Impressions of Upper Mongolia. Travel to Mongolia, only positive impressions! Mongolia with mushrooms

Good afternoon. I live in Khakassia, 600 km to the border with Mongolia, 720 km to the nearest city. Therefore, we are on May holidays literally rushed for a week. We got there without any problems. The Khandagaity checkpoint is a mega-respect, everything is cultured and polite. They planned to go to the city of Ulangom - 28 thousand population.
Hotel 1500 nights - room for three! The food is inexpensive and there are many unfamiliar dishes. We don’t have a lot of sea buckthorn juice, also a new product. The meat is all tough, but cheap, it’s better to buy Buuzy in tsai shops, by the way, you quickly get used to Tsai, especially in cafes where they make him look normal. We were on Lake Khyargys Nuur, and on Ubr-Nuur, huge lakes, on the shores of the safari there is a lot of unafraid game, many yaks, geese, herons, etc. There was a Russian-speaking guide, but it’s better to know the basics in English and have a Russian-Mongolian phrasebook. We walked around the city at night, it was very safe, everyone said hello, invited us to visit, a lot of smiles. In general, it was a very positive ride; if you have any questions, I will answer with pleasure.

Once upon a time there was a small military unit of the Soviet group of troops stationed in Ulangoma. The part was small, since the direction was not “tank dangerous”. I will say that in that area the officers’ service was like at a resort: hunting, fishing. Army control is far away - by the time they arrive they can restore order several times. And it is truly a pleasure to relax there. Of course, in more than 20 years, when Soviet specialists left the MPR, many people forgot the language. But at one time, even in such small settlements, up to 50% of the population spoke Russian. Even if there is no guide, you can always find local resident who will be happy to tell and show protected places. Well, a representative office of the Republic of Tyva was opened in Ulangoma. Therefore, even if problems arise, it can all be solved through them. For lovers of outdoor recreation - wonderful place. :hlopet:

In 2007, we also traveled from Khakassia to Mongolia. Although the relationship (on state level) there were none, but the Mongols remember very well the kindness and help of the USSR for the formation of their state. We also passed through Ulang and also visited the lakes. They ate geese, herons, yak meat and horse meat. By the way, the majority of residents (middle-aged) speak Russian tolerably, and understand it in general, 100 percent. I remember their attitude towards the USSR, and towards us (former Soviets) - warm, welcoming, almost family. They didn’t talk about Russia at all then, but called our country in the old way - the Soviet Union.
We did not see any poverty, or even less destitution. This is a normal way of life for the Mongolian people. If the family is settled, then they live in a house or apartment like ordinary rural people in any country. If the family is nomadic, has its own livestock, pasture plots, then the lifestyle is correspondingly nomadic. Hence, national housing, clothing, food... Therefore, you should not be afraid to go to Mongolia on a safari. You just need to decide for what purpose and where you can go in Mongolia, to the steppe, or to a city-village?

(Salvador Dali’s film “Impressions from Upper Mongolia” on April 17 at the Dodo bookstore on Solyanka)

