Nyam Adiyabazar – Prize winner artist 2006

This painting, Imperial Heroes, won Adiyabazar first prize at the Great Mongolian Art Exhibition held earlier this year.

A Monglish conversation!!! “Modern” art is popular in Mongolia but the majority of local art work you see is along traditional lines. From a local papers review: “In looking for and expressing his identity as an artist , is Adiyabazar going against the grain of the nation’s collective unconsciousness? ……..I hope he is, for that is what a creator’s instincts are all about.”
The prize painting was on shown at an exhibition entitled “Me Today” along with 59 other works by Adiyabazar
Another example of Adiyabazar work. Unfortunately without the correct title.

And again, sorry, no title. Checkout the web site……………A Really good exhibition in an excellent space.

The Foundry.

During my home stay, Khass took me to the foundry in the ger district to the north of UB, that he, his father and his three brothers are starting up.
The ger district is divided into compounds called hasha. Khass’s family are creating a metal recycling facility in their hasha
All sorts of scrap iron products from car engines to old pipes are delivered to the site by old soviet trucks
The scrap is then melted in an electric furnace and cast into an ingot.
The ingots are then hot forged into what look like cannon balls. They are in fact used in drilling operations in the mining/oil industry. Entrepreneurs in action in Mongolia!!!!!

Home Stay.

As part of the in-country training, we have had the opportunity to spend 4 days and nights with a family.




My host family were a young couple, Shuree, Khass and their little 2 year old Beriga. They made me very welcome and I have to say I had the best of times with them








The family took me all over UB including a visit to The Megid Janraysig Temple. This was fascinating, having an inside view into what was going on and being able to walk around the inside of the temple whilst the service was in progress without feeling I was doing something wrong.







Buriga turned the pray wheels. We bought ‘holy’ water and incense to burn at home











On the Saturday evening a firework display lit the UB skyline. We had a grandstand view for the apartment window



And then it was time for supper. Nothing left. What a great 4 days. I cannot thank Khass, Shuree and little Buriga enough for making me feel so much at home. Thank you.

Street Scenes 1

This blog entry is the first in what I hope will be a series of general street scenes in the capital

Roadside mechanics are popular. From changing tyres and brake linings to suspension repair, not a problem.

I liked this photo of a trolley bus stop because the pedestrians seemed to be moving in sympathy with the trolley bus pick up arms. I know, sad reason!!!

An often repeated scene. Dad and kid. Statistically, women reach a higher level of education than men in Mongolia. As in the UK, both partners in a relationship are economically active (as the jargon says!!!!)

Young Famillies

This picture was taken as the family was walking away from The Megid Janraysig Temple. Ancient and modern………….Brilliant!!! Mongolia has a very young population. It is almost as if there has been a quantum leap from the 1960’s to 2006. Beatle’s music is popular, but I have not hear the music of the intervening years. Today, Robby Williams and Britany Spears are in vogue. Freddy Mercury has yet to make an impression here. I feel a mission coming on!!!!!

Mongolian Language Class of September 2006-09-22

Most of the class that graduated this day with Enkhee and Tsemaa.

Richly deserved for achievement.

Richly deserved for staying the course!

The tutors. They deserve medals themselves for their patience and never giving up on us.

Around Suhbaatar Square

UB is a 10 k long, thin city build along Peace Avenue which runs parallel to the “river”. To the south of the “river” there is also a residential and industrial. Suhbaatar Square is towards the east of the city and is the centre for government buildings, theatres and museums. The whole avenue seems to be one long shopping opportunity.
The Square is where people seem to gravitate to on first arriving in UB,….. and not only tourists.


And people meet to pass the time.



Newly married couples come here to have their photographs taken in front of the statue of their old friend Ghenkis

Heads up for the Lotus Centre!

This little boy was found eighteen months ago left in a bus shelter. This was not an act of neglect but an act of desperation by someone. Ewan Mcgregor's and Charley Boorman's account of their encounter with the UB street children evokes a real sense of the children’s need for love, attention, and a secure environment to live in. (please see ‘The Long Way Round’). The Lotus Centre’s mission is to supply each of these needs.

From babes and tots

to kids and teenagers.

The Lotus Centre is TOTALLY dependant on charitable donations of time and money from within the country and abroad. These Singaporean volunteers are enthusiastically entertaining the kids on their last day in the Centre. Their main mission has been to redecorate part of the centre, providing the materials and the labour to make it happenWith Wai Ling making new friends,
and seeing despair turned to joy, The Lotus Centre’s mission IS succeeding.

