Impressions of upper mongolia film search. Mongolia

The film is beautiful, unusually modern for the 1970s, and confirms my recent guess: Dali, who for some reason is considered a reference surrealist in Russia, is not really a surrealist at all (he broke with this movement even before the war), but one of the first real postmodernists. To evaluate it according to the criteria of modernism is to deliberately miss the mark.
But even the viewer of the twenty-first century, Dali manages to hook on the hook. The viewer of our generation is ready after 20 minutes of watching with joy (“wow!”) to recognize the well-known genre of mockumentary - but in the finale Dali (100% natural) with disarming frankness announces: I cheated you, all these hallucinatory images are just moss on the walls of an ancient castle and a crack in the paint layer in Vermeer's paintings. And it turns out that this is not a mockumentary, but simply an essay about art and the limits of knowledge. And yet, already at the moment when, somewhere in the middle of the film, Dali declares that his work is entirely inspired by narcotic mushrooms from Upper Mongolia, this is such an obvious trash that the viewer should have guessed what was happening. Dali cheerfully preempts the opinions of the townsfolk (they say, "what did this Dali smoke to draw such a thing?") - this is a trick of the same kind as the "psychoanalytic" commentary at the end of "The Black Prince" by Iris Murdoch, a parody designed to bring down the arrogance of a thoughtful reader / a spectator who imagines that he already understood everything.
The cultural density of the film is on the verge of a neutron star. The mythical Upper Mongolia is an evil parody of Roerich's Shambhala (and how boring and pale Roerich is against this background!), but also of medieval European dreams of the Kingdom of Prester John (corrosion on the fountain pen, which Dali allegedly peed on - a reference to the one mentioned in the "Letter Presbyter John" to the crocodile that burns trees with its urine), and to the psychedelic craze that was relevant for the 70s. The frame where Dali paints a portrait of himself, painting a portrait of Gala, which in turn is reflected in the mirror - of course, not just a comment on his own painting, but also a quote from "Menin" by Velasquez, one of Dali's favorite artists. And much more.
However, this density leads to unhappy thoughts about the fate of the erudite in the 20th century. 20th century - the century is anti-cultural in its moods. Some wanted to throw off the burden of culture for the sake of accelerating the pace of progress, others - for the sake of returning to naturalness and naturalness, others - "because you can not write poetry after Auschwitz." And what about someone who does not want to drop this baggage from their shoulders? Yes, and he wants to, he can’t, because for him this is not a burden, but scuba with oxygen? So it turns out that the only way out for him is to become a postmodernist.
In this respect, Dali is akin to Tolkien and Umberto Eco. All three are people of colossal elitist scholarship, alien to their era, which turned out to be unnecessary and suspicious for the intelligentsia in the 20th century, and all three found a lively response in mass culture. But Tolkien played the script as a tragedy, Eco played it as an existentialist drama of the absurd, and Dali played it as a comedy. And apparently enjoyed it.

For a week in Mongolia, I still could not understand what it is: outside the "sixteenth republic of the former USSR", and inside - virgin Asia, or vice versa: outside - virgin Asia, and inside - the "sixteenth republic"? The main emotion of a traveler in Mongolia is the removal of the brain, and at every step. The main emotion of Mongolia itself, its national motto is "no one cares!". Well, the Mongolian Altai, the valley of the Kobdo River in Bayan-Ulgiy and Khovd aimags is the farthest from the capital and the most atypical corner of Mongolia. In the first part I will talk about the road there from Russia and about the local, mostly urban, specifics; I will leave the story about the life of nomads for the second part. But for the whole of Mongolia, these impressions are typical, or only for its western corner - so far I do not presume to assume.

There is also a plane, but it has completely different prices: from Ulgii to the capital by bus 80 thousand tugriks (about 2000 rubles), and by plane - 350 thousand. The planes here are beautiful, all that flew over us were turboprops, such as this Fokker 50.