The film is beautiful, unusually modern for the 1970s, and confirms my recent guess: Dali, who for some reason is considered the standard surrealist in Russia, is not really a surrealist (he broke with this movement even before the war), but one of the first real postmodernists. To evaluate it according to the criteria of modernism is obviously to miss the mark.
But even the viewer of the twenty-first century Dali manages to hook him. The viewer of our generation is ready, after 20 minutes of viewing, with joy (“wow!”) to recognize the genre of mockumentary, which is well known to him - but in the finale, Dali (100% natural) with disarming frankness reports: I fooled you, all these hallucinatory images are just moss on the walls ancient castle and cracks in the paint layer in Vermeer's paintings. And it turns out that this is not a mockumentary, but simply an essay about art and the limits of knowledge. However, already at the moment when, somewhere in the middle of the film, Dali declares that his work is entirely inspired by narcotic mushrooms from Upper Mongolia, this is such obvious trash that the viewer should have guessed what was what. Dali cheerfully anticipates the judgments of ordinary people (they say, “What did this Dali smoke to draw such a thing?”) - this is a trick of the same kind as the “psychoanalytical” commentary in the finale of “The Black Prince” by Iris Murdoch, a parody designed to knock down the arrogance of a thoughtful reader / the viewer, imagining that he already understood everything.
The cultural density of the film is on the verge of a neutron star. Mythical Upper Mongolia is an evil parody of Roerich’s Shambhala (and how boring and pale Roerich is against this background!), but also of medieval European dreams of the Kingdom of Prester John (the corrosion on the fountain pen that Dali allegedly peed on is a reference to what was mentioned in the “Letter” Prester John" to a crocodile who burns trees with his urine), and to the current craze for psychedelics in the 70s. The shot where Dali paints a portrait of himself painting a portrait of Gala, who in turn is reflected in the mirror - of course, is not just a commentary on his own painting, but also a quote from “Las Meninas” by Velazquez, one of Dali’s favorite artists. And much more.
However, this density leads to gloomy thoughts about the fate of the erudite in the 20th century. XX century - the age is anti-cultural in its sentiments. Some wanted to throw off the burden of culture in order to accelerate the pace of progress, others - for the sake of a return to nature and naturalness, and still others - “because you can’t write poetry after Auschwitz.” What should someone do who doesn’t want to throw this baggage off their shoulders? Yes, and he wants to, but he won’t be able to, because for him it’s not a burden, but scuba gear with oxygen? So it turns out that the only way out for him is to become a postmodernist.
In this respect, Dali is akin to Tolkien and Umberto Eco. All three are people of colossal elitist scholarship, alien to their era, which turned out to be unnecessary and suspicious for the intelligentsia in the 20th century, and all three found a lively response in popular culture. But Tolkien played this scenario as a tragedy, Eco played it as an existentialist drama of the absurd, and Dali played it as a comedy. And, apparently, he enjoyed it.

Under the weight of the spacesuit

One of the Paris lectures, organized by the International Exhibition of Surrealism, almost turned into a tragedy for Salvador Dali, who was invited to it. According to the artist, the lecture needed some animation and clarity, so he put on a spacesuit. With his shocking and, at the same time, heavy outfit, the artist, as he himself admitted to journalists then, wanted to symbolically depict complete creative immersion in himself. It all started quite traditionally, the extravagant artist was photographed with Rupert Brinton Lee and his wife Diana. But when Dali tried to remove the helmet, it turned out that it was jammed: the air in the spacesuit ran out, and the artist began to suffocate. If the suit had not been torn apart, this trick could have cost the eccentric his life, and the unsuspecting public would have applauded, enjoying the dramatic effect.

Ovosiped - bicycle

On December 7, 1959, the presentation of the ovocypede took place in Paris: a device invented by Salvador Dali and brought to life by engineer Laparra. Ovosiped is a transparent ball with a seat fixed inside for one person. This “transport” became one of the devices that Dali successfully used to shock the public with his appearance.

Shocking showcase

Dali's stay in America became the most scandalous time in his life. Back in 1939, the artist agreed to design the window of Bonwith Teller's store on Fifth Avenue and, it must be said, this decision made him more famous than ever. Instead of artificial wigs, the early 20th century mannequins Dali used in the composition had real hair cut from a corpse. In addition, the composition consisted of a black satin bathtub, a bath tub and a canopy made of a buffalo's head, in whose teeth there was a bloody dove. Such a showcase could not go unnoticed by New Yorkers. The public interest was so great that it was impossible to walk along the sidewalks of this street. The city administration, fearing unrest, decided to dismantle Dali's composition. However, the artist's reaction was unexpected. Angry, he overturned a satin bathtub, smashed a mirrored store window with it, and went out into the street, where the police arrested him.

