Elstei Ger Camp

Asia
July 24th 2012

Published: July 28th 2012

The ger camp consisted of about 25 gers, a restaurant/bar/relaxation area and thankfully a toilet and shower block. The camp insisted on carrying our bags much to our protest, which seems to show a difference between Asia and Europe. Both John and myself, and Lianne and Cathy, want to carry our own bags rather than put the locals out but they insist. I think we may have actually been seen to be rude trying to reject our host's hospitalities but I can't quite work it out. Not sure whether our rejection of help comes from Western politeness, empire guilt (though this doesn't explain why our Irish friends felt the same!) or something else entirely!

Each booking got a ger so John and I had one to ourselves, consisting of three beds, a table and a central fire/hearth. There was also a light and a power socket that we thought was welcome but every untradional, but our visit the next day to a real nomadic family proved us wrong (more on that later). The staff brought us cups and a thermos of boiling water so we did what all good Englishmen do after arriving in a new place and made a

One side

cup of tea (although still without milk). After a few hours of relaxing we met up with the girls and Togi and headed to the restaurant for dinner.

The camp served 3 meals a day at 9am, 1pm and 7pm, consisting of at least three courses meaning we were very well fed. Even Lianne was catered for though often it was our main course minus the meat and with a few more potatoes. Togi had by this point taken to making jokes (in good humour) that there was plenty of grass for Lianne to eat, and John and I may possibly have carrie on these jokes for a while (sorry Lianne if you are reading this...). After dinner we played a local passtime called "The Ankle Bone Game" - consisting of a felt mat, a small chain and a collection of ankle bones from sheep and goats. The aim of the game is pile the ankle bones into the middle of the felt mat, and then to throw the chain up in the air and with the same hand scatter the bones and catch the chain. If you manage to catch the chain then you again throw it up,

And the other!

but then you aim to pick up as many bones as you can and again catch the chain. Any bones you pick up become yours, and the person with the most bones when all have been picked up wins. If you touch any bones you do not pick up, or drop any, or fail to catch the chain then you do not get any bones for that go. Good fun and suprisingly addictive.

All food was free and all we had to pay were alcoholic drinks, and even at the slightly inflated tourist prices these were reasonable. Even so due to sheer exhauastion we only had a couple of drinks, and spent the majority of the evening playing games, talking to other guests and generally relaxing. It gets cold in the evenings even in July, so each night the ger fires are lit and they get suprisingly warm. I slept incredibly well in the pitch black, warm ger that night!

The next morning we were awoken by two birds (of the avian variety...) that had gotten into our ger and were a little distressed. John let them out and went back to bed but I was awake so

Cathy and Lianne

decided to shower and read until breakfast. I've managed to download some of my broken Kindle's books onto my phone so at least I have something to read as long as I can keep it charged!

After a leisurely breakfast Togi took us to visit a local nomadic family who lived in a ger about 1km walk away from our camp. Only the grandmother was around but she invited us in to see the place. Our ger looked very similar with identical beds and hearth, but there's was adorned with horse racing medals, pictures of family and a TV. Yes, even the Mongolian nomads have embraced the modern world having a set of solar panels charing a car battery they use to power lights, a small TV and mobile phone chargers. Apparently this quite common. The grandmother supplied us with fermented mare's milk (about 3% and with a taste not dissimilar to off scrumpy), mare milk curds (horrible, too bitter) and bread with mare's milk cream (I liked this a lot, it's similar to clotted cream). You can probably tell from this horses are an important animal to the nomads and each family has several. Togi himself started riding

The Ankle Bone Game

at aged 4 which is typical. We asked the grandmother questions and explained where we were from (using Togi as an interpreter) and found out her sons are studying in London a d she's very much looking forward to the Olympics (as is everyone in Mongolia it seems).

