8:30 a.m. Time to leave the fabulous Ritz Carlton Hotel. 😦    After breakfast we boarded buses to Osaka airport for our flight to Mongolia.  It was a pretty quick trek through customs and immigration.  You can’t beat NG’s management of airport procedures!
Depart: Osaka, Japan 12:00 p.m.  On board lecture by David Harrison-Mongolian: Three Secrets
Arrive: Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia 4:40 p.m.
Elapsed Time: 4 hours, 40 min.
Meal Service: Lunch
There are 10 of us journeying to Terelj tomorrow.  The majority of the group headed off to the Gobi desert on charter flights once our jet landed.  It was pretty funny watching all of them sap up their final moments of internet/cell phone time at the airport.  They’ll be “going dark” for the next 3 days in the desert.  Upon arrival at the Shangi-La hotel we were warmly welcomed by the staff who draped our necks with silk shawls and distributed cool moist towels to wash our hands and refreshing drinks…..looked like bubbly orange juice.  However, it is the seasonal Mongolian drink to ward off colds and flu.  The Blue welcome scarf signifies clear blue skies and good fortune.

We had a welcome dinner tonight with a guest speaker, Mrs. Oyungerel Tsedevddamdba.  She is the Minister of Culture, Sport & Tourism of Mongolia and a non-staff advisor to the current President of Mongolia, Mr. Tsakhia.  She is also co-founder and director of the Liberty Center, a non-profit that fights for human rights.  She was raised in the country by nomadic parents along with 5 siblings. Mongolian children are sent to boarding school each year and then spend summers with their families.  As there was no way her family could afford to send a child to college, she launched her own campaign to raise funds to go to Stanford.

She casually spoke during dinner and was absolutely fascinating.  Her husband, Jeff, who is American also joined us for dinner and the discussion.  In addition to the many political roles she holds in Mongolia, (which includes running the campaign for one of the current Presidential candidates), she was also the person who spearheaded the effort to get Mongolia’s dinosaur bones returned.  Among the many topics about Mongolian life that Oyungerel shared with us is the story of her coming to America to go to school and hearing about how long and expensive the Presidential campaigns are in the USA.  The Presidential campaign in Mongolia is done in 18 days and with very little budget!  She has been instrumental in many human rights endeavors and active in the area of women’s rights.  We would not be surprised to see her name come up as a future Presidential candidate in Mongolia.

http://www.slate.com/articles/health_and_science/new_scientist/2014/09/mongolia_dinosaur_fossils_oyungerel_tsevedvamba_fights_poaching_of_stolen.html

We asked about the numerous stalled building construction sites that we noticed on the drive from the airport.  She told us about Mongolian economics  and the financial depression that they experienced in 2008 and are just now very slowly recovering from.

Dinner at the Shangri-La was fabulous.  The doors to our lecture room opened and 2 chefs came in wheeling carts with Peking Duck that they expertly sliced and then served with steamed pancakes and vegetable dishes.  All 14 of our group were seated at a giant round table that had the world’s largest lazy susan in the middle so you could easily rotate and share the dishes.  Shangri-La hotel is ***** all the way!
Overnight: Shangri-La Ulaanbaatar                                1 USD = 2400 Mongolian Tugrik

Lobby at Shangri-La

Tyrannosaurus bataar, a 70-million-year-old dinosaur, goes on display in Ulan Bator, Mongolia, in 2013.

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