Motor Tour 5 - Religions

Tibetan Buddhism is the official religion of Mongolia (though no one knows much about it except the lams). Since the fall of communism (and the mass destruction of all things buddhist) there has been slow stages of revival. Here we visited the opening ceremony for a new temple that will built upon the ruins of an old monastery. I heard that USAid gave $1 million for another such rebuilding effort.

These young fellows have been dedicated to buddhist teachings and service. They do not participate in public school or events, but board at the temple and receive their education from their "teacher." Here they take a few minutes in the shade before the ceremony, where they will assist the monks with Tibetan scriptures and musical instruments.

From my perspective the heart-beliefs of Mongolia are still animistic, though it is somewhat confusing since monks often participate thoroughly in animistic practices. This is the "mother tree"... a difficult visit for me due to the hypocrisy I find in venerating a single tree and generally disregarding the rest of our environment (not to mention the hypocrisy of worshipping a tree and generally disregarding the Lord of Heaven, something Chingis himself would never have done).

By far the most interesting experience was sitting next to our traveling monk (who now consults privately instead of serving in a temple) in the home of a distinguished Kazakh elder, with a former muslim imam (who is now a local official). It was very bizarre to see their cultural similarities, yet to identify far more with the Kazakh muslims theologically. For me the greatest insight, and challenge, was to realize that they had no intentions or even desire to "convert" one another - Mongolians are buddhist and Kazakhs are muslim... it is the Christians who to some extent must disregard all culture and history as they follow their Savior in search for the all-encompassing community with eternal foundations.

Motor Tour 4- Animal Whisperers

That second campsite, the one on the hill, was near one of Darhan's champion horseracers. We dropped in after pitching our tents, about 11:30pm, for tea and some jokes. Then the next morning he showed off one of his 3 herds to us and put his youngest on this prize-winner (he had six prize-winning horses). I think that even "Jack" got to ride him for a bit (about 3 minutes), but the horse looked MUCH smaller underneath my 6'3" friend.

Our fourth campsite was by a pleasant stream next to one of Mongolia's champion hunters. We dropped in BEFORE pitching our tents, about 11:30pm, for tea and some jokes. Then the next morning he sprang out of bed to show us a wolf pelt (from 4 days ago) and rustle a horse for milking - it is "airag" season (fermented mare's milk). Did I mention he is 78 years old?

Of course we encountered more than just horse whisperers... here is a young goat whisperer trying to re-tether our dinner! We also saw sheep and even a couple herds of camels (all 5 of Mongolia's livestock).

But I can't leave out the cows. These fine fellows were generous enough to share a bit of shade with me, which can be hard to come by on the open steppe of Mongolia! They weren't very chatty, which was fine with me because by that time I was hot and tired and wanted to get away from people for awhile! Ha, trying to get away from people while traveling in the remote countryside of the least dense nation on earth!!

Motor Tour 3 - Campsites

We had a variety of wonderful camping spots. I had no idea that our area of Mongolia had so many trees! Our first night could have been a pleasant forest in central Oregon. Everyone piled out of their trucks about sundown (10pm-ish, the earliest we ever made camp!). Then, due to a small excursion in the morning (not to mention the stockpile of beer and vodka from the night before) we hung around this beautiful spot for HOURS!

Our next night was very different are far more typically Mongolian - a great view from a grassy hilltop, but not a tree in sight. There was a salt lake in the distance and plenty of critters to entertain us, though.

The food was also quite interesting, though nothing was different about it at all - fairly bland greasy soups every night (usually around midnight)! I actually quite liked it... for the first couple nights. Although I slowly lost my appetite, it had nothing to do with the fact that we butchered, smoked, and carried our own meat throughout the long hot days. Actually the bloodless killing, skinning and light smoking are all quite fascinating... now if only we had some curry, or at least ketchup!

Motor Tour 2 - Roads

A good share of the time (perhaps 1/3) we had decent roads - mostly dirt. That is smooth sailing for a motorcycle! Unfortunately about 1/3 of the roads were really BAD. I didn't really mind the ruts, or washboard, or rocks... and I didn't even ride on the really hard road towards the end (bike broke down). But the sand was awful, and almost everywhere.

