Mongolia and Horses – Part 1 - Overview

There were horse stables near my apartment in Cologne. I often walked there, or passed by in the evening on my way home from work or from visiting my parents. Now I live in a village in the Eifel region, where there are horses too. It is possible to imagine Cologne and the Eifel without horses, but it is impossible to imagine Mongolia without them. I will attempt to illustrate this below. Here in Germany, horses are frequently ridden by women—at least, that is my impression. In Mongolia, one sees both genders riding, though I did observe more men doing so. In Germany, horses are often a hobby; in Mongolia, they are an economic necessity, even though one sees many herders riding motorcycles.

Mongolia is home to over 4 million horses and has a human population of roughly 3.3 to 3.7 million [1]. In Germany, there are about 2.32 million people involved in equestrian sports (including 840,000 regular riders) out of a population of approximately 80 million [2]. In Germany, I often see horses being led by hand; I rarely saw this in Mongolia. In Germany, horses are kept in stables and on fenced pastures, whereas in Mongolia, they roam freely.

I believe that the image of horses galloping across the steppe comes closest to our mental picture of Mongolia. Indeed, one often sees this—whether the horses are moving of their own accord or being driven by herders. Yet, even more frequently, one simply sees them grazing somewhere with no humans around.

The Mongolian horse (Адуу) [3] is smaller and sturdier than the average horse seen in Europe. It is believed that the breed has not changed significantly since the time of Genghis Khan (Чингис хаан / Chinggis Khaan). The horses live outdoors almost year-round, meaning they are adapted to temperatures ranging from as low as -40°C to as high as 30°C. Fermented mare's milk plays an important role in both Mongolian and Kazakh cultures; it is known as kumis (қымыз) in Kazakh and airag (айраг) in Mongolian—a subject I have written about previously [4]. Traditionally, this fermented mare's milk has been a vital source of Vitamin C in nomadic cultures [5]. Mare's milk is used in shamanic rituals, such as the blessing for a journey, which I have also reported on [6]. The ceremony I witnessed at Üüreg Nuur does not contradict this [7]; for one thing, it was a Buddhist ceremony, and for another, availability might be a factor.

There is also more to be said about the Genghis Khan equestrian statue (Их эзэн Чингис хааны морьт хөшөө)—standing approximately 40 meters tall, 55 km east of Ulaanbaatar—as well as about Damdin Sükhbaatar (Дамдины Сүхбаатар) and his statue in the center of Ulaanbaatar (though there, a colossal Genghis Khan looks down upon him from a throne within the government building).

I also plan to cover horse racing, the transport and training of horses, the Naadam festival (Наадам), and more. Horses are a central part of the Naadam festival ceremonies, and the races themselves take place outside the city.

The "Wind Horse" found on prayer flags [8], while used in a Buddhist context, actually has shamanic origins. The Tibetan term is lungta (རླུང་རྟ་), and in Mongolian, it is called khiimori (хийморь). It symbolizes one of the five cardinal directions—you've read correctly, it stands for the center—as well as the human soul, well-being, or good fortune. That, too, would make for an interesting topic.

I haven't yet decided whether to tackle these various topics regarding horses and Mongolia all at once or to address them gradually...

Links and Annotations:
[1] https://www.viewmongolia.com/mongolian-horse.html 
[2] https://www.pferdesport-deutschland.de/deutsche-reiterliche-vereinigung/zahlen--fakten/zahlen--fakten 
[3] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_horse 
[4] „Let's first get to the term. In the West, fermented mare's milk is better known as kumis. The term comes from the Russian кумыс and from the Old Turkish or Turkish kımız. In both Kazakh and Kyrgyz it is called қымыз; and similarly in other Central Asian languages. Tuvan is slightly different: хымыс. Mongolian has its own term, as already mentioned: airag (айраг).“
Mongolia – Airag, Kumis or Mare's Milk 
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/02/mongolia-airag-kumis-or-mares-milk.html 
[5] Mongolia – Where do the Mongols get their Vitamin C? 
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/08/mongolia-where-do-mongols-get-their.html 
[6] Mongolia – a little Ritual on departing from a Ger Camp 
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2022/08/mongolia-little-ritual-on-departing.html 
[7] A Ceremony at the Lakefront of Üüreg Nuur 
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/07/a-ceremony-at-lakefront-of-uureg-nuur.html 
[8] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Wind_Horse 

Fresh, but is it a topic?

