Been through the desert on a horse with no name!

OK, so technically we were out of the desert at that point, but it was very flat and dry, and the Mongolians don't give their horses names.

We decided we wanted a diversion from the original plan for our trip, and decided to spend 2 nights in Khognor Khan National Park.  We arrived there in hot sunshine at about 4pm, there ger we were stopping in was on a slight hill in a vast plain, with a lake and sand dunes to one side and the foot of the Altai mountains to the other.  We chilled out in the sun for a while before asking the local family  (who owned the ger we were staying in) if we could take their horses out.  We agreed to an hour across the plains.

We started with a slow walk down the hill, but it was clear our horses were  itching to go and when we hit the flat plains we doug our heels in and gave them a 'Choo!'.  They were off, they were much faster than the horses we had been on up north and we were having to hold on but it was brilliant.  We felt like something out of a film with the sun setting behind the mountains and and the wind in our hair. 

That night, the old man of the family (Ber - 72) joined us in our Ger as we drank beer and vodka.  We managed to communicate surprisingly well, and he sang us some Mongolian Folk songs after which he gestured for us to sing.  Between the five of us we managed some slightly dubious renditions of Old Macdonald, House of the Rising Sun, and the Dutch National Anthem (we didn't know the words to that one).  It was a really nice night, and Ber was a little unsteady on his feet as he bid us goodnight.

The following day we set out on foot for the mountains, just the 5 of us walking through the silent plain accompanied by a dog that joined us for the entire 5 and a half hour climb.  The mountains and rock formations were stunning as we climbed higher, passing petrified wood and the ruin of an old monestary.  We had lunch at the top where we could see for miles across the plains, and walked back down the other side with giant vultures perched on the cliffs and circling above us.

Once we were back in UB the next day, we sorted a bed for the night and headed to a performance of Monglian Dance and Music.  The dancing was beautiful, and although maybe not beautiful, the throat singing was certainly impressive and almost enchanting.  The show included a fast bird dance when the dancers came out into the crowd, a mask dance to promote buddhism and an entire orchestra made up of different sized horse head fiddles.  It was a great show and good way to end our time in Mongolia, a place and people we have come to love.

Onto China.

The Gobi

The drive to the Gobi desert was spectacular and the scenery changed every couple of hours so there was no chance to get board of the long drive. As we headed out of the city it was manly green and the mountains were still snow capped from the storm of the last few days. It was beautiful and strange to see camels wandering around in snow. We also saw lots of other animals huge herds of gazelles, eagles, other birds of pray, horses and mice. Most impressive though was when we saw a horse carcass on the ground being devoured by a group of about 20 vultures. They were incredibly big there wing span was well over 2 meters, impressive in every way.

As the drive continued the scenery flattened out and became much more desert like, i have no idea how the driverfinds his way as there are no mountains or streams to follow and every direction is miles and miles of more flat ground. After three days we arrived at Yolin Am, a cluster of mountains and a gorge which seem strange among so much flat, it was great to stretch our legs and climb them even if we were racing the sun to get down! The next day we carried on to see the 'flaming cliffs' and eventually arrived at Khongor sand dunes.

The sand dunes are about 200 meters high and we climbed them, it was really hard work and toward the top we were resting every 10 steps or so. It was boiling and the sand was so soft it just moved from under you and you felt as if you were going nowhere. When we got to the top the views were spectacular you could see so so far it was beautiful. The we got to run down!!! we got sand everywhere but it was well worth it, you could just run and dive without getting hurt - needless to say it was a lot quicker getting down than it was getting up. As we ran down the dunes 'sang'. The movement in the sand caused a loud humming noise which was pretty cool.

Once we were at the bottom we jumped on camels and rode back to our ger where we cooked and kept warm by burning camel shit as there is no wood!

Mongolian Wrestling!

When we were in UB we went to a wrestling competition, it started with 124 wrestlers in a knock out format, and after 4 hours there was only one man standing!

Sorry to disappoint you all, but there is no picture of us wearing the outfits!

Stuck in UB

They say the weather in Mongolia is very changable - I can't stress this enough, yesterday it was boiling and we were walking round in vests and flip flops, today it is snowing and all transport has been stopped, flights cancelled, no trains and driving is out of the question. We are planning a trip to the Gobi but cant leave because of the weather, fingers crossed we will be able to go on Monday!!

However there are several good things about being stuck in the capital; you can get any type of food, there are several very good veggie places we have tried, we are sleeping in beds, there is running water and often porcelain toilets. We have met some good people and there are plenty of bars to socialise in.

