Day Twenty 17.08.2012 Ulaan Bataar

It rains during the night and the slope of the hill doesn’t change, so most people spend some of the dark hours regaining their original positions in their tents!  A misty, moisty morning, but no more rain. 

After breakfast, Jess gives us each a blue khadag to place somewhere in the area as a commemoration of our visit to this wonderful country.  As we leave, we can see our khadags blowing in the wind, taking our thoughts, wishes and memories to the eternal blue sky…an emotional time for some!

Back to the road – the main road to UB.  Traffic soon builds up and we take forever to wend our way through town and eventully arrive safely back at the Dream Hotel, after some exceptional driving yet again by Turuu and Sandag, this time the enemy is not the road, or the water and mud, or the hills, but other drivers!!

Most people drop their bags, have a quick shower and  head out for lunch and more retail therapy.  Our “Last Supper” this evening is at Granvilles, the Irish-pub-that-really-isn’t, which is where this journey began 22 days ago.

We say our goodbyes to Jess as Gamba waits to drive us to the airport the next night.  We are sad to leave, but are proud to say, “We love you, Jessica Brooks.  Stay true to yourself and your dream, and may your spirit ride on the winds to eternity!”

Pause for reflection time:

When John and I first thought of returning to Mongolia to join Jess and Turuu travelling again through Untamed Mongolia, we decided we would like to share it with like-minded friends.  This decision proved to be an inspiring one.  Not only have we enjoyed the company of people we already knew, but we now know them well, and believe that we are all better for that experience.

Jess, Turuu and Sandag made this journey one that some of us might have thought would never happen to us;   one that has provided us with an experience outside our comfort zone;  maybe one that, if we had known the fine details, we would never have undertaken.  And that would have deprived us all of some memories that we will carry with us forever, that we will dine out on for a long time, and that we will share as private moments between just us.

Thank you Graeme, Suzanne, Janine, Julie, Richard and Meaghan for being with us, and may your khadag carry your spirit on the winds to the eternal blue sky.

A pensive moment

A hug

Turuu, Jess and Sandag

The 'last supper'

 

Day Nineteen 16.08.2012 Hustain Nuruu

Day Nineteen 16.08.2012 Hustain Nuruu

We move early this morning to have breakfast at the Orkhon river campsite where we yet another spectacular view, given the improvement in the weather.

We depart 'Faulty Towers'

Excitement at tasting airac!!!

As we drive across the steppe this morning, Turuu takes a detour to a nearby ger.  The family are not known to him, but he sees from both the mob of horses close to the ger, and several large blue plastic barrels outside, that this may be a place where we can taste the best airac…and he is right.  The young man says that they do indeed have airac and we are invited into the ger to sit and taste with him.  He has a ‘sharing plate,’ which is a prepared dish of cheeses and maybe other nibbles to eat with the airac.  He fills a bowl from a large jug, tastes it himself, refills the bowl and hands it to Turuu who agrees that it is good.  The bowl goes back to be refilled and is then handed to the next person, goes back for refilling, and so on and so on, until everyone has had a taste.  The second round starts and we all have another taste, and Julie asks if he will pose for a photograph with the jug and bowl.  He takes this to mean that she wants more airac and so leaves the ger to refill the jug, and off we go again!!

The man has a wife and 2 daughters who are outside the ger preparing cheese for drying.  We find some gifts for each of them, Jess gives them flour, oil and rice, and also pays for the airac, as it is part of what they do to make money from their ‘farm.’

A long drive from here, broken only by lunch, as we are headed for Hustai National Park.  The road runs by some more small sand dunes before reaching the main east/west road which takes us to the National Park Headquarters and Research Station.  This facility  conducts research into the management of various species, particularly the takhi, or Mongolian wild horse, focussing on behaviours and breeding patterns in a protected area with a view to increasing numbers and possibly planning their reintroduction in to other areas.  There are only about 200 takhi in this park, they are retiring by nature preferring to spend their days deep in the hills and returning to the valleys only in the evening.  Jess has added this to our tour as a special favour, given the interest in the takhi by our ‘zooies,’ John, Suzanne and Meaghan.