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A Visit to the Dambulla Cave Temple, Sri Lanka

When I think of the cave temple in Dambulla, I automatically think of "Dambala" – a reggae song by Exuma [1]: "Oh, Dambala, come Dambala." This might sound a bit peculiar, but at the time of my first visit to the caves – some 50 years ago – we listened to musicians like Exuma constantly; I still own a cassette tape of his, though I recently enjoyed listening to "Dambala" on YouTube.

The Dambulla Cave Temple (දඹුල්ල රජ මහා විහාර) – also known as the Dambulla Raja Maha Viharaya or the Golden Temple of Dambulla – has been a UNESCO World Heritage Site in the central part of Sri Lanka since 1991 [2]. A lengthy conservation project (1982–1996) was undertaken with the specific aim of preserving the eighteenth-century mural schemes found within the site. In 2003, the designated protection zone was expanded. This was a sensible measure, as the temple continues to serve as an active ritual center. In total, five temple caves are open to visitors; the largest of these measures 52 by 23 meters – covering an area of nearly 1,200 square meters. They offer ample space for both worshippers and tourists alike. As one approaches the caves, one is enveloped by the scent of the flowers offered as votives, and, of course, by the fragrance of incense.

Pre-Buddhist burial sites – estimated to be approximately 2,700 years old – have been discovered in the surrounding area, leading to the belief that the caves were inhabited in ancient times. There are other caves in the vicinity as well – about 80 in total. It is likely that the caves were transformed into a royal temple as early as the late 2nd century BCE, under the reign of King Walagamba of Anuradhapura. King Nishankamalla of Polonnaruwa is also worthy of mention, as he dedicated 70 Buddha statues to the temple in 1190 AD. The site is home to thousands of wall paintings, which depict, in particular, scenes from the life of the Buddha. In total, 2,300 square meters are covered with paintings. There are 153 Buddha statues, three statues of kings, as well as statues of Vishnu and Ganesha. The Wikipedia article offers very comprehensive descriptions. There is a noteworthy article from 2025 titled "The Sacred Caves of Dambulla: Where Rock Becomes Prayer" [3]. Quite fresh – barely a month old – is the article from the Impart Encyclopedia of Art [4]; notably, it features absolutely no people, which is a sensible approach for an article of this kind.

One must climb up to reach the cave temple, but the ascent is well worth the effort. And – incidentally – even non-Buddhists are permitted to bring flowers along with them. Please buy some from the vendors.

 

Links and Annotations:
[1] „Oh, Dambala, come Dambala / Oh, Dambala, come Dambala“ from the Lyrics [1a] of the song „Dambala“ [1b] by Exuma [1c], who already passed over nearly 30 years ago.
[1a] https://genius.com/Exuma-dambala-lyrics 
[1b] https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=4q4rXpaOhAU&t=11s 
[1c] Macfarlane Gregory Anthony Mackey (1942-1997), aka Exuma, was a Bahamian musician, artist, playwright, and author. 
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Exuma_(musician)  
[2] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dambulla_cave_temple and
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dambulla-H%C3%B6hlentempel 
[3] The Sacred Caves of Dambulla: Where Rock Becomes Prayer 
https://ceylonhistory.com/en/stories/dambulla-cave-temple/ 
[4] Impart Encyclopedia of Art (2026) Dambulla Cave Temple. Available at: https://imp-art.org/articles/dambulla-cave-temple/ (Accessed: 13 May 2026). 

