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Into Outer Mongolia

Fri 14th May 2010 — drew
image(s): 
arriving at guesthouse in UB
our ger in the Terlj national park
looking over our ger camp in the Terelj
ger setting in the Terelj
dinner in the family ger
Drew wnjoys a chilly beer outside our ger
the ger in the evening light
Ana stokes our fire
Drew takes the reins
Giddy Up
end of the horse ride in the Terelj
view from ridge over the Terelj
looking back down to our gers
Drew enjoys the view over the valleys on the Terelj
looking down the valley
rocky outcrops on the ridge
Drew finds a walking stick
lookig back along the ridge, Terelj
shadows in the Terelj
heading back down to camp in the Terelj
our ger in the evening sun
the gers in the morning

We were picked up from UlaanBaatar train station by one of the popular guesthouses and were taken back for a very welcome shower (there are no showers on the train!). Clean and refreshed we reorganised our bags for our trip to the nearby Terelj national park.

One of the first things to strike us in Mongolia was the dramatic change in language and script. Although they use the Cyrillic script as the Russians, Mongolian is not a Slavic language so the words and sounds are totally different. It was also a big change from Chinese and South East Asian languages and scripts that we had gotten so used to. Despite asking many people several times, we were still unable to pronounce a single word of the guttural Mongolian language by the time we left, although we had cleared our throats trying.

It was only an hours drive into the park where the desert was replaced by dramatic cliffs with huge boulders and rock formations. The hills were covered in trees but there was still very little green about as the snow had only just melted. There were small signs of spring appearing with some grass shoots and a few pretty flowers around.

Our camp turned out to be just a couple of gers in a beautiful location at the head of a valley. A third ger served as the home of the host family - mother, father and 14 year old son. Gers, or yurts, are traditional houses of Mongolian nomads and are constructed from a round wooden lattice frame which is covered in thick felt. There is a stove in the centre which vents out of a chimney and keeps the interior relatively smoke-free. Our ger was fairly basic with 5 simple, wooden beds surrounding the stove. We were the only ones there on the first night so had the place to ourselves. We were surprised by how light it was inside the ger with only a small section in the roof made from transparent plastic.

It was already early evening when we arrived so we went for a quick walk up a nearby hill for a drink before dinner. Sitting on one of the big rocks the view over the valley was fantastic but the harsh wind made it a little chilly. On our return Ana, the son, had lit the fire in our stove so the ger was lovely and warm. At dinner we were invited into the family ger which was slightly larger than ours and to our surprise had an enormous flat screen TV (however, there was no electricity for the two days that we were there). After a hearty, but far from traditional, dinner of pasta with potatoes, carrots and meat we went to watch the sun go down. We had not appreciated how far north we were and were amazed as the twilight lasted until well after 9pm. Once it had finally gone dark, the stars were quite incredible.

After a slightly unfortunate experience in a tipi in West Wales we were paranoid about getting cold in the night. We are not sure what the best technique is for maintaining an optimum temperature in the ger. Ana seemed to always fill the stove full of wood which would inevitably have us sweating and rushing outside for some cold air. However, the stove burns very efficiently, and small amounts do not last long. So we went to sleep on top of all our covers sweating and gradually put on more layers as the night went on. With some fresh wood put on by Drew in the middle of the night, we were perfectly snug and warm.

Having burst through the door to stoke the fire at 9am, Ana reappeared with a flask of tea and stacks of bread and jam for our breakfast. A peek out of the door revealed grey skies and a chilly wind, so we retreated to the warmth of our ger for a relaxing morning reading by the fire. We were joined mid-day by another couple from near where Drew grew up who were doing the same journey as us but in reverse. Chatting away with them gave us all an opportunity to learn about what lay ahead for us.

After lunch which was the same as our dinner the night before, we were taken horse riding. Our horses turned out to be slightly diminutive scruffy Mongolian steeds with a definite mind of their own. Drew was slightly nervous having only ever sat on a horse twice before in his life and then always with someone holding onto the reins. We headed off down the valley with Ana riding behind herding us and whipping the horses occasionally to keep us plodding onwards. Halfway round, Ana handed Heather the whip and disappeared off in the other direction. It wasn't long before Drew's horse decided he'd had enough, stopped and stuck his head down to eat some grass. No amount of persuasion on Drew's part could convince him to budge and it took Ana galloping in from the distance to get things moving again. Ana then seemed to decide we needed to hurry things up and soon had us bumping along at an uncomfortable trot. Having convinced him that we would prefer to walk we were treated to some singing; Ana turned out to have a great bellowing voice perfectly suited to carrying across the vast expanses of the Terelj, and sang us some very atmospheric Mongolian songs as we rode back to the camp. An hour on the horses was definitely long enough. We had both enjoyed the experience of ambling around the Mongolian countryside on a very traditional means of transport, but we were happy to get off, stretch our legs and rest our derrieres.

The weather had been improving gradually all day and by the time that we dismounted it was a beautiful sunny afternoon so we headed off into the hills for a walk. After a steep ascent we were up on a ridge covered with huge boulders and stunning views over the ger camp and the neighbouring valley which stretched down to the desert beyond. The rock outcrop which towered over our ger and had seemed enormous from beneath looked pretty small from the top of the ridge. There was no real walking path but several animal trails and following these led to a bit of a circuitous route along the ridge. Out of the wind it was beautifully warm and we sat down in a couple of places to take it all in and enjoy a cup of tea. It was hard to know how to finish the walk off and Heather may have succumbed to a little summit fever and wanted to climb to the highest point. We eventually abandoned this endeavour frustratingly close to the top as it was starting to look like a hairy climb. Nonetheless we'd enjoyed fabulous views and had built up a healthy appetite for a beer and dinner (which we were unsurprised to find was our third meal of pasta, meat and potatoes).

We spent the rest of the evening alternating between warming up in the ger and admiring the night sky in the chilly air outside. After a picnic breakfast the next morning we were picked up and taken back to UB. we had only a few hours in the city which we used to get ready for the next leg of the train journey. This included a visit to the impressive State Department Store which had pretty much everything we could possibly want and a whole lot more besides. This left us better equipped; we would no longer have to face the challenge of eating our porridge with chopsticks.