Holiday in Mongolia: Part 2

1/6/11 - 12/6/11

Following my run in with the naughty Mongolian horse we had 24 hours to chill out at Catherine's house in UB and to decide if i was fit to travel! In addition to the massive graze on my back which wanted to stick to everything it came in contact with I also had bruises on my knees and thigh, bruises and cuts on my left leg where the horse stood on me and small grazes all over. I couldn't walk properly and could only sit leaning forward or lie on my stomach which made the thought of travelling in a bouncy van not a very nice one. But with the help of some pretty serious pain killers and the thought of sitting around UB for a couple of weeks hanging over me (no thanks) I decided i'd man up (woman up??) and go on the tour anyway.

The first day of the tour, also my birthday though i didn't really feel like celebrating (thanks for the Ferrero Rochers Tim x), we met the rest of the group - 9 other backpackers, 5 French, 1 German, 1 Norwegian, 1 Bulgarian, 1 Malay and 1 other Aussie, 2 Mongolian drivers and 8 Mongolian Geography students plus Kishig the teacher and his wife Oogii. Oogii was a late but welcome addition as her English was the best of all the Mongolians and she would also be our cook. After the usual dithering around we were on the road and heading west. The first night we stayed at one of the student's families Ger camp 100km or so out of UB and they cooked us a "Mongolian BBQ". This included a demonstration of killing and preparing the goat for the BBQ which was a lot quicker and probably much more humane than how Western abattoirs work! Burning off the goat hair was not a pretty smell though!

Mongolian BBQ is a bit different from an Aussie one, basically they stuff pretty much every part of the goat, except its legs, stomach and head, into a big pot of water with some hot rocks and put it over the fire until it is all boiled up. Probably one of the worst things i've had to eat... Boiled goat skin is NOT nice. On the up side we also had some Mongolian yoghurt, which is usually made inside a sheep's stomach, served with sugar. It tastes like Greek Yoghurt, yum. 

First night on tour

After a beautiful sunset and watching the students and drivers do some traditional wrestling we camped out for the first time on our whole trip. It wasn't particularly comfortable trying to lie down on my stomach on my thermarest with my wounds but i survived! We were also treated to the sounds of some of the students vomiting outside our tent - Vodka is popular and often a vice for Mongolians. Lucky the camping got better! Then we were back in our two vans and on the road again. Oh and it was dirt roads from here on....  

We checked out Khar Buh, the ruins of an old buddhist temple and Oogii tested out her translating skills for the first time. On the way from here to lunch we spotted a big group of wild camels, babies included. They are the bactarian kind with two humps and are much prettier than our one humped camels, with thick coats to keep them warm in winter. We stopped for lunch at a lake, which was a pretty bad choice as there were soooo many little flies around, they didn't bite but they got in our hair, up our noses, into the vans and were a general pest. The students taught us how to make dung fires to keep them away - we wondered what was worse, breathing in cow poo or flies??

We camped at a small river this night and had a big campfire with singing by the Mongolians - the blokes tend to be very keen singers and have quite beautiful deep voices, though all the songs seem to be about horses! We also tried out some of the Mongolian Vodka, not bad though mixers are very frowned upon and you are not supposed to sip it, just down it in one go. Not surprisingly there were a few headaches the next day.

Another perfect campsite with a gorgeous sunset

Day 3 was lots of driving again (ouch, my poor back) with a stop for lunch at Choidog canyon where we saw some falcons. The last stretch of driving for the day was over some very bumpy rocky dirt tracks where we had to get out and walk at some places, but it was worth it to reach our camping spot at the confluence of two rivers running down canyons, gorgeous. We had a relaxing morning here with a chance to have a bath and wash some clothes in the river, it was good to be clean but brrrrr!

Big tough Mongolian
guard dog - ha!