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My Trip to Sri Lanka 2026 … Before the Details

 

Before I'll write about my trip to Sri Lanka in detail in my travelogue, primarily in English, I wanted to share something on my blog in German [1], which I translate here. Namely, what kind of trip it was and what the background was. I visited Sri Lanka three times between 1976 and 1978, and I absolutely loved it back then, but I never had the time to go back. The deciding factor this time was that I found a suitable tour operator, because there's a big risk with Sri Lanka that I either do all the culture or nothing at all, and then just lie on the beach on the tropical island, which is of course also lovely. I had already traveled with the operator „Wolkenbote [Cloud Messenger]“ on an adventure trip through Mongolia. Now Wolkenbote had been offering a trip to Sri Lanka. I accepted, and I haven't regretted it. It was a wonderful trip.

The tour operator has the prosaic name "Travel with Dr. Elvira Friedrich", but the website is much more interesting, and there the operator is called „Wolkenbote [Cloud Messenger]“. Regarding Wolkenbote, I'd like to quote here from the website of Dr. Elvira Friedrich [2], an Indologist. It's a one-woman operation.

The name Sri Lanka (Sinhalese: ශ්‍රී ලංකා, Tamil: இலங்க) has now become established, although people still refer to it as in Ceylon tea [3]. I fondly remember my father, who liked to quote from an English textbook from the 1930s: "Tea from Ceylon is the best." In 1972, the name was changed from Ceylon to Sri Lanka. The Portuguese arrived in Sri Lanka in the 16th century and named the island Ceilao; the Dutch who followed renamed it Ceylon, a name that remained in use from 1796 to 1972. So, in the 1970s, I was still  close to the name Ceylon in the 1970s. I remember frequently having to explain what kind of country Sri Lanka actually was. The name Sri Lanka can be translated as "the sublime, radiant [island]". In 2027, there will also be a voyage with the Cloud Messenger [4].
 

Here's the rough route:
Diefenbach - Cologne - Frankfurt - CMB - Negombo - Colombo - Yapuhawu - Wilpattu - Mihintale - Anuradhapura - Polonnaruwa - Sigiriya - Dambulla - Kandy - Ella - Buduruwagala - Tissamahara - Kataragama - Bundala - Rekawa - Galle - CMB - Frankfurt - Cologne - Diefenbach

My brother Frank thinks that the trip from the Eifel region to Frankfurt and back would be the real adventure. I would change "adventure" to "uncertainty". Google AI writes: "Deutsche Bahn (DB) is known for its unreliability, especially in long-distance travel. Many trains are delayed or canceled, leading to frustration among passengers. The main cause of this unreliability lies in the dilapidated and overloaded rail network, as well as the numerous construction sites required for its renovation." And I once wrote about the feeling of being stranded after a trip [5].

I didn't meet my brother Lutz and my sister-in-law in Sri Lanka; we just missed each other in Galle (by an hour or two). However, I had run into them once by chance at Frankfurt Airport (in the security area) when they were returning from a trip and I was just starting my own. I'll tell you more about them later.

After a very short night (!), we arrived at the airport in Sri Lanka. I remembered the old airport, where you were greeted by a mixture of cinnamon and kerosene smells. This time it was different, because you went straight from the plane into the terminal building. Then we immediately continued on to Negombo, where we explored the town, the fish market, and of course, the boats typical to the Negombo area. After that, we went to Colombo and strolled through the old town. It was lovely and exactly what we needed to completely forget about jet lag. We stayed at the Galle Face Hotel, which still retains a touch of colonial atmosphere. A museum section commemorates the British royal family.

