Middle of the Gobi

I spent the past week in Mandalgobi, Dundgobi aimag working with my fellow Mercy Corps business volunteer Denise. We're working on a guidebook to give to non-business volunteers who get approached by Mongolian businesses or otherwise want to help a business at their site. It will be presented to the new volunteers at IST in December. The book will be based on real questions we've received plus things we've developed in our work. It should be something we can leave behind to help future volunteers and the Mongolian business community.

Of course to reach Dundgobi, which really does mean middle of the Gobi, we had to drive 20 hours from Tsetserleg to Mandalgobi. I'm not too sure how long it should take, but the trip probably shouldn't include stopping at every ger to ask for directions and not stopping until 3 AM. But I'm not bitter. The rest of the trip was really good. Densie and I got a lot of work done on the guidebook and I got to hang out with her and the new Mandalgobi volunteers. They took me to this place they call the "rainforest bar". It was real pine bark paneling and this wierd moss hanging from the cieling. It was quite a surreal experience.

On Tuesday I left Mandalgobi with a USAID car that had an empty seat. I got to go along when the guy was talking with clients of AID funded projects. It was good to see the impact Mercy Corps has outside of Arkhangai. The best part of the trip was learning about the Ger to Ger project. It's a nomad centered tourism company that tries to improve herders livelihoods without making them dependent on handouts from foreigners. They have routes in the gobi and arkhangai now. They may have more by next summer. You get to travel between pre-determined points by horse, camel, cart, or car based on where the route is. I think it's a good way to see real mongol life and sites away from cities and towns.

On the last night, we slept in a herder's ger at a place called Ikh Gazariin Chuluu. It means place of many rocks and is made of huge rock formations. It was really cool to wake up to see the sunrise and see these big rocks in the background. We also got to see what a positive effect responsible tourism can have on Mongolian's lives. Everyone should check out Ger to Ger if you're considering a trip to Mongolia.

Changes

Fall has, um, fallen here in Arkhangai and it is getting noticeably colder from day to day. We've had a little bit of snow, but nothing that stays around should happen until Spring. There aren't as many tourists around and most of the ger camps have closed for the year. The new volunteers are settling into life at site and discovering the wonders of Mongolian transportation the joys of the re-supply weekend. The remaining UB expats have probably all retreated inside Dave's pub and I should face less competition next time I'm in town for the pub quiz. Lastly, my good friend Altai is leaving town on Monday for UB and then on to Switzerland to be with her new husband Chris. Altai was the one who brought Nasaa to Enkhee's bar last New Year's Eve when she was sitting home with her parents. We probably wouldn't have met otherwise and Altai was a good intermediary while we bridged the language barrier. She's been a good friend to all Peace Corps volunteers here and she'll be missed.

There are a new buildings, of undetermined purpose, going up around town, but the biggest physical change is the new Buddha statue that was set up on Bulgan Mountain this weekend. There was a big ceremony on the hill with prayers in the monastery and chanting by local monks. Judging by an artist's representation and a brochure I saw, it will be part of a complex of stone steps and pagodas leading from foot of the mountain all the way up to an expanded monastery on top. I'm not sure when it will be completed, but I'll be taking pictures of the progress. I've uploaded a gallery from the ceremony and I'll add to it from now on. I also added some galleries of pictures from over the summer so check out my Flickr page. I'll be editing my old posts to make them look better in the new template also. Check a few posts to look for changes or just start at the beginning to catch up.

The last change is that I have less than a year left of Peace Corps and I'm thinking of what I want to do next. I know I want to work in international development and I'm looking on job boards, but I could use some more advice. Here's a copy of my resume. I'm interested in NGOs, consultancies, and relief agencies.

Ocotber...SUPRISE!!!

I spent all of last week in Zavkhan for their trade fair. I was kind of excited to drive there, but after 17 hours in car each way I think I'll fly next time. The trade fair went well. People from my office and Bayanhongor came up to help. They had a parade and an opening and closing ceremony that ours didn't really have. I didn't have a lot to do so I just explored the city and hung out with Zavkhan PCVs. They have six people, three new, all in the aimag center. Last Friday was our annual consolidation drill. Peace Corps wants to make sure volunters can make it to certain pre-arranged locations in case of an emergency. Since I was in Zavkhan, I had to go to a volunteer's ger and wait for peace corps to call. All the Arkhangai volunteers came in and partied all weekend. They even hung in there for a third day since I missed the first two. They're some fine hyper-socialists.

I've been kind of slow at work lately, but I'm lining up some new trips and making plans for travel and after Peace Corps. I'll keep you updated. Enjoy the Zavkhan Flickr gallery and check out the photo album I added. I'm going to try and upload all my photos from before too.