Getting Out Of Town

We got out of town this weekend. Given that we are currently residing in one of the most polluted cities in the world and side-stepping frozen vomit is par for the course on a morning walk to work, it is very nice indeed to get out of the city every now and then. It was also Laura The Lovely's™ birthday, so 11 of us packed into the back of a van on Saturday morning and schlepped to a ger camp 50km out of Ulaanbaatar.



Some people shot arrows. Some people got shot at with arrows. I was not good at either so I shot some vodka instead.



We walked to the top of a hill. And then back down. Although it really looked like this:



It felt a lot like this:



There was an ovoo up there.



Something died to get involved.



I rode a horse through the snow with the help of this champ. We did have to take a break while he had a snow pee though. I averted my eyes. We had only just met.



We slept in these lovely gers.





And a snow dog had his morning stretch to welcome daylight with me. His fur was frozen. Poor dog dude. Amelia swears she saw a snow cat around somewhere too.



More pics on Flickr.

Next week Clare is going to teach me to ski at Mongolia's first and newly opened ski resort. Yes, I have medical insurance.

The ARIAs... Doing It Mongol Style

So it was a public holiday in Mongolia yesterday, an independence day of some description. This meant I went to the gym, ate an egg white omelette, and had a lovely Skype date with Meg. GOOD TIMES. Day got better though, because some clever cats organised an afternoon gig to buck the 9pm curfew. Legends, I say, and our first chance to finally see some local bands. Here are a couple of them:

Yes, homeboy is wearing a face mask while playing bass.

Yes, that is a roll of tape

While watching said bands, news came through that my homie Josh Pyke won an ARIA award. CONGRATULATIONS JOSH! He is a gem among men + musos alike and deserves a trillion awards.

Me and my friend Sam had a celebratory vodka in Josh’s honour.

Yes, that is 100ml of straight vodka. That’s how they roll in Mongol town…

Oddly enough the DJ in between + after bands played Empire Of The Sun, The Vines + Jet. AU represent much?

After the vodka, we required some eatings. So we ate buuz, Mongolian dumplings of goodness containing mutton and maybe some onion. Sorry Hungry Jacks veggie burger, you have been usurped by these little pockets of joy.

P.S Please buy this Josh Pyke DVD here. It was the last thing I worked on at Ivy League and it’s pretty cool.

Mongol Mania

Although we have found ways to circumvent the 9pm curfew (these guys are particularly good at it when they're around), I have been indulging my 'cultured' side a little more of late. This weekend just gone I did many things.

I learned to make felt from wool:

I made a giant bow


I may choose to wear it like this... but probably not.


I purchased a traditional instrument called a 'tovshuur':


I will attempt to play it over the next few months (or just allow it to sit in my room and look pretty.)

I saw some well crafted + thought out Mongolian street art:


I considered purchasing a hobby fish:

Stuck And The City

So we're kind of in lockdown here in Ulaanbaatar. Swine Flu aka H1N1 has sent officials into some kind of porked out spin. Schools are closed, public transport outta the city has halted and everything closes at 9pm. Markets have been shut down, galleries too, and you can't play sport after 9... or something like that. Even more interesting is the revelation that horsemeat may help to keep the flu at bay. Because not much else is going on, here are some photos. A whole stack more over on Flickr.

Recycling... the Mongolian way

I got my legs waxed this afternoon. It was quite the experience. Instead of using fabric strips, as is generally the case in other waxing salons, the waxer used strips of paper torn from magazines to rip my hair out. It took a good couple of hours and hurt a heck of a lot. If this is standard waxing practice in Mongolia, I doubt many women utter the words 'one Brazilian please'.

On a more positive note, I also got a manicure for $5 and made a friend who was getting a facial while my legs were brought up to speed with the latest gossip straight from the pages of the local rags.

Perhaps Mongolia is really ahead of the times when it comes to recycling?

Raccoonwear

Today I bought my winter jacket. Today I wore a raccoon around my face for the first time.



He died so I might retain my ears this winter. Cheers lil buddy.


Tomorrow is my first full day of work after a week of language classes and half work days. Here's my business card in Mongolian.



No, I can't read it either.