We drive into the park away from the camping area and large ger camp, seeing marmots along the roadside.  Turuu stops at a likely place where there is a creek and stony hills.  No sooner have we made our way out of the trucks then along comes 2 minibuses and another truck, all stopping to see why we are stopped.  In spite of the movement and noise these people make, Janine spots movement on the skyline! Four horses can be clearly seen.   John, Meaghan and Julie have headed off in various directions, but it’s not long before John comes running back with news that he has found a stallion in another gully.  We gather together again, back into the trucks and head back along the road towards the entry just in time to catch two horses as they approach the road.  We have time to capture them on ‘film’ and video before a truckload of noisy individuals turns them back up the hill.  Not only the ‘zooies’ are excited about this close encounter…we have all experienced something very special!

Turuu is getting anxious about the time – we still have an hour’s drive to go before we make camp – which we do with very little daylight to spare.  Cold wind and the side of a hill makes pitching tents interesting.  Turuu and Sandag wrap the big tarp around the ends of both trucks and we snuggle into the space between to enjoy Jess’s Pesto Penne and chew over what has been a long, but very exciting day!

 

 

 

The elusive Takhi



Day Eighteen 15.08.2012 Orkhon Gol

Julie is still unwell this morning as we bid farewell to our campsite and head to Bulgan aimag (province or area.)  The road is quite good…it IS an actual road!...and we move into farming land with crops of barley and wheat almost ready to harvest.  Some fields, laid fallow this year, are ploughed already for the new planting, and grass cutting is underway to lay in feed for the winter.

We come across more roadworks, making ready for the new main road.  The thing about these new roads is that many different companies are contracted to do sections, so if one company does a great job, their road will last, but if another company does a not-so-good job, the consequences are …hmmm!  Sand dunes here, isolated from the Gobi and gold-mining activity is also in evidence.  There are new bridges being built to cross the many rivers, but it’s mainly the winding Selenge as it makes its way to Lake Baikal that flows in the way of the road.

A stop is made at a medicinal natural spring where the water is said to be beneficial to folk with diabetes to collect a container of water for Sandag, who is a diabetic.  A ‘resort’ has been built on land adjoining the spring and appears to be doing good business…an impromptu camping area has also been set up along the perimeter fence of the ‘resort’ in the general area of the spring. 

Still the hills surround the steppe and, due to the close proximity of the forest area, timber buildings are replacing some gers as family homes, although there are still many gers in the area.  It seems that some families have built timber ‘houses’ to live in and use the gers as B & B’s to make a bit of extra money from the tourists.  As we’ve said before, education is a huge expense for families because the children eventually have to go away to school and/or university, to say nothing of the fees required at some schools and all universities.

An “essential” stop along the asphalt road reveals a wildflower field, and on returning to the truck, we are joined by a bumble bee.  Not content with being a photographic model and video star, he bites John on the finger before escaping through the open window!

The agricultura centre of Mongolia

The wildflower field

Finally arrive in the aimag (town) of Bulgan. The weather here is notoriously unpredictable and the storm clouds are gathering but with what intent is unknown.  Camping can be a bit wet and miserable at the Orkhon River site so we are staying at the (in)famous “Fawlty Towers” aka Bulgan Hotel.   Jess has upgraded us to “rooms with shower and toilet.”  We are booked into the ‘Honeymoon Suite,” a room with one bed…that’s one single bed!!  However, unlike our 2009 experience here, the mattress doesn’t hit the floor when you sit on the bed!  The toilet has to be refilled after flushing by lifting the cistern lid and manipulating the mechanisms, the shower is electric, and the water is hot but must be treated with respect.  We feel a little put out because in every other room, when the hot water service is heated, the unit breaks into a rendition of either “Jingle Bells, or “We wish you a Merry Christmas!”….I kid you not!!

