Sunrise on the Gobi Desert

Then it was an archery demo and how to build a Ger. Using tourists for the labor and some supervisory work added a little time to the construction.

Patty outside our Ger at sunrise. No wind, total silence!

Patty says, “time for breakfast!”

Time for some archery!! Our SUV driver is also an archery competitor and previous champion!
Patty taking instruction and ready to compete!
Rod’s first attempt, not do good!!
The target, bulls eye is the middle of the red cups. Rod, on his third attempt got a bullseye! A lucky shot and he retired, resting on his laurels!
How to build a Ger! We watched the crew from the resort put together a Ger in about 30 minutes. These shelters are used by the nomadic herders as they move the herd of animals every 3 or 4 months.
They let us help! This meant it took them a little longer to erect the Ger🤣!
Like putting a puzzle together.
Patty and Peggy supervising the build!! Every job needs good supervision!

Off to the Gobi desert

It was a bus, plane, and wild ride thru the desert in a SUV.

Bumper to bumper traffic in Ulaanbaatar any time of the day. One hour drive to get to old airport.
A Cessna Caravan 9 seat airplane took us on a 2 hour bumpy flight to
the Gobi Desert.
All smiles before takeoff
Very slow130 mph cruise in very choppy turbulent air. 4 of the 6 travelers got 🤢 sick.
Finally landed
Happy to be on the ground
4 of the 6 of us are hiding their airsick bags
Very bumpy and fast one hour drive thru the Gobi Desert to Three Camel Lodge.
Our Ger
Beautiful inside our Ger
Our reward! Great selection of wine and bourbon

Our first morning in Ulaanbaatar.

The capital of Mongolia is Ulaanbaatar and has a population of just over 1.5 million people. The country has only 3.6 million inhabitants.

First stop on morning one was a Buddhist temple. It’s about 250 years old with lots of history thru the years. it barely survived thru the communist era as the Stalin regime1940s thru 1950s) wanted to get rid of organized religion. Lots of the relics were hidden for years. Some were stolen, destroyed and or melted down for the gold.

The temples now as a museum

The journey begins!

We’re at the Detroit airport after our son. Andy, dropped us off. Today we fly to Chicago , Tokyo, and Ulaanbaatar (capital of Mongolia) we will land sometime tomorrow. Looks like a 24 hour journey😬🤣

A hassle free drop off at the airport. Thanks Andy
At the gate ready to go …… so far so good!

Warsaw

Unlike Krakow that was spared destruction during World War Two, Warsaw was pretty much leveled by the Nazis. It is currently a very nice city, lots of parks and green space. The architecture is mainly new and western style mixed with the communist Russia’s simplistic block like structures. The old communist built buildings have been dressed up with bright colors of paint and are currently some of the affordable cheap housing in the city. The old town market place has been rebuilt in the old architecture style and it was the world’s first attempt to resurrect an entire historic city.

From the old city you can see the new modern soccer stadium.
One of the very nice parks in the city. The statue in the distance commemorates Chopin, the famous pianist and composer. He was born in Poland in 1810 and grew up in Warsaw.
Sculpture of Chopin in a park in Warsaw. Chopin moved to Paris when he was 20 and died there when he was just 39. His body is buried in Paris but his heart was put in a cask of cognac and sent to Warsaw where it is currently in a stone pillar in the Church of the Holy Cross in Warsaw.
Chopin concert.

We were treated to a wonderful Chopin Concert by this young lady, Halina Klymkiv Szodzinska. She is from the Ukraine.

The End!!

A good trip seeing lots of history from World War Two to the Cold War of Russian communism control of Eastern European countries. A great review of history, and may we as a world never repeat these atrocities!

A week after we got home it was a scheduled shoulder replacement!!! So far so good, however our travels will be close to home for the next few months.

ENJOY AND SHARE YOUR JOURNEY!

Auschwitz and Birkenau

A very sobering experience….. our guide for the day was a very passionate young lady who grew up nearby.

“Nazis final Solution to the Jewish Problem”

By the numbers: 1.3 million inmates and 1.1 million were killed. Most were Jews and some were political dissidents, college professors, artists, handicapped people, and anyone that didn’t follow the Nazi party. They were brought to camps like these and died of over work , disease, medical experimentation, starvation, execution by firing squad and gas chambers.

Entrance to Auschwitz, if prisoners weren’t sent directly to the gas chamber(women with children, old(anyone over 40), and the sick)

They walked under this gate, “Arbeit Macht Frei”… meaning “work will set you free”. The prisoners quickly learned that the only way to escape the camp was to die and be cremated.

The perimeter is surrounded by electrical fence and double wall with guard towers and dogs. Some prisoners committed suicide using the fence or running from the guards so that they would be shot.
Rudolph Hoss was the first commandant of Auschwitz and he was convicted and sentenced to die after the war. He was hung here on the outer fence line of Auschwitz within sight of the house that he and his family lived in during his time here. The movie, “Zone of Interest ” is based on his time as commandant of Auschwitz and how his family lived the good life during the war. A very well done movie showing what monsters the Nazis were.
Auschwitz Berkenau, the Train tracks leading to the camp.
One of the rail cars that transported the prisoners. They were meant for 50 people but up to 150 people were in the cars. At Birkenau these trains were unloaded at a spot where a Nazi SS doctor stood and in a few seconds pointed one way or another and that determined if you would go to a work camp or straight to the gas chamber. Only people he deemed fit to work were sparred the gas chamber. Women with children were both doomed, a woman with child didn’t have time to work. Anyone over 40 was deemed too old to work……
A map of all the camps. What would the world have been like had Hitler succeeded ?

We had a three hour tour that was very insightful and educational. I’m so glad that we saw lots of high school age field trips at the camps. It is so important to keep the memory alive and teach the history to the following generations. May mankind never be allowed to repeat this act again. I know that we see acts of genocide by various groups today around the world and I hope we can stop these before they get bigger.

Krakow, Poland

A nice old town that is clean and safe to walk about. Its history dates back to 985AD, when it was a trading center for Central Europe. Krakow was spared the bombing and destruction of World War Two because the Nazis took control of the city in 1939 and it became part of the General Government of the Third Reich. Lots of nice old churches and castles remain intact.

Walking thru old town Krakow headed to the Main square and market
The main square and old market of Krakow. The building off to the left is the old Renaissance Cloth Hall, once the heart of trading silks and spices.
The inside of the old Renaissance Cloth Hall is now the center for tourist souvenirs.
View from in front of our hotel. The Wawel Castle and Cathedral are on top of the hill overlooking the Vistula River.
The Wawel Cathedral, where Polish royalty are buried
One of the castle towers. What were the three rectangular protrusions on the tower used for …… defense? Privacy nooks? ……………………….,,,,……,, give up?….. those were toilets!!!!!! Staggered so one didn’t poop on another! Gives meaning to s–t rolls down hill!
Pope John Paul the second got his start in Krakow