"Rainy Taxi"

When organizing an exhibition in Paris in 1938, Dali tried his best to stir up public interest. Shortly before the opening, he said that this would be one of the most amazing events of the first half of the twentieth century. And so it happened. Before entering the building, exhibition visitors were treated to an extravagant surprise - “Rainy Taxi”. The maestro created a car in which it was raining, the floor was covered with ivy, and a hundred Burgundy snails were crawling on a mannequin sitting in the back seat. Today, a kind of “taxi”, modified and expanded later by the artist, can be seen by all visitors to the theater-museum in Figueres.

"Cadillac" instead of a bull

On August 12, 1971, in Dali’s homeland, in the city of Figueres, a festival was organized in honor of the artist. The opening began with a bullfight and a procession created in the style of Dali's favorite artist, Goya. The only spot that stood out from the overall picture was Salvador's open Cadillac. The maestro waved his hand in greeting to everyone present and proved that he would not get lost even against the backdrop of the Spanish bulls, and would be able to surprise. By the way, Dali’s Cadillac was part of a special “Caddy” line, consisting of only five cars. The owners of this limited series were the most famous or shocking personalities of the last century: one belonged to US President Roosevelt, the second to Clark Gable, the third was owned by Al Capone, who had been released by that time, the fourth became the property of the Gala couple and Salvador Dali, the name of the owner of the fifth car still unknown. Not a bad purchase, mind you, considering that Dali only used his Cadillac for public appearances.

"Andalusian dog"

In 1929, the premiere of the film “Un Chien Andalou” took place in Paris, which was the result of the joint work of Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. The frightening and shocking scenes of the painting (cutting an eyeball with a blade, ants crawling out of a severed hand, etc.) made it perhaps the most famous surreal work of the two creators. The script was written in just two weeks and was based on the dreams of Dali and Buñuel. "Un Chien Andalou", contrary to the directors' expectations, was enthusiastically received by the public. The tragic death of the film's leading actors added to the film's gloomy glory. Pierre Batcheff died of an overdose of the drug Veronal on April 13, 1932 in a Paris hotel, and Simone Mareille self-immolated on October 24, 1954 on Place Périgueux in the Dordogne. Dali later used the film as a source of inspiration for another shocking act. He once again won over the public by appearing in front of television cameras in a coffin strewn with money and infested with ants, with eggshells on his face.

Mongolia with mushrooms

In his life, Dali himself completed work on only one film, Impressions from Upper Mongolia, released in 1975. In the film, which did not receive much public recognition, he told the story of an expedition that went in search of huge hallucinogenic mushrooms. Video series "Impressions of Upper Mongolia" for the most part based on enlarged microscopic uric acid stains on a brass strip. The “author” of these spots was Dali himself. Over the course of several weeks, he "painted" them on a piece of brass.

"Dream Ball"

On January 18, 1935, Joella Levy and Caris Crosby organize the Dream Ball in honor of Dali and Gala's departure from New York. At the costume ball, the artist appeared as a display case for his wife’s bra, he used a lobster as a headdress, and black wings in white gloves stuck out behind Dali’s back. Gala walked in a red cellophane skirt, a green bodice and a celluloid baby as a headdress. In his “Secret Life,” Dali would later write that the image of the “charming corpse” that his companion chose attracted even more attention than Eve’s costumes, bloody nightgowns and safety pins stuck into the skin of other ladies. Journalists created a real scandal out of this shocking appearance of the married couple at the ball. The fact is that at that time the abductor of the child of the Lindbergh family was widely discussed in the press, and one of the journalists of a Parisian newspaper wrote that on Gala’s head there was not just a doll, but an image of the kidnapped baby. The artist himself rejected such a “version” of the outfit.

Love for three

At the end of 1965, Salvador Dali met the then-famous model Amanda Lear, who became his mistress. The appearance of the favorite seriously angered the artist's legal wife, however, the wayward Gala is gradually getting used to the unusual love triangle. They often go for walks together, dine in restaurants and attend receptions. Of course, such public ease only provoked reporters, who did not lose sight of the trio. Every interview of that period was not complete without questions about the artist’s personal life, to which he answered with his characteristic playfulness. However, one of the maestro's antics seriously angered Amanda. In an interview with the Minute newspaper, Dali stated that his girlfriend was his ex-boyfriend Alain Tap, and thereby strengthened already existing rumors about the model’s transsexuality, which arose due to the low timbre of the model’s voice.

