find work. There is not much of a state-funded social safety net in Mongolia and so the burden falls, as ever, on the women who must earn a living by sewing or cleaning or menial work to support their family and their husband’s drinking habit.

So in short UB is a place to visit if you are coming to Mongolia to see the country, but it is certainly not a place you would want to make a special trip for.

This is what you see as you come into Ulan Bator on the Trans-Mongolian railway. Look at the variety of housing. As mentioned in a later part of this blog, Mongolian laws allow every Mongolian 0,7 hectares of land. However this must be fenced in if it is to be legal and if the owner is to be allowed to send his children to school. What he does within his 0,7 hectares is up to him. There are very few planning restrictions so he can keep his animals, set up a small business, fill the space with gers, build a luxury house.

Ditto

As you get further into the central part of UB you begin to see the cranes and the traffic. A number of the buildings under construction have been built illegally and so remain as hulks. In many ways UB is a frontier boom town.

This is the view from the top of the Blue Sky, a highrise office building (see picture below)

Ditto. The wind was blowing from the direction of the coal-fired power station. Hence the smog. Not as bad as Beijing though. Notice the wide streets, a legacy of the time when UB was part of the Soviet Union from 1920 to 1990. Before that the monasteries were the centre city's focus and reason for being.

The rather fine Blue Sky office building with a bar on the top floor from which I took the pictures above

A mix of old and new.

A view across the roofs of the Soviet-era low rise apartments which make up much of down-town UB

The State Department Store. Modern and quite good, stocking most everything you could need, whether as a local or an ex-pat or a tourist

This is the supermarket in the State Department Store. Adequate food and plenty of alcohol!

Cashmere is a big export and tourist item. Unfortunately their styling does not match their quality

There are at least four "Irish" pubs in UB catering to the wealthy local wanabee-sophisticates and the ex-pats and tourists. The food in this one was very good.

This is the main seat of government in Sukbatar Square. It is quite an impressive building with a new facade put on the old Soviet building, which now celebrates the new pride Mongolians have in their history. The glass frontage effectively reflects the Eternal Blue Sky, so important to Ghengis Khan and to all Mongolians and that is a fine bronze statue of the man himself in the middle.

Close up of the excellent bronze statue of Ghengis Khan flanked by his leading trusted generals on horseback

Most of the shopping streets are low rise with plenty of quite good small restaurants.

These little neighbourhood parks, which although encroached upon by parked cars, are a welcome respite from the mad traffic

Another view of Sukbatar Square and the downtown area

A rather quirky motorcycle club parade

This is the venerable Choijin Monastery, now a museum with a stunning collection of Buddhist art

me feeding the pigeons in the grounds of the huge and important Gandan Monastery in UB. See a later part of this blog for information about Buddhism and the Gandan Monastery. Apparently it is supposed to bring you good luck to feed these pigeons. Although I don't like pigeons I can always use some good luck.

Street repair is not a priority. If you think this is bad, see later parts of this blog for what the roads outside of UB are like!

In the south of the city over the river new fancy apartment buildings are being built, and in the process are destroying the southern hills and woods in what is supposed to be a UNESCO protected area where wolves still roam.

Ditto

This is a huge Soviet-era monument on the top of one hill in the south of the city glorifying the friendship between the Mongolians and Russia.

Animals

The main source of livelihood for the people is and always has been herding of animals, not agriculture. There are 45 million goats, sheep, camels, cattle, yaks and horses! (If you need more detail for your next pub quiz that breaks down into 322,000 camels, 2,620,000 horses, 2,908,000 cattle and yaks, 20 million plus sheep and 19 million goats—that works out to 15 animals per person!) Life is hard for animals as well as people and in the winter of 2012-2013 over 750,000 animals died, so the spring births of thousands of young animals is necessary.

