Mandaloopy does China

[Mandaloopy]

^ Oddly enough I just have been reading about Bhutan's only "international" school of sorts, run by some grumpy expat lass who has been there since forever. Sounds like the country has quite a wealth divide

[Mandaloopy]

Off to Khovosgol lake on 1st March for the ice festival- gonna be a wild ride but can't wait

[Luigi]

That looks really cool.


You gonna try that boiling water trick?

[Mandaloopy]

Boiling! Off to the lakes tomorrow for some colder weather and an ice festival

[Mandaloopy]

Back from the lakes- a long and grueling drive on some of the worst roads I have come across- they made travel in Myanmar seem great! However, this is one of the most beautiful places I have been lucky enough to visit and it was well worth the 15 hours of misery!

Accommodation for the night and some much-needed foot warming




It was busy- which shows how thick the ice is to support all that weight plus a carpark!


Teepee's (or Urts, in Mongolian) are the home of reindeer herders.
But there were more horses than Reindeer


I guess the boats are frozen in until the thaw





They have to knock down ice targets of a wall, hence the non-pointy arrows - given the fact they were letting children have a go at it I am pretty glad they went for the spike-free option!

[David48atTD]

Accommodation for the night and some much-needed foot warming

Subtle touch to be inside AND still have the ice/snow still frozen on your boots.

[tomcat]

...where does the smoke go? Or is CO poisoning part of the experience?...

[SKkin]

...where does the smoke go?

Up and out the chimney silly...

Teepee's (or Urts, in Mongolian) are the home of reindeer herders.
But there were more horses than Reindeer

Wonder if some of the NW Native American tribes have roots there...

[OhOh]

They have to knock down ice targets of a wall

Thanks for your photos and comments. How far away were the targets?

[Mandaloopy]

I would say around 50-70 meters- I guess the caps weigh the arrows down and that needs to be taken into account?

[OhOh]

Were they standard "Bulls Eyes" or something more Asian?

[Mandaloopy]

^ Small blocks of ice that needed to be knocked down from a large ice wall.

[OhOh]

Ice blocks, on an ice wall, with an icy blue sky as a backdrop? Somebody's rigging the competition.

[Mandaloopy]

It was 11 degrees yesterday so perfect weather for a stroll in the depressing park. Made it out to some Winter Olympics monument



and a relatively smog-free sunset

[tomcat]

...do you have a box cutter for your wrists?...

[Mandaloopy]

Some Springtime roaming! Air is much better and it is no longer below -30 some no excuse to stay inside!




Okay so it might still be a little cold out

[Mandaloopy]

Soi camels

[Mandaloopy]

Maybe I can make you a new placemat from camel floof?

[tomcat]

Maybe I can make you a new facial mask from camel splooge?

...no thanks...I'll stick with Clinique...

[Mandaloopy]

Mongolian President Khaltmaa Battulga started his career as a wrestler—and he’s just forced Mongolian democracy into submission. In a critical vote on March 27, 82.1 percent of parliament voted to amend the existing prosecutorial system and in favor of a Law on Anti-Corruption, changes that effectively give Battulga free rein to bend the courts in his favor. That happened despite the majority of members of parliament coming from the Mongolian People’s Party—which is in opposition to Battulga’s own Democratic Party.

https://foreignpolicy.com/2019/03/29/mongolias-president-is-slicing-away-its-hard-won-democracy/?fbclid=IwAR3biVHp2YnmCX42gZy-
viKMLRhxT3xVRpHu0i8VpNWD5_jzCigqUq--p_c

An interesting read on something I know very little about despite living here. I thought politically Mongolia was reasonably stable, guess not

Dude is built like a tank!

[Mandaloopy]

A cold morning walk, but the mountains are looking lovely today.

[tomcat]

but the mountains are looking lovely today

...have you actually seen mountains before?...

[cyrille]

They're mountains by Norfolk measurements.

[Mandaloopy]

Not done anything specifically on Mongolian food, so here goes. Can't guarantee the translation is perfect, but my knowledge of cyrillic is moderately not shit.
A short stroll from my apartment is a small cafe called Goyo Khuushuur. These aren't pics from the place, but they are pics of the dishes they do.

Цуйван - Tsuivan- basically beefy or muttony noodles. Salty and pretty decent if the meat is of good quality.

Гуляш - Gulyash: I find the Mongolian version is often way too fatty, I don't really care for it.

Нарийн махан хуурга - Nariin makhan khuurga: Meat, veggies and spuds in a stew; can actually be really nice if they use a lean cut

Хуушуур - Khuushuur: Deep fried meat filled pancakes. I like the beef over the mutton.

Нийслэл салат - Niislel salad; Potato and vegetable salad with mayo. Mongolian food tends to have more of a Russian influence than Asian

Байцааны салат - Baitsany salad: cabbage salad, no further info needed.

Суутэй цай - Suutei Tsai-Green tea with milk, salt, and fat: Sounds vile, but in winter this is great while hiking out in -30 and less.

[cyrille]

Looks like they make tea chitty style.