AUG 22, 17 .. THE SAND IN THE HOUR GLASS IS RUNNING OUT

I fly to Hong Kong in just over one day. As I write (my time is ahead of your time) I fly to Hong Kong in less than 24-hours.

Another nice day, but a really rainy day. My sad umbrella did the best he could but.. I did get wet.

THE NATIONAL MUSEUM OF MONGOLIA

This has to be as fine a museum as you will find anywhere.

It was dark and it was raining all day with only brief periods of respite.

Really great hours.

I paid 8,000 Mongolian Tug (US $ 3.28) to enter and I paid an additional 10,000 Mongolian Tug (US $ 4.10) to be able to ‘honestly’ take photographs. It is sort of an ‘honor’ system. No one checks BUT I saw very VERY few others taking photos.

Come on people. It is only US $4.10! And it helps this and other venues who charge for photos to pay for their expenses. I would NOT pay the 50,000 Mongolian Tug (US $ 20.49) at the Choijin Lama Museum the other day to take interior temple photos. They seemed to be watching visitors very closely so I did not even ‘sneak’ one single interior photo there at the Choijin Lama Museum.

There are ‘serious’ stairs here in the museum. Below you look up the stairs that ‘greet’ you when you enter. You’ve no choice but to go up the stairs IF you want to see anything except the gift shop.

Below I am looking at the above photo from an upper level of the museum.

Many and varied attires.

Chess pre-dates time in Mongolia. Not really but you get the idea.

Fire and the horror of war. The below photo was, to some degree, upsetting to me. The Mongolian hoards were brutal. They were skilled and well trained and well equipped. They overcame the inhabitants of fifty (50) countries. No one was a match for them. The Empire collapsed from within during the generation of Chinggis Khaan’s grandsons. True to history, families cannot seem to get along within their own ranks. War. And more war. Today and forever.

I stopped into THE UB MART to dry off and to warm up a little.

The UB Mart is an old friend. It is on the way to Millie’s.

KFC .. Hello Colonel Sanders

The rain never let-up.

A very pleasant venue.

Clean and so nicely decorated.

Sparkling clean facilities. Immaculate. I needed them to freshen up.

Snapped from my table beside the front window wall.

A mini-pig-out. Piece of KFC, 7-Up, coleslaw, chicken wrap, fries. Not bad for US $4.71. I was here to dry off and to warm up and to meet Changer. He works right immediately next door.

I could NOT resist snapping the below photo. I did NOT know the flash was-on. It did NOT disturb him one-iota. How he was dressed tells you about the day outside.

Changer and his wife and two daughters met me at the KFC. Then we got into his automobile and visited with Patti. Then..

LUNA BLANCA VEGAN FOOD

Yesterday I walked at least 1-1/2 miles in an absolutely futile effort to find Luna Blanca. It is a top 5 restaurant here in Ulaanbaatar. I found out the reason. Their website map is seriously flawed. Changer called them up. Spoke with them. Then we five drove to the venue. Tomorrow I plan to eat here.

DINNER WITH CHANGER AND FAMILY..

BESIDE MY APARTMENT BUILDING.

Same good meal as last Friday but more of it.

I set some sort of record. I paid 101,700 Mongolian Tug (US $41.68) for our dinner and I did NOT snap one single photo of this meal. I just did not do it.

Well Sports Fans..

That is that for another Post.

Smiles .. Cap

THE REST OF THE STORY..

One really negative thing about my apartment building is the fact the electricity to the elevator is turned of at 1am and back on at 6am. I have to be to the airport at 4am. I can not haul all of my luggage down the 106-stairs with any grace. So I pack up, get a room at the hotel next door, move in before the elevator is turned off, and get a ride from the hotel. This is one enormous hassle for me.

Happy was over last night with his sister’s daugher (his niece Juli). We got to talking. Juli (who I had never ever met until last night) did the translating.

Bottom line : At 3:30am, in the probably raining o’dark o’clock morning, Happy is coming over. He is going to walk up the 106-stairs. He and I will lug my bags down. Happy is going to drive me to the airport.

Lord God In Heavens Above. Why Me? What Have I Done To Deserve Such An Act Of Grace From Happy?

Happy, on the other hand is saying to Juli..

Lord God In Heavens Above. Why Me Juli? What Have I Done To Deserve Such An Act Of Grace That Cap Just Did For Me?

I am not going to get into details, but it was no accident that Happy had Juli along to do some translating.

• ← AUG 21, 17 .. OUT AND ABOUT ULAANBAATAR, MONGOLIA
• AUG 23, 17 .. MY LAST DAY IN ULAANBAATAR .. I HOPE TO RETURN →