The Gobi desert… It’s incredibly… vast. It’s striking… Go
there! And we were even there just after the first snowfall – according to
Lonely Planet the least preferred time to visit Mongolia. So we pretty much had it
all to ourselves. Not a bad deal!
The two of
us, plus three other dudes and our cheerful driver Baator – you haven’t ever
seen a truly happy face until you see this man smile – went on an eight night,
nine day tour of the desert, in a mini-bus. In short: the ‘road’ (it’s not
really a road…) is bumpy, the wind icy and at times sandy, the landscape… vast,
except for when we were up in the mountains, the food taste like mutton and
nothing else as the Mongolians have loads of mutton, and think spices should be
regarded with suspicion, the toilets are either out in the nature (best option)
or two planks over a hole, and showers are non existing… But everyone keeps a
polite arms length distance, so it’s ok. And the nature and wildlife is a m a z
i n g. We saw wild goats, yaks, camels and horses – the world’s only truly wild
ones. And loads of eagles and falcons, and vultures bigger than the dead sheep
they were munchin’ on… It was quite spectacular, and unfortunately no photos
will ever capture this. And that’s pretty much it. And it was absolutely grand!
In truth, it
was very cold. It’s probably even lovelier in summer time. I was wearing every
sweater I brought with me plus one of Lars’. And we cooked our lunches inside
the bus as the winds were combating our desire to use fire to heat up our food.
In the Ger – traditional felt tents in which we spent the nights – we usually
had warm enough evenings by the fire, eating food prepared by the nomads, playing
chess or just talking – oh so cosy! –
but we naturally didn’t have enough fuel for the entire night. There are no
trees around in a desert (doh!) so we burnt camel poop, and unfortunately
there’s no abundance of that either. The gers are constructed with a hole at
the top, sucking the warmth right out, so we woke up most mornings feeling like
icicles… All part of the experience!
At one of
the camps we got there right on time to observe the slaughter of a sheep and a
goat. It was very interesting indeed. They did it right in the middle of their
main ger, by first skinning the animal and using the skin as a mat-cover – not
that I ever saw them drop a single drop of blood… EVERYTHING is taken care of,
and it’s very skilfully done, I’ve never seen anything like it. The goats’
necks were served to us tourists. The rest will feed three families for a
month. We also got to try other local specialties like salty milk tea and airag
– fermented horse milk. We preferred a variety made from camel’s milk, tastes
like fresh cream mixed with a smelly kind of goat’s cheese!
That’s all
folks! We’re soon back on the train, next stop Beijing!
Lou
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