Wow! I had decided to keep all of my entries really short but I feel a need to rave about this a bit, so it will be a little longer.
We just got back from 5 days in the Mongolian countryside, northeast of Ulan Baator. It was absolutely amazing!! I wish I had a whole month!
Two nights, we stayed with nomadic families (one being relatives of Bata, who drove the jeep, the other being people that Khishgee, the interpreter, knew). Two nights, we stayed in a ger (mongolian tent) in the national park, Terelj. There was lots of bumpy driving on roads that probably wouldnt be used for anything other than mountain biking in most places. The landscape was open and incredibly beautiful for the first 2.5 days on the "steppe" and then for two in the in the national park, is was green with fabulous bare rock formations.
One day, we drove to Baldan Breeven monastery, where 5000-6000 lamas lived when the communist came in 1938 (and leveled the monastery-town and killed the lamas). There were just the remants of a building or two left. Everything was completely deserted, and far away from everything by a small mountain lake. A really powerful place.
In the national park, we went horseback riding one day, which was a great experience - coming riding in through a field of yaks or up to the base of a mountain monastery is pretty inspiring. Even if you, like me, cant really ride a horse. The buddhism practiced in Mongolia is very close to Tibetan buddhism and the temples are quite beautiful.
Staying with Bata's relatives in their ger, I also got to get on a horse for a little bit, which was maybe even cooler, since it was a more lively animal, and with one of the teenage kids from the family. There were about 10 younger kids standing around just laughing until they hurt watching me.
The countryside where we traveled is open open open, here and there interrupted by one of the following:
1) a few white gers
2) sheep and goats (the latter for cashmere)
3) horses
4) cows
and not much else.
The food has been neat too:
Mainly two things: 1) Mongolian tea, Suutei tsai, which is mostly salty/sugary water and milk. Tasty though. 2) And milk curds dried in the sun - that was more of a taste to acquire. There were a couple of chances for meat, and even though I would love to be able to say that my first meat in over a decade was marmot, I have to admit this did not happen.
Now for the major downside on traveling:
Toilet breaks. So, here you are, spending the night in 2 "tents" where 15 people you have never met live. And there is no outhouse. Ok, no big deal. But, it is a little bit awkward when there is nothing but 2 cm long grass for many many kilometers, not a rock, not a curve in the ground, not a shrub. And you just have to walk a little bit away in any random direction and do your business. What is "a little bit"? And no, it is not like hiking, because this is a place where people live for months at a time. This I had a hard time with.
I could write so much more, but I better go for now!
L
More thumbnails ...