Murun

It's a sad farewell to Murun and our good friends Patrick and Baska. We have had such a wonderful time here living in a ger. We have spent the days lazing by the river looking at the beautiful mountains and wondering the extremely diverse market that sells everything from whole roasted goats heads to motorbikes, cookers, vegetables and jelouch pants!!!

One day we went to visit a school which was really interesting and despite the obvious differences in terms of resources and finance there were many similarities to schools at home. The uniform was particularly interesting - the girls wore something that resembled a french maids outfit!

Another day we climbed a mountain, at the top there were shaman stones. If you looked south you could see the entire town and in every other direction it was complete emptiness with the exception of the odd ger or group of horses. It's very very beautiful here.

Living with the Reindeer People! www.visittaiga.org

We have just had the most remarkable and amazing week, living and moving with the nomadic Reindeer herding Tsatsuun of Northern Mongolia - the Reindeer People.

While we were at Baikal we met a Turkish freelance journalist called Uluc (uluch) who was travelling on the same train a us to Ulan Bataar (UB), he told us how he was traveling north to write an article on this remote community. We asked if we could join him on his trip and share the costs and he agreed, so within a couple of hours of being in UB we boarded a flight to Murun. When we got there we stayed on nght in a Ger with Patrick (a great guy from Colorado who is working for the Peace Corps and has a liking for Boddingtons) before hiring a driver and taking a 7 hour drive to a small town - us, Ulug and our Translator (Baaska - who became our friend). We spent one night in the town and then had an 8 hour horseride to reach the community. Both the drive and the horseride alone were worth the trip, with stunning scenery as we passed over snow capped mountains and through forests, passing numerous gers and various river crossings.

Along the way we were given the Mongolian names by our guides (so the were easy to pronounce) of Nulla (Sun) and Bataar (Hero).

One we reached the community, which consisted of only10 tee-pees we were invited to stay with a family. We stayed with our Papa and Mama: Gamba and Perue and their son Saloman they were so kind and generous, constantly giving us Reindeer milk tea and bread with the mantra "eat it all". When it came to the evening they were worried about us being too cold and piled us up with blankets so we could hardly move, but we stayed very warm.

The Reindeer are beautiful and are central to their very basic lives and the entire community welcomed us with everyone wearing permanent smiles. We joined in with the community, meeting everyone and visiting all the tee-pees, helping with any chores when we could (sawing wood, collecting water, milking reindeer). We even got to sit with the elder for a couple of hours while he told us their history and we discussed the potential impact of tourism.

We had arranged to spend 3 nights with the Tsataan, and after the 2nd night they were scheduled to relocate to their 'autumn place'. We helped as they quickly dismantled their tee-pees and rode with them for 3 hours over more mountains. Our family was the last to arrive at the new place, and we helped put up the tee-pee in the dark and rain, everyone was wet and cold but the smiles never diminished and we shared one of the nicest moments we had as the stove was stoked and we all sat around drying off and warming up laughing about the plight - no one once though of moaning or complaining.

After our final night of warmth we had to say goodbye, we were asked to return again and promised we would try before we left on horses for our final 8 hour ride, galloping across the plains with the wind in our hair!

It was truly an amazing experience with some of the kindest, happiest and most gracious people we have ever met. Neither words or pictures can do justice to the experience we have shared and we will always treasure it and will hopefully one day return.

We will try and get some photos uploaded as soon as possible.

Back to Baikal and Goodbye Russia

While we were still in Irkutsk we visited an open air museum which was like a mini village of preserved wooden architecture (think the Beamish of Siberia), it's really impressive the houses they built and lived in - we also had a play on some stilts (I was much better than Vicky).

With a couple of days left before our train departed we decided we wanted to go back to the lake, so we got up early morning and jumped on a rickety old minibus for a 6 hour drive to Olkhon Island. The drive itself was an experience, with the road quality varying as much as the scenery. We even had to stop at one point to change the wheel (on the way back we had to give the bus a push start).

The island itself is stunning, there is a main town/village made up of wooden buildings with wide dusty road and cows just wandering around. Away from the town there are cliffs and sandy beaches around the coast - we were really lucky with the weather so explored a bit and chilled out on the beach and swam in the lake -still very cold, but nice.

We are now back in Irkutsk awaiting the train to Ulan Bator, we have met a few people going the opposite direction and everyone has loved it, so although we are a little sad to be leaving Russia we are very excited about Mongolia!