July 21 (Monday) – Giant Chinggis Khaan Statue Complex and the 13th Century Complex.

We checked out of the hotel this morning.  More photos of the countryside.

Shortly before arriving at the Ghinggis Khaan Statue complex we saw many horsemen on the ridge…a large cluster of Chinggis’ Warriors on horseback…statues.

Our first site today is to the Chinggis Khaan Statue.  And a gorgeous complex it was.  There was a huge entry gate...

and a quick drive up to the statue.  The statue is 130 feet tall and is mounted on a 33 foot tall visitor’s center/museum. The statue is made of polished stainless steel and it glowed in the sunshine.  It is the world’s tallest equestrian statue.  It is located at the sight where Chinggis, according to legend, found a golden whip.  It was opened in 2008, the 800^th anniversary of the founding of the Mongol Empire. 

The elevator went up into the body of the statue and we could walk up the inside of the horse’s neck to a viewpoint.

Good views from that far up.

The lobby of the visitor’s center had the tallest Mongol Boot (called a “gutal”) in the world.  It was made out of 225 bull hides, 120 square meters of felt, 4500 meters of rope, 180 square meters of canvas, 13 cubic meters of wood, and 300 liters of glue (thank you Google). 

There was also a nice museum on the lower level of the center.  Lots of interesting exhibits.

After our visit we were off for a two-hour drive to the 13^th Century Complex, a series of four camps depicting various activities from the 13^th Century in Mongolia.  The concept was very good.  However, the ride there was pretty brutal and the camps could use some major maintenance.  A lonely little stupa along the way.

And, there was this set of interesting art pieces that marked the entrance to the area.  

Once in the area the topography changed and we saw many interesting and bizarre rocky formation. 

We also saw several vultures hanging around. 

Our first stop was the King’s Palace Ger and camp.  There were several gers there for guests to stay overnight. 

The King’s Palace was huge and was where we had a traditional lunch.

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    Video of the Khan's ger
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While waiting for lunch, Jessica and Liam dressed up in traditional Mongol clothing and posed for photos.

Lunch included some empanada type pastries that we all enjoyed very much. 

After lunch we drove to visit the various camps.  The camps were from .5 to 1.5 miles apart.  Some of the camps were a bit hard to find and the roads were generally really bad.  And a couple of time Miga had to turn around and find an alternative route to the next camp.  But the drives had beautiful scenery, particularly the rock formations.  And we did see several groups of horses up close.

The first camp we visited was the Shaman’s camp.  The shamans only visit on limited dates throughout the year. A person did talk about each of the 5 gers, each of which represented a shaman's ger from a different part of the country.

We drove past the Herder’s Camp as it was closed.  At the Education center everyone got their name written in Mongolian script.  And there was a person who talked about what the duties of the Educational camp were.

We saw this bird of prey fly by.  Not sure what it was. 

Then it was to the Craftsmen’s Camp.  No one here to talk about it, and the gers that were open were living quarters.  This one was tucked in among the beautiful rock formations and had a great view. 

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More 13th Century Camp
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We suspect more activity might happen when it isn’t Naadaam festival time, when it is a ten day holiday.

Then it was the two hour drive back to Ulaanbaatar where we ran into a major traffic jam (GOATS...a lot of them on the road). 

 Along the way we passed a lake with a massive herd of horses.

Shortly before getting to UB we ran into a heavy dust storm.  It was pretty bad although at least there was some visibility. 

And then, just like that, it cleared up pretty good.

And when we arrived in UB it started raining very hard and some of the streets filled with water.  Not expected.

Later in the evening we headed up to the lounge at the top of the hotel for some dinner.