Jacket is an aphrodisiac

The jacket, also known as the Aphrodisiac Dinner Jacket, was invented by Salvador Dali in 1936. 83 cups of mint liqueur and dead flies were suspended from thin straws from the tuxedo, and the artist used a bra instead of a shirtfront. The original “aphrodisiac jacket” has been preserved only in photographs, from which it is periodically recreated for special exhibitions. Later, at one of the receptions, Dali appeared in a jacket reminiscent of the 1936 example. This time, however, the liqueur glasses were replaced with numbered crystal shot glasses. The photograph in which the maestro is captured in this strange outfit was named by the BBC television channel as one of the symbols of the 20th century.

— The idea of ​​going to Mongolia arose after our very picky friends visited there. Usually they stay in hotels of at least 4 stars, but suddenly Mongolia! We lived in yurts, have been to Khubsugul three times already, and always talk about our travels with delight. At the same time, there was still a visa - three thousand rubles. I was incredibly sorry to pay 12,000 for my family, and this year visas were canceled, and we decided to celebrate my birthday in Mongolia, because a holiday in Thailand, beloved by many, has become very expensive.

As it turns out, there is very, very little information about traveling to Mongolia. Where to stay? What to see? What are the nuances when crossing the border? I literally collected information drop by drop. I thought the most important thing was placement. That's what I did first. The choice is very, very limited. The most famous are the “Earth’s End” and “Silver Coast” bases. Both are nearby. “The End of the Earth” attracted us because of the presence of comfortable rooms, which we still did not use. But the free-standing, well-appointed toilets, washbasins and showers were used to their fullest. We didn’t book the base through well-known sites only because they simply don’t have any offers for Khubsugol. By the way, the weather in a given place is also not so easy to find out on the Internet. The phone app cannot find the lake or the village of Khan Ha, but claims that Khan Ha is a city in the Chai Nat province of Thailand.

So, a large group of us is gathering - 9 adults and 6 children, the youngest is not even a year old. We are planning to travel in 4 cars. For a married couple of two people, I book a 3-bed yurt (800 rubles per person per night). Two families of 2 adults and 2 children each in a 4-bed yurt (700 rubles per person). However, payment is only for adults. Children under 7 years old are free. My fourth yurt is for a group of 3 adults and 2 children.

So, at the beginning of May everything is booked. By the end of the month, 20% of the declared amount was paid. The rest is at the base. We leave on July 2nd and return on the 6th. What to take? What to buy? What kind of products? I'm reading customs regulations: Raw meat is prohibited from being imported, and only lamb and yak meat can be purchased locally. But we are somehow more accustomed to pork in kebabs. Next, you can carry 1 liter of strong and up to 5 liters of weak drinks. I recommend taking vegetables and fruits, they are not there at all. Looking ahead, I’ll say that the kitchen tent, camping chairs and tables were also very useful; in general, you need to be equipped like you would for Lake Baikal - you can’t go wrong!

We set off on our journey at 7 am. The first car went far ahead due to unforeseen circumstances. We correspond via SMS messages and applications, we learn that at a checkpoint in the area of ​​​​the village of Shaluty, where they collect money for travel to Arshan, friends were asked for international passports. To make sure that they are really going to Mongolia, and not to Arshan. They also asked us for our passports, but they didn’t look.

Now some numbers. The distance from Irkutsk to Lake Khubsugul is about 330 kilometers. You need to go to the village of Mondy, the road is asphalted. From the village to the border it is approximately 10 kilometers. It is necessary to fully refuel the car in Kultuk and refuel in Kyren. In Mondy, refueling is not guaranteed. That's what they write. But we refueled there, in Monds. On Khubsugol you can only refuel in the village of Khankh, but only with diesel fuel and A-80 gasoline. From the border to Khankh there are 22 kilometers of gravel road.