The best part of the trip was having no roads at all! I kept humming, "Signs, signs, everywhere there's signs, blocking up the scenery and wasting my time"... not really a problem here in Mongolia!

For example one can take off after eagles, or round up a few camels, or scout a difficult cliff or river crossing, or just go to the top of a hill and enjoy the view. Here we are with a few of the guys overlooking a valley where the local monks are beginning to rebuild some monestary ruins.

The roads weren't too bad, but don't be fooled by this easy-rider. It was HOT! Most days were in the upper 90's. Our mongolian friends thought they were dying, and they were all riding in cars! I don't think I've ever drank so much water in my life. Thankfully the layers of dust kept me from getting sunburned...

MotorTour 1- Darhan

Our adventure started on a regular old Saturday afternoon. Here we are getting gas after the big "sending off." My fellow traveler, we'll call him "Jack" (he might get in trouble if certain people knew he went on this trip!), talked me into this brave expedition... I didn't know we would be the only ones on bikes... and I didn't know he would get the fancy dirt-bike with all the cool gear ;)

It is interesting to me that they picked "Jack" to come along as their poster-boy for Darhan's 50th anniversary! He is certainly a charmer... who wouldn't want to come visit this beautiful city?!

Our first several hours (or so it seemed) were spent circling Darhan visiting the "main attractions." Having lived here 7 years, and wanting to get OUT of Darhan on my motorcycle, I did not find them all that attractive! But we did have some cops stop traffic for us once or twice while we flew by with our fancy banners.

Our personal favorite stop was the relatively new Metal Man. He is a creative (hub caps, sewing machines, welding tanks, you-name-it!) 10-meter tall representative of Darhan's steel factory as you come into town. And with us is Garret (his real name), the 3rd musketeer on this wild mongolian ride...

Mongolia MotoTour

It was a wild ride - 5 days, 4 nights - traveling around to each of the cultural and historic sights around Darhan. In preparation for Darhan's 50th anniversary next year, a team of 18 was put together - videographers, historians, technicians, a few businessmen, and a pair of American bikers! - to record all of these sights in order to promote city-pride and tourism. It wasn't easy! The days were long (dinner was usually around midnight), the roads were dusty, and the days were HOT (about 100F).

It was a once-in-a-lifetime experience, traveling with this small horde across road, trail and steppe. We even rode our bikes across ancient battlefields like modern horsemen, and stopped to swim in the rivers and rest in the shade of mountains where Chingis himself once rode. In the next couple blogs I will try to show you these places, some of them beautiful and some of the harsh...

High Fying

We enjoyed "International Childrens' Day" on June 1st, a popular holiday here in Mongolia. And we have had some great weather lately, but quite windy... perfect for kite-flying.

We ordered ourselves a present and have all been enjoying this 2-meter training kite - bigger ones are used for kite-boarding. Even this one can be a little strong for the boys, but if they get the hang of it then maybe next year we will get them a mountain-board (and lots and lots of pads!). See, there are fun things you can do with wind and LOTS of sandy steppe!

Last of the Firewood

We had a couple 70-degree days (it didn't even freeze last night!) so we opened and cleaned off our balcony. There were only a couple rounds left of firewood, having given most of it away, so us "men" went ahead and chopped it up. Although we are still burning fires, I was just thinking that we will not be chopping wood again for a LONG time... Hovd, where we will be moving this August, doesn't have any trees!! Nope, next winter we will be burning dung and coal.

Note: no fingers were harmed in the capturing of these photos ;) But there were a few times I didn't care to watch! Saiah didn't look to thrilled either... until he got his own try. Does this story look familiar to any of you who have chopped wood before?...

Bangkok Birthday #2

Our second day in Bangkok was Isaiah's birthday! What does a 7-year old want to do? Go to the aquarium! So we went to another fancy mall - this time to the basement - where we found a very impressive aquarium with 7 aquatic zones. Zeke liked the otters, who did some tricks for us, and Saiah got to pet a boa constrictor. They also got their toes cleaned by minnows, but my favorite was walking THROUGH the sharks - a long tunnel that wound right through the aquarium. The boys even saw a shark feeding, with manta rays, which was pretty intense.


