Gandantegchinlen Monastery (Part1)- Ulaanbaatar - Mongolia

 
The forecast is for heavy rain today.  So our plan is to visit the Gandantegchinlen Monastery, as well as the   Shaman Centre, in the morning, grab some lunch en route to the Mongolian Museum in the afternoon.  About half an hour walk from the hotel in Central Ulaanabaatar is the Gandantegchinlen Monastery.

We figured we were going in the correct direction based on the amount of cloth tied to the fences and lamps, and the changes in the architecture.

I also got to see my first Oovo, and I found that experience special.

Not far from the walled Monastery complex, we got to hear these monks playing a shell. The sound was evocative.

Not far to go now, we could see the tall building and yellow roof of the main building, at the Gandantegchinlen Monastery..

Once inside the monastery walls, there was this large canvas traditional nomadic tent, as well as a number of significant buildings.

The monks had played these long horns, and took them back inside this building,  but we weren't allow in.  It's a working monastery with several hundred monks.

Incense had been lit with the horn playing, and filled the air with it's fragrance.

I don't know what these brass things are one the roof tops are called, but I like their shape.

Founded in 1838, Gandantegchinlen Monastery was one of the only ancient Buddhist monasteries to survive Soviet rule in Mongolia.