We arrived in Ulaan Baatar (UB) at about midnight; it’s only a 3 hour flight from Seoul but a world apart in terms of development. I already love it because it’s so different. Our first surprise was the Milk Welcoming Ceremony. The office staff met us just coming off the plane with a blue silk ribbon and a small chalice filled with milk for each of us. We were presented with these gifts and had to take a sip of the milk before being ushered into the VIP Lounge thus escaping all the passport and customs and luggage rigamarole. By 1 AM we were at our hotel -an architectural abomination in the Soviet style. The dozen plus multicolored roses waiting in the room made up for the lovely fluorescent lighting.
Today -Friday- we went to a WB sponsored Fair, a contest which featured hundreds of different small project proposals in the fields of health, education, environment, water and infrastructure made by ordinary people. Each of these proposals was simply displayed on a 3x4 poster board and all were set out in a large semicircle in the central square. In the end there were 37 winners of up to $10k. Before we had a look around though we had to stand on the dais while the Prime Minister and then J. made speeches about the hard working Mongolians who participated. Very impressive turnout and I wish they all could have won.
Stone Stoup
The dinner included all the WB staff- that’s about 17 women and 3 men. Several women drank Mongolian tea, a salty blend of green tea and milk (lots) while I stuck to Schweppes. In addition to dumplings, meat turnovers, and pickled vegetables there was the Stone soup-stew, a concoction of mutton, carrots, potatoes, and black rocks which had some kind of magical powers if you held them (if you could, they were greasy and very hot). I almost forgot about the large lasagna-type noodle on the top. Didn't get the recipe.
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