On a hike....last day in the countryside
The flight of stairs to the monastery. And that's our guide...preparing himself for our race ;)
On the horse...trying desperately not to fall off
On the horse...trying desperately not to fall off while I take a picture!
Where we stayed....our yurt is to the right of the
Where we stayed....our yurt is to the right of the blue-door yurt.
Just got back from a 3-day, 2-night trip out in the countryside of Mongolia (1.5 hrs from Ulanbaatar). I'm really glad we went, but was very grateful to head back into the city, where I can get clean! I like roughing-it, but I sure do appreciate a nice hot shower! But that'll have to wait till tomorrow, as we have plans to meet up with a few people tonight....straight from the internet cafe, which is where I'm at right now.
Back to our little trip. We booked this trip with a reliable tour agency, "Nomadic Expeditions", and packed our things ready for a little fresh air. I wasn't sure how "real" our experience in the countryside would be, especially when I heard we'd only be 1.5 hrs out of Ulanbaatar. But, I was happy to see that yes, indeed we would be staying in the countryside. We stayed with a family: dad, mom, daughter (and husband) and grand-daughter. I tried speaking Russian with the mom, but ...nope. No comprendo. Later on I met the dad, and was able to communicate a bit with him in Russian. Other than that, we basically did hand motions and tried our best with the few Mongolian phrases we learned (from Jaime's trusty "Lonely Planet" guidebook).
So, here's a story for you. We were told that this trip included: sleeping in a yurt, horse ride for a day, basic meals, and hiking. So, day two we were expecting a good horse ride. It was a flippin' COLD morning. We get on our horses, and start riding down the road. Except for, this wasn't a normal horse ride. Our guide was riding in front, with the two of us behind him, side by side. He had the reigns to our horses in his hands....I felt like I was a little kid at the IPE/fair!! So, after riding for 20 min like this, we stopped at "Turtle Rock" (this famous rock that apparently all tourists want to take pictures of), and our guide motioned for us to take pictures with it. Jaime was NOT impressed (neither was I...but I didn't show it as she did). He left us in the blistering wind, while he went to smoke in a car with his buddies. We had a little conference, and decided not to go on with this horse ride, and rather, walk back "home". We figured at least this way we'd warm up a bit by speed-walking. It was seriously really cold...the wind was nasty! I had three layers on, with my goretex jacket and hood on.
ANYWHO... (that was for you Becky!), so we walked towards the car, and Jaime explained to our guide (with excellent hand motions and slow English) that we were not happy with riding "attached". You had to be there....I had to keep myself from laughing out loud....couldn't hold back the smiles though. So, off we went...with a car-full of Mongolian guys laughing at us two stubborn Canadian girls. 10 min later, our guide rides up, and motions for us to get on the horses, because "monastery...5 min". After negotiating that we wanted to ride separate from him and each other, we got on, and proceeded to head down the dirt road. The weather changed and it turned out to be a beautiful day! The sun came out, and my hands warmed up. We figured out how to get the horses galloping....and gallop we did (for a bit). I had to yell out "yee- haw!"...just had to. lol....
The monastery was painted beautifully, and we got some great pics. I raced our tour guide up the 180 steps up to the monastery....he won. But that's only because I tripped 1/4 into the staircase. lol.....
Anways.....it was a great day. Got some great video clips...and later laughed about stomping off earlier on. Good times!
Slept in a yurt. That was fun. We'd go to bed with it stinkin' hot in there (due to building a decent fire in the stove before heading to bed), and wake up freezing. Actually, this morning there was frost on the ground! Did NOT expect it to get that cold there.....
Almost 4 weeks into the trip, I'm really thankful for the following items:
-hand sanitizer (with a lovely blackberry vanilla scent, so at least I smell nice!)
-baby wipes (when you just can't shower!)
-beef jerky (PROTEIN!! Best food item to bring...ever!)
-tea (drank a lot on the train......drop a tea bag into a nalgene bottle and add boiling water from the "samovar")
-floss! (I hate plaque and food stuck in my teeth! Flossing is so satisfying)
-tank tops (great layering item for warmth)
I did a pretty good job at packing for this trip. Yes, I brought too much of some things
(t- shirts.....6 might have been too many), but...generally, I did fairly well.
Time for dinner! I'm starving! The first part of the trip Jaime was always hungry, but the tables have turned in the last couple of weeks. I'm always ready for food! :)
Bayartai! ('goodbye')
Oh, p.s. I think we ate Mare's milk crepes.....except for they weren't really cooked. Pretty thick. Made us a little queasy, but did our best. Everything else we ate was fine. It tasted like babooshka's cooking, so I downed it with ease. But it all basically tasted the same, being as the same ingredients were used in all the dishes: little bit of meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage, beets, and fat chunks...Yes, fat CHUNKS. I thought it was a chuck of onion at first, but quickly realized...nope, that was fat! Great, cause I don't have enough of that! lol.....
k...BYE!
