Demystifying Mongolia (Part 2): More of Mongolia, the VIP Treatment, and the XIII Asian Youth Council General Assembly

- May 18-20, 2015, Monday to Wednesday.

- Taking off from part 1 (click here) of my Mongolian adventures, I was more than eager to see what else Mongolia had to offer. My curiosity has been tickled just after one day of going around Ulaanbaatar, the capital city of (outer) Mongolia.

- During my second morning in Ulaanbaatar, I woke up at 6am, bathed and dressed myself in full Mongolian style. I rushed off to the nearby Sukhbaatar Square, while the sun wasn't too strong, and while there weren't many people walking through the square. After around 2 hours of shooting, and battling the rapidly rising sun and the unpredictable wind, I was able to leisurely examine the statues in front of the Parliament House and the square, apart from the seated Chinggis Khan in the middle. When one faces the Chinggis Khan statue, the person seated to his far right is Kublai Khan, the grandson of Chinggis Khan who founded the Yuan Dynasty in China. To Chinggis Khan's far left, is Ogedei Khan, one of Chinggis Khan's sons, who expanded the Mongolian Empire in all directions.

Wearing my heavy Mongolian attire in front of Chinggis Khan.

With my camera zoomed out. 

Kublai Khan.

Ogedei Khan.

- In front of the Parliament House stands the majestic statue of Damdin Sukhbaatar, Mongolia's "Father of Revolution," riding a horse. As for the Sukhbaatar Square itself, the vast open area is a multipurpose venue for everything, from concerts, weddings, graduations, to political and diplomatic purposes (like Narendra Modi's welcoming.)

The statue of Damdin Sukhbaatar at the Sukhbaatar Square.

Still with my costume.

Giant tarps of our assembly on one of the buildings.

- I rushed back to Ulaanbaatar Hotel to change my clothes, pack my things, eat breakfast, and checkout. I walked from Ulaanbaatar Hotel eastward to Chinggis Khan Hotel, the venue of the XIII Asian Youth Council General Assembly. My meals and accommodations during the assembly/forum was shouldered by the conference organizers. Also, the friendly volunteers and the organizers (from the Mongolian Youth Federation) themselves were very hospitable, and made sure that the delegates' needs were met as much as they could.

The wrestling palace, on the way to Chinggis Khan Hotel.

Chinggis Khan Hotel.

- Chinggis Khan Hotel is a newer (and more properly-labeled) 5-star hotel in Ulaanbaatar, and has a two-story department store connected to it. The department store is called Sky Department Store. I ate lunch with some of the other delegates, and had some alone time in Sky Department Store. Later on, I met my roommate Nuring from Indonesia, and he told me that he and some Malaysians would be joining a free afternoon city tour prepared by the organizers, I joined Nuring and the some delegates and VIPs from Southeast Asia. As early as my first hour in the conference venue, I realized that not all Asian countries were able to send youth delegates, and many of the delegates I saw or encountered were officers or heads of youth ministries or youth commissions from various countries; this made me feel the "degree of importance" of the whole event even more. (I had a hunch too when I realized that probably the whole of Mongolia knows about our event.) Other than the VIP participants and guests, the assembly had a large number of participants. Because of this, the participants were separated into two hotels. Half was assigned to our hotel, and the other half in Hotel Nine. This was the reason why I was not able to encounter or mingle a lot with most of the delegates even when I wanted to.

- We spent the rest of the afternoon in Sukhbaatar Square. Our Mongolian youth volunteers helped us identity some of the Russian-style buildings that surrounded the Sukhbaatar Square. Later on, they accompanied us to the State Department Store before bringing us back to the hotel for dinner.

The City Hall of Ulaanbaatar.

With our Mongolian youth volunteers.

Central Cultural Palace (left) and the State Opera and Ballet Academic Theater (right.)

Parliament House.

People like to bike around the square.

ASEAN delegates and our volunteers.

A closer shot of the giant tarps.

