A path snakes its way through scrub and sparse trees over a rickety wooden footbridge and upwards to a trunk of steep steps. The tranquil, gaudily painted Aryapala Initiation and Meditation Center perches on a hillside backed by a rock face, overlooking a valley and gently undulating hills draped with conifers and rocky outcrops. Turtle Rock or Melkhi Khad as the locals call it, crouches in the distance.
We headed there while staying in a ger camp in the Gorkhi-Terelj National Park, about 55 km from Mongolia‘s capital Ulaanbaatar known affectionately as UB, for a couple of days relaxation after my younger brother’s wedding in the city.
After visiting Turtle Rock, we bumped along a dirt road (the norm in Mongolia) to the entrance gates of the meditation center and strolled along a path to its hilltop lookout. The hills of central Mongolia swept out to the horizon, greenness sloshing against the shore…
View original post ещё 407 слов
Thank you so much for reblogging my post on Aryapala! I’ll be posting photos on Amarbayasgalant Monastery some time too. I love your photos but wish I could understand what you’ve written!
Thank you for your beautiful photos! Photos of Amarbayasgalant are not mine, there is the name of the photographer. I’ve written just general information about the monastery.
I’m just happy you liked them enough to reblog them! I still have so many more photos of Mongolia to post on my blog. I had such an incredible trip there. Your country is stunning!