Hello Everyone

We have spent 2 days in Mongolia's capital Ulaan Bator. The city is more
modern and clean than I expected. The people are friendly and happy to speak
English. We have visited a couple of monasteries, one that was in a
concrete colorful ger. We have visited a museum and was impressed by
Mongolia's diverse landscape and variety of animals. We have been hanging
out with an American navy man stationed in Japan who is also on a week
vacation here. He has hired a guide, so we have been lucky to get some
quality information and interactions with a Mongolian guide.

Mark and I have hired a taxi to take us to a National Park were we plan to
spend a few days camping out in a ger and exploring. We have been traveling around Mongolia's country side only a few hours from the Capital. We hired English speaking guide/taxi driver, who spent 4 years in Louisville KY. (Julie, did you know there was according to him a rather large Mongolian population in Louisville, I guess it is the horseman connection). The first day we went to Khustain National Park that was established in 1993 to protect the endangered Takhi horses, which are Mongolians wild horses. The park has other animals like wolves and lynx. You may have seen the documentary on this place staring Julie Roberts. We went on a nice long hike up the Birch mountain range looking for the wild horses and luckily we found a five member family unit gazing and enjoying their day. These beautiful horses have a light tan body with a black mane, tail and feet. It was a great experience.

The next day we visit the Gorkhi terelj National Park and for an hour we
stopped off to visit a traditional family ger. 50% of Mongolians are either
nomadic or semi-nomadic. The family we visited was semi-nomadic which
typically means they stay in the same general area for the summer months and
then move to a different area for the winter months. The Family invited us
in their ger to have homemade yogurt which was so good. Then we had Airage,
which is fermented mare's milk and it taste like a mix between sour milk and
blue cheese, it must be an acquired taste. They also served us some not so
tasty moldy bread and some aarul, which is dried milk curd cookies.

After our visit we went to our ger campground that we stayed out for two nights.
This camp ground was run by another semi nomadic family that spoke not a
single word of English. Our guide helped us get a room and explained all
the basics like what time meal was served. The language difference made for
an interested 2 days of nonverbal communication like a long game of
charades. This ger camp ground charged $15 for room and board. They
provided 3 big meals a day of traditional Mongolian food. Traditional
Mongolian food for a nomadic family consist of dairy and meat products that
they get from the livestock that moves around with them. Two examples of
popular meals that we ate where Buuz, which is steamed mutton (Sheep meat)
dumplings and Khuushuur, which is fried mutton pancakes. Both were good
meals. Makh is another popular staple that I hope I did not eat, because it
consist of boiled bones,fat, indiscernible organs and the sheep skull all
swimming in a big soup. I did get served a meat and broth soup at least
once a day and they eat all kinds of meat(sheep, goat, cow, horse, yak,
camel, marmot and wolf) so who knows what I ate. The dairy products also come from a variety of animals such as cow, sheep, goat, cow and horse. I tried most that they offer such as yogurt, cheese, fermented milk drinks and they were all ok. Luckily our ger camp is stationary all summer in the same location so they
can tend to a garden and serve yummy veggies and bread.

A ger as most of you know is a one room tent that has an exterior white
canvas cloth and a wool felt insulator layer. The frame, door and
furniture is made from brightly painted wood. Typically the furniture
consist of three single beds and a small coffee/dinning table with small
chairs/stools. It was very cold at night in the Mongolian mountains probably
around 35 degrees. Our ger had a wood stove and when the stove was full of
wood it made the ger as hot as a sauna. When we fell asleep and were unable
to feed the stove the necessary wood and therefore it got very cold. When it rained the ger smelled like a dirty wet dog and all the creepy crawlers came to my bed to cuddle up with me. It may sound like a bad experience but actually it was awesome. As I laid in my ger bed I watched the fire flicker a soft glow
across the ger ceiling and I listened to the noise of nature and the Mongolians singing their traditional songs.

During the two days in the mountain Ger camp, we went on long hikes to
Buddhist Monasteries built on the edge of cliffs and to other ger camp
locations. We hired horses and camels and Mongolian cowboys to help us
better explore the mountains. It was such a beautiful Mountain park it
reminded us a lot of Wyoming and Colorado and of course all the hikes and
adventures we did there with friends. Mongolia was a great place for
environmental scenery and for interesting culture. We are not back in Beijing and will try to write again before we leave for home on Aug. 20th.

Take Care
Sarah



Journal Entry Mongolia Posted On: 8/15/2005