Gandan Monastery in the Snow

A Snowy Day in Mongolia

It seems fitting that we should have freezing temperatures and snow for our outings.

After all, this is Mongolia!

From Dad's blog-

Gandan Monastery. Gandan was the center of Ulaanbaatar during the 1920s. During the 1930s, the communist government destroyed most of the Buddhist monasteries in the country but left a few important ones intact so as to not incite a rebellion of the Mongolians to communist/Russian rule.

I learned that there is really no limit to the number of people that can fit into a vehicle.With every inch of the seat filled and a couple more people sitting on the floor in the back of the van, the missionaries were insisting that there was still plenty of room for more. So we added more! Tawny remembers riding in taxis and buses cram-packed with people and livestock. I was grateful to never have to share my seat with a sheep. 

 I didn't wear a seat belt from the time we left the airplane until our flight home. Once I desperately searched for one. I was sure that taxi driver was trying to kill us all. Unfortunately, even in the newer-looking cars, there are no seat belts to be found.

 The Gandan Monastery was gorgeous in the snow! 

My sister, Tara, from North Carolina

It was so fun to spend time with my sisters!

I've never been so diligent about bundling up, not even at Ricks College. 

I had Mom inspect my accessories every time we left the apartment to make sure I wasn't missing anything. Mom had everything we needed down to thermal underwear and yak wool socks!

Buddhist monks going about their various duties

A monk on a cell phone! Awesome!

Our guide Jangar knew every little detail about Mongolia and its sites. He accompanied us on all of our outings. I was amazed at the depth of his knowledge. Everything we saw was a symbol of some kind. Unfortunately I only remember a small fraction of what he said...

Young boys are volunteered by their families at the age of 6. The idea of this made me so sad. I tried to imagine my energetic little Alec sitting in a monastery memorizing scripture and chanting prayers every day for hours. We actually got to enter a temple where about 15 monks, young and old, were all chanting prayers and scripture. They used drums and cymbals periodically. It was a surreal moment. I could hardly believe what I was seeing. I felt once again like I had traveled back in time or accidently entered the set of a movie that was being filmed. But it was all real. Amazing. What a unique experience. 

No photography was allowed in the temple. I would have loved recording that somehow.

Pigeons make this monastery their permanent home as well. 

 No pigeon was brave enough to eat out of my hand.

 So cool!!

Each pot was used for cooking for a specific group of people.

 Five sheep were cooked in the biggest pot.