'Faulty Towers'

Dragonfly

We give Jess a hand with supply shopping, buy beer for John and stock up on OMO for our laundry…shower gel doesn’t really do such a great job.

Dinner is at a local restaurant – cheap, very tasty and traditional.  Happily, Julie is feeling a bit better tonight…maybe singing in the shower is what’s done it!  We head back to our ’suite’ and have a quick shower…just in case we get a song, but alas!!  We only have one pillow and use our double silk liner so we don’t fall out of bed…Sweet Dreams!!

Steppe eagle

Lunch

 

 

 

 

Day Seventeen 14.08.2012 Selenge Gol

We leave the beautiful Lake Khovsgol for the drive back to Muron – there’s only one way in, so we have to take the same way out.  For some mysterious reason, parts of the new road that were open are now closed, so the same trip takes much longer.

We have a quick stop in Muron for Jess to stock her larder, Turuu needs to change a car part (he used the angle iron to fashion a new step for the passenger entry to his machine!) and then it’s across the steppe to the Selenge River, Mongolia’s largest.  During today’s travel, everywhere we look we are surrounded by high hills, but we don’t seem to go across any particularly high passes.  The wind is warm and it is mostly sunny.  The views into the river valley are as beautiful as ever, and in no time at all we are pitching our tents and “D(o)ug” is at it again!  Julie has the tummy wobbles today.

Mozzies are an issue at this campsite, but some take the opportunity to have a nice wash in the river, and we have dinner while John’s small fire makes some impact on the relocation of the mozzie brigade.

Jess kindly does the dishes tonight and boils the water for tea while we climb the nearby hill to view the sunset…well worthwhile as the suns sinks slowly in the west and we say goodbye to yet another beautiful day under the eternal blue sky.  The fire is crackling and we enjoy our cuppa before a warm night in the tent…we didn’t bother zipping our sleeping bags tonight – silk liners were more than adequate until the early morning when the sky cleared and ‘zzippp’ went the bags!

Local store along the way

Watching the sunset



Campsite visitor

 

Sunset over the Selengi





Days Fifteen & Sixteen Khvolsgol Nuur

Day Fifteen

The early birds are out and about - Richard for his daily walk, Suzanne wandering with her camera at the ready, and John, usually with the camera round his neck, is today doing our laundry.  Jess offers a day walk to the top of a nearby mountain and all except Janine accept the challenge.  Jess carries lunch and John, water and a stove. 

Turuu drops us off about 3km from camp and we follow the road to the top.  Every area of shade is taken advantage of as we zig-zag up, ever up!  Some very steep zigs are compensated by some not-so-steep zags, and it’s basically just hard work…Meaghan struggles with her breathing in the early part – but the views!!!!  At every turn in the road there is another aspect of the lake or another perspective of the mountains.  The lake changes colour and range upon range of mountains stretch back from the lake, some are forested, but others are stark, their sheer black ridges reaching skywards! 

We are overtaken by a young woman who is walking to the top because she doesn’t ride – the rest of her party, from Taiwan, catch us up on horseback some time later.

We stop for lunch on a rocky plateau, short of the top, in a sheltered place out of the wind, and with magnificent views of both lake and mountains.  After a good rest, a fine lunch and a reviving cuppa, we climb to the top where we can clearly see the snow-capped peaks on the Mongolia/Siberia border.  There is a Russian communication tower but, more spectacularly, hundreds of uvoos!  There are all shapes and sizes, some obviously built by visitors like ourselves, are quite simple, small and unadorned, but others a piled high and have khadags, flags or other decoration.  We add our own special uvoo to support our friends who  are doing it tough at the moment – they know who they are. 

