Wild Mongolia!

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  Ulan Bator, Mongolia
Tuesday, August 5, 2008

Oh, Mongolia!
I will definitely come back here with my kids someday.  Anyone else up for another trip before then? 
I LOVE this place. 
We left Beijing last Friday (clear back in July) on our first genuine Trans-Siberian Railroad train.  It was a comfortable trip with few stops and lots of sleep.  In between naps, Alban and I squeezed in some rummy and Scrabble games to wile away the hours.  We pulled into Ulaanbaatar Sabbath afternoon, where people humanely (unlike China and SE Asia) tried to coax us to their hostels.  With so many offers, we felt it would be rude to take up just one, so we decided to explore on our own.  After searching from sunlight, to dust storm, to rain and back to sunlight, we found a hostel that we just about settled in.  However, after a little thought, we figured we could do better for the price and moved to the UB Guesthouse--a wise decision.  It is pretty crowded there, but we were comfortable, near everything, and could book tours.
Our first tour was on Monday morning to a nearby national park in which Turtle Rock lies.  We ended up with a couple of English lads just heading into University to study Politics and Physics; the wise young men who know that Gabon is Canada's opposite and therefore would lose an Olympic curling match.  There was also an Indian (India, not Native American) stock broker from New York.  Two ladies from South Africa and Boston who had been teaching English in South Korea.  And finally, a lovely Dutch couple with whom we would spend the next week.  The trip was wonderful!  Probably a highlight of this entire trip, and definitely what made me fall in love with Mongolia.  I know, those are strong words, but I really do appreciate this place. 
When we got to our Yurt (I guess Mongolians call them Gers) camp, we settled in and tried some mutton.  It was probably the best local food we would enjoy in Mongolia.  Then, even though horses and I don't see eye to eye, I rode a horse for about an hour.  The stirrups and the saddle were too close together, so I couldn't stand up without getting the metal bar rammed into my butt.  The other option was to sit on the saddle all cramped up while feeling the other metal bar underneath what was supposed to be padding.  It was a very uncomfortable hour, and I don't see myself riding another horse until the next time I am in Mongolia.  Although, I would say I make a dang good cowboy.  We spent the evening exploring the hills near our camp and getting to know one another.  It turned out to be a bitterly cold evening, so when we got back to camp we tried to start a fire.  The New Yorker thought we could get one started magnifying glass style, but all we had was a pair of binoculars which couldn't focus long enough to start the fire.  We finally used a few matches, toilet paper, and cow dung.  The cow dung was the Dutchman's idea, and the English lads agreed that it was the Rolls Royce engine to the fire.  Needless to say, it was a fun evening.  We played a few charades with everyone, but the non-Americans had charades down to a science.  It was incredible how quickly they broke them down.  Then the booze was brought in and Alban and I settled down to play cards with a few other sober people.  That first night in a ger proved to be the most comfortable, and the morning brought us quickly back to Ulaanbaatar.
Next, Alban and I decided to take a weeklong safari through the Gobi with the wonderful Dutch couple and our trusty Mongolian driver, Mo.  The week was a pleasure.  We had no paved roads, and our 4-wheel drive man van took us everywhere.  We stayed nights in random gers at the side of the road, and played "Hey Cows" until our lungs were sore.  Mostly, it was a daily trip from nowhere to nowhere, but on occasion we found some fun places.  All the while, we had a great time getting to know the Dutch couple, Peter and Vanessa.  Peter decided that he would cook lunches (breakfasts and suppers were provided, but terrible) and he did a good job of it.  We broke out the cookstove early every afternoon and added a bunch of garlic to make everything taste good. 
The first fun stop was at an oasis where there were hundreds of camels.  We got to go on a camel tour and were shown some dinosaur bones that an old patriarch was digging up.  Very cool!  That was day two.  On the first of August, we headed deep into the desert to where the biggest dunes of Mongolia lie 300m high.  That was day that there was supposed to be a solar eclipse at ten in the morning, the actual eclipse caught us (me in the outhouse) by surprise at 6 in the evening (never trust Dutch newspapers).  It was really neat, although not 100% where we were.  Things got pretty dark and we could watch the moon pass slowly in front of the sun.
In the evening, Alban and I went streaking on the massive dunes.  I mostly just rolled around on them until there was a weird rumbling sound.  As I was rolling down one dune, I started to make a sand avalanche, the resulting friction of sand on sand made the whole dune vibrate and sing.  It was really cool but also scary. 
There really weren't many exciting things to that week, and I have little more to write about it.  Let it suffice to say that it was a ton of fun doing nothing in nowhere for a week.  And taking a shower after that week was over was a highlight in itself. 
Mongolia truly is great.  The most vast country I have ever seen with no (well, a few) people living in it.  I really enjoyed my time here.  A verbal account, however, would do it better justice than my writing could.

I will never again eat goat meat.

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