In Yapahuwa, we visited the rock fortress – it involves climbing quite a few stairs, but the view is worth it. From there, we continued past salt pans to a hotel near Wilpattu National Park, interestingly situated on a lagoon. We set off early the next day, as early morning wildlife viewing is recommended. After seeing elephants, birds, buffalos, and deer, we drove to Anuradhapura.
We stayed two nights in Anuradhapura and visited Mihintale, considered the "cradle of Buddhism". There, we also visited the foundations of an Ayurvedic hospital.

After seeing the 14-meter-high monumental Buddha statue from the 5th century AD, we arrived at Minneriya National Park. The ancient Lake Minneriya, built in the 3rd century AD, is also located there. with the Ekho Lake House situated right on its shores.

Onward to Polonnaruwa, for centuries the capital of the Sinhalese kingdom, only to be reclaimed by jungle until its rediscovery in 1890.

In Sigiriya, we encountered mass tourism, as tourists moved their way up the rock and steel stairs like a snake. Photographing the Cloud Maidens is no longer permitted; I'll have to check if I still have an old slide. From the rock, there's a beautiful view of the plain. There's still jungle there, and I'll tell you about the tourist who ignored the warnings and…

We also visited the cave temples of Dambulla (a UNESCO World Heritage Site). The walls are covered from top to bottom with colorful depictions of the historical Buddha. From Aluvihara – where the Buddhist canon (Tripitaka/Tipitaka) was written down for the first time in the first century BCE [6] – we traveled to Kandy, where we stayed at the Queens Hotel. The hotel dates back to 1844 and is located opposite the Temple of the Tooth.

On our journey, we visited a rubber plantation and then, of course, a tea plantation. This was particularly important for me, as I want to write about tea again and I can use some of the photos as illustrations. I had previously had to resort to some 40-year-old pictures for my old tea articles. Then we arrived in Ella, where we climbed Little Adam's Peak and enjoyed the magnificent view of the valley from the hotel. Due to the damage caused by cyclone Diwah in early December 2025, the railway line from Nanu Oya to Ella was still closed, but the line between Badulla and Ella was open; I recommend traveling in that direction as well. It was a delightful journey.

On our way to Tissamahara, we visited rice paddies and sampled fresh mango and curd, a fermented milk product made from buffalo milk (a type of yogurt). In Budurawagala, we saw the reliefs carved into the rock in the 8th and 9th centuries. In Kataragama, the dagoba and a ceremony were on the agenda. I intend to dig out my old notes and scan some old photos for comparison.

We visited Yala National Park and the following day Bundula National Park, where we observed a variety of birds, as well as elephants, monitor lizards, crocodiles, and buffalo. Afterward, we experienced some beach life in Rekawa. We even spotted a few tortoises.

Finally, the end of the trip was approaching. We drove through Galle, where I missed my brother and sister-in-law. One of my fellow travelers was also at the Herder Gymnasium (high school) at the same time, but several grades below me. It was quite a coincidence that two people from Cologne met on a trip organized by a Hamburg tour operator. And, as I discovered when I got home, she and my brother had also graduated from the Herder Gymnasium (high school). We then traveled via Colombo, where we had dinner, to Bandaranaike Airport, and Sri Lankan Airlines flew us back to Germany via Pakistan and Afghanistan. Almost all other airlines were grounded because the war in Iran had started shortly before our trip to Colombo. If the map is to be believed, we practically plunged into the Caspian Sea and resurfaced from the Black Sea. But my brother Lutz and my sister-in-law are still in Sri Lanka, as they flew with Emirates. They extended their vacation and will return via Beijing.

Many thanks to Wolkenbote for a wonderful trip!

