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

For the lastest from the NY Times on the Killer Virus in Mongolia see Mongolian Capital Is Subdued by Illness Scare, although there is not much new here.

Yesterday I went to the Mongolian Airlines main office and was stopped at the door by a guard because I was not wearing a face mask. Fortunately there were entrepreneurial types on the sidewalk outside selling face masks for 200 togrogs (a little less than 20 cents). A teacher at the Mongolian State University told me that now all teachers and students must wear masks while at lectures. And an informal study I did in front of the busy State Department Store revealed that about 75% of passersby were wearing face masks. Other than that, no new news about the Killer Virus on Mongolia front.

There are rumors on that web that erstwhile Iraqi Information Minister Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf has commtted suicide. Will this lessen or increase the value of Mohammed Saeed al-Sahaf Memorabilia (tee-shirts, coffee mugs, baby bibs, etc.) for sale on the net?