All nomad families have a dog. The dogs are a large mastiff with brindled black and brown fur and often two patches of light coloured fur over their eyes (leading to some calling them “four-eyed dogs”). Because they are never allowed inside the ger they grow a very very thick coat to keep them warm in winter and when we were there they were “moulting” great clumps of thick woolly hair. They are remarkably friendly and gentle.

The Mongolians have a very pragmatic approach to animals—they are their livelihood not their friends. So they do not give names to their horses or cows much less their sheep and goats. Dogs are the only exception. They get a name because in Buddhist beliefs dogs are very high up the scale of reincarnation and will next be reincarnated as humans. Cats are very few and far between –I only saw three in the whole trip. And they were bruisers, kept for their ratting and mousing skills.

But the central focus is on the livestock. According to tradition these are the “five snouts”. The warm snouts (horses and sheep) are considered to be of a higher order than the cold snouts (goats, cattle/yaks/ and camels). All of these produce milk and meat at different seasons.

We were particularly lucky to be there in spring when all the young animals had just been born. I can tell you that there is nothing more delightful than a very young goat bouncing around with a tiny “baa” and bright eyes and tiny horns.

Livestock varies from the Gobi in the south to the taiga in the north. Sheep and goats are found in all regions. In the Gobi however the predominant animal is the Bactrian (two humped) camel. We had a ride on these camels and it is a painful experience unless you have a lot of padding between you and the camel’s backbone! Horses are predominantly found outside the Gobi.

Cattle are more common in the central part. In the north you find the yaks and the hainags. A hainag is a cross between a yak and a domestic cow. Apparently yaks are unpredictable and bad tempered but the cross-bred hainag has the yak’s size and strength and the cow’s docile temperament and produces much more milk. Both yaks and hainags are rather strange looking shaggy creatures—like giant floor mops.

The wild-life is also varied and prolific, although not usually visible to the passing tourist. We were fortunate to see ibex, golden eagles,colourful ducks, vultures, gazelles, demoiselle cranes, and an argali (wild sheep). But the country also has (for example) snow leopards, the Gobi bear, wild camels, wild asses, wild horses, reindeer, wolves, and over 450 species of birds.

What we did see plenty of were gerbils, pika and other kinds of ground squirrels. They pop up out of a hole when they hear a vehicle coming, look daggers at you and scurry away back down another of their warren of holes.

This is a pika. Its cousins the gerbils and marmots and other ground squirrels are to be found everywhere!

Herds of goats, usually mixed with sheep are to be found everywhere as well. These form the largest numbers of livestock

Since it was spring (June) there were abundant melt-your-heart baby animals

A typical sight. A flock of goats and sheep,a solitary ger and the family rounding them up.

We were fortunate to see quite a lot of gazelles which you don't commonly catch sight of

This fine eagle was pouncing on some prey

A very fine shelduck, one of a number of birds on this watering hole pond

Horses and foal drinking at the watering hole

Cattle with their calves too

A herd of horses streaming to the water's edge with their manes flying

A typical Mongolian mastiff. They are actually quite gentle and friendly

Another mastiff. They live outdoors all year round and so grow a very very thick coat which they moult in the spring

A flock of goats which confronted me when I emerged from from the ger on my first morning. The previous night when I had gone to the outhouse I saw thousands of eyes glittering in my torch light

Our first sight of the camels of the Gobi. These are domestic but there are some very rare wild camels much further south in the inaccessible part of the Gobi

Camels grow a very thick winter coat too since the temperature in the Gobi can sink to minus 40. They moult but they are also shaved by the herdsmen. This herd was only half done!

The goats and camels clambering around the water trough as we drew water from the well for them

Getting "help" filling our jerry cans

Horses waiting to have their manes cut. Only the lead stallion is left with his mane in tact over the summer

Cutting the horses' mane

An Ibex on a cliff

And the sheep get shorn of their winter wool as well

Goats and sheep are kept kept together since they get on quite well. These are cashmere goats and will have their wool "harvested" later in the season