Specific transport (apart from airplanes, of course) also gives rise to a specific attitude towards the toilet. There are no even the most miserable village toilets on the roads, there is nowhere to hide in the steppe, so the sanitary stop looks like this: half a bus gets off, lined up and starts to relieve itself. Or puke - judging by the two trips along the Ulgii-Khovd road, a critical number of local residents have a weak vestibular system that fails at the passes. In a big way, you can sit down behind a stone, but that's if it is. Women in this sense are not much more shy than men, so Mongolian buses can be recommended in every possible way to adherents of urinophilia. Fastidious people (like Olya and me) will have to be mentally prepared for all this. Let's say in Ulgie a toilet without a door facing the street:

By the appearance of its cities, Mongolia really seems to be the "sixteenth republic." The same five-story buildings, low-rise stalinkas and even wooden barracks, the same garages, rusty playgrounds and garbage cans, and of course balconies, glazed in all sorts of ways:

Familiar landscapes, if seen, or:

In some places there is something else - barracks with unusually frequent windows and square pipes of courtyard boilers evoke in me associations with China of the times of Mao Zedong, which I have never seen.

In general, the Mongolian city looks more neglected and uncomfortable than even in Kyrgyzstan or in the Russian North. In the same Khovd, they once laid paving stones and tiles, put up lanterns and benches, but without daily care, all this was covered with debris and dust. New buildings look especially contrasting - nowhere in the former USSR are there such cramped yards without a single blade of grass:

Mongolian entrances are quite post-Soviet - that is, musty, scribbled and pasted over with ads. But on the right, pay attention to a small detail - from the threshold the stairs lead not only up, but also down: there are also apartments in the basements of new buildings!

In the centers of Mongolian cities, there are very good-looking stalins, mainly administrations, hotels and houses of culture:

Twice - in Ulgiy and Khovd - we came across stone clocks. At first we joked that this is a very descriptive expression of how the Mongolians relate to time. But when we saw the watch for the second time, we realized that the hands on them were in exactly the same position. What time is on them? A revolution, a declaration of independence, some kind of victory?

But the main "trick" of the Mongolian cities is that yurts suddenly literally jump out of the most unexpected places:

Let's say a yurt in the backyard of a college - maybe hard workers doing repairs from somewhere in the steppe live in it?

In Khovd, on the outskirts, there is a whole Yurt city. This is essentially a slum - people come to the city, and do not build themselves a hut out of dung and sticks, but simply install a yurt and live in it. Others settle down so much that they put fences around the yurt, enclosing the plots, but I think most of the inhabitants of yurt cities come to cities to work seasonally:

Even in the courtyards of rich houses, a yurt can stand, at least serving as a summer kitchen, veranda or living room. This is already Ulgiy - there is no yurt city here, but there are almost more yurts in the yards, and note that they are of a different design - in Khovd the yurts are Mongolian (ger), and here they are Turkic (Kazakh-ui):

Mongolian cities are a very vivid monument of what is called "false urbanization". Here in Khovd, a cow grazes on the lawn near the central square:

42. Photographed by Olya.

And one of the "chips" of Ulgii is a regular cattle drive through the city:

Cattle are far from the only animal notable in Mongolian cities. I observed the same thing in Kosh-Agach, that is, this is apparently a common feature for Transaltai - here there are kites instead of crows:

They sit on wires, trees, roofs:

Circling over the garbage dumps:

47. photo of Olya

They dive into the yards, hunting for pigeons, puppies, kittens or meat for the dog while she sleeps in the kennel:

48. photo of Olya

So it's no wonder that repeller turntables hang on power lines:

The Mongolian language is beautiful, although where we were, it is represented mainly by inscriptions and pop art. I think "clear writing" suited him much more than the Cyrillic alphabet: solid "holes blazed ubeschuur." But the meaning of the inscriptions is generally clear: "Come in, you're going crazy!", "Everything is VERY complicated there, before you do something - think" and "From the fire there will be TAMHI-TATAKH-GARGAHYG!".

