Escape from Ulaanbaatar

This weekend I took the trip up to Darkhan for a quick break (eagle-eyed blog watchers will know that I have been to Darkhan twice before). What a break it was! It was so good to be able to get out of the city and get away from all the traffic and pollution. In Darkhan the air was clear, and the city was (almost) free of noise. It was possible to hear birds singing! The icing on the cake was that during my stay I was being looked after by my Filipino friends, who really know how to take care of people. Their hospitality (and cooking!) gets five stars. The only shame is that two of them are soon to finish their time here in Mongolia, and will be going back home. Hopefully we’ll keep in touch.

Rob, speaker extraordinaire- Last Thursday I had the priviledge of being invited to talk at the Amnesty Mongolia all-members meeting. AI Mongolia asked me to talk about Amnesty in the UK. The audience was pretty interested to hear about the situation in the UK, and had some good questions for me. I talked about Amnesty's membership in the UK, and the controversial issues that surround the movement at the moment. I was one of two speakers, sharing a platform with a former Mongolian diplomat - not bad going I think! I feel very honoured.

VSO volunteers evacuated from Kenya – Due to the increasing troubles in Kenya, VSO has taken the decision to evacuate all of its volunteers in the nation, until things calm down a bit (see http://www.vso.org.uk/vso_withdraws_volunteers_from_kenya.asp for more details). This news has a particular impact on me, as I was first allocated to go on a placement to Kenya, before eventually settling for Mongolia. It could have been me being evacuated at the moment! Whilst I’m sure there would be exciting sides to this experience, having my family constantly worrying and watching the news for updates on the situation is something I wouldn’t want to put them through. Elections take place in Mongolia later this year, but we shouldn’t have similar difficulties here (fingers crossed)…

Preparing for Tsagaan Saar – this coming weekend will be Mongolian New Year, so everyone is getting ready for the big celebrations. People are stocking up their houses with lots of treats, and those that have families in the countryside will soon leave Ulaanbaatar for their homes. I’m lucky enough to have been invited to visit two families over this special period, and will report back my experiences in the next edition.

Best wishes from a festive Mongolia,

Robert