We just got back from a 9 day tour of central Mongolia and the Gobi with a guide and driver, staying with nomadic families in gers(yurt) along the way. It was a great way to see this absolutely beautiful country. So much to tell, but I’ll try to go over some timings quickly.

First some beautiful scenery shots which need few words-

Nomadic life – It was truly amazing to see first hand the way of life of the nomadic people who have more or less have lived the same way for hundreds of years. Other than a few technological additions (solar panels, Korean dramas!), they have lived in the same gers, herded their livestock In the same ways and ate the same food for so many generations. They move their households at least 4 times a year, always following what’s best for their animals in spring, summer, winter and fall. The nomads definitely have moving down to a science. The close relationship they have with their animals is striking, they are companions, food, clothing and currency. They don’t have many worldly possessions so livestock is their net worth. I almost made the faux pas of asking a nomad how many animals he has, fortunately I was intercepted by our guide who explained that nomads don’t like to share the size of their herd, it’s akin to asking someone in our world how much money they have on their bank account, something I didn’t think about before but totally makes sense. They work hard everyday and live a simple but happy life. Family. Herd. Nature. All you need really! Well maybe a bottle of vodka every now and then ha! By the way it was really fun sharing vodka shots with the nomads and learning about their drinking customs. Always offer with your right hand. Downing shots will make you less drunk than sipping, cold vodka will make you drunk faster than warm. Who knew? Mongolian shots are more like triple shots, and they don’t even start drinking until their 30′s!

Cashmere goats are now my favorite farm animals ever. We were lucky to visit the country in springtime, when so many baby animals are being born. We even watched a goat giving birth! They are just the most adorable sweet things. So soft and fluffy, constantly exploring and climbing on absolutely everything in sight. They really liked my white down jacket and Greg’s yellow shoes that they were always trying to nibble them. Waking up by their “meeeeeeeh”s are just the best alarm clock ever.



Shit’s different out here – originally I wanted to devote an entire blog entry to this topic, but then thought it might be a bit much. This topic really does fascinate me. Mongolians enjoy an especially close relationship with nature, with animals, and with the resources that they consume, which brings us to the topic of dung. Dung here isn’t thought of as a dirty and disgusting thing. It’s here, it’s everywhere, so get used to it. Direct your gaze downwards Almost anywhere in the countyside you will probably see at least three types of dung from different animals. Dung is super useful! It’s used as fuel instead of wood to heat stoves in their gers, since dung is plentiful and wood can be hard to come by. A dung burning stove is efficient, since it’s pretty much just dried compressed grass. It surprisingly doesn’t smell bad at all, just a grassy sweet smell almost incense-like, and it kept us warm many nights. it’s even used to smoke meat! (Did not get to try)

The full camel experience – During the tour we’d definitely experienced a wide spectrum of how camels are used in Mongolia. During our one free day during the tour, I stalked a herd of pasturing camels for half a day. They are the chilled out Rastas of the farm in contrast to the hyperactive goats. They hang around with half closed eyes looking regal and blissed out while chewing, chewing, endlessly chewing on seemingly nothing? We rode camels, drank camel milk and camel yogurt(good, vey tart), ate their meat in a pasta ragu(good), had the dried meat in “tea”(not so good). In the end I have to say I prefer them away from my dinner bowl, but to the nomads, they are an essential part of their culture and diet.

In all it was an amazing eye opening experience and I still regret that I didn’t kidnap a baby goat in my backpack.

The next day in Erlian feeling refreshed after our bone feast and a good night’s sleep we set out to find a car to take us across the border. It is not allowed for some reason for you to cross on foot and crossing in a large vehicle is known to cause “trouble”, so there is a local business of drivers that make their living taking goods and people across the border in Monglian licensed vans.

While finding our way to the market where all the drivers hang around in, it was interesting to note that there are parts of town that Chinese is commonly spoken and parts of town that were very Mongolian and people seem to speak very little Chinese. In fact it seemed like people were more likely to know a bit of English than Chinese.

After asking around a bit we found a tiny grandpa looking driver to take us across for about $10. He was so insistent on taking us- literally grabbing and holding onto my arm and taking me to his car, not letting go until I was halfway in the car- that I thought we’d be leaving right away, but little did we know that we’d be waiting around for almost an hour and half while he went about and rounded up more people and cargo to load up his car with. Eventually he packed his van up to the gills, with 6 people scrunched in and the back filled with boxes (people bring over goods from china where it’s cheaper and resell it in Mongolia) and we were good to go.

The total time to cross the border only took about half an hour, but was filled with almost cartoon like activity. Basically you drive up to the border on the Chinese side, get out and get your passport stamped. Pile back into the car, drive for a few minutes across the border and get out on the Mongolia side, get your passport stamped again, get back in car again, finally you get dropped off at the train station close by at Zamyn Udd.

When all said and done we were finally in Monglia! And about to have the first over night train ride of the trip, from Zamyn Udd to Ulan Baatar. The vast and wild flatness of the Steppes await us now. Sane Baine (hello) Mongolia!