In Mondy, at the checkpoint they take away passports for about 10 minutes. There, at the border, we met a huge horde of spiders, so it’s imperative to take sprays. Columns of cars are passed one by one. First on one side of the border, then on the other. Our travel time was 2-2.5 hours. Drivers fill out declarations if they are carrying something heavy, more than 50 kilograms. My husband paid a fee of 70 rubles - all drivers pay it. Passengers fill out a declaration; if they are carrying something that needs to be declared, they will tell you about it at the border.

At the Mongolian border they filled out a registration sheet. The driver additionally fills out a sheet, which is marked by customs and border guards. They will tell and show you everything. The border checkpoint is open from 9 a.m. to 5 p.m., seven days a week.

Here we are in Mongolia, we are driving away from the border, and there is some kind of checkpoint with a barrier. People in uniform collect 100 rubles per adult for visiting the national park. If you don't show your receipt on the way back, you'll have to pay again. Another important point is registration. When entering or leaving, you need to register with the village administration for 170 rubles per person.

When exchanging opinions with other travelers to Khubsugol, it turns out that someone paid for the children too. Someone paid not 170, but 300 rubles. In general, there is no clarity on this issue.

There is a gravel road from the border, closer to the village we see signs with the name of our base and now we are already in front of the gate. We spend some time looking for an administrator and go to get acquainted with the placement. And then it turns out that everything is in order with three yurts, and the fourth yurt is some kind of Khan’s yurt. Let's go have a look. This is the most extreme yurt, secluded, with its own territory. It has a huge double bed, a folding sofa, a table with chairs, a wardrobe with hangers, two bedside tables, two chests of drawers, a stove, and a heater. There are 4 sockets in the yurt. Regular yurts also have a stove and a heater. Nobody warned us about this yurt, but it costs 4,000 rubles per day - we somehow didn’t expect that kind of money. But during the payment process they tell us that it’s 4,000 rubles for two adults, and you’ll pay an additional 1,500 per day for the third, and in the end they agreed on 4,000 for the yurt.

On the second day of our stay, we went to explore the surrounding area, with relatives acting as guides, who were not in Mongolia for the first time. So, we leave the base in three cars. We are driving along some incredible road, all covered in stones. The only worse road is to Khoboy on Olkhon.

We are approaching the coast of Khubsugul. Lonely tent. If you want solitude, a break from everyone, then you should definitely go to Khubsugul. No one around! Not a single soul. Simply ringing silence! And we are going for grayling, which you can catch with your hands while standing in the river! At least that’s how our relatives caught it last year! We go with anticipation, we arrive, and the river is half dry, and there’s not even a smell of grayling there. We went to another lake, but there were no fish there either. We did not despair and had a picnic.

On the way back we stop at Khankh. He's just on the way to our base. In one cafe they tell us that only khushurs are available. I am surprised to learn that in Mongolia, khushurs are chebureks. Let's move on. The other cafe has a richer selection. We stop. We order poses for 30 rubles and try for the first time National dish— tsuiwan (150 rubles). These are noodles, potatoes and meat. We ordered a medium portion, but it was too big for one person.

Getting to know local cuisine continued the next day. On my holiday I wanted to surprise the guests with something, and the administrator of the base suggested horhog. Lamb is used to prepare it. The meat on the bone is cut into pieces. Ten to twenty smooth stones the size of a fist are placed in the fire. Meat and hot stones are placed in a metal vessel, which is often a milk can, and salt and spices are added. Often prepared with vegetables (carrots, cabbage, potatoes). Next, the required amount of water is added, the vessel is closed with a lid and placed on fire. Extinguishing occurs with heat from fire and hot stones. The dish takes half an hour to prepare. The contents of the vessel are divided into portions, and hot stones are given to the guests. During cooking, they absorb fat and become black and slippery. Khorkhog is usually eaten with hands.

We also tried a local delicacy - fried lamb liver wrapped in lard. It's very greasy for my taste! As for the horhog, I got a hard piece of meat, and my friends got soft ones. Overall, I didn't like this dish at all. By the way, during the cooking process, our horhog was taken away with the words “it will be faster on the stove.” Somehow inauthentic. According to the rules, everything must be done at the stake and with stones. I am completely disappointed with this dish. Cooking a whole lamb costs 8,000 rubles, half - 4,000, and a quarter - 2,000. We ordered the latter, and there was more than enough for everyone.