The contingent in Mongolia, if it differs from Central Asia, Kazakhstan or Altai, is not much: there are both sloppy villagers and pretty stylish youth. I don’t remember the gopniks here, and the police are friendly and not prone to extortion - there have never been stories like those in Central Asia in Mongolia. They say that it is easy to run into drunks here, but we had no such experience, and from other people's words, drunks are not aggressive towards tourists and, in the worst case, they will climb to fight. Again, as I understood from other people's notes, much worse than with aggression, here things are with theft - it is better not to leave things unattended even at the borders.

Another unusual feature of Mongolia is perhaps the easiest and most painless transition to democracy in history. Until 1911, it was a province of China, in 1921-90 it was quite a totalitarian socialist country, and in the 1990s it took it and became democratic - without unrest and pogroms, without a "father of the nation" with an iron order, without political hysteria. Since 2017, the country has been ruled by the fifth president, the Mongolian People's (formerly People's Revolutionary) and the Democratic Parties regularly replace each other in elections. Lenin in Ulaanbaatar was demolished only in 2012, but in Khovd one of the shops (!) Hangs the Order of Sukhbaatar - apparently, there is socialist nostalgia here:

But the red star coexists peacefully with the swastika. Mongolia sent to the aid of the USSR caravans with warm clothes and meat, tens of thousands of camel flights from Khovd to Biysk. Maybe there were Mongolian volunteers at the front, but in principle the Mongols did not fight against fascism. An important difference between Mongolia and the former USSR is that there is no seal of the Great Patriotic War. Therefore, for the Mongols, the swastika is just a solstice:

Before the trip, I was sure that Mongolia had become a protectorate of China. But I would say, Chineseized almost to a greater extent. Tajiks from the mention of China are thrilled that the Ukrainians at the word "Europe", but the Mongols have a long-standing fear of the Celestial Empire, for the sake of which it is possible to contact Russia. They say that closer to Ulaanbaatar, the Chinese influence is more noticeable, but Bayan-Ulgiy and Khovd definitely look to the North:

I would rate Russian language proficiency here at about the level of the most non-Russian-speaking places of the former USSR, such as South Tajikistan or the rural hinterland of Estonia. Every second person here in Russian can connect a couple of words, and in almost any crowded place there is at least one person who speaks Russian almost fluently. Moreover, - I heard about this from different people - the Mongols are very conscientious in their studies, so if a Mongolian speaks Russian, then it is worthy. You can explain yourself in Russian here, and in any case, it is much easier than in English. Knowledge of English, it seemed to me, correlates with age (typical of young people), but knowledge of Russian, in my opinion, does not correlate with anything - among young people and residents of yurts and among the older generation and townspeople, all three cases came across to us in equal proportion. In general, the tightness between the two great powers is very noticeable here. For example, once we met a woman whose daughter is studying in Beijing and whose son is studying in Tomsk.

A strange socket for different plugs in the Khovd hotel is a clear evidence of the closeness of China with its cheap consumer goods to the whole world. Maybe that's why Mongolia seems closer to the Anglo-Saxon world than the post-Soviet countries, with the possible exception of the Baltic states.

Another property of Mongolia is that almost nothing is produced in it. In essence, it all comes down to mines and animal husbandry, but the ore will not be traded in stores. According to statistics, 2/3 of imports to Mongolia come from China, 1/3 from Russia, but in the Ulgii and Khovd grocery stores, the proportion looks more like the opposite. The geography of goods in a country that is not burdened with the support of a domestic manufacturer is impressive in itself - on the shelves and showcases Russia, China, Kazakhstan, Ukraine, Korea, Germany, Poland, Israel, Japan are replaced by a kaleidoscope ... I remember how before leaving we bought 5 chocolates - and all from different countries. But there are simply no many products in Mongolia, because the locals are not interested in them - for example, we have not seen cheese in stores.

Actually Mongolian products are not numerous, but everything that we came across is excellent. For example, the incredibly tasty and very natural Goyo fruit water:

Well, the fact that Mongolian stew is the best in the world is not a secret for many travelers:

And you will probably ask - where is Genghis Khan? So - NO. For a week in two western aimags, we did not see a single monument to the Shaker of the Universe.

