Outer Mongolia

The train pulls into Ulaanbaatar at 5.30 am. We cannot believe that we are in Mongolia. Our first impression (despite being shattered) is that it is blxxdy freezing, and that the people smile here. We are met by a very friendly female guide called Ogii who takes us to our minibus where Brendan, Matt and I wait half an hour for a couple of people arriving on a later train. It feels so cold, it was about -15. The people turn out to be a couple called Claire and James from Belfast.

We go straight to a decent hotel where we have access to showers and a sauna. The former was freezing which was a disappointment after the train, but we were mollified by the lovely sauna. After a hearty (eat all you can) buffet breakfast we head off for a city tour. We saw, amongst other things, a demonstration on parliament square. The demonstration was about lack of funds for education, health and pensions (sounds familiar?) The most striking thing about it was that the protesters had erected about 5 ger tents (the traditional wood framed felt circular tents) and this was our first introduction to the type similar to the ones we would spend our next few days in. We also visit a buddist monastry and are completely taken aback by a huge (27 meters tall!) buddha within. After kicking B for his expletive we pay a small fee to be able to take photos. They won't do it justice as it was impossible to get the whole thing into the shot. It really was amazing. Ogii informed us that the curent statue replaced an earlier one that was taken and melted down during a clamp down on religion by the soviets, and that this one had been made possible by many donations from local families. Some of the people praying at the monastry were recently bereaved and were lighting candles to help their loved ones move from this world to the next (Buddists believe that they are 'in limbo' for 49 days before moving on to their next life).

After this we rejoin our minibus which now includes several people who are introduced as our cooks for the next few days, and we set off, feeling very excited, for the ger camp.

The Steppe (as the Mongolian countryside is called) is very flat, remote feeling and surrounded by distant mountains. At this time of year the ground is dirt, but with a dull green hue, so it wasn't grassland, but nor was it desert. The sun was deceptive as the invisible (no trees) wind was biting and must have reduced the temperature by at least 10 degrees.

The camp had about 8 tents and Matt, Brendan and I shared one while Claire and James had another. They were very ornate inside (almost romany-style wood painting). circular with 4 beds around the outside, plus a dressing table with a mirror. In the centre a substantial stove which threw out an awful lot of heat. Their construction was explained to us, but they are basically moveable and typical nomadic Mongolians will move camp 4 times a year.

We are a tad dissapointed that the shower block was out of action - (the pipes were frozen) and that the loos were equally effected so we had to use the squat hole-in-the-ground ones, however this did add somewhat to the authenticity of the experience.

The food was amazing - we ate and ate and ate, and I had special vegge dishes and felt totally spoiled! We drank loads and played bones and cards until the early hours.

There were 2 camp dogs that we made friends with - they were huge but v young and playful. There was a corale and herds of horses would pass by also sheep and cashmere goats (some with little rugs or coats on).

The two highlights of this part of the trip were riding native Mongolian horses across the Steppe (Brendan learnt the rising trot and experienced his first canter - he did really well!) and I had a gallop across the Steppe alongside the herdsman, which was an amazing experience. The native poines are quite small (13- 14hh) but are weight carriers and very sure-footed. They use neck-reigning, as in the western style of riding, and the Mongols ride with very short stirrups, and whilst galloping shift their weight every 4 strides or so , to prevent muscle fatigue in the rider. Anyway - it was simply 'one of those moments' for me - I felt very peaceful surrounded by all that space.

We also visited 2 local nomadic families, in their gers and were amazed and delighted to discover that they also had animals in there - specifically some very newly-born goat kids and lambs (photos to follow). We enjoyed a snack and salted (urrrgh) tea with them. They were very hospitable.

After 2 nights we very sadly left the camp and returned to Ulaan Baatar. After the serene steppe the noisy traffic - (if you are turning left, blow your horn. If you are turning right, blow your horn. If you are going straight ahead, blow your horn) drove us mad. The hotel was lovely though and we enjoyed a really good Indian meal (v bizarre in Mongolia) but it was great. We also went to a show, which was outstanding - a re-enaction of the country's history, amazing music including the horse head fiddle and harps. They also had a curious traditional throat-singing. Finally went to bed ready for our final Trans-Siberian leg to China!

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