But Lotus needs money, equipment and people power to keep succeeding. Please visit the Centre’s website at www.lotuschild.org and if you can, I urge you to help by making a donation. You WILL make a difference. Thank you.

6th September and the First Snow!

A month early from the north. We went from shirt sleeves to padded jackets and woolly hats in 24 hours.












Not that people seem to bothered about it. It is only – 2 degrees, what is the fuss about?

Bridge International College.

Mongolian language classes are small. There is nowhere to hide! For three hours each morning, the four of us are drilled, coached and encouraged by two alternating tutors, Enkh (pictured) and Tsema. And it IS becoming fun. I never thought I would ever,ever say that!!


But coffee breaks are always welcome……chat conducted in English, of course.

Our barber shop trio, in Mongolian of course.

Best View.

Clouds reflected in hills!

Herder's Familly Ger Visit

Some of the crew prior to departure from the VSO office. Look pretty sinister looking lot to me!! A minibus was about to take us a 1.5 hours drive west of UB to visit a family living on the steppes.


Having left the City and the main road behind, we took off on tracks across the landscape to find our family. The tracks are remarkably smooth and despite not being a 4x drive the bus fairly motored along. That is until we met livestock or crossed a dried up riverbed.


The family we were visiting live in a shallow valley with three other gers quite close. They move 4 times each year with the seasons.

And the views were just spectacular. No noise. No trees or fences for the wind to rustle or whistle through. Just open, uninterrupted space. You could literally set off walking in a straight line and not have to deviate from it. The Romans would have loved it here!!

The family met us and we were invited to join them inside their cosy home


Even with 20 additional people, the ger was very accommodating and just felt so secure and calming. We enjoyed a lunch of dumplings, hot milk, milk tea, dried yoghurt as well as popcorn and home brewed milk wine.

The kids and I played with their Lego. The little girl already rides horses. I missed that on camera. Kicking myself over that one!!! She is only 6 years old!!!

A fascinating visit. A traditional life style that is adopting new technologies. TV with photoelectric cells and wind turbines for power can be seen beside gers. These portable modern devises are likely to help preserve the nomadic life, if the Mongolians wish it so.

First impressions.

What a magical place. After arriving in UB and being allocated straight away our accomodation we have been able to settle in really quickly. And the flat we have is great. Everything you could need, with a small market by the road outside.

On Sunday we were taken on a trip to the "country". In fact to Manzushir Monstry. Nothing prepares you for the scenery. No fences, hedges, trees.....none, just green, rolling hills. The dry air makes for very sharp boundaries between the succesive ranges of hills.

On the journey to the monastery, we stopped at a cairn surrounding a pole of blue ribbons. Blue is the Mongolian colour of preference…mine too. The idea is to circle the cairn three times in a clockwise direction for past, present and future, throwing a stone at the end of each circuit and then make a wish. I am sure we did it all wrong, but, hey, we have two years to get it right!!

This handsome fellow is especially for Chris M, Chris F and Dylan. I have to say; their affection for the yak is seriously misplaced. Terrible hygiene, lousy dress sense and bad tempered to boot!


Lunch was taken at a ger camp not far the monastery gate. The facilities were excellent with modern showers and toilets. The guests stay in a traditional ger and the right to roam is not an issue. No fences, no landowners but you would need GPS. The grass covering the low hills is surprisingly sparse and course, the ground being strewn with small rocks. And watch out for the marmot holes, they are everywhere.

Not that we stayed but this made a good photo opportunity.

We have arrived!

Just arrived in UB. Interesting jouney which ended with a clap from the passengers when the T 154 touched down at Ghenkis Khaan airport. What a place. The steppes are so different. Absolutely no hedges or fences and isolated gers on the slopes. Looks magical. Watch this space for pictures.

Five weeks of in-country training starts on Monday but the weekend is ours to recover!!!

Six days and counting!

Today is Saturday.....the Saturday before the Friday we fly from Heathrow. And no tickets yet. Not that I am concerned you understand,.... no, not me!!! And after the terrorist alerts this week at UK airports, we are going to have to re-think our packing policy. No hand luggage. Everything has to be checked in.

But apart from these minor inconveniences we are both really ready to go now. The bungalow was rented out last week and we are now staying this final week on the island with my daughter, Polly, and her fiance, Karim. We are all going out for a posh nosh this evening as a a way of saying thank you for letting us stay at theirs and as a departure celibration.

Roll on Friday!!!!!!