Ulaan Baatar

Often called UB by foreigners, Mongolia's sleepy capital has the look and feel of a neglected 1950s European city. The old Soviet cars and buses are slowly being replaced by newer Japanese versions, but cows still wander the roads, goats sift through the rubbish, and traditionally dressed men and women mingle on the city's streets with Mongolia's nouveaux riche.

Built along the Tuul river and surrounded by lovely mountains, Ulaan Baatar is dominated by communist style highrise apartment buildings, but about 250,000 locals also live in the extended ger suburbs on the outskirts of town. The felt gers are protected from the winds, which are especially fierce in spring, by wooden fences. The topography makes for good hillside views overlooking the city, but during winter the view is obscured by pollution and temperatures are painfully freezing.

The centre of the city is Sükhbaatar Square. From this spot in July 1921 Damdiny Sükhbaatar, the 'hero of the revolution', declared Mongolia's independence from the Chinese. The square was also where the first of the protests which eventually led to the fall of communism were held in 1989. On normal days, it's a serene place where only pigeons and peddling photographers do much of anything. The grey State Parliament House faces the square, as does the tall, modern Palace of Culture, a useful landmark containing the impressive Mongolian Art Gallery and other odes to Mongolian culture.

One block north-west of the square, the Museum of Natural History is worth a visit if you're heading into the countryside. There are exhibits about Mongolia's geography, flora and fauna and some displays about recent Mongolian history. More impressive are the 2 complete dinosaur skeletons which were found in the Gobi - the giant flesh eating Tarbosaurus and its first cousin, the little duckbilled plant-eating Saurolophus. The Zanabazar Museum of Fine Arts has an excellent collection of paintings, carvings and sculptures, including many by the revered sculptor, artist and Buddhist, Zanabazar. It also contains other rare religious exhibits, such as thangkas (cloth paintings) and Buddhist statues.

Around the start of the 19th century, over 100 Tibetan Buddhist süm (temples) and khiid (monasteries) served a population of about 50,000 in Ulaan Baatar. Most of the temples and monasteries, along with their belongings, were destroyed during the Stalinist purges of the late 1930s. Gandantegchinlen Khiid survived because the communists kept it as a showcase to impress foreigners. Roughly meaning 'the great place of complete joy', Gandan is one of Ulaan Baatar's most amazing sights. Within it are several glorious temples adorned with gold and jewels. The 150 or so monks who live here do their bit to bring the temples back to life with plenty of chanting and ceremonialising.

The Winter Palace of Bogd Khaan was also spared. Built between 1893 and 1903, it's where Mongolia's 8th Bogd Khaan (Living Buddha) and last king, lived for 20 years. Depending on which version of history you read, the Bogd Khaan either enjoyed irreverent pleasures of the flesh and bottle and was blind with syphilis, or he was a great visionary and nationalist. When he died in 1924, the Soviet-led communist government of Mongolia prohibited any future reincarnations, so there were no further Mongolian Buddhist leaders. The 6 temples on the grounds of the Winter Palace contain collections of gifts given the Bogd Khaan, including an extraordinary array of stuffed animals.

Four Holy Peak.The 4 peaks surrounding Ulaan Bataar are considered holy. The Tsetseegum, Chingeltei, Songino Khairkhan and Bayansurkh mountains correspond, more or less, to the 4 points on the compass. These peaks are tremendous for hiking, and they're popular for their forests of larch trees, grasslands and stunning bird and animal life, including ibex and sable. Tsetseegum Uul is easily the most magnificent. At 2260m, it's the highest point in the Bogdkhan Uul range, which dominates the skyline to the south of Ulaan Baatar. The trip is only sensible from the beginning of June to the end of September and a permit is required, which you can get at the entrance gate to the Bogdkhan National Park, about 15km south of Ulaan Baatar.

The Manzshir Khiid Route to Tsetseegum from the mountain's southern side is the easiest. Along it there are broad meadows, fields of rocky boulders and ovoos (pile of stones left as offerings to the gods). The Zaisan Route is the most scenic but also the most difficult, taking about 6 hours each way along precariously steep boulders. Anyway you go, along with the permit, you'll need a compass, plenty of water, food and cold weather gear, as sudden thunderstorms and icy winds can come out of nowhere even in summer.

Kharkhorin (Karakorum)

In 1220 Genghis Khan decided to build the capital city of his vast Mongolian empire at Karakorum. Building was completed by his son, Ogedai Khan, after Genghis' death, but Karakorum served as the capital for only 40 years before Kublai Khan moved it to what is now Beijing. Following the move, and the subsequent collapse of the Mongolian empire, Karakorum was abandoned and then later destroyed by hordes of Manchurian soldiers. Whatever was left was used to help build the Erdene Zuu monastery in the 16th century, which itself was badly destroyed during the Stalinist purges. The modern and dreary town of Kharkhorin was built on the same spot.

Erdene Zuu (Hundred Treasures) was the first centre of Lamaism in Mongolia. The monastery was started in 1586 but not entirely finished until 300 years later. It has between 60 and 100 temples, about 300 gers set up inside the walls and, at its height, up to 1000 monks in residence. Like Karakorum, the monastery was abandoned and then vandalised by invading Manchurians. All but 3 of the temples in Erdene Zuu were destroyed by Stalin's thugs and an unknown number of monks killed. The monastery remained closed until 1965 when it was permitted to reopen as a museum, but not as a place of worship. Only with the collapse of communism did the monastery become active again.

Today it retains much of its former glory. Enclosed in an immense walled compound, the 3 temples within are dedicated to the 3 stages of Buddha's life: as a child, adolescent and adult. The main, central temple is called the Zuu of Buddha and has statues of Buddha as a child. Outside the monastery walls are 2 'turtle rocks'. Four of these once marked the boundaries of ancient Karakorum. More, ahem, stimulating is the phallic rock hidden in a small valley among the hills overlooking the monastery, about 30 minutes away on foot. According to local tradition, all women who visit the rock must have sex within 24 hours.

Kharkhorin is 370km south-west of Ulaan Baatar. Between July and September there are flights between the cities several times a week. Year-round, buses make the 7-8 hour trip just as often.

Дата добавления: 2015-07-10