In Old Ulaanbaatar

This is picture week, for reasons of time and also to do something with some of the images I've taken in various places. Today's image is one of my favorites among those I've taken myself. Time: September 1994. Place: Ulan Bator, Mongolia, or the vowel-intense Ulaanbaatar, if you prefer.

Anyway, it's the capital of Mongolia, and worth returning to if only to fly into Chinggis Khaan International Airport (thus renamed in 2005, I've read). One of the sites to see in town is known as the Winter Palace of Bogd Khan, the "Emperor" of Mongolia in the early 20th century, and the top-ranking lama in the country.

This painted wooden statue, and a companion on the other side, stood in 1994 in front of the entrance to one of the palace buildings -- a small, tumbledown place when compared to the Forbidden City that it seemed to be imitating, but interesting all the same. I was told it was a "guardian demon," though I suspect that translation does the creature little justice. Some years later, I heard -- in conversation over lunch with a banker, of all people -- that such guardian demons had "lost their jobs" at the request of the Dalai Lama.

I have no idea if that is the case, or can be the case. In fact the whole thing is a fog to this North American. But that only adds to the appeal of the image.