Julie decides to go it alone on the return with the rest of the party following slowly…the downhills are also challenging and deserving of respect.  Some of us have probably not had enough to drink and are starting to feel the effects…and we probably should be having more regular rests.  John starts to get the wobbles (a forewarning of the onset of a 'bug') and Graeme is slowing down markedly.  By the time we get to the log cabin where Turuu dropped us off, Graeme needs serious rest time, so jess decides to continue as ask one of the boys to pick him up.  Suzanne, Richard and Meaghan go with her and John and I wait with Graeme.  After a rest with the mozzies, and an encounter with a chipmunk, Graeme decided he would like to continue slowly towards camp.  Another rest by the lake and here comes Sandag!

Janine has had a restful day walking in the area and has the camp all ready for dinner preparation.  John and I catch up on our fluids with cups of tea and water while assisting Jess, Janine and Julie with dinner.  Graeme rests up and recovers well.  Our dinner of Korean spiced yak and vegetable rice is yummy and just the thing after a long day.  Janine and Richard light the fire but most are in bed early.  John has a squirmy tummy tonight.

Looking back

Lunch with a view....again!



The long climb

Uvoo overlooking Khovskol

Cheeky chipmunk

 

 

Day Sixteen

A lazy day today.  John elects to miss breakfast and ends up sleeping under the trees for the morning.  There’s lots of laundry around, and folk are walking, taking photos, reading, snoozing, swimming (brrr!) and just relaxing.  Turuu and Sandag are mending tyres today, using the lake to locate any leaks.  A family camped nearby packs up and the daughter takes a plastic bag of rubbish into the nearby scrub to dump…go figure!

Jess prepares dinner and places it in her African ‘beanbag’ as backpackers pass by on the road as well as a couple of horse trek groups, complete with pack horses. Richard and Meaghan ride this afternoon, albeit a short ride, but an experience nonetheless.  John continues to sleep the day away but says he feels OK.  I’m a bit of a wuus and warm up some water to wash my hair and it gets decidedly cooler with a few spots of rain.  A heavier shower sends everyone to their tents.  The fire I lit to heat my hair water struggles on (with the help of a large log thrown on by Jess as the rain started) and we are able to stoke it up for the evening.

We have an early start tomorrow as we head back to ‘the real world’ after yet another unforgettable experience.  The variety of this country knows no bounds and we continue to be in awe of it and its people.


Sunrise over Khovskol



Early morning

Tree creeper

Richard & Meaghan off riding

Campsite



Day Fourteen 11.08.2012 Khovsgol Nuur

It’s a cold, damp morning and we move our tent out of the trees and into the sun so it won’t be quite so wet when we pack.  Jess has picked up the tummy wog that has bothered Julie, Meaghan, Janine and Suzanne, so we pitch in with the basic chores to assist Turuu pack up

It’s another long day’s drive today, broken by a visit to the town of Muron where we pick up supplies for our next few days at Lake Khovsgol…meat, veggies, gas for the stoves, eggs, beer and any personal items people require.  Another chance to wander around a regular market, with the interesting addition here of a line of Furgon vehicles for sale.  Some folk give Jess a hand to carry and stow goodies in the vehicles, Richard excels himself yet again with his selection of sweets, and Turuu buys a length of angle iron!

The weather looks threatening as we head north, but nothing eventuates where we are.  We make a detour from the ‘main road’, some of which is now new i.e. sealed, but most is under construction.  Our detour is to visit families Jess and Turuu employ for horse trek guiding and family ger stays in bad weather.  Again we enjoy seeing ‘working families’ doing what they do on a daily basis, and watching the animals around the gers…yaks sheep, goats, horses as well as dogs and cats – all part of like “on the farm.”

Finally, lake views!!  We stop at a family ger camp along the lake’s edge – the plan is to camp nearby so we can use the gers if the weather turns nasty.  Jess says ‘no’ because it’s too busy, so we go on the the place we camped in 2009, right on the edge of the lake, overlooking a sandy beach.  But…YUK!!  Big piles of rubbish have been left by previous users of the area, so Turuu picks up the shovel and some of us hold big bags which he fills, while others clear the area of general trash, including some toilet waste.  The sad thing is that Mongolians have a deep love and respect for the land, but don’t seem to be able to manage this part of their recreational lives.  We leave the bags and either a nearby ger camp or Park Rangers will pick it up for disposal.