Of course, we also tried Mongolian tea. And this is how it is prepared: boil water in a cast-iron cauldron, throw in tiled green tea, add milk, boil again until fully cooked, then add salt, butter, toasted flour, lightly fried lamb tail fat, and sheep bone marrow. Tea with such ingredients often serves as the only food for nomadic pastoralists for many days. A thin layer of fat floats on the surface of this tea. Drink it without sugar. As they say, it’s better to try once, although for people with weak stomachs such “tea drinking” may be fraught with not very pleasant consequences. To be honest, this tea is more like soup.

The fourth day in Mongolia was devoted to trips around the surrounding area. So we saw that manure was dried - they used it to heat the stoves in the yurt, but ours used firewood. We are driving without a guide, at random, and then we stop at a very interesting place, by the way, similar to Olkhon. Obo is a sacred Mongolian place. The shamanic sanctuary of Arvan-Gurvan-obo, literally translated into Russian as “13 obo,” is located on the protruding rocky Khanginsky cape. This place was consecrated in 2005, at the same time 13 new stones were built from large white boulders, which were brought on several trucks, and the whole village carried stones and built the sanctuary. Shamanic rituals are still practiced at this place, fresh fire pits and skulls of sacrificial animals can be seen next to the central observatory.

Later we walked along the rocks above the shore - the view was like the Maldives. I’m also just sure that when you’re abroad, you don’t think about how your phone calls the place where you’re staying. And this is funny. For example, we are in Khubsugul, but the phone thinks differently. A similar situation was at Phi Phi Island in Thailand.

This concludes my story about Mongolia. She is truly both distant and close. The country is located a little more than 300 kilometers from Irkutsk. But she is so far from us! By development, by customs, by standard of living. Although they say that in Ulaanbaatar everything is completely different. I'll probably want to check this out someday. Do I want to go back? More likely no than yes. At least not in the near future for sure. Do I recommend visiting Mongolia? Definitely yes! To form your own opinion about this country.

We offer 10 main impressions of Mongolia. We traveled many roads through this country, from Ulan-Ude to Ulaanbaatar, to Erdenet, Moron and to Lake Khubsugul. And here's what we learned from it...

1. Attractions

– this is not something worth going to Mongolia for. There are museums, archaeological sites of ancient people, the Gobi Desert - but all this and other places are very far from the average idea of ​​attractions. In addition, such places are usually located on the outskirts; public transport It’s almost unrealistic, and given the huge size of Mongolia, chasing after attractions that are scattered in different parts of the country is completely stupid.

It’s worth going to Mongolia for the sensations, for the pleasure of today. Enjoy the sun, steppe landscapes, Mongolian cuisine and communication with the locals. By the way, most of these “delights” are available on the road. All kinds of views of the steppe open from the car and bus; drivers and passengers relax, turn on their favorite Mongolian music, sway to the beat and sing along.

2. Intercity transport

Mongolia has a poorly developed network of buses and a more accessible network of... cars. Yes, exactly passenger cars for which you buy tickets at the bus station, and as soon as they are full, you can go. Just don’t relax: after leaving the bus station, the driver begins to collect more passengers outside the city (bypassing the bus station) until they are like herrings in a barrel. In the end, we tried to get a promise from the drivers: are five people sure to go? But there are no guarantees here either, because children are not considered people: the driver nods and pushes three more children into the car. The only salvation we found was to shake the camera, say “tourist photo” and point to the front seat. Chances are they'll let you sit there and you won't have to cram in with five passengers in the back.

3. Drivers

intercity transport is also an interesting sight. At the first bus station in Darkhan, we saw them huddling in groups, exposing their bellies and warming them in the sun. Apparently, the bigger the belly, the more respected the person is. And so it is at every station. It's a shame it's inconvenient to photograph.