The flag of Mongolia on top of the Parliament House.

In our hotel.

- The second day of the event, which was actually our first "working" day was the most tiring day of my whole stay in Mongolia. In the morning all the delegates had an early courtesy call to the Parliament House, which meant that all of us were treated as presidential guests.

Our bus driver's bejeweled stirring wheel.

Entering the side gate of the Parliament House.

- Inside the main auditorium, we were welcomed by an ensemble performance by Jonon Mongolian National Music Band, accompanied by some Mongolians, dressed in traditional attires, ceremonially offering khadaks to us. The khadak is a type of scarf used in Tibetan and Tibetan-influenced societies (like Mongolia,) and is commonly offered, literally or ceremonially, as a sign of respect.

Heehee, the Philippine flag beside the Indian flag. Brings so much joy to me. Heehee. 

At the second floor.

The ensemble and the khadak offering, 

- The whole morning was spent listening to great speakers. The most important speaker, of course, was Mr. Elbegdorj Tsakhia, who was none other than the president of Mongolia. Other important speakers of the morning were Mr. Altansukh Ochirbat (General Secretary of the Mongolian Youth Federation,) Mr. Azizuddin Ahmad (Executive Secretary of the Asian Youth Council,) Mr. Jee Se Sun (Asian Youth Council Vice President, and World Assembly of Youth Executive Committee Member,) Ms. Sezin Sinanoglu (UN Resident Coordinator and UNDP Resident Representative,) Mr. Erdene Sodnomzundui (Minister for Population Development and Social Protection,) and Mr. Munkhbat Ayush (President of Mongolian Youth Federation and Vice President of the World Assembly of Youth.) They all voiced out that the youth is not only the hope of the future, but the hope of today. They encouraged the youth to be more aware and be more active in dealing with the society, because the youth is an asset and the "driving force" in the society. This is also one reason why I sometimes join youth fora, to learn from my fellow youth about the issues affecting the youth around the world, or how the youth in different countries are being mobilized to create change.

Mr. Altansukh Ochirbat, General Secretary of the Mongolian Youth Federation.

Mr. Elbegdorj Tsakhia, President of Mongolia.

Mr. Azizuddin Ahmad, Evecutive Secretary of the Asian Youth Council,

Mr. Jee Se Sun, Asian Youth Council Vice President, and World Assembly of Youth Executive Committee Member.

Ms. Sezin Sinanoglu, UN Resident Coordinator, and UNDP REsident Representative.

Mr. Erdene Sodnomzundui, Minister of Population Development and Social Protection.

The stage. 

A lot of media people swarming the morning session.

Mr. Munkhbat Ayush, President of the Mongolian Youth Federation, and Vice President of the World Assembly of Youth.

The stage, again.

Mural outside the auditorium.

- After the morning session, we walked to the front of the Parliament House in Sukhbaatar Square to have some official photographs taken. Before the photo session, we had to first line up in groups of 10. When the traditional drum music was played through the speakers, each line had to march up the stairs, and bow to the seated Chinggis Khan statue. This seems to be a common practice for official guests of Mongolia. When all the groups of 10 have bowed to Chinggis Khan, we did our photo session. This time, I was inside the barricade, not outside (check part 1 for barricade reference; click here.)

Guards geared in their ceremonial costumes for us.

One of the guards protecting Chinggis Khan.

The line of delegates in front of mine. We all had to bow.

Gotta love that costume.

Finished bowing!!

They're really supposed to pose like that.

A photo with the guard while I was wearing my conference jacket.

Wit the guards and Chinggis Khan.

Our first official photo. I'm somewhere in the top-right side.

Out fantastic photographers on top of a building. Why are they wayyyyy up there?? Look at the next photo.

Tada!! Our "One Asia" photo, with the Sukhbaatar Square and the Parliament House. I'm near the lower-left corner of the final "A."

Can't get enough of the Parliament House.

Chinggis Khan.

The Mongolian national emblem on the Parliament House's gates.