Mongolia is a country that can really surprise you. Here, for comparison, the impressions of the same year about Central Mongolia from Denis - see TABLE OF CONTENTS!
Mongolian Altai - there will be posts!
Land of Kobdo. First impressions of Mongolia.
Land of Kobdo. About nomadic Kazakhs.
Ulgiy. The capital of Mongolian Kazakhstan.
Ulgiy-Khovd. Mongolian road.
Khovd (Kobdo). The oldest city in Mongolia.
Manhan. Land of the Zakhchins and petroglyphs of the Stone Age.
Mongolian Altai. The road to Khurgan-Nur.
Mongolian Altai. Kobdin lakes.
Mongolian Altai. Back through Tsengel.
Non-Altai Kazakhstan - see TABLE OF CONTENTS!
Steppe Altai - see TABLE OF CONTENTS!

- The idea of ​​​​a trip to Mongolia arose after our very fastidious friends visited there. Usually they stay in hotels of at least 4 stars, and then suddenly Mongolia! We lived in yurts, have been to Khubsugul three times already, and they always talk about travel with enthusiasm. At the same time, there was still a visa - three thousand rubles. I was extremely sorry to pay 12,000 for my family, and this year visas were canceled, and we decided to celebrate my birthday in Mongolia, because rest in Thailand, beloved by many, has become very expensive.

As it turned out, there is very, very little information about trips to Mongolia. Where to stay? What to see? What are the nuances when crossing the border? Collected information literally drop by drop. Placement was the most important. They took care of it in the first place. The choice is very, very poor. Of the most famous - the base "Edge of the Earth" and "Silver Coast". Both are nearby. "Edge of the Earth" attracted by the presence of comfortable rooms, which we still did not use. But free-standing comfortable toilets, washbasins and showers were used to the fullest. We did not book the base through well-known sites just because they simply do not have any offers for Khubsugul. By the way, the weather in this place is also not so easy to find out on the Internet. The app on the phone can't find the lake or Khanha village, but claims that Khanha is a city in the Chai Nat province of Thailand.

So, we are going to a large company - 9 adults and 6 children, the youngest is not even a year old. We are planning to travel in 4 cars. For a couple of two people, I book a 3-seater yurt (800 rubles per person per night). Two families of 2 adults and 2 children in a 4-seater yurt (700 rubles per person). The payment is for adults only. Children under 7 years old are free. My fourth yurt is for a company of 3 adults and 2 children.

So, in early May, everything is booked. By the end of the month, 20% of the declared amount has been paid. The rest is on the base. We leave on July 2, return on the 6th. What to take? What to buy? What products-things? I read the customs regulations: it is forbidden to import raw meat, and on the spot you can buy only lamb and yak meat. And we are somehow more accustomed to pork in barbecue. Further - you can carry 1 liter of strong and up to 5 liters of weak drinks. I recommend to take vegetables and fruits, this is not there at all. Looking ahead, I’ll say that the kitchen tent, tourist chairs and tables were also very useful, in general, you need to equip yourself like on Baikal - you can’t go wrong!

We started our journey at 7 am. The first car went far ahead due to unforeseen circumstances. We correspond via SMS messages and applications, we learn that at the post near the village of Shaluty, where money is collected for travel to Arshan, friends were asked for passports. In order to make sure that they are really in Mongolia, and not in Arshan. We were also asked for passports, but they did not look.

Now some numbers. The distance from Irkutsk to Lake Khubsugul is about 330 kilometers. You need to go to the village of Mondy, the road is paved. From the village to the border about 10 kilometers. It is necessary to make a full refueling of the car in Kultuk and refuel in Kyren. In Mondy, refueling is not guaranteed. That's how they write. But we refueled there, in Mondy. You can refuel at Khubsgul only in the village of Khankh, but only with diesel fuel and A-80 gasoline. There are 22 kilometers of gravel road from the border to Khanh.