Finally the aquarium had a special 4D theatre with a short film about a sea turtle - our chairs rocked with the waves, vibrated to the machines, and we even got puffs of air in our faces... like when we were snatched up by an eagle! What a great 7th birthday!!

Of course, after all of that fun and excitement we got to go to the airport at 10pm, wait until 1am for our plane, and then try to get 5 hours of sleep in a chair. Not so fun... but such is the life of adventurers for Jesus ;)

Bangkok Birthday #1

We came back from the beach and enjoyed 2 days in Bangkok (which was dreadfully hot!). Our first morning we met some friends and went to the largest open market in Asia, which isn't too far from our guesthouse. It was pretty overwhelming, but we could stop for popsicles or iced teas whenever we needed to ;) It is still amazing to see all of this fruit and all of these flowers in March... especially since we haven't seen a leaf in Mongolia since October!





This just happened to be Eden's birthday - she has been with us 3 years now! Although a bit crabby, we enjoyed a walk through the park after that crowded market. We made our way to a butterfly pavilion - Eden's birthday choice. We took some good pictures of butterflies, but each picture of with a kid has a sour face! Like I said, it was HOT.






So that evening we snuck off to a fancy mall with a water park on top! Fun, fun, fun! We were the ONLY white people there... apparently all of the foreigners go to nice beaches in Thailand :)

Island Adventure

We rented a boat for a big excursion the other day. Actually, our first day we almost lost ourselves at sea with sea kayaks, so the next day we got a boat for the ladies ;) It was a beautiful day (it seems they all are here!) and we went down the coast past several islands - one we would like to go back and rock climb! Another island was "Monkey Island," where we fed bananas to swarms of little monkeys. They were pretty cute, except for the bully that tried biting Saiah's leg!

We landed on a nice beach that is acts as a "back entrance" to the Sam Roi Yot national park. After swimming for awhile and grabbing some lunch, we hiked up 400 meters of volcanic rock to a pair of sacred sunken caves. They were quit beautiful as the vines hung clear down to the floor and trees reached almost clear to the ceiling, surrounded by bright green rocks. A great trip and another great day!

Prune Hands

Here we are enjoying the tropics! Our week of CAMA World Retreat was really special - worshiping together and hearing what God is doing in some of the toughest places on earth. So many wonderful folks working with a great God! The Retreat also allowed us to gradually adjust to the heat and minimize the sunburning process ;) There was a gorgeous swimming pool, which the kids were in every spare minute, with a cool spiral slide.

Our next resort (right on the beach this time) also has a great little pool with a slide. The kids usually get in right after breakfast and swim and splash and dive until lunch! Here is Zeke trying something new with Uncle Larry... can you find him, he's kinda like a where's Waldo. The boys love diving for coins and we are surprised how well they are swimming (they get a lot more practice ice-skating over water than in the water!). It took Eden a couple days but now she is always in the water too... the goggles really help!

Cookie Monsters

It's the "White Moon" here in Mongolia, and that means food, food, food! Zeke made a plan several days ago for how many homes he would visit and how many bodz (meat dumplings) he would eat at each place. The first day he ate 24... and that was just between lunch and dinner! Saiah almost kept up with him, but paid for it in the bathroom the next morning... that didn't slow him down any the next day, though! My other favorite thing is the fried flat bread, which they stack in odd layers (and won't let you eat until AFTER the White Moon). So we got ourselves a stack-topper to snack on in the meantime. It's about the biggest cookie I have ever seen!

Eden is loving it too. She is up and ready to go with her boots on each morning saying, "when can we go, when can we go?!" She is a bit of twirp with her food, though, always snatching candy off of the bread stack and eating all of the meat out of her dumplings...

Toothless

Here's our little long-hair... sporting his ex-military hippy kind of style while showing off his first lost tooth. It took us awhile (and several threats) to talk him into yanking it out. He sure hopped out of bed this morning! And when his big brother asked if the tooth fairy left him anything he said, "yeah, 30 dollars!" Made his brother hesitate for a moment and go over to check for himself ;) Yup, he's sharp, and reading like a pro now with his first grade materials (if he can stay focused long enough, that is). The other day he was even making similes... like, "our house is as cold as a penguin with no feathers!"

Another day, another tooth! That gap just keeps getting bigger... but he's another dollar richer!

