Day 26: The Modern Socks-Hole
This morning after breakfast we went to a big tank on the hill. The view overlooked the city. It is a very small city, more like a town. We all took some pictures, but then saw the playground nearby. We all went because you never outgrow playgrounds. It was more like a workout playground. It was fun though. I went down a tiny slide and climbed the weird climbing thing. Fun times. We also decided to take a fancy picture on a big fountain rock. Luckily the water wasn’t actually on so we could climb on it for the picture. After we got off though the water turned on. We were all like “dang that was close” but then saw the water mechanic person there. He waited till we got off to turn it on. He’s nice. If it was me I would’ve turned on the water when they were on the rock and said it was a timed turn on.
After some of that we went back to the tank to get a lecture about the town and the tanks and statue. The big tank was from when Mongolia and Japan were fighting. The statue was of a hero during the fight who was wounded but survived and died 1980. He also told us how Gobi has a lot of goats because cashmere has gotten so popular but it’s bad for the land to have so many goats because they eat the land and nothing can grow. Gobi has a lot of mines where they mine oil, copper, gold and 33 other natural resources. 25 thousand people live in this little town. He also told us about how only one tree can grow in the Gobi Desert: the Soxoll tree. Pronounced “socks-hole.” I also have a modern socks-hole in my house but it’s called a laundry machine. Eats all the socks.
We went back for a quick lunch before starting the drive to the gur camp. We have many stops on the way. The first stop was camels. Their humps look nothing like cartoon camels. They look like furry tan shark fins that are occasionally floppy. After some photos with them we drove up a small hill to a place.
This place was two rock things and a shrine shaped like boobies. It’s a place for women to walk around three times and pour milk on. When we did it you could smell and see the dried milk. It didn’t smell the best and reminded me of the dried curd at my homestay. It was an interesting experience.
Next stop was supposed to be a monastery but an important dude died so the monks went to get his body. Instead we went to a bell/shrine thing. It was actually nice, I liked to sit on the edge and feel the wind and look at the endless land. It was relaxing to see it so deserted but still have things to look at.
Next we went to Chimballa land. It was a Buddhist place. We entered from the left and exited from the right. But before entering we had to stand on a circle and look into rock eyes and release our negative thoughts. When we got in we had to whisper a sin into a rock and blow it away. Then we poured water into some bowls. When we left we put a white rock into a pile and said our names and birthday to register in the heavens.
After, we went to the meditation caves. Some monks meditated here for 180 days. Kinda like Master Ugai, but he meditates in a cave for 30 years. Anyway said meditating monks did not eat for the last 54 days of meditation. Some of the monks though did not end up making it through it all, some died while in the caves. Although they didn’t think of it as dying but as moving closer to the gods. The caves were dark and full of spider webs so I went in and went out. At the end we had to be reborn by crawling through a hole. You had to crawl in and out face first and it was kinda steep inside. Though I fared better than the rest because I was small. I have been reborn!
Next we went to see a dinosaur spine. Fun fact, they were shipped to the US illegally. Nick Cage bought them at an auction but when he found out they were shipped to the US illegally, he gave them back to Mongolia.
Finally we got to the gur camp and had dinner. Dinner was okay, but I’m craving home food so it’s hard to enjoy food as much. After dinner we went into our gur to hang out. John Paul and I watched Brooklyn 99, I introduced him to it so we’re watching the first season. Once we finished some new episodes we went to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and we saw a cat! It was really cute. But I didn’t touch. Sadly. Anyway after taking a photo shoot with the sunset we watched some more Brooklyn 99. At some point we noticed all the bugs around. We aren’t exaggerating about freaking out and saying we’d rather sleep outside. There was a huge pile of dead bugs and still it was all over the ceiling and floors and walls. Fortunately we moved to building gurs and there weren’t as many bugs and if their were we immediately killed them. Not the best night but I eventually fell asleep.
After some of that we went back to the tank to get a lecture about the town and the tanks and statue. The big tank was from when Mongolia and Japan were fighting. The statue was of a hero during the fight who was wounded but survived and died 1980. He also told us how Gobi has a lot of goats because cashmere has gotten so popular but it’s bad for the land to have so many goats because they eat the land and nothing can grow. Gobi has a lot of mines where they mine oil, copper, gold and 33 other natural resources. 25 thousand people live in this little town. He also told us about how only one tree can grow in the Gobi Desert: the Soxoll tree. Pronounced “socks-hole.” I also have a modern socks-hole in my house but it’s called a laundry machine. Eats all the socks.
We went back for a quick lunch before starting the drive to the gur camp. We have many stops on the way. The first stop was camels. Their humps look nothing like cartoon camels. They look like furry tan shark fins that are occasionally floppy. After some photos with them we drove up a small hill to a place.
This place was two rock things and a shrine shaped like boobies. It’s a place for women to walk around three times and pour milk on. When we did it you could smell and see the dried milk. It didn’t smell the best and reminded me of the dried curd at my homestay. It was an interesting experience.
Next stop was supposed to be a monastery but an important dude died so the monks went to get his body. Instead we went to a bell/shrine thing. It was actually nice, I liked to sit on the edge and feel the wind and look at the endless land. It was relaxing to see it so deserted but still have things to look at.
Next we went to Chimballa land. It was a Buddhist place. We entered from the left and exited from the right. But before entering we had to stand on a circle and look into rock eyes and release our negative thoughts. When we got in we had to whisper a sin into a rock and blow it away. Then we poured water into some bowls. When we left we put a white rock into a pile and said our names and birthday to register in the heavens.
After, we went to the meditation caves. Some monks meditated here for 180 days. Kinda like Master Ugai, but he meditates in a cave for 30 years. Anyway said meditating monks did not eat for the last 54 days of meditation. Some of the monks though did not end up making it through it all, some died while in the caves. Although they didn’t think of it as dying but as moving closer to the gods. The caves were dark and full of spider webs so I went in and went out. At the end we had to be reborn by crawling through a hole. You had to crawl in and out face first and it was kinda steep inside. Though I fared better than the rest because I was small. I have been reborn!
Next we went to see a dinosaur spine. Fun fact, they were shipped to the US illegally. Nick Cage bought them at an auction but when he found out they were shipped to the US illegally, he gave them back to Mongolia.
Finally we got to the gur camp and had dinner. Dinner was okay, but I’m craving home food so it’s hard to enjoy food as much. After dinner we went into our gur to hang out. John Paul and I watched Brooklyn 99, I introduced him to it so we’re watching the first season. Once we finished some new episodes we went to watch the sunset. It was beautiful and we saw a cat! It was really cute. But I didn’t touch. Sadly. Anyway after taking a photo shoot with the sunset we watched some more Brooklyn 99. At some point we noticed all the bugs around. We aren’t exaggerating about freaking out and saying we’d rather sleep outside. There was a huge pile of dead bugs and still it was all over the ceiling and floors and walls. Fortunately we moved to building gurs and there weren’t as many bugs and if their were we immediately killed them. Not the best night but I eventually fell asleep.
emory. oh emory. you're the best.
ReplyDelete