- We had lunch inside the Parliament House, and after which we were driven back to the hotel to have our afternoon sessions for the assembly. There were five simultaneous sessions that occurred in the afternoon, with each tackling a different sector: education, employment, health and gender, youth's role in the sustainable development goals, and youth policies and programmes. I was assigned to the session on youth policies and programmes. The goal of the panel session was to improve the declarations on youth policies and programmes that are involved with the environment of youth, investments in youth, and resources for the youth. I contributed to the discussion by voicing out the concerns of indigenous youth, and that they are extremely marginalized by the government, so much so that many indigenous youth do not have a "good" living environment (take note of quotation marks.) By wanting to move away or taking on more contemporary interests due to lack of strong and policies and programmes that improve the living conditions of the indigenous youth, this threatens the survival of the indigenous groups and their heritages. I wanted to seek various youth associations and the government for the creation of stronger policies and programmes to improve the lives of the indigenous youth.

The panelists facilitating our panel on youth policies and programmes.

Yay Philippines!!

Saw this in our hotel room. You got to be kidding me. :)) :)) :)) :))

- We all had around an hour to rest before going to our cocktail dinner at The Corporate Hotel & Convention Centre. The dinner was hosted by Mongolian Prime Minister Saikhanbileg Chimed. Throughout the evening, our reception was filled with cultural performances by award-winning Mongolian performers. Needless to say, one of the highlights of the night was being serenaded by the group Khusugtun. The group Khusugtun was the runner up for the first edition of "Asia's Got Talent." The group combines traditional instruments and Mongolian throat singing. Mongolian throat singing is a high-level vocal technique that uses semitones and head tones. Mongolia seems to have perfected this technique, so much so that the art of Mongolian throat singing, or "khoomei," has become part of UNESCO's list of intangible heritages. I've heard Mongolian throat singing many times before, only through the internet though, but Khusugtun gave me my first live experience of Mongolian throat singing. I realized that Mongolian throat singing live has this hypnotic factor when heard live. Just after the first note, I understood why they were one of the winners of Asia's Got Talent.

The face of Chinggis Khan on one of the faraway hills. 

For dinner.

OMG KHUSUTGTUN!!!!

- Other cultural performances included Mongolian dancing, acrobatics, a fashion show, ensemble performances, a Mongolian zither performance, and various vocal numbers. During the continuous performance, I also got to meet Mr. Sol William Padua, assistant to the consul of the Philippine consul to Mongolia. He was the first Filipino I've met in Mongolia, and needless to say I was extremely happy to have found a "kababayan" in Mongolia.

Thank you, I feel welcomed.

A modernized ethnic dance.

It has shamanistic origins.

Vocal number.

An ensemble number.

She's called Mongolia's "harp queen."

They got a medal an a certain international competition for contortionists (can't remember which one, oops.)

Met Mr. Sol Padua, assistant to the Philippine consul to Mongolia. 

Mongolian haute couture.

Another vocal number.

Delegates getting wild.

Mongolian vodka by an orange candle.

Someone's house from far away. Looks calming.

- The following morning, four simultaneous events were to be held: the closing session, the Youth Business Forum, the Northeast Asian Youth Symposium, and the tree-planting/bicycle-riding event. Due to some last-minute changes, not everyone was informed that the closing session was cancelled, so those who wanted to attend the closing session had the option to attend the other fora and events. Since not all of them happened in our hotel, and transportation to those locations have already gone, I stayed in my hotel to fix my things. Later on, some of the delegates who were not informed about the cancellation of the closing ceremony gathered in the lobby, and decided to ask some of the volunteers to accompany them to Naran Tuul Market, so those that would be leaving immediately after the assembly could do some last minute shopping. More of us joined them, and so I got to visit Naran Tuul Market again for a second time. I found that as a blessing since I really wanted to buy a Mongolian-motif vest that I saw during my first visit, but decided not to buy it. I knew that I really wanted the vest when the vest wouldn't stop crossing my mind. I initially planned to go to Naran Tuul during my extra days in Ulaanbaatar, but because some my co-delegates wanted to go to Naran Tuul, I tagged along, so I can find my vest.

