Yak chasing and ger herding

  Ger camp - 70 km from Ulaan Baatar, Mongolia
Sunday, December 25, 2005

A highlight of our trip to Mongolia was to be the stay in a Ger (pron. 'gair') village on the bleak winter steppe. For millennia, Mongols have been a nomadic race that have drifted across the undulating plains of their native territory, which stretches from the dry grasslands of the Gobi desert in the south to the thick woodlands of Siberia in the north. From here, particularly adventurous and bloodthirsty ancestors in the 12th to 14th centuries - most notably Ghengis and Kublai Khan - launched massive campaigns of subjugation that united huge tracts of Asia and Eastern Europe in one of the largest empires ever known to man (see 'Did you know...' text below). Ger villages are what these guys lived in when they weren't out raping and pillaging; and many of their descendants still live in them today.



We had lesser ambitions than conquest as we drove out of Ulaan Baatar a couple of days before Christmas. A fine dusting of snow and ice covered the hilly landscape and it was good to be out of the hazy bustle of UB and into fresher air. As we headed eastwards, occasional villages presented themselves in the valleys - cute collections of tiny huts brightly painted and tiled that stood out in the spartan surrounding environment. The road was pitted and warped from years of scorching followed by freeze, but we finally bumped into our destination 70km out of town an hour or so later.



The village was more of a basic hotel resort with a cluster of permanent gers being the centrepiece. Our ger was brightly decorated and remarkably comfortable inside with plenty of furnishings, electricity and a central heater that did its best to keep the temperature hovering around 25C inside, whilst the outside temperature during the day was a pretty consistent -11C. I had hoped for something a little more rustic and isolated but maybe the current circumstances were for the best considering the temperatures.



We would stay for two nights so we made ourselves comfortable and settled in with some chess and reading. There isn't a great deal to do here during the dead of winter, and when our guide Puji rebuffed my bright ideas of archery and chasing yaks, that left walking in the hills with the wildlife (including brown bears and lynxs), eating and lounging as pretty much it on the entertainment front.



Still, we got out on our full day in the camp and walked to a neighbouring village with some more nomadic locals for some milk tea and horse-riding. This camp looked more authentic but pretty permanent too, and I think that the money brought in by tourism has given these guys a chance to settle down more enduring lifestyle than they have been able to in the past. Taking tourists for a hour ride at $US10 a pop is easier work than breeding animals for sale on the frozen plains methinks! Anyway, after some very salty white tea and plain nibbles, Jack the`Ger herder (pictured with me above) ordered his son to guide us up the hill on horseback and off we went.



They let me loose to ride myself which was nice and fortunately my trusty stump-legged steed behaved himself as we trudged into the countryside. The views were superb of the valleys and dales around and despite a howling wind which chilled any unprotected body parts to the marrow, the hour long ride was a refreshing change to the swampy heat of the gers we were now starting to get used to.



On our return we gave presents to thank the locals for their hospitality. The bottle of vodka which changed hands was quickly opened and rounds started in which everyone was included. Jack polished his three shots off in as many minutes and Leigh, Amanda and I finished ours in around ten, after which we said quick farewells and wobbled back to our ger to recover. They certainly breed 'em hardy around here!

Later that night we were invited back to Jack's for dinner and we all thought the worst regarding more vodka too. To our very good fortune it didn't materialise so we enjoyed a great feed of traditional mutton dumplings and tea in the warmth around the central stove/heater. It gave us more chance to admire some of the fine saddles, bizarre musical instruments and colourful furnishings, as well as the solid but practical mechanics of the ger itself.



Apart from that there is little more to report from ger central. Wildlife, excepting the domesticated dogs and some snappy birds, had headed for greener pastures long ago. Like with my moose in Sweden, I kept on to Puji with the yaks here - with as little success. There were some nice ice sculptures around but they only kept you occupied for a few minutes. (Maybe they should have carved a yak.)

This place would be better in summer with fields full of lush grass and flowers and more activity on the plains. We probably couldn't expect much different but the quite commercialised approach to the presentation of the nomadic life is a little disappointing, and the excess spare time spent in the ger could probably be used better to see more around UB. I'm sure there is a lot to see and do in Mongolia, but we only scratched the surface.

It's Christmas today so thanks mum for the lovely card tha made its way to me and cheers to everyone who sent well wishes through. It's nice to know people are still thinking of you when you're so far from home.

Did you know?

The Mongols were the pre-eminent force in Europe and Asia around 600 to 800 years ago and operated one of the greatest military, economic and administrative empires ever known to man. It is often claimed it has been the largest empire in history, spanning from the Pacific ocean to the borders of Greece and Germany and as far south as Indonesia and Pakistan - an absolutely enormous piece of real estate in anyone's terms.



They must have bumped up against a number of peoples I've witnessed on this trip like the Khmers, Thais and the Burmese which they didn't manage to subjugate, but as they controlled the Chinese, Russians and many Middle Eastern races they did pretty well in any event. It's understandable that the 'Khanate' didn't last for longer due to the immense scale of operations required - the Romans learned long before that the greater the conquered land, the harder it is to control the periphery.

Still, very interesting indeed and you can see a toughness and strength in the locals here not evident in other parts of the continent, probably harkening back to a darker age.