Mongolia Itinerary 02 July – 19 July 2016

This faculty-led learning opportunity in Ulan Baatar and surrounding country side of Mongolia will introduce students to Traditional Mongolian Medicine (TMM). Prior to travel to Mongolia, students will meet with the instructor, complete readings on blackboard and participate in on line discussions about Traditional Mongolian Medicine. Didactic content will include an introduction TMM: examine historical, environmental, social, and political forces that impact the health of Mongolians. Once in Mongolia, students will be immersed in the life and culture of Mongolians. Students will have an opportunity to learn from healers, doctors & nurses of TMM with visits to hospitals, clinics, nursing school and rural health clinics.

Duration: days, nights Accommodation: 9 nights in hotel, 9 nights in selected ger-camps.

Flight from USA July 1, 2016Day 1. Saturday, 02 Jul/ Arrival Upon your arrival in Ulaanbaatar (UB), your English speaking guide will warmly welcome you, and check you in to your hotel for the overnight rest. According to the schedule of arrival, dinner at a local restaurant.Day 2. Sunday, 03 Jul/ City Tour (70 km) Acclimate to the city and elevation. Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. After buffet breakfast at your hotel, the city tour of UB takes you through some of the principal sights of this unique city. Visit the Chinggis Khaan square, National History museum; and Zaisan Hill for observation. Lunch and dinner are in a local restaurant.Day 3 – 7, Monday - Friday, 4 July – 8 July Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Meet Dr. Boldsaikan, visit Traditional Mongolian Medicine practitioners at hospitals, clinics, nursing school and rural health clinics. Students will observe and experience pulse diagnosis, assessments of the tongue, eye beds, urine, lifestyle, diet, and relationships. Treatments include spiritual practices (meditation, yoga and chi gong), lifestyle changes, dietary changes, energy therapy, massage, herbal medicine & tinctures, and acupuncture. Students will observe the integration of TTMM and western medicine.

Afternoon visits to Gandan Monastery, Choijin Lama Monastery & Museum, Bogd Khaan’s Winter Palace Museum; Choijin Lama Temple Museum, Mongolian National Modern Art Gallery, Central Museum of Mongolian Dinosaurs, and Centre of Shaman Eternal Heavenly Sophistication home of resident shaman Zorigtbaatar. Monday – Thursday overnight stay in hotel. Friday night, overnight stay is in the ger camp located in Terelj National Park.Days 8, Saturday, 09 July Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Have a breakfast at the camp and enjoy the tour in Terelj. Experience a horseback ride with protection equipment for an hour. Then we will visit Mongolian nomadic family of Khalkha ethnic group to explore their lifestyle. Lunch is in Terelj ger camp and short resting time follows. Then hiking to Aryabal Temple will take around 1 hour hiking in the nature. Aryabal Temple is one of the noteworthy temples of ancient Tibetan Buddhist design which is famous as its Manchu Gunj’s story tale. Along the way interesting rock formations such as Turtle rock, and praying lama rocks are present. Day 9, Sunday, 10 JulyCreate a nature mandala and participate in a Fire Ceremony Overnight stay is in the ger camp located in Terelj National Park.Day 10, Monday, 11 Jul/ Naadam Festival Opening Ceremony

Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Attend the opening ceremony of the Naadam Festival at the Central Stadium in Ulaanbaatar. Have street gourmet lunch beside the stadium. Along with Mongolian cultural performances, enjoy two competitions of the three manly sports: wrestling and archery. Observations of individual, family and community health. Dinner and overnight stay in ger camp near the horse racing field. Day 11. /12 Jul/ Horse racing in Hui Doloon Khudag Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. One of the three manly sports: horse races are held in an open-space field, in Hui Doloon Khudag – 20 km west of the Ulaanbaatar. In the nomadic culture, horses are essential in everyday life and herders train special ones from their herd for long races. Surprisingly to other cultures, the jockeys of the Naadam horse races are children of 5-12 years age. Observations of individual, family and community health. Lunch of the day is traditional Khuushuur made in the ger-restaurants beside the race field. Dinner and overnight in a ger camp. Day 12 /13 Jul/ Nomadic show and Khustai National Park (90 km) Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. After breakfast in the camp, drive in direction of Khustai Nature Reserve, 80 km west of Hui Doloon Khudag. On the way, enjoy “Nomadic show” from 10:00-12:00pm. The show briefly introduces you to the ways of Mongolian Nomads’ life. Have lunch in a traditional way. Then after riding for a while, explore the Khustai Nature Reserve by watching a short documentary on the Mongolian “takhi” wild horses and observing the last true wild Takhi/Przewalski horse in the field. Observations of individual, family and community health. After having a dinner, get back to Ulaanbaatar, and rest overnight at your hotel. Day13. /14 Jul/ Tsagaan Nuur soum Khuvsgul province (280 km) Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Have a buffet breakfast at the hotel and take a flight to Murun, capital of Huvsgul province. Short domestic flight allows you to bend distance of 680 km in just above hour and a half. The driver will pick you up from the Murun airport, and start to Tsagaan Nuur soum, located in the far north of Khuvsgul province. Lunch on the way and dinner is when you arrive in the ger camp. It is a small town where majority of the residents are of Tsaatan ethnic group. Observations of individual, family and community health. Overnight in a ger camp. Day 14. /15 Jul/ Taiga (75 km) Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. After breakfast, begin the journey in direction of Taiga, up until the point where vehicle can take you. Furthermore, the travel continues on horseback through the woods. About two hours later, we arrive in the Tsaatan family home, with large herd of reindeers, and tent housing. There,

greet the host and meet the family, and learn about their distinct culture, lifestyle and health care needs throughout the day. Dinner and overnight is with the Tsaatan household.Day 15. /16 Jul/ Khuvsgul Lake (325 km) Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Say your goodbyes to the Tsaatan family, and go down to the Tsagaan Nuur soum from the Taiga. From there, continue your journey to the Khuvsgul Lake, known as Mongolia's "dark blue pearl and Darkhad valley. Khuvsgul Lake is a fresh water lake in the high mountain area in northern Mongolia. People in Huvsgul most commonly practice shamanism. The shamanism rituals are based on the view that besides the visible world, the shaman interacts with many other worlds or universes, and that contacting the spirits is an important part of shamans’ work with poetic invocation, music, dance, and creative arts. Observations of individual, family and community health.Around evening, settle in the camp by the lakeshore. Lunch and dinner on the way. Day 16. /17 Jul/ Khuvsgul Lake Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Solo time honoring the four directions. Early in the morning a walk by the lakeshore is highly recommended. When the mist takes off from the water by sunrise, one gets a chance to see the striking mystical environment that enchants the minds of travellers. After lunch, rafting and kayaking activities are available. Huvsgol is the home of reindeer people -Tsaatan ethnic minority. By discovering the ideologies, policies, and practices of culture and health care in a cross-cultural context, students will develop optimal health care practices for themselves. Dinner and overnight in a ger camp. Day 17. /18 Jul/ Ulaanbaatar Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. In the morning depart from Murun airport to Ulaanbaatar after breakfast. Today, visits to the State Department Store, and Cashmere outlet stores are available. In the evening, you will enjoy performance of Mongolian traditional short and long songs, dances, contortions and “huumii” throat singing, performed by a well-known ensemble. Lunch and dinner are in a local restaurant, overnight stay is in the hotel. Day 18. /19 Jul/ Departure Instructors led yoga & morning meditation. Buffet breakfast at the hotel, transfer to your international departure point. (B) When the departure hour is specified, adjusted itinerary is created.

Descriptions: Chinggis Khaan Square The central square of the city, formerly called Sukhbaatar square is located in front of the Government Palace, where it is lined with statues of Chinggis Khaan, Khubilai Khaan and Ogodei Khaan facing the square. The square is a place where national military parade and reception of visiting foreign political leaders takes place, as well as public celebration of New Year’s Eve adorned with ice sculptures, Children’s day on 1st of June, concerts during national Naadam festival, Deeltei Mongol (Mongolia in Deel) festival as part of Naadam, and other occasional concerts. Often in warm seasons one may see temporary exhibition tents or halls, and under some circumstances local citizens bring their protests to the square. This had been first practiced in 1990 where hundreds of people demonstrated and enforced the hunger strike aiming for Democratic Revolution, which then succeeded.

