Crossing from Russia to Mongolia on a two day train ride, we experienced one of the longer border crossings in the world (seven hour stop while officials checked paperwork and doggies walked the train). We hung out at the bathroom-less train station K, and visited a nearby park, where the occasional beer bottle littered the dust-caked ground. Upon arriving in Ulaanbattoor (UB) at 6:15 AM, we expected to meet our tour company’s driver, and instead found our Chinese friend from Ekaterinburg waiting for her train and waving us down. She helped our driver find us, who through mistaken signals arrived a half hour early! Seriously, what a small world!
Starting our week long Mongolian tour with Khongor Tours, we were first joined by a French family and drove east to Grohki-Terelj National Park, where at the entrance we stopped at an Ovoo (a stick in a stone mound bedecked in sacred blue ribbons to signify the sky) and circled it clockwise to invoke the protection and good luck of the ancestors. Local Mongolians toss shots of vodka on the mound and stick small bills under the stones as sacrifices as well. Continuing into the park we made it to our overnight home, a family ger (aka yurt in Russian) in a mountainous valley. These gers are made from vertical two by fours placed around a plastic ground covering, with angled two by fours forming the roof. These boards are then wrapped in sheep/camel wool pads to form the “interior wall” and plasticy / water proof outer shell. An old wooden stove sits in the middle, its stack sticking out through a circular opening in the top of the roof. Quick suggestion on ger living – make sure to close the door when leaving. After returning from a short walk, we found two calves in our ger enjoying our afternoon snack of carrots and bell peppers! They seemed rather disappointed when we herded them out, Jazz lecturing them on their manners.
That afternoon we hiked a huge sacred rock formation in the valley and had a short horse ride guided by our 10-year old neighbor, then returned to a dinner of tortilla-like strips mixed with mutton and veggies (quite filling). To work off our food, we helped the son-in-law chop fire wood. An interior decorator living in UB, his wife and 4 year old daughter stay with her family for the fresh air and to support of the in-laws. Chatting with him, we learned that kids go to school between 5-18 years old and university costs around $1,000 per year. Jobs are only available in UB and mostly exist in the service industries; therefore, huge wealth disparity exists between UB and the rest of Mongolia where little money needed with this self-sustaining life style. Gender bias also exists throughout society. In the country, women are relegated to the home while men tend sheep, goats, horses and cattle; although with the rise of tourism more money is flowing into rural regions, but not all locals are happy with the “tourist camp” approach.
The following morning we met Sanja, our tour guide, who greeted us decked out in a traditional Mongolian “deel” (i.e., blanket with sleeves). We quickly pilled into our off-road, all-terrain vehicle, a 1990’s Hyundai Sonata with a 4 inch lift! Luckily the driver turned out to be one of the best in Mongolia. That little car took us over unimaginable dirt/grass/mud roads, all while flying past shiny new 4x4 Land Rovers at 80-100 kph. At one point we stopped simply to let the “tires cool down.”
After getting supplies back in UB, an unimaginably dirty, dusty, polluted and congested city (comparable to Delhi or Agra, India), we visited the Hustai National Park, an open reserve covering 500,000 acres and used to re-establish wild Tahki horses. The Tahki are the only remaining ancestors of the modern horse and are similar to the zebra in appearance. We got lucky and in short time came across a small herd, before heading out to our overnight stay with a nomad family. Crazily, we ran across a 4x4 SUV stopped with his fourth flat tire in two days, who just happened to be driven by our driver’s brother. What bad luck!
The nomad family (sibling families with 4 children) we stayed with had three gers and herded sheep, goats, horses and cattle (meaning the entire area was covered in small dry pellets of sheep and goat poo, so shoes were key!). A small corral was used for counting/separating the animal herd (yes we helped with this), and we even had the opportunity to "experience" young goat testicles (poor guys). No anesthetic here boys and girls, just a quick grab, tug and snip! Apparently they’re a delicacy and especially good for men's stamina, so they boiled and served them up for a quick snack. Let’s just say they could do with some sauce or heck even salt! The goat testicles were then washed down with 12 hour fermented sour horse milk. Mildly alcoholic (3% maybe) it sort of grows on you (not literally) and is incredibly sour. All wonderful gastronomical experiences…
After a walk up the valley and dinner in our ger, we found ourselves totally content and joined Sanja, our driver and Teku (our host) for Mongolian vodka (it's good to have a present for your host, and vodka and chocolates are the preferred gifts - we gave both). We drank and chatted while outside the Milky Way was on full display, a solid ribbon of stars from horizon to horizon. This brilliant band of light, spread across the valley, was one of the most amazing sights we've experienced. We tried to capture it in a photo, but it simply doesn’t do it justice.
The night sky plus the vodka made for a genuine experience, and our guide quickly started to loosen up. We talked about Mongolian people, government, jobs and aspirations. Here are just a few things we learned that evening, warm inside our ger with a bottle of vodka being passed around:
- The Mongolian government, like many developing countries, is generally corrupt and incompetent. For example, roads that would take a week to improve from 4x4 to sedan drivable are ignored. Most roads are simply dirt tracks crisscrossing the grassland. And government officials are made up of the rich, friends of the rich and national sports or media celebrities.
- Alcoholism is rampant due to unemployment and lack of opportunities. Vodka can be bought at $1 per bottle, so it’s readily available to even the poorest. This is a huge issue with no real end in site or resources made available to resolve it.
- There are few jobs for young people, even with a university education. Given that the average salary is $200 per month in UB, there’s no incentive to remain in Mongolia. For example, Sanja wants to migrate to the USA or South Korea so he can earn more, but for the US at least, he’s required by the US embassy to have $6,000 in a bank account ($2,000 for a flight and $4,000 savings). He was shocked to hear of the cost of living in the US and that as a dishwasher he wouldn’t be sending much money home. This coming from a guy with a college education in tourism who could probably run his own tour company.
- It’s normal to marry young and have 3 or 4 kids. Sanja, 22 years old, and his wife Dulguun have been married 1 year and already have a 10 month old son named “precious” (in Mongolian). Here we were, 29 years old, no kids and hopping around the world – you could say we got some odd looks.
- Buddhism ranks as the main religion, with Shamanism (Mongolian traditional religion) making a slow comeback post-Communism.
- The Mongolians hate the Chinese and appreciate the Russians, both sentiments of which can be traced back to ancient and modern history.
- Pick-pockets in UB are actually kids from upper class families who run out of allowance money. They pick-pocket so they can afford the latest release of Counter Strike or purchase goods in online video games.
- When serving someone a drink, always use your right hand with the sleeve down and your left hand under your right elbow. Never serve yourself, and make sure to receive your drink from someone with your right hand. Variations on this trend continued through Asia.
Day three we headed to the oldest Buddhist monastery, Erdene Zuu, in Mongolia (15th century) in Karakorum the original capital of the Mongol Empire. The monastery has 108 stupas on its walls and holds Tibetan scrolls under the central courtyard stupa. Currently 20 practicing Tibetan monks live there, supported by the community and tourism.
From the monastery we headed to our accommodations, a “ger village”. Different than the two previous families, this family’s sole goal with their 8-ger camp was to profit, not to interact or share their way of life with tourists (heck we had to pay for a measly “shower”). We also went and checked out the black market, where Sanja picked up horse meat from the butcher, which although a relatively clean place, still had the horse’s head laid out under the table (yummy K). The meat was decent, but pretty tough (as expected from a steppe horse)! Next Up: Last days in Mongolia – Penis Rock, More Vodka-Induced Discussions, Eagles and Camels.
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