Siberian Safari

At 8:30 am we were picked up at the station and driven to a building where we could shower and rest. Our guide Naki, told us that he would pick us up at 9:00 am then take us on a tour of the city. After which we will head to camp Elstei where we will spend the next two nights in a ger (traditional Mongolian tent). Mongolia is one of the least visited countries on earth and also one of the most sparsely populated (only 2.5 million, of which over two thirds live in the capital). I am intrigued and excited for what I am about to see. Looking out of the window on the train this morning it looked like we had took a diversion through the Arctic - snowy blizzards against a white background with not a horizon in sight. I wrapped up warm and was ready to go. Never did find out what was in those suspicious packages. Whatever it was, he got away with it.

Naki introduced us to Duncan and Ruth, two other travelers from England that where about to enjoy the same tour as us. Naki showed the four of us around Ulaan Baatar in almost freezing conditions. I wasn't at all prepared for the harsh, bitter temperatures and so my enjoyment and enthusiasm was slightly limited. After he pointed out and described all the major buildings in the city (not very many of them), Naki took us to the Gandan Monastery. We walked through a grotty neighborhood consisting of many gers inhabited by the city's poorest people before reaching the religious compound. Nothing could have prepared me for what I was about to see. As we entered the Great Temple, I was initially drawn to the outskirts of the interior which were lined with hundreds of gold sitting Buddha statues on shelves layered from eye-level to high above. It wasn't until I looked towards the center of the temple when I was stunned by the 25 meter high Buddha standing in the center of the temple. It's the largest Buddhist statue in Mongolia known as Migjid Janraisig. It weighs 90 tons and is built from 20 tons of copper, 400 kgs of silver, gilded with 135 kgs of gold and decorated with more than 2000 pieces of precious stones. Naki also told us that the many small Buddha's that sit around the statue (1000 to be exact) are meant to watch over and protect the sacred centerpiece. Upon leaving the temple, I was instructed to exit in a respectful manner. This involved walking backwards through the doorway and down the steps thus always keeping your eye on Migjid. This was extremely difficult and frankly, I'm amazed I didn't fall.

Almost frozen at this point, we head back towards the city for a bite to eat and a nice cup of tea. Duncan ordered a curiously named item on the menu called "No Meat Dish" which actually consisted of nothing but meat. Food here is extremely cheap and very tasty. After a visit to the department store and dressing up in some interesting hats and felt slippers, we made our way to the ger camp which is situated about 40k outside the city. As we drove across the dessert-like terrain we were amazed at the hostile weather conditions. The blizzards and low-visibility made us all a little nervous. The road ahead was covered in snow as it blew horizontally across with the violent winds. At one point we stopped to get petrol. Adventurous Ali, always looking for new thrills and excitement, exited the vehicle like a stupid person would do in a bad disaster movie. Once she stepped out of the van I couldn't even see her. All I heard over the strong winds was something along the lines of "oh my god... f@#k... this is amazing".

A few hundred yards further down the road, the driver slowed down so that we could take photos of the crazy man on a horse rounding up his cattle wearing goggles dressed in what looked like a bright blue dressing gown. We opened the windows just enough to fit the camera through to take some sneaky shots of him and his strange looking animals. I felt like we were on a Siberian safari.

We arrived at the camp and allocated a ger where we will live for the next two nights. A ger is a circular wooden framed tent, insulated with felt and is the traditional home of Mongolian people. Their nomadic lifestyle has, for the most part, remained unchanged which is fascinating to see. Not exactly impressed with the weather, I didn't look forward to sleeping in a tent in the middle of Mongolia in sub-zero temperatures. I practically crawled through the 1.2 meter high door where I was greeted by "old man" (this is how he was introduced to us) who was attending to our Golomt which is the hearth in the center of the ger. Although slightly chilly to start off with, it didn't take long to heat up and within an hour I was down to my last layer of clothing and sweating. Four beds, each within painted wooden boxes like dolls furniture, lined the walls of the tent. In the center, behind the golomt with it's chimney poking out of the roof, was a small set of table and stools matching the ornately painted beds. We were told to obey Mongolian tradition and walk only in a clockwise direction around the golomt. This proved to be hilarious when we needed something just to the right of us. Unfortunately there was no way for the heat to escape which is why I came up with the idea of wedging the door open to help ventilate and regulate the temperature. One problem with this however is that one of the camp's dogs kept coming in to say hello. We shared the ger with Duncan and Ruth, who by this time, we were well acquainted with each other. They have both recently graduated from medical school and have come to Mongolia to work for the Mongolian Volunteer Organisation at a Maternal and Child Research Center in the city.

7:00 pm - Dinner was served and the whole camp (which only consisted of 10 travelers as supposed to the usual 70 in summertime) met up in the dining hut. We had a carrot salad to start followed by meat dumplings which were very tasty indeed. The night ended with drinks and a few games of Yahtzee back at the ger. For a short while we spent some time teaching Naki new English phrases and plied him with some of our Russian Vodka. That was until we realised that he was seriously concerned about losing his job if caught. I told him it would be rude to refuse a guests gift and to use that in his defense if ever questioned.