Traveler's really experienced story in Mongolia

Author by Shaun Della Vedova

Leaving Ulaanbaatar early, we headed out to a Ger camp a couple of hours drive away, in order to get a feel for the real Mongolia and how people have lived for a millenium. Of course, this required about an hour stuck in miserable peak hour traffic and by the time we got to the outskirts of town we were all fully awake and sick of blaring horns. I am not quite sure which direction we headed, but I think that it is was basically south along the valley in which UB is situated.

Just out of town we crossed a bridge that was due to close that day for two weeks, in order to repair large cracks that had recently appeared. Great, we were about to be the last people to cross a partially busted bridge. I was very glad of the prayer flags that were both prayers for safe crossing and what I am pretty sure was a vital structural element. Either way, we safely crossed the bridge and quickly entered the countryside, where gers surrounded by yaks, camels, goats and sheep dotted the countryside, but not much else was to be found.

It is a truly beautiful landscape, with grassy hills broken by trees only along the river banks in the bottom of the valley. The leaves on the trees were just beginning to turn yellow, providing a beautiful scene, especially when the horses and yaks could be seen drinking at the river.

Our first stop along the way was at the entrance to the National Park in which we were to stay, to take photos and enabled me to undertake my first circumambulation, this one around a stone cairn. I performed the three clockwise circuits and threw my rock on my pile and made my wish, which has already come true. There was also a guy there who had a large eagle, that for a small donation he put on my arm and let me take some cool photos, which are below. Damn that thing is heavy after about thirty seconds.

Our second stop was at a guy who owns a couple of camels and we took turns riding on the smelly beasts. I have ridden camels before, in Egypt and Morocco, but this was my first time riding a two-hump camel and I have to say that it is a much better experience that the one hump version. The seat is much easier, you can brace yourself much better when it stands and sits and you dont rock quite as much. I will say, though, that even these camels are not really comfortable and spending very long on one would leave me very sore.

We stayed in a ger camp that in a valley that is lined along its entire length with tourist ger camps. The good thing is that our camp is at the far end of the valley, in a secluded section, so we could not see any other camps and, in fact, at night couldn't hear anything but the sounds of nature. The valley was also tree lined, from the mountain peaks to the valley floor, so it is an absolutely beautiful setting. Even better, it was gorgeous day, with just a few clouds in the sky, with the rest being a stunning blue.

After lunch most of us headed out on a horse riding expedition, which was something that I have wanted to do for a long time. They hadn't ordered enough horses and since I was taking photos of everyone, I had to wait for another one to be delivered. I ended up getting a great horse, though it didn't have a propper saddle and instead I sat on a couple of blankets. I named my horse silver, even though he was brown, mostly so I could say "Hi, Ho, Silver, Away!", which I did on a regular basis. Verena named her horse Shaun and I am not quite sure if I should be concerned, flattered or what.

Silver was a great horse and would go faster if I asked it to and gave me a comfortable ride. The only bad thing was that the rope holding my right stirrup on fell off and so I ended up riding for the seond half of our outbound journey with one stirrup about 6 inches higher than the other. This wasnt so much of a problem while I was riding (I even got a gallop going for about 6 strides and no one else did) but when I got off, I could hardly stand for ten seconds.

At the halfway point, Turtle Rock, I had to switch horses with Sarah, who could use shorter stirrups. I was glad for her, as she has ridden horses all her life and had a terrible horse to start with and on the journey back she could really enjoy the ride. Unfortunately, it meant that I had a horse that kicked if I tried to get it to go faster and so ended up riding at the back. I named my new horse Sunshine, which is a perfect horse name and what I will call all horses I ride from now on. I can say anything like, "Let's go, Sunshine", "Why are you going this way, Sunshine?" and "how would you feel in a stew, Sunshine?".

Back from the ride, we had a cooking lesson set up to show us how to make Mongolian dumplings. We made the dough and then rolled them by hand and filled them with a mixture of beef, onions, potatoes, salt and pepper. It took me about three minutes to roll out a dumpling, while the ladies that were showing us took about 20 seconds, which just goes to show that practice makes perfect.

Verena and I had planned to go up to the top of the hill to watch the sunset, but had gotten distracted with the dumpling making and even though we almost ran up the hill we missed the sun disappearing behind the hill top by about thirty seconds. Damn washing our hands. It didn't matter too much, as we watched the sun slowly rise up the far side of the valley wall, the whispy clouds turn slightly pink and then the almost full moon rise.

By the time we came back down the hill it was almsot dark and dinner had been served and while we had a couple of dumplings left, a couple had been pilffered by unnamed people. the dumplings that were left to us were really quite tasty and I will be sure to try to make them when I get back home.

After dinner and a quick game of snooker with our driver, Verena and I decided to head back up to where we watched the sunset and watch the stars for a while. The sky was so clear, and the moon so bright, that we didn't need any light to see by and it reminded us both of night in the Australian outback. We ended up lying there for a long time, picking out the two or three constellations we knew, listening to birds and horses and looking for shooting stars. I have hesitated to tell you all this, but it was definitely the most romantic moment of my life.

Eventually heading back down as it was getting quite cold, we were glad that the stove had been lit in the ger and it was a very comfortable night of sleep. The crisp, clean mountain air is a great way to wake up and after a quick breakfast, we had a chance to try archery, another traditional Mongolian activity. None of us hit the target with the blunted arrows, but several of us got close and we all had a good time. Since I am now a master at horse riding and archery I think that I will change my name to either Chinggis Shaun or Shaun Khan. I think Chinggis Shaun sounds better, so I expect everyone to call me that. Hey, if Sting, Prince and Elton John can do it, why not me?

Heading back in to UB, the only even of note (other than the dodgy bridge was still open, saving us a two hour detour) was a stop for a drink of airag, a local "delicacy". Airag is esentially fermented horse milk, with an alcohol content of between 8% and 15%, depending on who makes it and what time of year it is made. They guy on the side of the road who sold it to us dipped a match in it then lit it, to prove its alcohol content. I will say that it is not a good taste, and as far as I can remember the second worst thing I have ever drunk (yak butter tea is still on a whole different level of vomit-inducing rancidness). Airag did taste a little better after the second sip, but about two or three shots worth is more than enough.