Chinggis Khaan

Like I mentioned in another post, Robert and Taylor's adventure consisted of being flown to tour the thrid largest mine (copper and gold) for two days and one night. Since Cameron was too young to attend the official mine tour, we were being treated to our very own adventure, an overnight in Gorkhi-Terelj National Park complete with horseback riding and a night in a traditional Ger (will explain later).
On the way out of town we stopped to see Chinggis Khaan. This newly built monument of the great Mongolian ruler glistened in the sunlight upon approach. It's the largest stainless steel statue of its kind in the world. He and his horse stand 131 feet tall upon a beautifully designed building complete with marble, granite, chandeliers and a grand staricase plus, a larger than life replica of a traditional Mongolian boot.

We walked out on the horses mane to enjoy the panoramic view of the landscape and turned around to find Chinggis staring right at us.

When construction of the whole complex is finished visitors will be able to rent traditional gers and have a family holiday complete with a golfing, spa treatments and a variety of outdoor activities.

I read in brochure given to me that the developers hope this monument becomes to Mongolia what the Statue of Liberty is to the United States, the Eiffel Tower is to France, The Great Wall for the Chinese, etc, you get the idea.

A little further down the road our guide informes us that we will be stopping so we can enjoy a ride on a camel. A camel?!? I thought we were horseback riding. The camel was a fun add on our hosts thought we would enjoy. All I have to say is that camels are the funniest creatures I have seen to date. Seated between the two humps Ryan and Cameron enjoyed their first camel ride. My turn was next. Since there were two camels Ryan asked if he could ride again with me. His camel made quite a stink about going again so soon upon returning from an exhausting, long 10 minute journey. Everytime the owner would pull the reigns or smack his rear, he would let out a terrible moan that was easily interpreted as "Nooooooo". After three minutes of defiance, yes three minutes, he finally obeyed, got up and took Ryan for another ride. We all got a good laugh out of that escapade and our camel rides.