Fur-lined palace

Ulaanbaatar, Mongolia
Monday, October 19, 2009

This morning Frank and I at last had a chance to visit the Winter Palace of the Bogd Khan, a lovely place that lies about a mile and a half from our apartment.

Perhaps, not surprisingly for a "winter palace", fur seemed to be a major theme of the place. There was a ger lined on the outside with the fur of 150 (!) snow leapords, a lot of very elegant fur capes for the Bogd Khan and some pretty amazing hats--with fur, of course. And a whole zoo full of stuffed lions, cheetahs, etc.

The buildings themselves are about 120 years old. The main building (now a museum) had central heat but the others were very cold.

Perhaps a good place to wear a lot of fur for at least six months of the year.

The blue silk scarves one finds all over Mongolia, tied to rocks, trees, and more are called khata. Once again, it's Wikipedia to the rescue...