Back to our little trip. We booked this trip with a reliable tour agency, "Nomadic Expeditions", and packed our things ready for a little fresh air. I wasn't sure how "real" our experience in the countryside would be, especially when I heard we'd only be 1.5 hrs out of Ulanbaatar. But, I was happy to see that yes, indeed we would be staying in the countryside. We stayed with a family: dad, mom, daughter (and husband) and grand-daughter. I tried speaking Russian with the mom, but ...nope. No comprendo. Later on I met the dad, and was able to communicate a bit with him in Russian. Other than that, we basically did hand motions and tried our best with the few Mongolian phrases we learned (from Jaime's trusty "Lonely Planet" guidebook).
So, here's a story for you. We were told that this trip included: sleeping in a yurt, horse ride for a day, basic meals, and hiking. So, day two we were expecting a good horse ride. It was a flippin' COLD morning. We get on our horses, and start riding down the road. Except for, this wasn't a normal horse ride. Our guide was riding in front, with the two of us behind him, side by side. He had the reigns to our horses in his hands....I felt like I was a little kid at the IPE/fair!! So, after riding for 20 min like this, we stopped at "Turtle Rock" (this famous rock that apparently all tourists want to take pictures of), and our guide motioned for us to take pictures with it. Jaime was NOT impressed (neither was I...but I didn't show it as she did). He left us in the blistering wind, while he went to smoke in a car with his buddies. We had a little conference, and decided not to go on with this horse ride, and rather, walk back "home". We figured at least this way we'd warm up a bit by speed-walking. It was seriously really cold...the wind was nasty! I had three layers on, with my goretex jacket and hood on.
ANYWHO... (that was for you Becky!), so we walked towards the car, and Jaime explained to our guide (with excellent hand motions and slow English) that we were not happy with riding "attached". You had to be there....I had to keep myself from laughing out loud....couldn't hold back the smiles though. So, off we went...with a car-full of Mongolian guys laughing at us two stubborn Canadian girls. 10 min later, our guide rides up, and motions for us to get on the horses, because "monastery...5 min". After negotiating that we wanted to ride separate from him and each other, we got on, and proceeded to head down the dirt road. The weather changed and it turned out to be a beautiful day! The sun came out, and my hands warmed up. We figured out how to get the horses galloping....and gallop we did (for a bit). I had to yell out "yee- haw!"...just had to. lol....
The monastery was painted beautifully, and we got some great pics. I raced our tour guide up the 180 steps up to the monastery....he won. But that's only because I tripped 1/4 into the staircase. lol.....
Anways.....it was a great day. Got some great video clips...and later laughed about stomping off earlier on. Good times!
Slept in a yurt. That was fun. We'd go to bed with it stinkin' hot in there (due to building a decent fire in the stove before heading to bed), and wake up freezing. Actually, this morning there was frost on the ground! Did NOT expect it to get that cold there.....
Almost 4 weeks into the trip, I'm really thankful for the following items:
-hand sanitizer (with a lovely blackberry vanilla scent, so at least I smell nice!)
-baby wipes (when you just can't shower!)
-beef jerky (PROTEIN!! Best food item to bring...ever!)
-tea (drank a lot on the train......drop a tea bag into a nalgene bottle and add boiling water from the "samovar")
-floss! (I hate plaque and food stuck in my teeth! Flossing is so satisfying)
-tank tops (great layering item for warmth)
I did a pretty good job at packing for this trip. Yes, I brought too much of some things
(t- shirts.....6 might have been too many), but...generally, I did fairly well.
Time for dinner! I'm starving! The first part of the trip Jaime was always hungry, but the tables have turned in the last couple of weeks. I'm always ready for food! :)
Bayartai! ('goodbye')
Oh, p.s. I think we ate Mare's milk crepes.....except for they weren't really cooked. Pretty thick. Made us a little queasy, but did our best. Everything else we ate was fine. It tasted like babooshka's cooking, so I downed it with ease. But it all basically tasted the same, being as the same ingredients were used in all the dishes: little bit of meat, potatoes, carrots, onion, cabbage, beets, and fat chunks...Yes, fat CHUNKS. I thought it was a chuck of onion at first, but quickly realized...nope, that was fat! Great, cause I don't have enough of that! lol.....
k...BYE!
1 comment:
Alison, I had some great belly laughs reading your blogs. Thanks for being so discriptive. I felt like I was there watching the two of you, riding side by side on the horse, running up the stairs to the monastary. Sounds like you're having the most fantastic time! Thanks for the updates.
Lillie
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