On my second trip my colleague and friend Naba invited me to visit the Genghis Khan memorial.
The Memorial is a 40 metre tall statue of Genghis Khan on horseback, on the bank of the Tuul River at Tsonjin Boldog, 54 km east of Ulaanbaatar, where according to legend, he found a golden whip. The statue is pointed east towards Khentii his birthplace.
The statue sits on top of the Genghis Khan Statue Complex, a visitor centre with 36 columns representing the 36 khans from Genghis to Ligdan Khan.
The visitors walk to the head of the horse where they can have a panoramic view of the valley. There is a lot of construction going on in the area. The main statue area will be surrounded by 200 gers some already installed and arranged like the pattern of the horse brand markets that were used by the 13th century Mongol tribes.
The museums have two exhibitions. One relating to the Bronze Age and Xiongnu archaeological cultures in Mongolia, which show everyday utensils, belt buckles, knives, sacred animals, etc. The second exhibition on the Great Khan period in the 13 and 14th centuries which has ancient tools, goldsmith subjects and some Nestorian crosses and rosaries.
I was told that the statue will be surrounded by an army of Mongol warriors on horseback and for a fee you can get your face sculptured as one of the warriors. If it ever be completed will compete with the Terracotta Army of China.
I visited the Memorial with Naba, his wife Dawaa and brother Nara and thoroughly enjoy the trip. I had the opportunity to see a bit of the countryside along the Tuul river valley and enjoyed the company of a wonderful family.
The statue of Genghis is made of stainless steel and it hits you as you approach the area. The day we visited the temperature was a balmy -28 degrees C with snow and wind blowing through the valley.
I took off my balaclava for the photos and almost froze to death in the few seconds that I was exposed to the weather. My Mongol friends laughed at my troubles because for them the weather was not that bad.
Lunch was a delicious typical Mongol meal. Mongolian food is spiced very much the same way the Portuguese do and therefore there was nothing in their cuisine that I didn’t like.
The Museum at the Statue Complex is very well laid out and maintained with lots of interesting exhibits. It was a pity that time was limited and I did not have the chance to digest all that information.
Genghis Khan Memorial
At the lookout
Wind blown snow
