What's Up Al ? 遊記隨筆 生活點滴

Mongolia had enjoyed a special place in history, chiefly because of the great empire of Chinggis Khaan which spanned across much of today's Asia and Europe and it was no wonder that modern day Mongolia held numerous reminders of the great man - to start it off, we landed at the Chinggis Khaan International Airport ! Once we had our bearings by locating the Chinggis Khaan Square, we found the capital city of Ulaanbaatar to be a friendly place where we walked practically everywhere - to get to know the city as well as to avoid the non-moving traffic jam. Ulaanbaatar (UB) offered informative and well-presented museums such as the National Museum and the not-to-be-missed Zanabazar Museum Of Fine Arts which displayed the genius of the multi-talented Zanabazar, a direct descendant Chinggis Khaan living in the 16th Century, who was sometimes referred to as the Leonardo da Vinci of Asia with his all-round skills in languages, religious studies and the use of bronze in casting and design of aesthetic religious figures. We also visited UB's colorful markets which included the 8-storeys tall State Department Store (selling Chinggis Khaan Vodka) and the huge Naran Tuul Market which sold almost all the domestic items that one could think of, from baseball caps and ladies' nighties to industrial-strength steel-toed boots to microwave ovens ! Although mostly destroyed during the Communists era, UB still had a fair share of sacred temples and palaces in Gandan Khlid Monastry, Dashchoilon Khlid Monastry, Bodg Khan Winter Palace and the spooky Choijin Lama Temple with its scary Tsam religious ceremonial masks. We spent most of a day walking to the Zaizan Memorial located on the southern hills of UB where we had a great view looking down on the sprawling UB urban areas. Our limbs began to warm up and we were ready to tackle the many National Parks in Mongolia next.