Rabbits

We didn't exactly pull them out of our stockings, but the boys each got a half-grown bunny for Christmas. This is
Saiah with "Casper," who is quite apathetic - usually sprawled in front of the woodstove gnawing on the silicone I used to seal our floor. Zeke's mischievious gray rabbit, JarJar, scampers around in circles and jumps up on the couch or chair to see what we are up to. He prefers chewing on the felt carpet. We have a little corner caged for them to spend the night, or when the boys aren't around to play... we're never quite sure how the cat feels about them in her house! They are pretty cute, but the boys are figuring out how much work it is to take care of creatures too!!

The Freezer

Did you know that our "crib" has its own fancy walk-in freezer?! It's true. Sure, it used to be a shower room off of our entryway, but now it is being used to hold sleds and hang beef and store my unused paraglider... there's no way I am going flying in -40!! We like to keep our entryway at a crisp -23C and, yes, that means our bathroom is also sub-zero (F). What can I say, we're tough for Jesus...

Merry Christmas Break

The kids just finished up their 2+ weeks of Christmas break and, wow, did they have FUN! There were plenty of new toys (actually so many presents that we forgot some of them in that bright orange chest!). They each got a homemade stuffed dog from grandma - a ballerina, a pirate, and a sheriff. And of course there were also legos to cover the table and carpet, with a few left over to wedge in the floorboards.

One of the biggest hits was a cheap plastic piano we found for Eden... loaded with a variety of disco beats and it even has a working microphone! Another big hit was two half-grown rabbits - Jarjar and Casper. On occasion we let them run around the downstairs... jumping on the couch, chewing our felt carpet, eating out of the cat's dish, rolling in the fireplace ash, and licking our chocolate wrappers.

As for Krista and I, we kept it nice and simple. I got some nice clothes and she got a song!

Showing Off

Speaking of performances, our boys are not to be outdone! At our recent MK School Open House they were able to strut some of the stuff they have been working on... no not math, not reading, not art or science... body-building! Here's a shot of Uncle Larry's Mighty Men after their first quarter of intensive physical training. Saiah demonstrated a weight-lifting technique, Eli did the splits, and Zeke did 30 push-ups. We were all duly impressed!

Don't worry, they have also been toning their minds. Our two fellas stood up and recited about 2/3 of Luke chapter 2 (we're working on that last 1/3 this week). They also acted in a play called "The Fourth Wiseman" which their teacher wrote and directed. Good stuff! Of course now they are on Christmas break and all they want to do is sit around and play the gameboy...

Our Little Teapot

Here's our newest performer, Eden Glory, singing "I'm a Little Teapot" during the recent Christmas Open House at our MK school. She already has her next gig lined up - a special English performance for her kindergarten's New Year's Eve ceremony! In the meantime she continues to refine her dancing and twirling around the house. I even caught her the other day singing into the brush, "I am little and I am cute."

Usually that is true, but she also knows how to push our buttons sometimes! I've never known a slower eater... or toothbrusher... or dresser... or bedmaker... or toy picker-upper. Her favorite song lately at bedtime is "Lord, You Are." Singing it night after night after night we have begun to play with it a bit, like "Lord, You are more beautiful than pink pajamas" etc. But my favorite part is the chorus, where instead of "exalt" she sings "I exhaust You" over and over. I have to admit that sometimes I am exhausted, but she sure is little and cute too!

Meatlovers

Some days it seems we are back in the Middle Ages... one neighbor pays us back with a cow, another friend gives us a sheep, and all I can do is take the rope, smile in a bewildered "what am I supposed to do with this" kind of way, and say thank you! Thankfully another neighbor is an expert at butchering sheep & goats (not a cry or a drop of blood!)... unfortunately he can't do cows. But somehow we round up a crew of young guys and manage to quarter it just after sundown, fingers frozen to our knives (we are already -30s and it is NOT even winter yet!).

The next stage is thawing a quarter at a time so that we can butcher it into steaks, roasts, hamburger, etc. (notice I gave all of the organs, head and feet away to grateful Mongolian participants!). Larry is our Head Butcher, but we all got into the action... some of us more than others ;) Our kids didn't even flinch. Nothing like the feel of good meat between your fingers...