My experience of Mongolia was defined by the region of Bazriin Chuulu where the Land Art artworks were created and the people i met there. Mongolians are happy go lucky and so my favorite and most informative experiences happened by accident. For instance, one day after being lost in the desert for several hours, roaming the landscape in Mr. Tsegmid Puntsag’s SUV, we came upon a site which has a tiny well of holy water. That day i also learnt about Lama Zavaa Damdin who was a Gobi Buddhist scholar and a hermit during the socialist purges. Tsegmid also pointed out the many standing stones strewn throughout the landscape which are ancient headstones. On my walks i also came upon several types of stone Ovos, which are piles of rocks that mark a sacred spot.
-
- Stone Ovo This is a typical stone ovo, a pile of stones marking a special spot, where one should leave offerings such as money or at least other stones. One should walk around it three times and sprinkle Vodka on it to ensure a good journey. This ovo was one of three that marked the location of the curative eye water well.
-
- Holy water well The tiny well was located under a rock covering a hole about 4cm in diameter. Beside it was a stick with a bent spoon attached to it, that fit neatly into the hole to scoop up one teaspoon of fresh water. This water is supposedly very beneficial for the eyes and so we took turns pouring the water onto our eyes.
-
- Stuppa This stuppa is dedicated to Mongolian scholar Zava Damdin who lived as a recluse in this desert area during the Soviet purges. His sutras (writings) are said to have made his teacher cry when he read them.
-
- Metal ovo? Zava Damdin was supposedly laughed at by the people of the region when he brought in scrap metal in the form of metal barrels as this was an unknown material to the area’s nomads. I am not sure what exactly he used them for other than roofing for sheds but there are several piles of rusted bits that resemble the stone ovos of the area.
-
- Horns and Shoes i don’t know why but i seemed to always come across animal bones and old shoes together- i guess these are just a few of the things that tend to surface on the Gobi.
-
- small ovo This is one of the first ovos i encountered and i was amazed to see how much it resembled an inukshuk. http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Inukshuk
-
- Dead cow I was amazed at the amount of animal bones scattered on the ground and only latter found out that last year’s Zud ( the Mongolian term for a multiple natural disaster caused by the parching of pastures in the summer followed by bitter cold and thick snow that blankets the land in winter) killed many animals. Read more here: http://www.guardian.co.uk/environment/2010/feb/25/united-nations-mongolia-dead-livestock-clearance
-
- Gobi Camp Our camp in the Gobi consisted of 2 rows of gers with a wooden ger at the center which acted as the mess hall and where electricity was available in the evening after 9 pm. A small generator powered the single lightbulb in the hall and the several power cords that were packed with phone and camera chargers every night. Of course it often died out and we reserted to candles. There was a solar powered shower which provided hot water after a sunny day.
-
- storm sky The most amazing aspect of Mongolia is it’s sky. I wish i had taken a photo of the sky at night because i have never seen the milky way to bright and so clear as i did in the desert.
-
- sunset The sunsets were pretty amazing also!
-
- Ger Umbrellas Usually the top hole of the ger is covered up when it is raining to prevent the water coming in but that also makes it very dark and so i devised a rain catching system with a couple of umbrellas as i tried in vain to dry my long underwear!
-
- rainy day artists Artist Shinji Yamamoto came to our ger during a rainy day because we had a stove which burned animal dung. As he worked on his rock paintings i amused myself by taking long exposure shots of him.
-
- Hand of Art Photo of performance artist Megumi Shimizu’s hand after she painted a rock with black ink by using her hair