A photo of Chinggis Khan in our hotel....Chinggis Khan Hotel.

Inside the roofed area of Naran Tuul Market.

- Mongolian volunteer Mika accompanied us through the maze-like market, and I eventually found my vest for a bargain. The other delegates were also able to find what they were looking for, so we were all happy by the end of the morning. We rushed back to Chinggis Khan Hotel to have lunch, and off we participants went a hundred kilometers south of Ulaanbaatar to the countryside in Tsonjin Boldog, Erdene, Tov Province. Tsonjin Boldog is home to the great Genghis (Chinggis) Khan Equestrian Statue, a giant steel statue of Chinggis Khan with a small museum on the Mongolian Empire. (Photos are prohibited in the museum.)

Mongolia has a love of velvet mountains. 

Ger camps outside Ulaanbaatar.

Mammals in Mongolia have fabulous fur. 

Mongolia has rocky mountains too. Reminds me of Greece's meteora. (Click here.) 

The Great Equestrian Statue of Chinggis Khan.

Our welcoming committee.

The mandatory tourist selfie.

It reflects a lot of sunlight.

Our welcoming muses in the museum.

A three-story boot.

Another welcoming muse.

The 4 great "khans."

Standing on the horse's mane.

Mandatory tourist selfie again.

Front view of the statue.

Another mandatory tourist selfie.

With my Mongolian friend Gantsooj.

- Within the statue complex are various activities for guests, like horseback riding or archery. As for us, the organizers prepared a "mini-Naadam" festival for us. Naadam is a summer festival in Mongolia held in July that celebrates three men's games: wrestling, horse racing, and archery. For us, the mini-Naadam that we saw mostly featured Mongolian wrestling with some cultural performances at the side. I also got to try archery, and even though I was bad at it I liked the experience a lot.

One of the most Mongolian photos I took from the trip.

Mongolian long song.

4 Horsemen of....Mongolia.

Traditional dancing.

Mongolian wrestling!! He's doing a falcon pose as a ritual before wrestling.

Let's get it on!!

Finally done.

A very very cute kid wearing a deel.

His cheeks are to die for.

The kid's mom has a ger with costume rentals; the equestrian statue can be seen at the back.

Wearing the vest I bought at Naraan Tuul in the morning.

I swear all babies in Mongolia are round and red-cheeked.

Inside a ger.

Mongolia's camel.

The wind made the camel and me have the same hairstyle.

I like archery, but I suck at it.

I'm left-handed by the way.

A Mongolian ensemble.

Awarding for the horse competition.

Last look of the steel equestrian statue.

Why did the cow cross the street?? To get to the other side.

- We went back to Ulaanbaatar after the visit in Tsonjin Boldog, and prepared ourselves for our closing dinner. We had to dress up in our national costumes. The dinner was located in our hotel.

With Mr. Sol Padua.

Of course.

With other delegates.

Our declaration being read to us. Couldn't hear since there was too much chatter.

Mr. Padua with Mr. Munkhbat Ayush from MYF and WAY.

With Korean delegates Bo Ram and Hyeon Jin.

With Transbaikal-Russian delegates Dmitry and Katerina.

With Transbaikal-Russian delegate Irina.

With Afghan delegate Meqdad.

With my Indonesian roommate Nuring.

- Three days in the assembly whizzed by, and personally I thought we could have had more days to discuss the issues affecting the youth more thoroughly. However, I feel thankful for the organizers not only allowing us to have this kind of event to discuss serious matters, but also for allowing us to see and experience the tip of the iceberg of Mongolia's beauty. As for me, I still had two extra days to explore Ulaanbaatar on foot. Part 3 of this adventure will conclude my Mongolian adventures. Click here for Part 3, the concluding post of my Mongolian adventures.