Besides the Government Palace, one can easily access Central Cultural Palace, National Museum of Mongolia, State Ballet and Opera House, Central Tower and Blue Sky modern skyscrapers, former Lenin Club building on its south, Mongolian Telecommunications Building and Central Post Office, headquarters of the Ulaanbaatar Bank, Golomt Bank, Mongolian Stock Exchange building and Ulaanbaatar City Administration buildings. National Museum of Mongolia If one wants to get to know about a nation’s history and its culture, they must surely visit where everything that is of historical importance is exhibited together. By visiting National museum, one can walk through the halls and travel through time from Paleolithic age into Modern Mongolia. The outside appearance of National museum didn’t change as much since it has been built, but on the inside its exhibitions accumulate yearly and formed additional seasonal and temporary exhibition collections, thanks to archaeologists who take interest in vast Mongolian landscape that promises much, yet to be exploited. Gandan Monastery (Gandantegchenlin Khiid) Surviving the communist purge in 1930’s, Gandantegchenlin monastery is now an active monastery complex which has six temples (datsan) and it is an official headquarter of Mongolian Buddhist organizations. The main monastery holds its services usually around 10 o’clock every morning. The complex ground is free for public access, and the “Megjid Janraiseg” temple where the 25.6 metre tall Avalokiteshvara-Janraiseg statue stand, and other temples mostly require a small entry fee. Visit Gandan and see the locals’ way of worshipping and Buddhist monks at their work, feed the pigeons, enter the sacred temples for spiritual purification and pray to the gods for your well wishes come true to your dearest ones. Bogd Khaan Winter Palace Museum Bogd Khaan’s Winter Palace is the only remaining one of the original four residences of eighth Bogd Jebtsundamba who was the last religious leader of Mongolia of Tibetan Buddhism. Built www.letstravelmongolia.com

between 1893 and 1903, it accommodated eighth Bogd Gegeen until his death in 1924, and became museum later in 1961. The exhibitions include Bogd Khaan and his queen Dondogdulam’s luxurious belongings, presents given by kings, emperors and foreign political figures to all the eight Bogd Gegeens between 1636 and 1924, and some of special paintings of then famous Mongolian painters. It is the best place to discover how Mongolian high ranked nobility lived back in pre-revolutionary days. Zaisan Hill Memorial On top of the Zaisan hill located south of the city over the Zaisan Bridge, stands a memorial monument that honors Soviet and Mongolian soldiers who fought in WWII. Ascending some 600 flights of stairs from the bottom, or around 300 from the parking lot on the second floor, one can see the story telling mosaic from the inside of the circle shaped monument. Above all, it is said that the stunning panoramic view of the city is most rewarding and incomparable to any other observation points in UB. Gorkhi - Terelj National Park The park grounds are connected with Ulaanbaatar city with paved road and located just about 70 km from the city center. This convenience on top of the beautiful nature which considered one of the best in the country makes it a popular tourism destination for both local and foreign tourists. The park is famous for its interesting rock formations, such as “Turtle Rock” and the “Praying Lama rock” etc. Many services are available for tourists during summer in the southern part of the park and attractions in its territory are accessible for longer hours. Khustai Nature Reserve Area In Khentii Mountan Range, around 82 km to the southwest of Ulaanbaatar city lays a National park which its name derived from the birch trees (Hus) amply growing in the surrounding mountain forests. The park is specifically reserved for “Takhi” (meaning zebra in Mongolian, known as Przewalski’s Horse) wild horses, which was endangered by 1990, called for a nature www.letstravelmongolia.com