We drove through the afternoon, with a quick stop to stock up on snacks and beers, to Kishig's uncle's village where we set up camp outside his house, among the discarded goats legs (eww!). He had a gorgeous big dog, typical of a lot of the Mongolian dogs we met - meant to be a guard dog but really a big softy who loved tummy rubs. We got to have a quick horse ride this evening, i was a bit nervous after the accident but i'd told Kishig and he kindly matched me with a reliable horse. We also had Russian saddles this time which were much more comfortable than the Mongolian ones. I was surprised to find that it was actually more comfortable for my back to ride a horse than be in the van! That night the locals put on a disco for us - it was pretty funny, a school hall with music from a mobile phone and flashing headtorches for lights... Not exactly rocking out!

The next morning we took turns riding horses and riding in the van, most of the group was happy with just one horse ride so i got two turns of about 1.5hrs each time. I was on the same horse who gave me a nice ride, not too much encouragement to get him going which i appreciated as my leg was giving me troubles. We had lunch at a Ger along the way and then headed to Khorgo Volcano checking out the evidence of the lava flow along the way, Tim was disappointed to find out that it was long extinct but he did get to climb down into the crater.

One of many many Gers!

As a break from tents and vans we stayed at the White Lake for two nights in a Ger - a Ger in high-vis orange no less - in real beds with a fireplace too. Some of the nights had been pretty cool so it was great to have somewhere cosy for a change. We climbed the nearby hill for views of the lake, had a bit more horse riding, bathed in the lake (frreeezzzing), looked for wolves in the forest and had a brief go in a row boat. Another break from routine was fish for dinner, cooked by the french guys on a hot stone with wild chives picked on the hill - it tasted awesome after having goat and rice and noodles and goat and carrots and goat and potatos and goat and goat for 5 days. From here on in the French guys, with some help from the rest of us, got involved in the cooking quite a bit and the Western touch definitely improved things!

We started the next day by exploring 3 caves around the lake - Yellow Dog's Hell (which came with a legend about a dog), Ice Cave (which really did have ice in it) and Youth Cave (which was a small hole in the ground that Tim and some of the others went inside to find a much bigger cave below). We also stopped to check out some vultures (seriously massive birds) just off the side of the road. 

Some of the backpacker crew!

It was time to start heading back towards UB and this meant driving over some mountains, complete with fields of wildflowers in purple, yellow and white. It also meant that the older of the two vans couldn't quite make it up the hill so a bit of walking was called for - as the injured one i was allowed to stay inside, hehe. We stayed on the side of a hill this night, not the best camping spot but i did see a gopher and some rabbits, and we sat and chatted and had beers while watching another beautiful Mongolian sunset. 

Mongolian foal, minutes old!

We walked a few kms up a hill to a temple the next morning through pine forest, as my leg had continued to be sore and had been swelling up it was hard going but I made it by taking it slow. It was worth it, the temple was very pretty and the views were awesome. It was Tim and my turn to travel in the student van this day - we had tried mixing in the vans but the students taste in music and their propensity to jump around all over the place and sing very loudly or to sleep on top of people meant that the backpacker crew preferred to travel together - which was not so bad as we sat up the front with the driver. As we were driving through a valley we suddenly pulled up near a herd of horses, someone had seen that a foal was being born! It was a cool experience, something that most people hadn't seen before, including Kishig who had been riding and looking after horses all his life. All the Mongolians kept telling us what a lucky experience it was and that we would now all have good luck. 

Pretty camel

On the last night of our trip we had a camel ride on the (mini) sand dunes at Elsen Tasarhai. Unfortunately we were late (again!) and it was only a 15min experience. Tim swears that not only are the camels prettier than one humped camels (well, my camel didn't really fit this mould as he had alopecia and floppy humps!) but they also were much more comfortable. We had a lovely last evening camping nearby, chatting around the fire and sharing beers that Kishig had bought for everyone. It was a great trip all in all, not the most professional outfit but Kishig and Oogii were kind and genuine, we saw beautiful places, had plenty of new experiences and a chance to spend some time with Mongolian people. 

After some hiccups getting back into UB involving a broken van, towing the broken van, trying to fit 16 people into a 12 seater and a man made dust storm we made it back into UB for our first shower in 10 days! The backpacker crew were a great bunch who we got on well with (only one didn't really fit in) and we were sad to have to say goodbye to them after some final drinks back in UB - it was really nice to hang out with some different people after just travelling as a couple for so long!