Links and Annotations:
[1] Meine Reise nach Sri Lanka 2026 … vor den Details
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2026/03/meine-reise-nach-sri-lanka-2026-vor-den.html 
[2] “Wolkenbote [Cloud Messenger]:
This is what the Indian poet Kalidasa called his lyrical work, which enjoyed extraordinary popularity. In this poem, a courtier exiled from his homeland commissions a cloud, which is traveling north with all its might, to comfort and greet his beloved who has been left behind. The cloud is to fly over the cities and countries, greeting the friends of the sorrowful man, who so longs to set out himself through the wondrous landscapes.”
https://www.wolkenbote.de/ 
[3] More about Sri Lanka here:
https://de.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sri_Lanka 
The English article is better for the various toponyms as not all are mentioned here on the blog.
[4] https://www.wolkenbote.de/reisen/sri-lanka-2027/ 
[5] https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2023/07/strandungen.html 
Text in German
[6] Pali Canon
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Pali_Canon 
(I've looked it up for this translation.)

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Mongolia – Rock Gate and Relief between Khar Nuur and Muhart River

 

I had already reported about the trip to Ulaagchiin Khar Lake (Улаагчийн Хар Нуур) [1]. And from there our trip continued just as difficult. However, this has the advantage that you don't meet many travelers there. That day we continued our arduous journey from Khar Lake to the Muhart River (Мухартын гол). In between we were crossing the sand desert, driving past Gers, where the nomads had to protect their animals from wolves, quite steeply uphill, through the rock gate, then again through sand with another another time getting stuck, through a canyon with a rock relief and finally into the sand desert, where the Muhart River originates.

Only small groups travel to this area as it isn't possible to know in advance how the route will be managed. We met a Russian couple who had driven through the rock gate in 10-15 cm of snow just two days before us. When we arrived there wasn't any snow left because the sun had melted it away. Rain can make the sand firmer, but then there is a risk of slipping on the grass slopes.

At first we made very good progress, even over the sandy stretches. Finally we passed a few gers, behind which strange sticks had been sunk into the ground on a boulder edge and some scraps of fabric were hanging from them. It was done to  keep the wolves away by the smell of humans in order to deter the wolves from tearing animals from the herds. From there the grass track went up  very steeply. Then we came to the rock gate or rock arch, which is called Senjit Khad (Сэнжит хад).

The gate is part of a larger rock formation that is altogether called Senjit Khad (Сэнжит хад) and extends over about 15x2km. You have a very good view of the desert. The gate itself measures around 6m wide and 3.5m high. This natural spectacle is not mentioned in my two travel guides [2]. Lonely Planet writes on the Internet [3]: “An impressive rock arch rises from the desert about 95km northeast of Sainshand in Altanshiree sum. If you're on the hunt for all of the Gobi's treasures, find it. Otherwise, you can skip it.” I mean, you could look at it and here are the coordinates [4]

The desert that you can see from above belongs to the Bor Khyar Desert (Бор хярын элс) or also called Bor Khyar Sand Dunes (Бор хярын элсэн манхан). The dunes extend over 200 km and satellite images have shown that this desert is expanding [5].

Then we drove down from this massive mountain again and continued over desert sand. The truck got stuck there again and while we were waiting, we saw that vehicles were constantly getting stuck in this area, as remnants of the (successful) attempts to get out of the sand could be seen. Interestingly, rhubarb, desert rhubarb, also grew there.

After this involuntary but interesting break, we drove through a canyon that offered a beautiful view of the desert. There was a relief and in front an altar-like stone table and an ovoo (Овоо). I transcribed the inscriptions and then had them translated by a program. The upper inscription means [6]: “Out of all the miracles that happen in human life, it is a wonderful thing because of my mother who raised me to be a blessing.” I thought I could get an explanation about the darker inscription, but the translation is something like [7]: “This work is to the memory of the holy spirit of our mother. R. Dugar's children, created by her grandchildren.” In any case, we can assume a Buddhist background, because the woman who lifts the child up to the sun is kneeling on a lotus base. There is also a Tibetan inscription –  ཨོཾ་མ་ཎི་པ་དྨེ་ཧཱུྃ – om mani padme hum.

We passed Muhart River Camp (Мухартын голын кэмп), camp being a bit of an exaggeration; at least there is a shop with supplies in the area. We drove on to a place in nature and pitched our tents there. It cooled down again at night and the sun greeted us in the morning, but that's a completely different story.

