My First Equestrian Experience

I slept well until about 4:30 am when the hearth ceased to produce heat and I awoke with a frozen face. Adding more layers helped a little until 6:30 when "Old Man" came in and fed the furnace. Surprise surprise, within 40 minutes I felt like a small potato baking in a giant oven. Breakfast consisted of donut-like twists and pancakes followed by a plate of 2 fried eggs and a slice of tomato, bread, butter and jam. Naki began to tell us about a new addition who was making her way to the camp as we spoke. He continued to tell the story of how the poor woman's passport went missing and that she wasn't allowed to leave the country. Just at that moment, Anna (one of the two ladies who we met in Russia and stayed with at the Irkutsk village) walked through the door and it quickly became obvious that she was the victim. Anna and Delphi left Irkutsk a day before us to continue their trip to Beijing only to discover at the Mongolian/Chinese border that Anna's passport had been stolen (or lost). Anna was stuck in Mongolia not knowing what was going to come of the situation which is why Delphi decided to continue in order to make the most of an expensive trip. Anna oddly enough was reunited with her passport after being detained for 30 hours at the station. The passport had been mysteriously found back at the hotel and given to travelers on the next train - the quickest way to get the important document back to Anna.

The five of us (me, Ali, Duncan, Ruth and Anna) went for a short walk about a mile up to the top of a hill where there was a sacred mound of rocks and a sheep skull draped in fabric. On our way up the hill we witnessed one of the dogs (the same one that kept coming into our ger yesterday) catch and eat a sheep alive. This wasn't a pretty sight and there was absolutely nothing we could do about it. On the way back down the hill, me and Ali had separated from the rest of the group and were quite far behind the others. We stopped to take photos of the beautiful mountains in the distance and the bleak landscape around is when I suddenly noticed two giant vultures flying in circles above us. I suggested we quickly catch up with the others.

After lunch we went horse riding for a couple of hours which sounded like a lot more fun than it actually was. My horse didn't listen to a word I shouted and only did what it felt like doing (which wasn't much). "Cho, cho" I shouted continuously to make it go faster but this didn't have any effect at all. I would have enjoyed the experience a lot more, had it not been for the sub-zero wind chill that was freezing my hands and feet. Even though we all dressed appropriately (at least 6 layers of clothing and scarves covering 90% of our face so that only our eyes were exposed) my feet almost froze. We visited a small family ger which marked the half way and return point of our little adventure. We were given tea whilst sitting in the warmth for a little rest. Under nomadic tradition, it is a duty to welcome any visitor apparently. Less than an hour later we approached the camp. My horse was almost crawling at this point.

Ali's camera broke today. Not sure when or why. Needless to say she's not a very happy girl.

We were informed by Naki that dinner this afternoon was going to be a traditional Mongolian BBQ. This however wasn't the type of BBQ us westerners were expecting. It was in fact broiled Mutton (which seems to be the only type of meat available in Mongolia). It was still enjoyable and there was plenty for everyone. As always, a never ending supply of hot tea accompanied our meal. After dinner, Naki escorted us to our ger and introduced a Mongolian game called ankle bones. He placed a decorated felt mat on the table and emptied the bag of ankle bones on to it. We played several different games that involved no skill whatsoever, except maybe for the one that involved flicking. It's amazing how much fun you can have with a few sheep bones. Naki sang Mongolia opera for us and then in return we taught him new English phrases and words including 'monkey business', 'oopsy daisy', 'tipsy', all 'fingers and thumbs', 'rat-arsed', and 'wasted'.