Over the Hump

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By no means does the title of this entry represent the halfway point of our journey (not even close), but rather an apt description of our return visit to Mongolia. We tossed up other potential openers, like "Tossed Salad", "Struck Down" and "Do the hokey-pokey and you shake it all about...that's what it's all about!", but the eventual winner became somewhat of a mantra for sections of our latest venture into the Mongolian wilderness.


Coming back to this land has been bitter sweet. Sweet for the fresh air, the bluest of blue skies, the friendly, welcoming faces and the enormity of its untouched physical beauty. On the flip side has been the extraordinarily painful temperatures (Why, oh, why did we come back for more winter? It was -35 degrees Celsius the morning we left), the bone-jarring, brain-brusing jolts suffered through hours of countryside driving, and this time a new challenge...an epidemic of severe diarrhoea and vomiting. Okay, we're not sure if four patients qualifies as an epidemic, but when it strikes down your entire travelling party it certainly feels like an evil plague. Yes, it seems Mel's duck sweats were contagious, and next hit Gareth, then Linn and Shanny's still on the mend. Word for the wise - dangling one's derriere out in the icy breeze, with feet buried in 4 inches of snow close to 20 times in one day is an experience best avoided. Also not worth experimenting with is the sandpaper that passes for toilet paper in these parts, or the lack of running water (clean or otherwise), or the subsequent two days of train travel with many hours of denied access to the WC and many more hours of communist bureaucracy to endure. Our massive first aid kit has taken a bit of a hammering already, and this is only country number 3! At least our packs are a little lighter now, though. We're having lots of fun. Can you tell?


Enough of the moaning. Despite our gastrointestinal issues and an overwhleming desire to move on, we are leaving Mongolia this time around with many more precious memories.


Approaching UB on the Trans-Mongolian train, we excitedly pressed out little red noses against the windows, playing eye-spy with our old apaprtment building, pointing out the Black Market and checking out the many changes to the city, which is still a sprawling construction site. With no desire to further explore the streets of UB, we headed west for more ice-fishing on Ogii Nuur, then further west into the uncharted Terkhin Tsaagan Nuur (Great White Lake) and volcano region. We headed back via the provincial capital of Tsetserleg, the ancient capital of Kharkhorin, and Mongol Els sand dunes. En route, we got bogged in snow, stranded for hours because the van engine was frozen (and would only restart after the spark plugs were thrown into the wood stove and a bonfire was built to warm the battery) and had regular photo stops for all things yak.


A couple of things really stood out for us on this trip. The first being the growing paradoxes of the nomadic life. Despite Mongolia's rich history and ancient traditions, even those out in the wilderness seek modern entertainment. You can drive for hours with no sign of life other than the odd predatory bird, wandering yak or lone horseman and then stumble across a row of gers, each with its own enormous satellite dish, proudly displayed out the front in order that these otherwise uncomplicated lives may be enriched with the joys of a static-filled episode of Big Brother. Most of the country folk still wear the traditional deels (big fluffy daytime dressing gowns) but the outfit is now topped off with a fake Nike beanie. Our wonderful guide, Myangga, seemed lost in her mobile phone text world. What would Chinggis think? And who needs running water when you have satellite TV?


The second thing was that Mongolians seem to be reproducing like camels. Okay, we have no idea how often camels do the deed, but it seemed more appropriate than rabbits and the point is that kids and babies are everywhere. At every stop, we encountered handfuls of the little red-cheeked cuties. Had it not been for our unfortunate intestinal conditions, there was a very real risk of filling entire camera memory cards with their adorable and inquisitive faces.

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Photos

Ger Eljik
It wouldn't be the Mongolian countryside without a few games of cards (Linn, Mel, Gareth, Myanga & Aagii)

Bridge crossing
Yes that's our van and yes we had to get out and watch because it wasn't safe - imagine that!

Khorgo at Tsaagan Nuur
Volcano at White Lake

Altangerel - Golden Light
Also our driver's name. Awwww!

Squeezing on another pair!
Shannon trying on fleese-lined pants at the Black Market

Ken visits his old boss
The new Chinggis Khan statue in Sukhbaatar Square, UB.

Comments

[Laurence Melanie]

Holy Shit thats cold
Hey Guys, very entertaining blog and you can bet that Melanie and I will never visit Mongolia in the winter. We'll save it for you REAL adventure folk. The wild Safari rides at Disney are adventurous enough for us. Catch up with you later. Larry & Melanie

[MariaTom]

In your footsteps... minus the runs
Well we've just pulled into UB and are delighted to say the weather was a balmy -1 today! Seems the cold snap has ended for us :) We're heading east from UB for a few days of horseback trekking with the locals... we'll be their first tour of the year, so we'll tell you later if that's a good thing or not!