Why the bees buzz

In the ancient days, the chief of the birds, Hangard, sent another bird, a swift, and a bee from Mongolia to travel the world and discover what type of meat tasted the best. The swift had been helped by humans who fed it when it was hungry and provided protection when needed, so he was a friend to the humans. The bee didn't like humans at all since they took the flowers from which he liked to draw nectar and pollen. So when they were returning to Mongolia, the bee said that he had discovered that human meat tasted the best. This alarmed the swift who wanted to protect the humans, so he asked the bee to stick out his tongue and thereupon plucked the tongue out of the mouth of the bee. When they returned to Hangard, he asked the bee what tasted best and all the bee could say was "buzzz, buzz, buzzzzzzzz." Hangard was appalled at this and asked the swift what tasted best, and he said the snake. So to this day on Mongolian pennants you can see a bird with a snake in its talons and the only thing you get from the bee is: "buzzzzzzzz, buzz, along with an occasional sting. Lets's talk about airplane travel in Mongolia. It's a trip, pun intended:-) Carol's tickets were in the wrong name, since her passport name and the name she goes by, are different. No problem, since Anya checked us in at the MIAT counter while Carol read and I did my crosswords. We never even went to the counter except to put our bags on the scale. Once on the plane, you may if you choose, buckle up, if not, that's okay too. The seat belt may, or may not, work anyway. If you need to use the bathroom on takeoff, hey, no problem, it's your life. Seat trays and seats do not have to be stored in the "Upright and locked" position, nor do carry ons have to be stored in the overhead bins. They can set anywhere they will fit. When the plane took off, people were walking in the aisles or in the bathrooms. Airstrips may, or may not, be concrete. Grass and gravel make good alternatives. Airport security Indeed. Regular screening equipment exists in Ulan Bataar, but in the other airports, they simply ask you: "do you have any knives?" If yes, then just give it to them, if not, you go on through. No metal detectors. Hey, don't knock it. It works. I cannot say enough about the spectacle of seeing Mongolian horsemen riding across the steppes. They absolutely look like they and the horse are one. It's a magnificent sight. No wonder the sight of Genghis Khan and his cavalry struck terror into the hearts and minds of citizenry and soldier alike. They conquered such vast stretches of territory from the China Seas to Europe that still today, their empire was the largest even known to man. Not the Romans, the Greeks, the British nor anybody else, (go ahead, pick one) can match the vast stretches of land. It is absolutely thrilling to see them riding, trotting, or galloping across the land, singly or in groups. It's simply awe inspiring. Driving in UB is always an adventure. You simply use what Jeff refers to as my: "Candlestick, post 49er game", driving tactics. You just assume that the other driver is a lot more concerned about his safety and his car than you are and you can get out of the parking lot a lot faster than those who don't. Five lanes of traffic merging from different streets into two lanes can be trying, but all is done with a minimum of crushed fenders or cursing. If you have a lot of bravado, or if your car is older and in worse condition than the other trying to squeeze in the same spot, you'll usually be all right. If you have both, you're a shoo in. Buses, taxis and buses the rulers of the roads. On the other hand, pedestrians are on their own. It's not like Brazil where the cars will actively change lanes and take a bead on you to make you run faster, but close. With stop lights being infrequent occurrences, and pedestrian crossings simply ignored for right of way, pedestrians go from one lane of traffic from the left at a time until you reach the thin white center divider and then you do the same with cars coming from the right. Parents take their kids firmly in hand and everybody seems to understand the rules and make it safely to the other side. It’s obviously part of required parental training for their kids. Lanes do not always correspond to the direction of travel. If you are driving in the countryside and the road is smoother on the left, then that's where you drive. You won't see many oncoming cars, but if you do, the oncoming driver has the option of driving further to the left (hey, there's hundreds of miles of unbroken ground in any direction) or driving on the right side of the road. Bulga was taking us to the airport and since he needed to turn left into the airport, rather than waiting for the traffic to clear, he just pulled into the oncoming lane, the oncoming cars were forced up on the sidewalk to go by, and then he completed his turn. The most surprising thing to this uninitiated westerner, is that nobody gets upset. No cursing, no fingers stuck out of the window, no shootings, and no angry looks. Like I said, if everybody understands the rules, then there's no problem. In all our time in UB we saw only one fender bender between a bus and a Mercedes. We've traveled in many places together, but neither Carol nor I can think of a place where history and traditional cultures and modern cultures come side by side so much of the time. It is just common and everyday to see a man in traditional long jacket with knee high riding boots walking side by side with a woman in knee high skirt, high heels, silk stockings and a face that is as cosmetically fashionable as in any capital of the world: Where old men sit in the park for hours playing Dam (a checkers variation) while their grandkids sit next to them talking of their cell phones: Where a high-rise hotel with ESPN and the cartoon channel sits next to a ger with a family barely holding its own at the poverty line: where Toyota Rav4's rev their motor at a stop light next to a Soviet Army van (still the best vehicle for the countryside). And like so much of Mongolia, it works well. We are so impressed with the people here. They move so easily. Just like those horsemen. They are a country in transition, but one where the baby is not tossed out with the bathwater. The old is cherished by all generations and the new is seen as simply the way things are going. No bitterness or recriminations in either direction. Anya tells us that the latest survey showed that 61% of the 700,000 people in UB still live in gers. The percentage is much higher in the countryside, of course. The ger camps we have stayed in have been great. Only one had pit toilets and no showers. The food has been hot, hearty, and tasty. Someone comes in each night and lights the fire for you in the center of the ger, and while they do not hold their heat, someone come in about 6 in the morning and lights the fire again, so that when you get up it's warm. Certainly goes against the norm to have a strange rumbling around your bedroom before you get up, but we've never locked the gers and have never had anything taken or felt unsafe. They are wonderful experiences. Even the one ger camp that did not have the most modern facilities was still fine and made a nice contrast to the comfy conditions of the others. In this occasion we drove to the camp with an additional guide since neither Anya nor Bulga had been there before. The guide was the niece of the camp owner, and she kept telling us to go this direction then that direction. We crossed streams where the water came up inside the van fully a full 8 inches on the step and nearly came across the floor. We bottomed out a couple of times and once were stuck in the middle of the 50 yard wide stream in a depth of two feet of water. Bulga went forward, then back, then forward, then back, and we were stuck for a full five minutes. Visions of fording by foot ran through our minds, but he eventually used all his skill and the power of those Soviet Army vans I mentioned earlier, and we freed ourselves. We traveled for hours looking for the camp. And finally Anya decided to take matters into her own hands and we asked directions from people in the local gers. They know everything in the area, it is their lives after all, and we had to retrace our steps. Anya was so angry. We must have crossed 25 streams in each direction, and a one hour trip took is 5 hours. But we eventually made it. Our beef jerky and granola bars came in handy:-) and when we got there we had a hot meal waiting for us. The next day we walked to the Princess Temple for a distance of 5 miles in each direction. We had the option of walking or riding in the yak cart. There was another group at the camp and a total of 12 of us traipsed across the country side. It was a beautiful and wonderful day at a slow pace seeing everything in sight rather than just whizzing by it in the car. Well, I'm only halfway into my list of things to write about, but we just got back to UB and a hot shower and dinner wait. So I'll try to write more before we sadly leave on Monday. This place is just captivating!!!!! Hope all is as well as we are, cause we're just great!!! love C & J Send and receive Hotmail on your mobile device: Click Here