In Mondy, passports are taken at the checkpoint for 10 minutes. There, at the border, we met a huge horde of pauts, so sprays must be taken. Columns of cars pass in turn. First on one side of the border, then on the other. The passage time we got 2-2.5 hours. Drivers fill out declarations if they are carrying something heavy, more than 50 kilograms. My husband paid a fee of 70 rubles - all drivers pay it. Passengers fill out a declaration, if they are carrying something subject to declaration, they will tell you about it at the border.

At the Mongolian border, they filled out a registration sheet. The driver additionally fills out a sheet, in which customs and border guards put marks. You will be told and shown everything. The checkpoint at the border is open from 9 am to 5 pm seven days a week.

Here we are in Mongolia, we are driving away from the border, and right there is some kind of checkpoint with a barrier. People in uniform collect 100 rubles per adult for visiting the national park. If you don't present the receipt on the way back, you will have to pay again. Another important point is registration. When entering or leaving, you need to register with the village administration for 170 rubles per person.

When exchanging views with other travelers on Khubsugul, it turns out that someone paid for the children too. Someone paid not 170, but 300 rubles. In general, there is no clarity on this issue.

There is a gravel road from the border, closer to the village we see signs with the name of our base, and now we are in front of the gate. We are looking for an administrator for some time and go to get acquainted with the location. And then it turns out that everything is in order with three yurts, and the fourth yurt is some kind of Khan's yurt. Let's go look. This is the most extreme yurt, secluded, with its own territory. It has a huge double bed, a sofa bed, a table with chairs, a wardrobe with hangers, two bedside tables, two chests of drawers, a stove, and a heater. There are 4 sockets in the yurt. Ordinary yurts also have a stove and a heater. No one warned us about this yurt, but it costs 4,000 rubles a day - we somehow didn’t count on that kind of money. But in the process of payment, we are told that it is 4,000 rubles for two adults, and you will pay extra 1,500 per day for the third, in the end we agreed on 4,000 for a yurt.

On the second day of our stay, we went to inspect the surroundings, in the role of guides - relatives who are not the first time in Mongolia. So, we leave the base in three cars. We are driving along some incredible road, all in stones. The road is worse only to Khoboy on Olkhon.

We drive up to the coast of Khuvsgul. Lonely tent. If you want loneliness, a break from everyone, then you definitely go to Khubsugul. Nobody around! Not a single soul. Ringing silence! And we are going for grayling, which you can catch with your hands while standing in the river! At least our relatives caught it last year! We go in anticipation, we arrive, but the river is half dry, and there is not even a smell of grayling there. We went to another lake, but there were no fish there either. We did not despair and had a picnic.

On the way back we stop at Khankh. He's just on the way to our base. In one cafe we ​​are told that only khushurs are available. I am surprised to learn that in Mongolia khushurs are chebureks. Let's go further. In another cafe, the choice is richer. We stop. We order poses for 30 rubles and try for the first time a national dish - tsuivan (150 rubles). These are noodles, potatoes and meat. We ordered a medium portion, but it was too big for one person.

Acquaintance with local cuisine continued the next day. On my holiday, I wanted to surprise the guests with something, and the administrator of the base suggested a horhog. Lamb is used for its preparation. Meat on the bone is cut into pieces. Ten to twenty fist-sized smooth stones are placed in the fire. Meat and hot stones are placed in a metal vessel, which is often used as a milk can, salt and spices are added. Often cooked with vegetables (carrots, cabbage, potatoes). Next, the required amount of water is added, the vessel is closed with a lid and put on fire. Extinguishing occurs with heat from fire and from hot stones. The dish is cooked for half an hour. The contents of the vessel are laid out in portions, and guests are given hot stones in their hands. They absorb fat during cooking and become black and slippery. Horhog is usually eaten with the hands.

We also tried a local delicacy - fried lamb liver wrapped in lard. Too oily for my taste! As for the horhog, I got a hard piece of meat, and my friends got soft ones. All in all, I didn't like this dish at all. By the way, in the process of cooking, our horhog was taken away with the words “it will be faster on the stove.” Somehow inauthentic. According to the rules, everything must be reached on a fire and with stones. This dish is a total disappointment. Cooking a whole ram costs 8,000 rubles, half - 4,000, and a quarter - 2,000. We ordered the last one, there was more than enough for everyone.