reintroduction project which started in 1992. As a result of successful implementation, there is more than 200 Takhis in the park territory today. Hustai National Park is also home to 46 species of mammals, 223 species of birds, 499 species of pipe plants. Visitors can get all the useful information from the visitor centre, by learning the story, viewing pictures and watching a video. After that, gather your luck and hop on to the vehicle and go look for the Takhis to capture them with your own eyes. Naadam Festival Mongolian word “bayar” bears the unified meaning of “joy, celebration, merriness, and festivity” in English. Typically, “bayars” tend to take festive forms and draw audiences for celebration, and biggest and brightest of them all that transforms the whole nation into a merry place is Naadam Festival in summer. Considered as one of the must see 10 festivals of the world, “Ulsyn Bayar Naadam” – “National Naadam Festival” is held between 11-13 July in the capital Ulaanbaatar. It is the biggest among other Naadams celebrated in all soums of the 21 provinces, and province capitals. It is in order to attend or compete in the national festival without missing the local one, so don’t you miss it too! Naadam festival opens with ceremonial concerts in the stadiums, and the “three manly games” begin. Everyone puts on their traditional clothing and greet each other with bright smiles. Horse racing – in the nomadic culture, horses are essential in everyday life and herders train special ones from their herd for long races. Surprisingly to other cultures, the riders of the Naadam horse racing are children of 5-12 years age. Archery – even though it is called the manly game, women athletes also compete in the archery competition and test their accuracy in all the three types of archery – Khalkha, Uriankhai, and Buryat – differing by their ethnic traditional shooting style. Wrestling – from the small age, boys would often engage in wrestling to play with each other, and when they are grown up, one can officially compete in the Naadam starting from their own soum, or alternatively the military base.

Lake Khuvsgul Khuvsgul Lake is located in the northwest of Mongolia. Being one of the biggest lakes, it is 136 km long and 262m deep, and elevated to 1,645 meters above sea level. It is the second-most www.letstravelmongolia.com

voluminous freshwater lake in Asia, only second to Lake Baikal, that holds around 70% of Mongolia's and 0.4% of the world’s fresh water. It has three islands, called Modon Khuis, Khadan Khuis and It is drained at the south end by the Egiin Gol, which connects to the Selenge and ultimately into Lake Baikal. Town of Hatgal is located in the lake’s southern end and Khankh in the northern shore. These lovely small towns buzz with local and international tourists during the summer months, and go about their peaceful life in other seasons. The surface of the lake freezes over completely in winter and melts completely around June. Every winter “Ice festival” brings busy life to Hatgal town again with visiting winter sportsmen and cheering crowds. During summer, visitors can ride a ferry, rent motorboats, kayaks, go fishing, go hiking in the surrounding mountains, ride horses, and visit Tsaatan (reindeer herder) household. Tsaatan ethnic group In the northern sides of the Khuvsgul province, “Dukha people” – called “Tsaatan” in Mongolian, meaning “one who owns reindeers” reside. They have preserved their endangered native Dukhan language and the rich nomadic cultural traditions up until today, untouched. Tsaatan live in their wooden tents even in the coldest winter weather, and move from one place to another in a nomadic way for the best grazing opportunity for their reindeers. Everyday life of the Tsaatan is tightly bond with their reindeer, as they produce dairy products and even liquor from the milk, ride for transportation, and use the meat for food and skins for clothing. Vice versa, the reindeer herds are dependent to their owners when it comes to protection from predators of the taiga, and newborn calves from the cold of the winter

Airport or train station transfers in Ulaanbaatar Accommodation: Hotel in Ulaanbaatar, and ger camp in countryside. English speaking professional guide Chauffeured transport during the tour Entrance fees to National Parks and protected areas Tickets to museums and art performances Meals as mentioned in itinerary Two bottles of 0,5 litre drinking water per day Sightseeing as per itinerary

Package price excludes: Visa application fee International airfare or train tickets Travel insurance Single room supplement Hotel extras (phone calls, laundry, minibar,. etc) Personal toiletries Gratuity to local guides and drivers Optional excursions unless stated in the itinerary