Mongolia

1973 Mongolian Space Stamps

September 10, 2010

They’re Mongolian, they’re from 1973, they feature fantastic illustrations of Russian and US space missions and we found them in a tiny stamp shop in Istanbul. There’s not one thing about these stamps that isn’t awesome!

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“Is this enough fat?”: Travels in Mongolia

February 15, 2010

We’d been in Mongolia for about 36 hours and were sitting on footstools around a small, low table inside a ger. My wrist was starting to ache and Anjel had developed a blister on her right index finger from the large cleaver. We were getting tired, but there was a large pile of still-frozen mutton […]

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Mongol Money and Multiple Writing Systems

January 11, 2010

The Mongolian currency is the Togrog. The exchange rate is roughly 1470 Togrog to 1 US Dollar. Throughout most of Europe, thanks to the prevalence of €2 coins, it’s pretty easy to have a pocket full of change that adds up to more than $30. As an American, where a pocket full of change is […]

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Historical Context: Mongols and Christopher Columbus

July 15, 2009

I recently finished reading “Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford, a fantastic book on the history of Genghis Khan and the Mongols. As with all empires, the Mongol dynasty had its high point and its eventual collapse – and just like Rome (and other empires) the Mongol dynasty had […]

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Historical Context: Mongols and Assassins

May 27, 2009

In preparation for our time in Mongolia, we’ve listened to the audio book of “Genghis Khan: Emperor of All Men” by Harold Lamb and have almost finished reading “Genghis Khan and the Making of the Modern World” by Jack Weatherford. Both are great books, though I would recommend Weatherford’s over Lamb’s. That may be due […]

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