4. It is clear that nothing is clear– this became our motto in Mongolia. No matter what situation we tried to interpret, it turned out that we were wrong. For example, we are crowded into a car with the next passengers to go from point A to point B. A young girl and a grandmother are riding with us in the back, in front in the front seats is a driver and a woman of the same age. Everyone is chatting happily, the girl takes a bottle from the driver and drinks from it, nibbles two ice cream cones in the car at once, then lies down on her grandmother’s shoulder and falls asleep. From this we conclude that we are driving in a car with a family: mom, dad, grandmother and granddaughter, who drinks from dad’s bottle, who he allows to eat ice cream in the car, and who sleeps on her grandmother’s shoulder. Apparently they took us for a ride to justify the gas. However, upon arrival at point B, everyone goes in different directions and “dad” turns out to be an ordinary bomber. It’s just that in Mongolia it’s normal to drink from someone else’s bottle and sleep on someone else’s shoulder.
And so every time - without knowing the language and traditions - epic fail.

5. Food

Mongolia is special; this set of products cannot be found anywhere else. First of all, this is meat, a lot of meat, heaps of meat in a portion - a vegetarian simply cannot survive here. Also rice, some potatoes, a lot of airag (mare's milk), tea (salted, with butter), almost complete absence of fruit. We heard a lot from foreigners about how terrible Mongolian food is, too simple and even primitive. At such moments they became very angry and could hardly restrain themselves from suggesting that they sit at home and eat their “complicated” food. In fact, even though nothing grows here, the variety of cooking methods and products themselves is amazing. Next photo illustrative: this is food on the counter - to attract customers.

6. Basic historical myth, on which Mongolian statehood is built, is the former power of the Mongol Empire and the associated figure of Genghis Khan. By calling the state idea a myth, we are in no way claiming that it is false - on the contrary, it is interesting what kind of history becomes central to self-awareness different countries. Maps of former Mongolian possessions hang in Mongolian houses; they can be bought at any bookstore.

Next to the cards there are usually various Buddhist paraphernalia and photographs of relatives. All this usually forms small altars - a set of main objects in the house.

7. Another reason to be proud is that A large number of dinosaur skeletons were found in Mongolia. True, most of them are in museums abroad (for example, in the New York Museum of Natural History). Most skeletons of Tarbosaurus, a Eurasian relative of the American tyrannosaurus, were found in Mongolia and the Gobi. The museum in Ulaanbaatar tells more stories about Mongolian dinosaurs.

8. Perhaps a negative point: Mongols have a difficult relationship with alcohol. Many people don’t know how to drink and become very aggressive, clingy and unpleasant. As we already talked about, many people from different ethnic groups do not know how to drink, but we still do not recommend approaching a cheerful foreign Mongolian company. But you will have to drink with new friends!

9. Khubsugul.

If you are still looking for attractions in Mongolia, we recommend visiting Lake Khubsugul: it is easy to get to, and there are places to walk and things to do around the lake. And stunning views are guaranteed. Here you can stay in a yurt or a hotel, but it’s much more interesting and romantic to stay in a tent on the shore of the lake.

10. Weather.

It may seem that Mongolia is middle Asia, a piece of which is desert, and there is drought all summer. However, unlike, for example, or, in Mongolia they often go summer rains, sometimes torrential and for days. So it’s worth taking waterproof shoes and a raincoat with you.

Also at night the temperature drops significantly, so if you are going to sleep in a tent, it is better to take a warmer sleeping bag. Well, in general, it’s worth taking a sleeping bag to Mongolia, unless you’re staying in five-star hotels: in average hotels (as well as in backpacker hostels), they don’t really change their linen.
In general, to these 10 impressions you can easily add 10 more! About stoic Mongolian children who never seem to cry and how much time Mongolian fathers spend with them. About yurts, yaks, gophers, mare's and camel's milk. About folk costumes and eagles constantly soaring across the steppe. About a copper mine and a Catholic mission in Erdenet, led by a priest from the Congo. All the stories are yet to come!

 

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