Mongolian Kitsch

6February2008

Eagle Fest

Posted by JonHaley

What better way to add some excitement to the painful plodding pace of winter than to throw a good old fashion Kazak Eagle Festival? (Mongolian’s are all about animals and festivals. You name it, camel, yak, reindeer, eagle, antelope, etc., and it’s got its own festival at some point in the year).

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11January2008

In the Heart of the Nine Nines

Posted by JonHaley

A subject of anthropological and cultural, as well as environmental concern that I’ve yet to fully address is the fact that it is freakin’ cold out here. Not that that should come as a surprise to me or anybody else, and to be honest it’s pretty manageable. In fact I only mention it now because it is apparently colder than normal, and it’s also is an interesting part of the whole ‘experience’.

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3January2008

Beijing: Up & Down

Posted by JonHaley

It’s been a while! I just got back from a week and a half in Beijing, so I thought I should break that down for ya. Left on the 20th of December and just got back yesterday; saw some amazing stuff, and definitely gained a lot more insight into the city, the people, and the culture/history. Previously my opinions of China were based on bad Hollywood movies and that one really derogatory Tintin book. Needless to say, I now have a far different view of things! It also has made me a lot more interested in traveling to other areas of this enormous country. Furthermore, it has made Mongolia feel sooo much more like home.

I spent a lot of time documenting this experience with photos and videos; however, as my camera was stolen on the 2nd last day, it was all for naught. The biggest advantage to this is that I’ll need to actually use my memory to remember stuff, which is better in a lot of ways.

Instead of pretending to be some sort of travel writer dude, I’ll just list the good and bad as succinctly as I can. Hopefully, those who have visited the city will be able to relate, those planning to visit will get a wholly inadequate and thoroughly skewed version of things, and those who have no intention of visiting will know what they’re missing. Read the rest of this entry »

5December2007

At the Rock Show

Posted by JonHaley

After having missed the biggest Mongolian Hip Hop show of the year in late September and just recently having missed a chance to see the legendary “Chinggis Khaan” (the biggest band in Mongolian for going on 20 years) play live, I got my fix Saturday night at the largest rock concert of the year, Playtime 2007. An evening featuring everything Rawk that Mongolia has to offer, bringing together over 30 bands playing an array of divergent and often conflicting styles all fitting loosely under the superordinate heading “Rock”.

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28November2007

Midnight Train to Darkhan

Posted by JonHaley

Not exactly riveting stuff, but I took another trip outside the capital last weekend and got to see a few new things and had some interesting experiences. Here’s the report:

This weekend was long due to Mongolian Independence Day on Monday, so me and a few others lost no time in getting out of the busy city for some beautiful, clean countryside air! (Mongolian Independence Day passed without the faintest celebration, at least from what I saw. No one even set off fireworks, which is very strange because normally they’re gleefully letting them off at 10am on weekdays without the slightest provocation.)

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