Links and Annotations:
[1] Mongolia – An Exhausting Trip from Songino to Ulaagchiin Khar Nuur
https://rheumatologe.blogspot.com/2024/02/mongolia-exhausting-trip-from-songino.html
[2a] Michael Walther and Peter Woeste: Mongolia. DuMont travel manual. Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2019. ISBN: 3770181417.
[2b] Michael Kohn: Mongolia. Lonely Planet Publications Ltd, 2008. ISBN: 101741045789.
[3] https://www.lonelyplanet.com/mongolia/the-gobi/dornogov/attractions/senjit-khad/a/poi-sig/1579726/357056
[4] Senjit khad - Сэнжит хад N48.215463409173914 E96.14998245724391
[5] http://www.touristinfocenter.mn/cate1_more.aspx?ItemID=138
[6] Transcribed from the original: “хүмүүний амьлдралд тохиолдох түмэн гаихамшгийн дотроос ерөөл таөин өс гөсөн мимий эхийн ачлад юхтаи ч эүирлэмгүй гайхам”.
[7] Transcribed from the original: “Энээхүү бүтээлийг бидний хаирт ээж / дугарын цэрмаа таны гэгээн / Дурсгалд зриулан / р. Дугар агсаны үр хүүхэд, / ач зээ нараас нь хамтран бүтээв”.
 

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Mongolia – Javklhant Tolgoi in Uliastai

 

If you have not been to Mongolia and are not planning to go there, then you will hardly have heard of Uliastai (Улиастай) and Javklhant Tolgoi (Жавхлант толгой). And the two guidebooks [1] that I used don't say much about this town and Javklhant Tolgoi. The reason might be that it is a secondary destination, but it is a very interesting one, as I would like to point out here.

Uliastai (Улиастай) is located 1111 km from Ulaanbaatar (Улаанбаатар) [2]. Uliastai was formerly known as Javklhant (Жавхлант). It is an important city in the west of the country, which was founded during the Qing dynasty (清朝) as a garrison (1733) and from which the advance guard against the Dzungar Khanate set out (1755) [3]. It is still an important city, Wikipedia (English part) puts it in size as the 10th or 16th city of Mongolia; where the text in Mongolian for the 2006 census mentions Uliastai as the 17th largest city [4]. But that's hardly important and I was tempted to mention it only because of its inaccuracy. And moreover, this census was taken almost two decades ago.

Three essential revolutions are worth mentioning in our context:

• the Mongolian Revolution of 1911, which brought independence from China to Outer Mongolia [5]; the new government took over the administration of the Qing, borrowing a little bit from the West, but was essentially a Buddhist theocracy
• only 10 years later, there has already been the Mongolian revolution of 1921, during which a transition from theocratic monarchy to communist rule took place [6]; the Mongolian People's Republic was a satellite state of the Soviet Union and experienced all the horrors of Stalinism (only three temples had survived the iconoclasm of the Stalin era; Stalin himself had to stop the Mongolian communist leader, Khorloogiin Choibalsan (Хорлоогийн Чойбалсан), so that there was still something left left to show international visitors, and let's not forget that over 10,000 monks were also killed, whereof the word killing doesn't do justice to the brutality in the slightest)
• the Mongolian revolution of 1990 took a long time coming, but it was “a peaceful democratic revolution which led to the country's transition to a multi-party system” [7].

Under communist rule there were significant distortions in religious practice. Thousands of monks were killed and most of the monastery complexes and temples were destroyed. This is important for the following consideration, because Uliastai and Javklhant Tolgoi show the modern reconstruction, because the complex that I will describe later is at most 25 years old, most of the works here are probably much younger. A national piety is developing again in Buddhism. And with this keyword we should look first at what kind of Buddhism can be found in Mongolia.