Finally we have a usable campsite, so those who haven’t yet put up their tents do so and Jess, feeling a little bit better, puts the kettle on for a cuppa.  The lake is still beautiful and cold, warm jackets are needed and we collect wood for our fire.  “Dug” goes across the road and we have to follow a trail to the green bag, marked by white ‘flags’ tied to the trees.  Not long after we have settled in, the “shop” arrives.  Local ladies, who in 2009 arrived on motor bikes, now arrive in vans to set out their wares on the grass for us to peruse and purchase.  They do have some very pretty things and some are handmade and quite special.  I am able to find the beads that Barbara wants, and most people buy a little something for themselves or someone they love. 

Dinner is enjoyed overlooking an ever-changing lake and under a northern sky, with Siberia just a faint suggestion in the distance.  After warming up by the fire, we snuggle down for a warm night…inside anyway!  Those who are ‘fortunate’ enough to be outside at any time after midnight enjoy a clear night with a million stars!

Yak for dinner!

Doing business with the locals

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Follow the arrow at the green bag!

Lunch time

Common magpie

Day Thirteen 10.08.2012 Ulaan Burgastain Pass

We wake to steady rain so pack inside the tent.  There is a small window of opportunity to get the tents down after we have breakfast under Sandag’s awning and sing “Happy Birthday” to Richard…he has remembered that yesterday was his birthday!

Our drive around White Lake takes us to the Khuun Chuluu, or Man Stones, that date back to the Turkic era of Mongolian history, some 4000 years ago.  There are burial mounds in this area also as well as stone circles and squares, some squares with standing stones at each corner.  We cross three mountain passes, each time regaining the steppe with herds of sheep, goats and yaks and mobs of horses with their attendant gers. 

It’s a long drive today so we stretch our legs by walking for 20 minutes or so along a beautiful lush valley.  We see the families going about their daily tasks, attending to stock, both on foot and horseback, collecting water, selling airac along the roadside and working around the ger.  We are met by two little girls who come running from their ger to say “hello.”  When we collect some treats together for them they are quickly joined by another little girl from a nearby ger camp.  Just as they are accepting their gifts, there is a cry from the family ger and a tiny girl comes running helter skelter and we have a few tears until she also has her wee hands full!  Then along comes big brother on his horse, and we need to find something for him as well. 

The wind is cool and beginning to whistle as we make a stop in an area where there are   Deer Stones, believed to be the ancient grave markers for warrior chiefs, and our long day ends in a forested area, not far from the main road and we can hear vehicles struggle up the hill as we make camp in what three years ago was an amazing wildflower field.  Today, probably because of the recent rains, the grass is long and the flowers not quite so obvious.  We are tired and emotional and settle in for a cold night.

Guinea pig 'cousin'

 

Herding the horses

Walking along the valley

Yak calf

Meeting the locals

Lunch with the bar-headed geese

Gone fishin'

Deer stone

Days Eleven & Twelve 08.08.2012 & 09.08.2012 Tsagaan Nuur National Park

Day Eleven…

We are delighted by the arrival of Jargah & Batbold’s 17y.o. at 6.30am this morning to relight our stoves before we get up.  Breakfast al fresco on the edge of the lake as we prepare for our full day hike over the hills to our far-away camp further around the lake.  Leave the lovely, smiling Jargah at 9.30am to climb over two passes, enjoying the views both of the lake and the rolling hills beyond, as well as passing time alternately with each other and/or ourselves, as we are wont.  Graeme, who hasn’t been bushwalking for about 12 years, is striding up the hills and loving it!

