Took the train up into the Black Forest. Passed through the highest train station in Germany, Feldberg-Barantal, at 3204 feet. The highest mountain in the Black Forest is the nearby Feldburg, at 4882 feet. Continued on to Schluchsee, located on a glacial lake several miles long. It a highly developed spick and span little place chockablock with hearty German tourist types. Lots of gravel-paved hiking trails - actually roads, cars could travel them with no problem, with informational signs about every 300 feet. Despite this most of the hikers are in full “Alpine Hiking” regalia, heavy books, two hiking sticks, day packs bigger than I would take on a 28 day trek in the Himalayas. The women all seem to have legs like Olympic shot-putters.

Caught the 10:10 flight down to Stuttgart, 50 minutes flying time, then caught a train to Freiburg, two hours traveling time. Was in Freiburg, in the heart of the Black Forest by 3:15. Whew! Yesterday morning I was in Ulaan Baatar. Walked from train station to the Munsterplatz, the square in the middle of town. In the middle of the square is the the Munster (cathedral), an immense redstone pile with an incredible bell tower which art historian Jacob Burckhardt called “The greatest in all of Christendom.” I don’t know how high it is; It certainly rivals or exceeds the south bell tower of St. Stephans in Vienna (known affectionately as "Little Steffl" to the locals), which is 484 feet high. The church itself is over 800 years old and, like St. Stephens, miraculously survived World War II bombing which flattened areas just hundred of feet away (they did not have “smart bombs” in those days). Checked into an inn right on plaza, on the north side, with a great view of the church from my window.

Are Berliners really nuts? We report, you decide.

Old Berlin and New Berlin
This is the Kaiser-Wilhelm-Gedachtniskirche (for you non-Teutons, that’s the Kaiser Wilhelm Memorial Church), dating from the late 19th century. It was heavily damaged in a British bombing raid in November, 1943. The remains have been preserved as a war memorial. Berliners, who seem to have an nickname for everything, call it the “Broken Tooth.” The new tall building next is it is bell tower, replacing the now-missing bell tower of the old church. Berliners call this the “Lipstick”. There are always a lot of street musicians playing around here, including the ubiquitous Peruvian flute players (apparently Peru’s biggest export) and Black rap singers.

Well, I really have a hard time staying in any one place for more than a month; three months is the absolute max. I had been in Mongolia for almost three months so it was definitely time to wander. Yesterday I took the plane to Berlin, Germany. I thought I might head south and do a little hiking in the Black Forest around Freiburg. It’s about a six hour flight to Moscow, where the plane makes a stop-over. Not much new at the airport, although I did notice that now you can buy vodka in three-foot long bottles shaped like rifles. You pour out of the barrel. These might impress somebody, perhaps Chechen warlords. From Moscow to Berlin is 2 hours 18 minutes. Beautiful spring day, gorgeous blue skies in downtown Berlin. Strolled down the Ku Damm (the main shopping street, although in Germany almost all stores are closed on Sundays) and checked out what may be the world’s biggest internet café - over 350 computers, open 24 hours a day, seven days week, and with its own in-house Dunkin Donuts outlet. Is this Heaven or what? Signs at each computer terminal say, in English, “Your mother does not work here. Clean up after yourself.” By then I was suffering from jet lag – seven hours time difference between UB and Berlin, so at four in the afternoon it was eleven at night by my watch, and I had gotten up at four in the morning UB time. So I was bushed. Sat in a sidewalk café watching the crowds for a couple of hours and then hit the hay.

Erdene Zuu Monastery, near current-day Kharkhorin, built on the site of the old Mongol capital of Kharkhorum. The monastery was founded by Avtai Khan, Zanabazar's great-grandfather, in 1586. Avtai's tomb is the small white building on the left; the white building on the right is the tomb of Gombodorj, Avtai's grandson and Zanabazar's father.

Just uploaded some new material on my biography of Zanabazar. See The Life of Zanabazar. Zanabazar was the first of eight Bogd Gegens who ruled in Mongolia from 1639 to 1924. In addition to his role as the leader of Buddhism in Mongolia Zanabazar was also a world-class artist and polymath. More to come . . .

The new Idgaa Choizinling Prayer Hall, the purported venue for the big Buddhist lallapalooza taking place here in Ulaan Baatar starting June 1. Workers are frantically attempting to complete the temple on time.

Not only is Saddam Hussein alive, he is writing Letters to the Editor, at least according to the London-based Arabic newspaper Al-Quds Al-Arabi, which has published a letter supposedly written by the erstwhile Iraqi dictator. And what is Saddam ranting about? Fluoride in Baghdad's drinking water? Not, he's back on his favorite beef: Hulegu, grandson of Chingis Khan and earlier reincarnation of George "Hulegu" Bush. Saddam: "As Hulagu entered Baghdad, so the criminal Bush entered, with great bitterness. They conquered you, you who reject occupation and shame, you who keep Arabism and Islam in your hearts and minds, only through betrayal."

OK, Saddy, the Hulegu thing happened, like, over 800 years ago: for God's sake, fella, get over it!

The Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf Saga continues: See Ex-Iraq Info Minister Gets TV Job Offer. Commented George "Hulegu" Bush about al-Sahaf, "He's my man, he was great . . . He was a classic."

As if the Killer Virus is not enough of a problem, now it looks like the famous Bodhi Tree in Bodhgaya, India, a descendant of the very Bodhi Tree under which Buddha achieved Enlightenment, is under attack by mill bugs who are Sucking Its Sap and will die soon if something isn't done. "The sacred pipal tree has never been cared for in a scientific manner," frumps the editorial in the Bodhgaya News, "And it has begun to show."


Bodhgaya's Bodhi Tree Under Attack by Killer Mill Bugs

Snowstorm in Ulaan Baatar this morning; snowflakes as big as quarters (that's 2.2 centimeters to you Europeans).


The view from my apartment

Now it is official: the Dalai Lama will not be coming to the big Buddhist shindig planned for this June here in Ulaan Baatar. Rumor is some Chinese mandarin is supposed to be in town at the same time, which would make a very awkward situation for the Mongolian government. See Dalai Lama No-Show

More on the Mongol Khan Hulegu, previous incarnation of George Bush: "Or should we listen to Eleanor Robson, of All Souls College, Oxford, who said, 'You'd have to go back centuries, to the Mongol invasion of Baghdad in 1258, to find looting on this scale'"? For the whole story see And Now: 'Operation Iraqi Looting'

Buddhist Chic: The latest fashions from the Dharma Wear capital of the world, Graz, Austria.

The mystery deepens: See Al-Sahaf in Suicide Riddle for more on the alleged suicide of erstwhile Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf, whose memorabilia is currently a hot item on the internet (see below).