Into the Great Wide Open

The presence of snow in Mongolia in mid October came as a surprise to us. Yes, we knew we would be toying with the beginning of winter and of course Mongolia receives snow storms quite often throughout the season, but for some reason we were surprised to encounter it during our visit. Our newly purchased layers from the black market kept our bodies and legs warm but we had neglected to give enough thought to our feet. Nearly 9 months into the trip, our shoes are running a little thin and now the cold white stuff seemed to find its way into every crack and crevice of our shoes numbing our feet as we bounced our way down the road in our tour van.

Our group stood at 6 travelers plus a local guide and driver. Colleen and I shared the back bench seat of the van with a Frenchman, Siso, who was on a journey of personal enlightenment. Then there was Whe, a Trader Joe’s worker from San Jose, and Stuart and Lesley from Ireland sharing the middle seat. Stuart was actually on a year long leave of absence from Accenture (same former employer as Chad) and was traveling with his girlfriend Lesley who had left her job as well. Our driver, Baterdene, was a man of few words but endless smiles and our guide, Hurlee, was a recent graduate of a Mongolian university who was using her knowledge of her country and respectable English ability to advance herself.

The decision to sign up for this specific tour was a combination of knowing what we wanted to see and then making the rounds at the various guesthouses to see what tours were scheduled this late in the season. We lucked out in the fact that our selected tour was at the 6 person maximum thus minimizing the shared costs. For $33 per person per day we got our driver, guide, van, gas, food, accommodation, park fees, road fees and activities paid for. It turned out to be some of the best value for our money we have seen on our trip.

Our tour was 10 days of ‘ger to ger’ touring throughout the countryside. We first headed south into the Gobi desert. The desert, it turns out, was covered with snow, not the landscape one imagines when thinking of the Gobi. As we moved further south the snow cover slowly lifted and we continued to be surprised by what the land had to offer. The Gobi Desert is actually quite diverse offering snow topped jagged mountains, vast rock outcroppings, rolling hills and patches of shrubbery along with the occasional sand dune and periodic water oasis’s one would expect.

The path/direction we followed was not really dictated by any sort of road but more so by Baterdene’s knowledge of the land. In some sections there were light tire ruts that we seemed to follow for a short while only to suddenly turn off into a vast nothingness and continue on. There was no pavement, shoulder/ditch or road markers at any point. Essentially you felt like you were driving hundreds of kilometers each day through open fields. At first we wondered if we were just missing some markers or if the driver was lost but this trend of driving continued throughout our tour.

At the end of every day we would pull up to a ger camp and our guide would go in to ask the family if we could stay in their extra ger. We would then tumble out of our van to claim our beds, with the ones closest to the fire being most valuable. The families we stayed with were wonderful and cheerful, showing us great hospitality, binging us tea and coming in every night and early morning to stoke the fire. Each morning, prior to departing, we would present any children in the family with the coloring books and pencils we had brought with us from Ulaanbaatar and it was magical to see their face light up in joy from such a simple gift.

The hardest part of the entire trip was not the cold or traveling with people we didn’t know for 10 days, it was the food. Mongolians love meat, and in particular they love mutton (lamb). Besides Chad and myself, there were two other people who claimed to be vegetarian on the trip. I thought that would make everything easier, but it turns out they were ‘pretend’ vegetarians, willing to eat meat whenever they felt inclined. Unfortunately that makes people think that all vegetarians are this way and I spent a few meals watching everyone else eat.

The Mongolian landscape is extremely diverse. There are over 34 million head of livestock and only 2.5 million people. We encountered countless animals with their herders during our travels. The herders were interesting people. Like the rest of Mongolia, they had moved forward with some modern advancements but still held on to their traditional way of life. We would see them on horseback or camel, but it was not uncommon for them to be on a motorbike and all the while talking on their cellphone. Half of the Mongolian population lives in gers (many in cities), but these traditional houses are almost always equipped with solar panels and satellite tv! It was quite a site to pass a ger in the middle of nowhere, fully decked out with some modern technology Another interesting fact - only people that live in Ulaanbaatar own land (and this just came about a few years ago). Everyone else claims land by moving their ger to an open part of land, whether it be in the countryside or towns.

During the 10 days we made a few stops to see families that our driver and guide knew, just to say hello and introduce us. We would sit inside the ger, and the family would offer us airag (fermented mare’s milk) and homemade vodka made from yogurt. It is considered offensive to turn down a gift, so we would all take sips and pass around the bowls, sometimes for hours. It was a great way to see how people lived and meet the families who find great satisfaction in entertaining guests, especially from the western world. At one point a local man actually produced two fish from his dal (traditional overcoat) and presented them to us as a gift! All families also have big huge, Mongolian dogs. We were warned in advance many times about the dogs in the countryside. They are not considered pets but are working dogs. They protect the flocks and families, keeping wolves and strangers away as no gers have fences. We were told to be very careful of them, that they are mean, ferocious dogs that would bite you if given the chance. Turns out the were big softies that couldn’t have been more different. The dogs were massive, but extremely friendly and loved a nice belly rub. They would trot up, sniff you to make sure you were not intruding, then sleep outside the gers at night, barking at the birds and sometimes chasing the cars that would pass by.

Our days weren’t all filled with driving and visits to the small towns in the countryside. We spent a full day riding camels at the Khongor sand dunes. Unlike the camels we rode in Jordan, these camels were shorter and have 2 humps. They were great fun and filled with personality. The old women who guided them sang to her animals and hugged them whenever we got off. She truly loved her camels, which is understandable as we were told she made the equivalent of 30,000USD in the summer high season from tourists! We also spent a morning on a horseback, although I would opt for a camel any day. The horses are all semi-wild in Mongolia. The day we were to ride we had to wait as the handler went out to “catch them”. They are famous for throwing riders and dragging them as they gallop away. None of that excitement happened to us, but they were very interesting creatures to ride.

The last night of our countryside adventure was Chad’s birthday as well as a driver and a guide from another group that had been traveling on and off with us so a celebration was in order. There was a big feast for dinner and the drivers and guides gave Chad a nice birthday present, a bottle of local vodka! Of course that had to be drunk along with airag, wine and more vodka! Drinking is definitely a group event here, no one drinks on their own, but everything is communal and passed around in a circle. After dinner a local traditional Mongolian throat singer wandered into our ger and played for us, even singing Chad a song for his birthday. It was one to remember and I have no idea how I will be able to top it next year!

We returned to Ulaanbaatar tired and in great need of a shower (we had only had 1 on the trip at a public shower house) but extremely happy and it was evident that we had fallen in love with Mongolia. It is a simply amazing country, with some of the most breathtaking landscape and friendliest people that we have encountered. The journey to get here is long and expensive but worth every bit of effort. The people and their country have been incredible hosts in sharing their culture and ways of life with us and we are very thankful for that.

*The Mongolian pictures are up. Check them out to get the full image of Mongolia!