Here are some favorite photos from Jonna's time in Mongolia:
1) On our way to Terelj National Park our van was stopped for an International Friendship Marathon. A collaboration between a Korean radio station (MBC) and Mongolia. Participants covered all age ranges. Here a young man was happy to pretend he had placed in the race.
Tundra marathon.
Boy with ball flirts with tourists.
Friendship in the sun.
2) Although our guide called them "yaks", they were much smaller and less bushy than the yaks I had seen in Tibet. I think they were dzos - hybrid of yak and cow.
Cow and yak parade
In the early morning haze.
Mongolian tide.
3) This quaint, blue shack at the base of the hill of our ger camp in Terelj became the drunk tank for a couple of men who argued and drank through the night a morning. Alcohol is the drug of choice in Mongolia.
4) Turtles are a symbol of longevity in Mongolia. This large formation was called "Turtle Rock" and we climbed around on it for a couple of hours.
Inside Turtle Rock
Smells like a port-a-potty.
Squeeze through small hole.
5) This is my unhappy horse that I named "Alan" (due to the salt and pepper hair) looking through the trees on a riding break in Terelj. He seemed quite old and was not pleased to have someone on his back.
6) The Aryapala Meditation Center was not far from our ger camp and situated up on the side of a hill. There were no monks at the center the day we visited but a sweet and colorful shrine room.
7) Texts in the Aryapala Meditation Center shrine room.
8) A couple of musicians entertained us at dinner on our last night in Terelj. They played "horse head fiddles" (morin khuur). Here is a close up of the top of the instrument. Legend is that the first horse head fiddle was made by a grieving shepherd from the bones of his dead horse.
9) Fluffy sheep near the river in Terelj.
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