Buddhism in Mongolia is a form of Lamaism. The term lama is probably familiar, it means teacher. The lamaistic form of Buddhism is a special form of Mahayana Buddhism, into which elements of Tantrism were also integrated. In addition, one should not forget that before Buddhism, Bön, a shamanistic teaching, was predominant in Tibet and from these pratices a lot of rituals and other content certainly migrated into this Buddhism. In addition to popular piety with elements such as circumambulating holy places or using prayer wheels, Lamaism also managed to promote esoteric practices. In Mongolia, elements of Tengrism, the previously dominant shamanism, were  incorporated. Blue is the color of Tengrism, because the sky (Tenger / Тэнгэр) is blue. In the Himalayas, a white scarf is often placed around Buddha figures and laso around the neck of people. This is also done in Mongolia. However, the scarf is blue and is called Khadag (хадаг) [8]. The importance of Tibetan Buddhism for Mongolia is also reflected in the Dalai Lama's nine visits to Mongolia. Perhaps I should mention an important name out of the history of Lamaism in Mongolia: Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (Өндөр Гэгээн Занабазар) [9]; see below. And even after Stalinism, Buddhism had a difficult time, so that most of the places where people could express themselves religiously in public were not available.

Javklhant Tolgoi (Жавхлант толгой) is new and construction is continuing diligently. The sanctuary is a large T-shaped area on a hill including the top of the hill. Walls border the site and you walk up the steps along the these walls. In the lower part there is a large ger. At the top there are stupas of different sizes; I read the numbers 9 and 11 (not nine eleven) [1], but the picture from the back of the hill already shows more and there are even more! In some you can look at statues behind glass. If I interpret it correctly, there will be a pavilion above the sacralarea, from which you can see the old garrison and Uliastai. There are also concrete statues of elk, ibex and argali sheep to admire. Back downstairs, prayer wheels of different age can be seen.

Even if you are not interested in modern stupas and old-style figures, it is worth climbing the hill to at least admire the view.

Links and Annotations:
[1a] Michael Walther and Peter Woeste: Mongolia. DuMont travel manual. Dumont Reiseverlag, Ostfildern 2019. ISBN: 3770181417.
[1b] Michael Kohn: Mongolia. Lonely Planet Publications Ltd, 2008. ISBN: 101741045789.
[2] I know Wikipedia says 1115 km, but hand on heart 1111 km just sounds better. https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Uliastai
[3] And because I love unnecessary digressions so much: Marie Antoinette was born this year. In 1793 she was executed by guillotine - but that's only the beginning of bloodshed in this blogpost, I fear.
[4] https://mn.wikipedia.org/wiki/%D0%A3%D0%BB%D0%B8%D0%B0%D1%81%D1%82%D0%B0%D0%B9
[5] Mongolian Revolution of 1911 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_Revolution_of_1911
[6] Mongolian Revolution of 1921 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_Revolution_of_1921
[7] Mongolian Revolution of 1990 https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Mongolian_Revolution_of_1990
[8] Khadag (хадаг) is the Mogolian word for the ritual scarf, formerly made of silk, now mostly made of polyester because of better durability. The Tibetan scarf is white to show the purity of the giver's heart, whereas the Mongolian is blue as the sky. The origins lie both in lamaism as well as tengerism (better word for shamanism). https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Khata
[9] Öndör Gegeen Zanabazar (Өндөр Гэгээн Занабазар) lived from 1635 to 1723 and was the religious leader of Lamaism, more specifically of the Gelugpa (Yellow Hat) lineage of Tibetan Buddhism in Mongolia [9a], and he also has been the secular leader. Zanabazar is known for his bronze sculptures or the development of the Soyombo script [9b]; overall he was a prodigious sculptor, painter, architect, poet, costume designer, scholar and linguist.
[9a] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Zanabazar
[9b] https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Soyombo_script You can see the script on the Mongolian flag.

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