Yesterday our North Korean engineers invited us to join them supporting their national soccer team playing Mongolia in their first round qualifier match.
The Koreans had lots of support from migrant workers here in Mongolia and we sat with them in the bleachers. Before the game their cheer leader (lady in pink cap at bottom right of picture) had them singing and waving red flags.
Security was tight with men in riot gear standing along the sidelines, closely watching the crowd and glaring at the Koreans whenever they cheered their side, which was often as they dominated the game.
By half-time the score was 3-0 in favour of North Korea. Although the Mongolians did manage to score one goal in the second half they were no match for the visitors, and the final score was 4.1.
The game ended without incident but this old fire truck was standing by, presumably this was the water cannon for riot control.
Last Saturday we had our first snowfall, but Sunday was a beautiful sunny day and we headed out into the countryside again. We stopped for a picnic lunch near this huge Ovoo.
This is Wikipedia’s explanation of an ovoo……………
An ovoo (Mongolian: овоо, heap) is a type of shamanistic rock cairn found in Mongolia. Ovoos are often found at the top of mountains and high places and at borders and cross-roads. They serve as both navigational aids in a country with few roads and fewer signs, and religious sites, used in worship of the mountains and the sky as well as in Buddhist ceremonies.
Travelers in Mongolia should not pass by an ovoo without stopping. They are expected to stop and circle the ovoo three times in a clockwise direction. They should pick up a rock from the ground and add it to the pile before leaving. Also, travelers may leave offerings in the form of money, milk, or vodka.
Ovoos are also used in mountain- and sky-worshipping ceremonies that typically take place at the end of summer. Worshippers place a tree branch or stick in the ovoo and tie a blue khadag, a ceremonial silk scarf symbolic of the open sky, to the branch.[1] (Khadags should not be removed.)[2] They then light a fire and make food offerings, followed by a ceremonial dance and prayers (worshippers sitting at the northwest side of the ovoo), and a feast with the food left over from the offering.
During Mongolia’s Communist period, ovoo worship was officially prohibited along with other forms of religion, but people still worshipped clandestinely.
After lunch we continued on to have a look at another derelict hotel complex from the Russian era - could this be our next project?
Yesterday we went off to the countryside again with Chinbat and Naran, this time to watch the filming of a new movie about Gengis Khan. It was a beautiful (although long) drive and the weather was perfect, a sunny 18C day which is very unusual for the end of September.
the 13th century settlement, about to be attacked…..
Take two…….
what the actors do when not on the set,
and watching some of the takes in the editing room.