Of course, we also tried Mongolian tea. And this is how it is prepared: water is boiled in a cast-iron cauldron, slab green tea is thrown into it, milk is added, boiled again until fully cooked, then salt, butter, fried flour, lightly fried mutton tail fat, ram bone marrow are added to it. Tea with such ingredients often serves as the only food for pastoralists for many days. A thin layer of fat floats on the surface of this tea. Drink it without sugar. As they say, it’s better to try once, although for people with weak stomachs such a “tea party” can be fraught with not very pleasant consequences. Honestly, this tea is more like soup.

The fourth day in Mongolia was devoted to trips around the area. So we saw that they were drying manure - they heated stoves in the yurt, but ours used firewood. We go without a guide, at random, and now we stop in a very interesting place, by the way, similar to Olkhon. Obo is a sacred Mongolian place. The shamanic sanctuary Arvan-Gurvan-obo, literally translated into Russian as “13 obo”, is located on a protruding rocky Khanginskiy cape. This place was consecrated in 2005, at the same time they laid down 13 new oboi from large white boulders, which were brought in by several trucks, and the whole village dragged stones and folded the sanctuary. Shamanic rites are practiced at this place and at present, fresh fires and skulls of sacrificial animals can be seen next to the central obo.

Later we walked along the rocks above the shore - the view is like in the Maldives. I’m also just sure that when you are abroad, you don’t think about how your phone calls the place of your stay. And it's funny. Here, for example, we are in Khubsugul, but the phone thinks otherwise. A similar situation was on the island of Phi-Phi in Thailand.

This concludes my story about Mongolia. It is truly both distant and close. The country is located a little more than 300 kilometers from Irkutsk. But she is so far away from us! By development, by customs, by standard of living. Although they say that in Ulaanbaatar everything is completely different. Maybe someday I'll want to check it out. Do I want to go back? More likely no than yes. At least not in the near future for sure. Do I advise you to go to Mongolia? Definitely yes! To form your own opinion about this country.

Under the weight of the suit

One of the lectures in Paris, organized by the International Exhibition of Surrealism, almost turned into a tragedy for Salvador Dali, who was invited to it. According to the artist, the lecture needed some animation and visibility, so he put on a spacesuit. With his outrageous and, at the same time, heavy outfit, the artist, as he himself admitted to journalists at the time, wanted to symbolically depict complete creative immersion in himself. It all started quite traditionally, the extravagant artist was photographed with Rupert Brinton Lee and his wife Diana. But when Dali tried to take off the helmet, it turned out that it was jammed: the air in the spacesuit ran out, and the artist began to suffocate. If the suit had not been torn apart, then this trick could have cost the eccentric his life, and the unsuspecting audience would have applauded, enjoying the dramatic effect.

Ovosiped - bike

On December 7, 1959, the presentation of the ovocypede (ovocypede) took place in Paris: a device that was invented by Salvador Dali and brought to life by the engineer Laparra. Ovosiped - a transparent ball with a seat fixed inside for one person. This "transport" was one of the devices that Dali successfully used to shock the public with his appearance.

shocking showcase

Dali's stay in America was the most scandalous time in his life. Back in 1939, the artist agreed to decorate the window of Bonwit Teller's store on Fifth Avenue, and, I must say, this decision made him more famous than ever. On the mannequins of the early twentieth century, used by Dali in the composition, instead of artificial wigs, there were real hair cut off from a corpse. In addition, the composition consisted of a black satin bathtub, a bathtub and a canopy of the head of a buffalo with a bloodied dove in its teeth. Such a showcase could not go unnoticed by New Yorkers. The interest of the public was so great that it was impossible to walk along the sidewalks of this street. The city administration, fearing riots, decided to dismantle Dali's composition. However, the reaction of the artist was unexpected. Angered, he overturned the satin bathtub, smashed the mirrored shop window with it, and went out into the street, where he was arrested by the police.

