Terelj National Park: Mongolia

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

On the second day of our tour through the steppes of Mongolia- we stayed in Terelj National Park. This is known as the birthplace of Chinggis Khan. And it was so beautiful. 

I love how colorful the houses are in Mongolia. Fun Fact: The different colored roofs signify the different tribes that exist in the country. They paint them so if you are traveling you will always have a way to know where you can stay. Our guide, Jangar, comes from the red houses and our driver, Nanna, the blue. 

People were always dressing us up and making us take pictures- but we secretly loved it. 

Turtle Rock- legend this is the rock that lead to Chinggis using the turtle as a symbol for his government- which you can still see all throughout the country. 

And that's a bit of Terlj National Park- amazing right! While we were here we stayed in a ger again- which was just as amazing. And we learned how to play the traditional ankle bone shooting game. 

We loved our time in Mongolia and look forward to making another trip soon. 

Genghis Khan Statue: Mongolia {Travel Tuesday}

Happy Christmas Eve Eve Y'all! 

I hope most of you are getting some rest before the big holiday. Matt and I have to work tomorrow (boo), but we are looking forward to having Christmas off to be together. 

I wanted to take a break from the last minute Christmas stuff I have to do and share one other pretty cool thing we got to see in Mongolia. 

This Genghis Khan statue is 131 feet and 3 inches tall- which is the tallest statue of its kind. 

It is located on the Tuul River where legend says he found a golden whip. The statue is pointed east towards his birthplace. 

You can walk up to the head of the horse and the view is pretty cool, and you get a good close up of Genghis' face.  There is also a museum located in the visitors center. 

Outside- there is guy that has a hawk and a vulture that you can hold and snap some pictures for a small price. 

{How creepy is this?} 

This was a pretty cool stop has our tour wrapped up. They are adding new stuff to this museum and statue, so I am sure it will just get better and better.

13th Century Village: Mongolia {Travel Tuesday}

Happy Tuesday Y'all!

Today I wanted to go back to our Mongolia trip and share some more the amazing things we saw while there. 

On the last day of our tour, we visited a 13th Century Village. This is a live museum of sorts where people live and work like they did in the 13th century. Many of the people that work in this village have never been to the city of Ulan Bator and have no desire to visit the city. 

We got to visit the Shaman camp, herder's camp, the king's palace, and the educational camp. While the road to get to these places was super bumpy and rough- it was so worth it. It was absolutely amazing. 

{This is just dried poo. They start to collect this in the early fall so they will have something to add to the fire during the winter months. We saw a few women out in the fields collecting the poo. There are not a lot of trees nearby this area, so this is the best heating source.} 

 {They were super into us trying on all the clothes.} 

{We might have been a little obsessed with this little boy.}

At the last stop, we got to try both wet and hard cheese and yogurt that they made right at this camp. I'm not going to lie- it was pretty hard to choke down. It was cool to try, but it was really bad. But at least I finished my portion. 

We enjoyed walking around the 13th century village and seeing more of Mongolia. 

So is Mongolia on your travel list yet? 

{Linking up with Bonnie}

Travel Tuesdays: Mongolia

Happy Tuesday Y'all! 

Today I'm going to take you back to Mongolia. I know I'm flip flopping between countries, but playing catch up is hard. 

While on the second day of our tour, we visited a Buddhist Monastery in Terjli National Park. This wasn't on the tour itinerary, but our wonderful guide Jangar added it in for us. And I'm so glad he did. It was beautiful. We had to hike up there, but it was so worth it. 

Before leaving for Mongolia- I was talking to my Dad about getting hiking shoes for the trip, but not wanting true hiking shoes because I don't hike. My Dad said- well, if you hike you will see some amazing things. And one this trip I really learned that. There were times I really didn't want to keep walking, but every time I made it to the top- it was completely worth it. 

On the way up to the  temple there were all these scriptures or proverbs of sorts for us to read. 

Mongolia was so beautiful in the fall. The weather was perfect and the leaves were so beautiful. 

I'm glad I walked up to the top to the temple and saw the wonderful view it provided. 

Questions- to hike or not to hike?