The weather was nice in Ulaanbaatar as the sun rose brilliantly over the surrounding mountains. Heavy clouds were moving in from the distance to warn the bright sky wouldn’t stay too long. We rushed down to be early for breakfast just to find out it was not ready. We sat down and sipped our coffee until it finished; our order still not here. We waited and waited but still has not come out from the kitchen. Usually the hotel serve buffet breakfasts but today it was an a la cart breakfast. As soon as that episode ended we briskly walked to the waiting bus for a day out.
Our first stop was to visit Genghis Khan statue & museum. This one brutal. leader that went on a killing spree in the 12th century was a hero here that united the scattered Mongol tribes to form a nation state.
I stood there to listen to our guide telling us about the history and culture of Mongol people. How the statue is the biggest horse statue in the world and there also stood the biggest boot in the world. I scratched my head and mumbled quietly,”so what?”. As we went through and looked at the ancient pictures on the wall; the hatred started to build up for the devastation that had been done by these people. The Islamic Empires were destroyed along with all the scriptures and knowledge of science and technology. I was heartbroken. sad and disappointed for the ignorant people to rule over the civilised ones and annihilating them all together. The Mongols killed 40 millions people during the course of their warfares. And that includes the destruction of Baghdad the centre of world civilisation at that time.
We left the place with heavy hearts filled with a mixture of anger and frustrations as if we just paid tribute to a killer beast. On the other hand, I felt like a closure of the historical narratives that we learnt in school by being here with his people. So the brutal attacks remained in the history books and the statue stood as a witness that the world never forgets.
As we continued , the gorgeous green landscape accompanied us on both sides of the road. The horses roamed free in the distance and a group of yaks crossed the road to interrupt the traffic. The Turtle Rock was our grief stop before we went for lunch.
The last stop was at a horse ranch for horse riding and eagle holding.