We didn't stay too long as it felt rather like we were imposing though Togi assured me they love having guests and meeting new people. After the walk back and had lunch and decided whether we wanted to try horse riding. Originally all 4 of us had been up for it, but Mongolian horses are much less tame than European horses and we'd heard earlier an American couple had fallen off. Mongolians treat their horses as tools rather than pets, they don't have a name, and they are much wilder, indeed the disclaimer form said "feral" but I'm hoping this was just a bad translation. In the end only Lianne and myself decided to try it (with some intrepidation) and signed the waivers.

We handed in our forms and headed out to see our horses. Togi knew we were nervous and elected to grab another member of staff and basically

Mutton soup

One course of 4

lead our horses with us on top. It was more like being the passenger in a car than the driver, but from what I'd heard about the American couple and my general nervousness I was happy for this. We both mounted our horses (I did this properly first time!) and set off on a very slow, led walk around the landscape. I was ok after a few minutes of nervousness but I don't think I'm a natural horseman... Togi also said it was traditional to sing while riding (Mongolians sing songs about mountains and the country), and while my rendition of Father Ted's "My Lovely Horse) did get a laugh from my Irish riding partner it was lost of Togi who commented (as a jab I think) that we were hardly "running" through the field. My rendition of various Oasis classics were slightly more appropriate but I didn't sing for long for fear of spooking the horse... I got to ride unaided for about 2 minutes before the end, but this just gave more credence to my conclusion of not being a natural horseman. Thankfully neither of us fell off and I'm glad I at least plucked up the courage

Our camp

to try after failing to swim in Lake Baikal (John is still 0/2 I'm afraid)!

While we were horse riding Cathy and John had been sitting round outside reading and drinking tea, so we joined in an had a very lazy afternoon. A couple of hours before dinner there was a "Mongolian Rodeo" where the staff and some other locals showed off their horse riding, cattler driving and archery skills. It was all very impressive but also showsed how poorely some of their animals, especially the horses, are treated. Still, the skill was incredible and the archery was enjoyable. Dinner consisted off more mutton (I am liking this place, it'sa carnivore's dream) the five of us (including Togi) decided to walk up one of the hills to watch the sun set. A bit of a challenge after such a big meal and some of the party were wearing inappropriate footwear (not naming any female names) but we made it and it was worth it for the views alone.

After making it back to the bottom we found we'd missed the beginning about half of a concert by a traditional Mongolian band but we still witness tradional Mongolian throat

An authentic ger

We visited a real nomadic family - these are horse racing trophies

singing, a contortionist (words can't describe the poses this woman could bend herself into) and a small piece of a Mongolian opera. Though it sounds strange this was one of the highlights of the trip so far and I wish I'd seen it all.

After a beer and another intense round on The Anklebone Game we went to bed and after breakfast transferred back to Ulan Bator (or UB as the locals and expats call it) for the day. We had a look round the Natural History Museum (yay, dinosaurs!) and then the girls went off to do some shopping. John and I headed for lunch (massive plate of meat and fried rice and a pint, £3.50 each) then back to the hotel to pick up a guide book for a map. While we were at the hotel the heavens opened so we decided to stay inside checking emails, uploading blog entries (you're welcome) and announce to the world that we were still alive on Facebook. After the heavy rain in a city with huge potholes and little in the way of drainage walking around was a bit of a challenge, however we now had a Lake View hotel

John drinks the local brew

Fermented mare's milk - not so nice

room.

We met up with Cathy and Lianne after a quick walk around and a trip to a supermarket to stock up on provision for our train journey. After this we had a brisk walk (the weather was looking threatning again) to a French restaurant recommended by John's uncle who had been to the city before (he'd actually driven a few aid conveys through Eurasia to Mongolia in the past) which was described by the guide books as "authentic but expensive". Thankfully this was only by local standards and we managed to have a 2 course meal with drinks for about £15 per head. My steak was cooked to perfection and after 3 days of mutton with mutton was very welcome! The place did feel quite french but the Asian practice of removing dishes before everyone had finished (actually maybe it's only the UK and Ireland where they *don't* do this) did grate slightly. The vegetarian menu also consisted of mostly fish dishes, but this I think is probably authentic French thinking.

We had an early night due to a 6am transfer to catch the train to Beijing. This is a 29 hour journey and is also where