Our protector during this time is Batbold, who, on his trusty motorbike, is following our progress and ensuring our safety albeit from a distance.  He joins us for lunch – which he has strapped to the back of the ‘bike.  He appears again at a river crossing which will necessitate getting our feet wet, with or without shoes and socks!  Aha!!  Arriving in their little white car is a local couple who are out for a day’s marmot shooting.  They kindly offer the back seat to a couple of people and ferry them across the water…the front seat is taken by the wife and the gun!!  Now the wife gets out, leaving the gun, and the husband returns to the other side of the water to collect more people.  He makes three crossings and we are all safe and dry – even Richard who crosses over before the arrival of the ‘taxi’ but manages to keep his feet dry anyway, wearing boots and gaiters as he is, and John wearing his lovely Goretex-lined boots.

As we near camp, Turuu meets us for another, deeper, crossing and takes us to the campsite, all in the one truck…because Sandag’s truck is missing the back axle!  The need has arisen to replace the bearings in the differential, so there on the edge of the lake, the job is done…these people are extraordinarily skilled and versatile.  (John’s description…”bloody great!!”)  To add to our amazement, they have also put up our tents!  We are all tired but satisfied with our day’s walk…I start to unpack our sleeping gear while “Dug” does what he does best, but manage to fall asleep, so deeply that I miss the call for a cuppa!!! 

Tonight Turuu and Sandag take time-out from their machinations to prepare and cook Khorhog, the traditional way of cooking goat and/or mutton on hot stones.  We quite enjoy chewing our way through our meal, Mongolian style.  The sun sets, the horses, sheep, goats and yaks wander closer to the gers which dot the valley, sometimes aided and abetted by herders, sometimes just by themselves.  We don’t spend long around the fire tonight – it’s been a long day. 

Day Twelve

Turuu and Sandag continue major servicing work this morning – dust removal, oil change, checking wheels and tyres – while people wash clothes and selves.  Some swim, others wander, snooze, or do nothing at all.  There is some cloud around but it’s mostly a very pleasant, sunny day.  After lunch, John and I walk to the winter yards to sit and relax in the shade.  Horses are sheltering from the sun, but the stallion takes exception to our presence and calls his ladies together, nipping the tardy ones, and chasing down any who have the audacity to disobey, to take them away down the valley. 

I decide to return for a ‘nanna-nap’ and Richard comes for a chat.  We feel a couple of spots of rain and start to gather washing and bags from outside tents.  I ask Richard if he has anything left outside…he replies, “Only Graeme,” who happens to be sitting nearby!  John arrives and we collect boxes and food to stow under the big, white tarp, along with our dinner in Jess’s African cooking bag (more about that later), close up Jess’s tent, then retire to our own tents as the rain begins.  There is strong wind and heavy rain for about half an hour…Meaghan and Janine are both caught outside, and Jess and the boys are collecting water and having a swim.

It is now quite cold so it will be dinner and bed with possibly more rain.  However we do have a lovely fire which makes it very tempting to sit around for a bit.  Two quite young children arrive on a motorbike with the intention of taking advantage of our Mongolian hospitality – always offer a visitor food and drink.  We are having our after-dinner cuppa so a biscuit each suffices and they are off down the valley from whence they came.  Shortly afterwards we have another visitor – a gentleman on a horse which he (and his ingested vodka) is having difficulty controlling.  He leaves empty-handed, encouraged by Turuu.  And when only Janine and Jess are around the fire, a truck carrying a number of Mongolians arrives looking for “action”…they are also given short shrift by Jess!!

Jess’s African Cooking Bag – a bag full of styrene foam beads which accommodates a cooking pot in which the meal has been par-cooked.  Jess prepares a meal early in the day, pops it in the bag, and by dinner-time, we have a yummy stew!

 

Water bird at White Lake

Jess leads from the front

"Minor" repairs

In goes the new bearing!

The ground squirrel is impressed

Life at White Lake



Guardian of the winter camp