Gandan Monastery prayer wheel, granny in cowboy hat. Gandan Monastery was one of the only Buddhist temples to remain open during soviet-controlled days. Thankfully, Buddhism (influenced here by Tibetan Buddhism) is making a big comeback to Mongolia.
Mongolian Nomad Horseman runs his flock of sheep in the steppes outside of Ulan Bator Mongolia - Nomadic people move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. Nomads in Mongolia are usually of the pastoral type following seasonally available wild plants and game, moving with them in ways that avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover.
Portrait of a Nomad in her Ger - Nomadic people move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 35 million nomads in the world still today. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic but is increasingly rare in industrialized countries. Nomads in Mongolia are usually of the pastoral type following seasonally available wild plants and game - by far the oldest human subsistence method. Pastoralists raise herds, moving with them in patterns that avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover.
Nomads building a ger, top to bottom taking less than 30 minutes for a new home! Setting up a ger requires this efficiency as nomads regularly move around the country depending on the season, water availability and whether or not they like their neighbors.
Buddhist monasteries are scattered all around and a large Tibetan community resides in the Bodnath area, who make their daily "kora" circling the stupa, twirling prayer wheels as they pass. UNESCO has declared Bodnath a World Heritage Site.
Nomads building a ger, top to bottom taking less than 30 minutes for a new home! Setting up a ger requires this efficiency as nomads regularly move around the country depending on the season, water availability and whether or not they like their neighbors.
Portrait of a Nomad in her Ger - Nomadic people move from one place to another, rather than settling permanently in one location. There are an estimated 35 million nomads in the world still today. Many cultures have traditionally been nomadic but is increasingly rare in industrialized countries. Nomads in Mongolia are usually of the pastoral type following seasonally available wild plants and game - by far the oldest human subsistence method. Pastoralists raise herds, moving with them in patterns that avoid depleting pastures beyond their ability to recover.
Traditional ger or yurts consist of a circular wooden frame carrying a felt cover. The felt is made from the wool of the flocks of sheep that accompany most nomads. The timber to make the external structure is notfound on the treeless steppes so must be bought or traded for in the towns or village. The frame consists of lattice wall sections, a door frame, roof poles and a crown. Some ger have columns to support the crown. The self supporting wood frame is covered with pieces of felt which is then covered with canvas for waterproofing and windproofing.
EARTH Ulan Bator -- 24 Jul 2009 -- Mongolia's capital city of Ulaanbaatar (also Ulan Bator) occupies a valley along the Tuul River. Roughly 1, 350 meters (4,430 feet) above sea level, and over 47 degrees north of the Equator, the city rests atop a sporadic permafrost zone, and ranks among the world?s coldest national capitals. Winters are typically long and dry, and summers are typically short and wet. The Advanced Land Imager (ALI) on NASA's Earth Observing-1 (EO-1) satellite acquired this true-color image on July 24, 2009. Ulaanbaatar lies primarily north of the Tuul River, with just a small settled area south of the river. Most of the city actually lies north of one main thoroughfare that runs from east to west. The city?s blue-roofed market appears north of the roadway. West of the market is the National Amusement Park, known for its artificial lake and castle. Throughout the city, red-orange and blue roofs provide small patches of bright color in a cityscape of earth tones. Along the city?s margins, human habitations dot slopes of nearby hills. Although artifacts indicate human settlement in the area since prehistoric times, the city of Ulaanbaatar wasn?t established in its current place until the late eighteenth century. For roughly 150 years before that time, the city that would become Ulaanbaatar was a mobile monastery and town composed of movable yurts or gers. These portable structures continue to serve as homes today, partly because they do not require digging into the area?s
Barkhor Square is an area of narrow streets and a public square located around Jokhang Monastery in Lhasa. The square has been the most important devotional circumabulation for Tibetan pilgrims for centuries as it still is today. The walk was is about one kilometre long and encircles the entire Jokhang, Most of the tiny alleys have been demolished in recent years and replaced with wider streets and new buildings by the Chinese government.
