Steppe Nomads camp

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Hotel: Steppe Nomads Camp (Mongolia)
Our guide took us out in the reserve this morning to search for more wildlife; swans and other birds which were usually found in some nearby lakes. The scenery was surreal; still no trees anywhere to be seen. Only 3%!o(MISSING)f the country is forested, mainly in the northern and western areas. We returned to camp for lunch, and our guide showed us how to play games with sheep anklebones. There are 4 different sides to each bone, labled camel, sheep, goat and horse. There was no end of games you could play, one was similar to jacks, another was a race around a track, etc. Baggy also taught us Mongolian animal onomatopoeia; sheep say maa, roosters say cockerycoo, cows say mboo. Baggy and I then practiced archery for awhile, I finally was able to hit the target consistently at about 50 yards. That afternoon we rode horses several miles to a local family's ger. Mongolians are very big on hospitality; we were welcomed inside their ger and they placed out cups of airag (fermented mare's milk) and some milk sweets. The airag wasn't nearly as bad as I was expecting, tasting very much like a weak buttermilk. The milk sweets were good too, almost like a clotted cream, if you ignored the flies. I had to remember not to use my left hand to eat. The Mongolian's diet consists entirely of milk and meat; very few vegetables, yet they all live to their 80s or 90s! The father showed us several of his former horse racing trophies and the grandmother came in wearing an American flag on her head!

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