Mongolia
Where to begin?! I loved it! We stayed the first night in the Capital - Ulan Baatar. The fantastic hostel we stayed at (Golden Gobi) also organized tours to the countryside, so we decided to do a 3 day tour with 2 others we met on the train from Russia; Emma from Australia and Singo from Japan. We headed out 380km to the old capital on the first day. With the roads being as they were (massive potholes all over the place...so many that dirt roads are often created on the sides of the actual roads!), the 380km took about 7 or 8 hours of insane driving. There are padded roofs in the van for a reason!
Tsogo our driver was hilarious! His English was limited, but my God could he make us laugh. Tsongunee was our guide and cook, and together, they showed us the best time ever over 3 days.
This was a trek that you definitely couldn't have done on your own. For one, there are no road signs anywhere...even though on the map, they are supposed to be "highways". Off roading was completely normal, driving over mountains where there was no path was also completely normal.
We wanted a traditional style Mongolian experience in the countryside, and that is just what we got. Sleeping in traditional style Gers (like tents), going to the washroom outside, no running water, heat only from a wood burning (or dried cow manure, which surprisingly, didn't smell when you used it as fuel!) stove, no showers...etc etc.
The first washroom stop on the trip, Singo went first, and when we asked him how it was (since it was outside and minus 15 out) all he could say was "big mountain". Hmmm? Strange? But when I went to check it out myself, it all became clear. an outhouse that is a huge pit with planks of wood on top and a big hole to stand over. Look down, and its a huge mountain below you of...well...you know what...and big like metres high big. All I could think of was "don't fall in, don't fall it". And trust me, the hole was big enough that it was a possibility. This kind of washroom was the norm from then on...but i cant say i really got used to it.
The second night we stayed with a traditional nomadic family who let us dress up in their traditional style clothes. The husband let us smoke his pipe, sniff some strange sort of tobacco, and try on his funky herding boots. They were too adorable!
The next day Tsogo and Tsongunee tried to gross us out by boiling up the insides of a horse and eating it - just looking at it in the big pot was a lesson in biology i would have rather missed. Singo tried some, but after a small bite, begged Tsogo to eat the rest for him. I couldn't look at the stuff, nevermind try it...eww! All they eat in Mongolia is meat, meat, and more meat! Tsongunee did a good job of trying to cook us up some vegetarian food though with such limited selection. All the meals he cooked us were MASSIVE, we were stuffed all the time...it was a bit ridiculous!
Here are some pics! I want to go back someday and check out the Gobi Dessert! There wasn't enough time to get there this time around, ill just have to go back again another time.
Tsogo our driver was hilarious! His English was limited, but my God could he make us laugh. Tsongunee was our guide and cook, and together, they showed us the best time ever over 3 days.
This was a trek that you definitely couldn't have done on your own. For one, there are no road signs anywhere...even though on the map, they are supposed to be "highways". Off roading was completely normal, driving over mountains where there was no path was also completely normal.
We wanted a traditional style Mongolian experience in the countryside, and that is just what we got. Sleeping in traditional style Gers (like tents), going to the washroom outside, no running water, heat only from a wood burning (or dried cow manure, which surprisingly, didn't smell when you used it as fuel!) stove, no showers...etc etc.
The first washroom stop on the trip, Singo went first, and when we asked him how it was (since it was outside and minus 15 out) all he could say was "big mountain". Hmmm? Strange? But when I went to check it out myself, it all became clear. an outhouse that is a huge pit with planks of wood on top and a big hole to stand over. Look down, and its a huge mountain below you of...well...you know what...and big like metres high big. All I could think of was "don't fall in, don't fall it". And trust me, the hole was big enough that it was a possibility. This kind of washroom was the norm from then on...but i cant say i really got used to it.
The second night we stayed with a traditional nomadic family who let us dress up in their traditional style clothes. The husband let us smoke his pipe, sniff some strange sort of tobacco, and try on his funky herding boots. They were too adorable!
The next day Tsogo and Tsongunee tried to gross us out by boiling up the insides of a horse and eating it - just looking at it in the big pot was a lesson in biology i would have rather missed. Singo tried some, but after a small bite, begged Tsogo to eat the rest for him. I couldn't look at the stuff, nevermind try it...eww! All they eat in Mongolia is meat, meat, and more meat! Tsongunee did a good job of trying to cook us up some vegetarian food though with such limited selection. All the meals he cooked us were MASSIVE, we were stuffed all the time...it was a bit ridiculous!
Here are some pics! I want to go back someday and check out the Gobi Dessert! There wasn't enough time to get there this time around, ill just have to go back again another time.
posted by Mary at 5:50 p.m.
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