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Monday, January 26, 2015

Holy Shit! Mongolia came by!

That's right, after I begged, pleaded and offered bribes, the homeland of Genghis Khan has decided to represent, Eff You-style! Just about fell out of my chair when I saw that in the stats. Without further ado, we bring you the first-time visitor travelogue on Mongolia.

Mongolia is a landlocked parliamentary republic in east-central Asia, bordered by Russia on the north and China on all the other sides. Ulaanbaatar (often spelled Ulan Bator), the capital city, is home to nearly half of the nation's roughly 2.9 million people. The economy traditionally has been based on herding and agriculture, although a boom in mining of a number of important minerals has driven industrial development.

And I wasn't kidding about the yurts:
The traditional Mongolian dwelling is known as a ger. In the past it was known by the Russian term yurt, but this is changing as the Mongolian term becomes better known among English-speaking countries. According to Mongolian artist and art critic N. Chultem, the ger was the basis for development of traditional Mongolian architecture. 
Here's one:


And let's not forget Genghis Khan:
In the chaos of the late 12th century, a chieftain named Temüjin finally succeeded in uniting the Mongol tribes between Manchuria and theAltai Mountains. In 1206, he took the title Genghis Khan, and waged a series of military campaigns – renowned for their brutality and ferocity – sweeping through much of Asia, and forming the Mongol Empire, the largest contiguous land empire in world history. Under his successors it stretched from present-day Ukraine in the west to Korea in the east, and from Siberia in the north to the Gulf of Oman and Vietnam in the south, covering some 33,000,000 square kilometres (13,000,000 sq mi),[21] (22% of Earth's total land area) and having a population of over 100 million people. The emergence of Pax Mongolica also significantly eased trade and commerce across Asia during its height.
Mongolia is at a high elevation, with hot summers and very cold, windy winters. Ulaanbaatar has a mean temperature of 0 degrees Celsius, making it the coldest world capital. I guess they're OK with that.

Mongolians are known for their horsemanship. The nation is often known as "the land of the horse." Traditional Mongol culture centers around horses. The breed is reputed to be largely unchanged since the days of Genghis Khan:


So there you have it. Let's all give a big Eff You welcome to Mongolia. Come back soon, and bring your friends.

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