"Rainy Taxi"

Arranging an exhibition in Paris in 1938, Dali tried with all his might to stir up the interest of the public. Shortly before the opening, he announced that it would be one of the most amazing events of the first half of the 20th century. And so it happened. An extravagant surprise awaited visitors at the entrance to the building - "Rainy Taxi". The maestro created a car inside which it was raining, the floor was covered with ivy, and a hundred Burgundy snails were crawling over a mannequin sitting in the back seat. To date, a kind of "taxi", modified and supplemented later by the artist, can be seen by all visitors to the theater-museum in Figueres.

"Cadillac" instead of a bull

August 12, 1971 in the homeland of Dali, in the city of Figueres, a festival was organized in honor of the artist. The opening began with a bullfight and a procession created in the style of Dali's favorite artist, Goya. The only spot out of the picture was Salvador's open Cadillac. The maestro waved his hand in greeting to all those gathered and proved that he would not get lost even against the backdrop of Spanish bulls, he would be able to surprise. By the way, Dali's Cadillac was part of a special Caddy line, consisting of only five cars. The most famous or shocking personalities of the last century became the owners of this limited series: one belonged to US President Roosevelt, the second to Clark Gable, the third was owned by Al Capone, who had been released by that time, the fourth became the property of the Gala and Salvador Dali couple, the name of the owner of the fifth car is still unknown. Not a bad acquisition, mind you, given that Dali only used his Cadillac for public appearances.

"Andalusian dog"

In 1929, the premiere of the film "The Andalusian Dog" took place in Paris, which was the result of the joint work of Salvador Dali and Luis Buñuel. The frightening and shocking scenes of the painting (cutting the eyeball with a blade, ants crawling out of a torn off hand, etc.) made it perhaps the most famous surrealistic work of the two creators. The script was written in just two weeks and was based on the dreams of Dalí and Buñuel. "Andalusian Dog", contrary to the expectations of the directors, was enthusiastically received by the public. The tragic death of the leading actors of the film added to the gloomy glory of the film. Pierre Batcheff died of an overdose of the Veronal drug on April 13, 1932 in a Paris hotel, and Simone Mareil committed self-immolation on October 24, 1954 in Place Périgueux in the Dordogne. Later, Dali used the film as a source of inspiration for another outrageous act. He again won the audience, appearing in front of television cameras in a coffin strewn with money and infested with ants, with eggshells on his face.

Mongolia with mushrooms

In his life, Dali himself completely completed work on only one film, "Impressions of Upper Mongolia", which was released in 1975. In the tape, which did not receive much recognition from the public, he told the story of an expedition that went in search of huge hallucinogenic mushrooms. The footage of "Impressions of Upper Mongolia" is largely based on magnified microscopic uric acid stains on a brass strip. The "author" of these spots was Dali himself. For several weeks he "painted" them on a piece of brass.

"Dream Ball"

On January 18, 1935, Joella Levy and Carys Crosby organize a "Dream Ball" in honor of the departure of Dali and Gala from New York. At the costume ball, the artist appeared as a showcase for his wife's bra, he used a lobster as a headdress, and black wings in white gloves stuck out behind Dali's back. Gala paraded in a red cellophane skirt, a green bodice and a celluloid baby as a headdress. In his Secret Life, Dali would later write that the image of the "charming corpse" chosen by his companion attracted even more attention than Eva's costumes, bloody nightgowns and safety pins stuck in the skin of other ladies. From this outrageous appearance of a married couple at the ball, journalists fanned a real scandal. The fact is that at that time the kidnapper of the child of the Lindberg family was widely discussed in the press, and one of the journalists of the Parisian newspaper wrote that Gala had not just a doll on her head, but the image of the kidnapped baby. The artist himself rejected such a "version" of the outfit.

love for three

At the end of 1965, Salvador Dali met the then-famous model Amanda Lear, who became his mistress. The appearance of the favorite seriously angered the artist's legal wife, however, the wayward Gala is gradually getting used to the unusual love triangle. They often walk together, dine in restaurants and attend receptions. Of course, such public ease only irritated the reporters, who did not lose sight of the trio. Each interview of that period was not complete without questions about the artist's personal life, to which he answered with his usual playfulness. However, one of the maestro's antics seriously angered Amanda. In an interview with the Minute newspaper, Dali said that his girlfriend is a former boy, Alain Tap, and thereby strengthened the already existing rumors about the model's transsexuality, which arose due to the low timbre of the model's voice.

