Weather in UB

Wednesday, January 30, 2008

Preparing for Tsaagan Sar

Ice covered sidewalk, just outside Parliament. I doubt the Parliamentarians walk to work

Fishy ice sculpture in Sukhbaatar Square.Tsaagan Sar market-FAT tailed sheep, outside the Lenin Museum aka Freedom Square
Tsaagan Sar Market- Milk vendors


As promised, here are some nice pictures of life in Ulaanbaatar.
Well, Actually the first one is not so nice. I fall nearly every day here. Everyone does, or they just slip and slide their way down the sidewalk. In the middle of all the sidewalks here, the ice is smooth and black from people literally sliding wherever they are going. It makes it really treacherous for those of us who just want to walk normally.
I was showing a friend around town today and I suggested we check out the Tsaagan Sar market. I don't think he had every seen so many animal carcasses just hanging out of the backs of cars! Some of the dead sheep had come from far Western Mongolia. As every good Mongol knows, meat tastes different from different parts of the country. I, however, can't tell the difference between mutton from Uvs or mutton from Khenti. The Tsaagan Sar market also had all kinds of white food: arrul, uruum, and other dairy product delicacies.
I also showed my friend the giant bust of Lenin that is inside the old museum. They are currently doing renovations in there, but I think the bust is gonna stay. Maybe it'll be a dance club or something!
V.I. Lenin and I inside the Lenin Museum

5 comments:

Meg said...

Annie,

can't wait to hang out again in beautiful UB! Andrew and I are stocking up on our cold weather gear.
See you in a couple of weeks! Love, Meg

denise garro said...

Hey annie they make some cheep crampons for running shoes maybe you need some.....Put it on your list for Meg...Steve has crampons for his crutches. but here in AZ the sun melts the ice pretty quick... have a great time with your sis & andrew.....I think meg needs to eat some meat to keep warm......

JPRiordan Bagram said...

Love the Ice Sculpture. Reminds me of Ground Hog Day, which by the way has been playing nonstop on cable this week! College! Get some Yak Tracks, Rear! Extra Love (more than from Meg) John

Ulaana said...

those yak track things don't work very well. At least that's what I've heard. Mongolian ice is tricky!

Andrew Campbell said...

Bagsh: Nice to see the clan and associates representing so nicely here! The ice sculptures better still be there when we get there. Just got some new, thicker socks.... wooohoooo. Can't be worse than the Ice Bowl at Lambeau, right? Is that one of the Nines, 'cold enough to freeze a ref's whistle'?

A.