The Land of Big Sky: A Week in Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia

And so the Trans-Siberian railroad trip has begun! First stop, Mongolia!

Fortunately, with enough advanced planning, we were able to get hard-sleeper tickets for our 27 hour trip to Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia. This train ride was rather uneventful with the exception of what can be considered - only in retrospect -  funny. Lesson learned: At the border crossing between China and Mongolia if  you exit the train you will have to remain at the station for several hours.  This small (but important) fact had alluded us.  Unfortunately, as the train pulled away, Kelly found herself locked in a nearly empty station in only her long underwear and a pair of slippers,  holding duty-free snacks and our last remaining yuen (because her passport had been taken by customs for processing). After many frantic moments using universal hand signals while trying to relay "I am supposed to be on that train/My friend was left at the station", we learned that Mongolia and China use different tracks, which requires all of the train's wheels to be replaced at the border crossing. Once the wheels are changed, the train rolls back to the station where duty free shoppers who had exited the train are allowed to reboard.

We made it to Ulaanbaatar - and were greeted by highs of -10 and lows of -45. Never have we experienced this type of cold and we quickly learned the phrase "extreme tourism" to describe our ventures around the city. We were able to spend only 10-15 minutes outside before we had frozen toes and fingers and feelings of frostbite in our faces - even when it was entirely covered.  Our host in Mongolia taught us that at the beginning of January, Mongolian's begin to measure weeks in 9 day stretches - each colder than the last. The nine day stretch in which we were in Mongolia was the 4th stretch and the coldest. However, he also taught us "Cold is not a problem for us.  We are happy to feel that human;  the nature is our God!"

In the background of this photo is Ulaanbaatar's Parliament building. Sitting on the steps of Parliament is Mongolia's main man, Chinggis Khaan (in the west known as Genghis Khaan). Although he is often regarded as a bloodthirsty barbarian because of his mass conquests across Asia (at one time controlling the entire region from modern day Europe to the Pacific Ocean), in Mongolia he is a national hero. Opinion of Chinggis Khaan is changing around the world as more is learned about his diplomacy. In addition to being a skilled warrior, he is credited with creating Mongolia's first written law and the first form of written script. As for ruling his people, he allowed religious freedom - a rarity at the time. He was voted by both Time Magazine and the Washington Post to be the "Man of the Millenium."

We were incredibly lucky to befriend Begzsuren Jamsranjav HarUhert and his wonderful family. They hosted us at their lovely home in the Ger District of Ulaanbaatar. In the US we know Gers as "yurts". In Mongolia, Gers are a very traditional form of housing and are the norm in the countryside where the people still live nomadically. Ulaanbaatar did not move from nomadic culture until about 300 years ago. 

When in doubt and stumped by a language barrier, always go with Michael Jackson...

From the warmth of their Ger, we learned a great deal about Ulaanbaatar. We compiled a short film about the Ger District, Mongolian food, music and dancing....

(Special Thanks to Mungulung, Gaadmaa, Menojin and Toto for their performances)

We had a lot to learn from Begz and his family. During our time in Mongolia, we tried our best to assist with some of the daily household chores, though we were quick to learn that our lifestyle and theirs are vastly different.  One afternoon we accompnied Begz up to the mountain to help feed the cows. Begz and his family rely on the cows for milk (a huge staple of the Mongolian diet) and, eventually, for meat. 

On Saturday, we attended the daily Buddhist prayer service at the Gandan Monastery. The predominant religion in Mongolia is Tibetan Buddhism. The Gandan is one of the only monasteries to escape the communist purges of the 1930s. Josef Stalin ordered the destruction of all temples and in the process over 15,000 Lamas were killed. . In addition to photos, we were able to capture a small amount of footage of a  service in one of the many temples in the Monastery.

Buddhist prayer wheels surround the Gandan Monastery...

As do pigeons....

We also had the privilege to meet with several human rights workers fighting to improve issues that are fundamental to Mongolia's success as a developing democracy:  the right to protest the government, policing, prisons and access to public libraries. In the next several days we will be posting a four part video series on human rights in Mongolia.  

"Help, I Don't Want to Die - Please Don't Kill Me": Capital Punishment in Asia

According to the United Nations, as of 2008, 141 countries had abolished the death penalty. Only 56 countries still allow the death penalty; however, of those that still allow it, only 18 actually performed executions in 2009. In the countries where the death penalty has been abolished, there is no evidence to suggest that crime rates raised or lowered following abolition - it simply had no impact on criminal acitivity.

Huge strides to end the death penalty have been occurring across Asia over the last several years. South Korea has been execution free for 10 years. On January 1, 2011 Russia's Constitutional Court ordered a stop to all executions. Most recently,  on January 5 of this year, after the President of Mongolia declared a moratorium on executions in 2010, the Mongolian Parliament ratified the second optional provision of the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights. This protocol instructs the ratifying country to cease all executions and take the necessary steps to fully abolish the death penalty.

Although the world is moving away from the death penalty, it is estimated that China performed over 5000 executions in 2009. As in the United States, the vast majority of people facing execution in Asia are poor and cannot afford proper legal representation.

Fortunately, in 2007, China instituted a sentencing option called the 'sinhuan' which requires that all death penalty cases go to the Supreme Court for review before an execution is carried out. This order has cut the number of executions in half. Further, in March of 2007, the head of the Chinese delegation to the Human Rights Council stated, "we are seeking to limit the application of the death penalty in China...I am confident that with the development and progress in my country, the application of the death penalty will be further reduced and it will finally be abolished".

Although President Barrack Obama has stated that he believes the death penalty is appropriate in certain cases, he has also acknowledged the fact that the criminal justice system in the United States is broken and applied unfairly. To date, neither China or the United States have ratified the International Covenant on Civil and Political Rights (ICCPR) or any of its optional protocols.

The main provisions of the ICCPR also order that no child shall be sentenced to life without the possibility of parole.