The jacket is an aphrodisiac

The jacket, also known as the Aphrodisiac Dinner Jacket, was invented by Salvador Dali in 1936. 83 cups with mint liqueur and dead flies were hung from a tuxedo on thin straws, and instead of a shirt-front, the artist used a bra. The original "aphrodisiac jacket" has survived only in photographs, from which it is periodically recreated for special exhibitions. Later, at one of the receptions, Dali appeared in a jacket reminiscent of the 1936 model. However, this time the liquor glasses were replaced with numbered crystal shot glasses. The photograph showing the maestro in this strange outfit was named by the BBC channel as one of the symbols of the 20th century.

Good afternoon. I live in Khakassia, 600 km to the border with Mongolia, 720 km to the nearest city. Therefore, we rushed for the May holidays literally for a week. Arrived without problems. The checkpoint of Khandagaity is a megarespect, everything is cultural and polite. They gathered to go to the city of Ulangom - 28 thousand people.
Hotel 1500 nights - a room for three! The food is inexpensive, there are many unfamiliar dishes. A lot of sea buckthorn juice, also a novelty, we do not have. The meat is all tough, but cheap, it’s better to buy Buuza in chain stores, by the way, you quickly get used to Tsai, especially in cafes where they make him normal. There were huge lakes on Lake Khyargys Nuur, and on Ubr-nuur, on the shores of the safari - a lot of unscared game, many yaks, geese, herons, etc. There was a Russian-speaking guide, but it’s better to know the basics of the English language and have a Russian-Mongolian phrase book. We walked around the city at night, very safe, everyone says hello, invites to visit, a lot of smiles. In general, we rolled up very positively, if there are questions I will answer with pleasure.

Once in Ulangom there was a small military unit of the Soviet group of troops. The part was small, since the direction was not "tank dangerous". I will say that in that area the service of the officers was like in a resort: hunting, fishing. The command of the army is far away - until they reach it, you can put things in order several times. And it's really a pleasure to stay there. Of course, in more than 20 years, when Soviet specialists left the MPR, many people forgot the language. But at one time, even in such small settlements, up to 50% of the population spoke Russian. Even if there is no guide, you can always find a local resident who will gladly tell you and show you the reserved places. Well, a representative office of the Republic of Tuva was opened in Ulangom. Therefore, even if problems arise, then through them you can solve it all. For lovers of outdoor recreation - a wonderful place. :hlopaet:

In 2007, we also traveled from Khakassia to Mongolia. Although there were no relations (at the state level), the Mongols perfectly remember the kindness and help of the USSR for the formation of their state. We passed by Ulangom, we were also on the lakes. They ate geese, herons, yak meat and horse meat. By the way, most of the inhabitants (middle-aged) speak Russian tolerably, but understand it in general, 100 percent. I remember their attitude towards the USSR, and towards us (former Soviets) - warm, hospitable, almost native. At that time, they didn’t talk about Russia at all, but called our country in the old way - the Soviet Union.
We have not seen any poverty, let alone poverty. This is the normal way of life of the Mongolian people. If the family is settled, then they live in a house, apartment, like ordinary rural people in any country. If the family is nomadic, has its own livestock, pasture allotments, then the way of life is accordingly nomadic. Hence, national housing, clothing, food... Therefore, you should not be afraid to go to Mongolia on a safari. You just need to decide for what purpose, and where can you go in Mongolia, to the steppe, or to the city-village?