Today was the first time we saw Ulaanbaatar in daylight. It means - I walked futher and longer than to the office and our newly discovered supper place.
A nice little Babel. We spent some fun but depressing time shopping for souvenirs together with one of our interpreters – Byan ( Mongolian names are complicated!!). He told me mass of funny stories about Mongolian language. One of them was about Mongolian sense of direction.
From now on I’ll always remember that whenever a Mongolian talks about directions " straight, to the right and then to the left" must not be followed directly, that is, it`s better not to follow the direction where he or she points her finger. Instead we must pull out our little compasses and find the South. Then turn to the East and then to the West. In Ulaanbaatar it’s much easayer. For those who have no clue about where is the South – just find the Big Mountain! If its cloudy (and it happens sometimes)…you’ll just have to trust your pears…
Oh, oh, oh – I also tried kumis – the fermented horse milk. Not too bad. But then again I did not drink enough to learn what the “bad” actually means :)Tomorrow we are going out! Out of the UB city. To a place with real gers and real horses. Almost countryside :) Unfortunately since I learnt that because of the Mongolian Buddhism (a mixture of the Buddhism and shamanism, which implies that they also believe in spirits) it is not allowed to take home anything from the mountains! This superstition works only if you are aware of it…Such a pity I am!
Today was the first time we saw Ulaanbaatar in daylight. It means - I walked futher and longer than to the office and our newly discovered supper place.
A nice little Babel. We spent some fun but depressing time shopping for souvenirs together with one of our interpreters – Byan ( Mongolian names are complicated!!). He told me mass of funny stories about Mongolian language. One of them was about Mongolian sense of direction.
From now on I’ll always remember that whenever a Mongolian talks about directions " straight, to the right and then to the left" must not be followed directly, that is, it`s better not to follow the direction where he or she points her finger. Instead we must pull out our little compasses and find the South. Then turn to the East and then to the West. In Ulaanbaatar it’s much easayer. For those who have no clue about where is the South – just find the Big Mountain! If its cloudy (and it happens sometimes)…you’ll just have to trust your pears…
Oh, oh, oh – I also tried kumis – the fermented horse milk. Not too bad. But then again I did not drink enough to learn what the “bad” actually means :)Tomorrow we are going out! Out of the UB city. To a place with real gers and real horses. Almost countryside :) Unfortunately since I learnt that because of the Mongolian Buddhism (a mixture of the Buddhism and shamanism, which implies that they also believe in spirits) it is not allowed to take home anything from the mountains! This superstition works only if you are aware of it…Such a pity I am!
Comments