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).

More on Gunjin Temple, which I visited last weekend.

Last one out of town dies! See Sea of White Masks as People Flee SARS-Hit Beijing

Another photo from the new Aryaval Center near Terelj. This is the Kalachakra Temple, still under construction.

See Killer Flu in Hohhot for the story on SARs in Inner Mongolia. For the lastest press release on the Killer Virus from the people sponsoring the June 1 - July 7 Buddhist shindig here in UIaan Baatar see Good News, We Think.

On the way back from Gunjin Sum we stopped at the new temple being built at the head of Gorkhin Valley (near the famous Turtle Rock) not far from Terelj. This temple is supposed to be completed by August of this year. See Aryaval Temple for more information and photos I took last fall.

Over the weekend I made a quicky trip to Gunjin Temple, 35.5 miles northeast of of Ulaan Baatar as the crow flies, or 63.8 miles by road, in a gorgeous area of tor-topped hills at the upper end of the valley of Kok Chuluutiyn Gol, a tributary of Dund Bayangiyn Gol, which itself is a tributary of the Tuul River. The temple was built in 1740 in honor of the Manchurian princess Amgalan who married one of the Tusheet Khans. She was buried here. The temple was heavily damaged in the iconoclastic upheavals of the late 1930s. Amgalan’s coffin has been disturbed and it is not clear if her body is still presently. Presently there is some restoration work going on.


Ruins of Main Gunjin Temple

Guardhouse in front of the Temple