So after saying several goodbyes and several hours of flying I finally arrive in Ulaanbaatar, Mongoia's Capital City. When I get here of course I've started what ends up being an almost 3 day puke fest. So my trip really got into a rough start. Were staying in a hostel called reindeer and most things advertised such as free breakfast, 24 hour door man, and bar ect just do not exist. When we got here i was pretty delirious but we were basically pointed to a room with four bunkbeds. Pretty certain they weren't cleaned after the last guest but at this point I was just looking for somewhere to stay. We weren't asked for money or shown around nothing. Just told here are your beds and thats it lol. I've been to a lot of hostels and have to say this is definately the most unconventional one I've been to. When we first arrived we stayed with an Israeli guy and an Austrian girl. Both were very welcoming and basically gave us our intro to the place and tips on travelling to Mongolia. Whats nice is now that they have left Matt's friend lance arrived from Thailand and is now staying with us in our room so we pretty much have the room to ourselves for 8usd a night.
Once I was feeling better we made our way out into the city, which I must say was a lot different than what I had expected. It's as modern as most cities with a touch of historical buildings. The people are very fashion forward, but are definately not that friendly. When we smile or try to say thank you in their language while paying for things they pretty much just shake their head at us.
Before we left for Mongolia Matt had been speaking with another guy about possibly joining us in what I like to call the outback of mongoia because its so remote. But before meeting him we had to meet our guides who came to meet us then take us to matt(the guy were touring with is also named matt) Meget and Billet. A very nice Mongolian couple who welcomed us into their home and even gave Matt a place to stay when he arrived off the train from Russia. In Canada no one would do this. Their warmth and hopitality was really nice to see. Meeting Matt who had really bummed out his knee trekking in Russia was a bit of a surprise as I pictured him to be around our age and instead he was this 22 year old super skinny guy with really fluffy messy hair and a thick Brittish accent. Bilet told us she prefers canadians and americans because we speak "real" english which she can understand.
So in disgussing our tour plan basically what it entailed was us going into Mongolia, travelling for hours and hours in this cramped Russian jeep, myself and four guys. Camping along the way in freezing conditions, riding wild Mongolian horses who potentially could kick us off all in the hopes we may but were not gauranteed to see the tsaan people. Other wise known as the reindeer people. We would be gone for 22 days which also really didn't work for me. So Oka one of the guys working at the hostel introduced to Gezzie who set up an 8 day tour a lot cheaper and more of what we were looking for.
So we set out for what I call the outback of Mongolia, so goodbye good toilets, wifi, and any comfort you get in the city. Not to mention vegetables or any food that I would normally eat. The bathrooms are absolutely the worst I've seen and are made of two 2 by 4 boards over a hole. I always worry I'm going to slip and fall in as you balance yourself on these boards over the hole. Oka is our guide so already we know this is going to be fun as he is a young guide and easy to get along with and we met him already while staying at the hostel. Once leaving UB any evidence of ownership of property is gone. There are no homes, no gates housing land in, just nothing but scenery. The land is made of rolling hills and open skies. Its like being in the beginning of time when nothing existed. The only sign people live out here is the odd Ger you see or car driving by. The land is for the taking. The roads are so bad that you feel like your in a washing machine the whole ride. Thank god I don't get motion sickness. . Any Nomadic Mongolian can basically settle where ever they want and not pay taxes or rent. They live off the land, the more cattle or animals you have the richer you are. The first couple days we've mostly drove in an old van made for 6, with all our stuff packed tight. Every day a piece falls off that our driver must fix. At night we go stay at Gers with nomadic families. A ger is basically a mongolian tent, almost like a teepee but more round than pointed. In the ger its a basic setting, beds in a pentagon shape with a stove in the middle. We are often fed sheep meet and some type of carb noodle made with flour. All food is so heavy here and since coming I AM SOOOOO constipated. The people we meet seem friendly but I did expect them to be more friendly. They seem to keep to themselves aside for making us a hot meal and fire. With every meal they offer us this white tea, which tastes like hot bitter rice. I'm not a fan of it but they always pour me a glass anyway. And when scooping out supper they always give you enough to feed three people, which I hate because I can barely stomach the food. Another common offering here is Airag, formented mares milk. Yes it's as bad as it sounds. For me anyway. I'm not a very adventurous eater so I'm completely out of my comfort zone in every way here. Travelling with all males I will say for the first time in my life I'm feeling like a bit of a princess for how up tight I get with the bathrooms and food. Once getting over myself I'm starting to appreciate where we are and what we're doing. The land is beautiful I don't think anywhere this remote exists many places. The best part is at night because of the lack of air pollution and light pollution the stars come alive at night. They are so bright and beautiful they are literally the only light that comes through. You can see the full Milky Way horizontally across the sky. Its like your at the planetarium. Another high light here is the white lake. A day full of driving and seeing nothing but land it appears through the rocks and were all in awe of its beauty. So we decided to stay here for a couple days. Here we went horseback riding with wild Mongolian horses. These horses are half wild so you have to try not to let the thought of them bucking you off intimidate you. They are all tied with ropes rather than leather, wooden saddles, and basically gear that looks like its from the 1900's. To think we were considering going horseback riding for 5 days straight. I wouldn't have lasted. I barely get through an hour with out my vagina feeling like its been smashed to bits. While staying here we met a woman from Amsterdam. She is my new idol. She's educated, independent, and has travelled all over the world by herself. A truly inspiring individual. She has offered us to stay with her when we get to Amsterdam which makes me so excited. I only hope she means it lol. At this ger there is a little girl around 6 who smiles across the ger at me and mimicks what I do. She has a shaved head. I guess they shave the baby hair off around 6 for girls and 4 for boys. But even with her shaved head she is the cutest little thing ever. She wears these little gold earings that dangle from her ears. We bought gifts to give the nomadic families children and when we gave her hers she was so elated by just colouring pencils. We also got these pencils with a little bobbing clown on top. Before I left we went for breakfast and she was still sleeping and when she woke up she asked for it first thing and started to bobble it in bed. A little pencil bringing her so much happiness. Just melts your heart.
So its day four into our trip and my hormones are turning me into a huge bitch. We drove for 14 hours straight on roads that have no pavement. Literally its like driving through fields, no roads no paths, nothing. Were driving up hills almost like mountains up and down. Around on the edge of cliffs where the whole vehicle is completely sideways. I white knuckle the door every time. We are in absolute seclusion. Another thing I notice while driving yesterday is there are no road signs. Or even signs indicating which city or town your in. Our guide Oka pretty much hasn't had a plan for anything this whole trip and being 23 and having the maturity of a teenager I really don't think he should be planning and managing a tour. So every night I almost feel like we don't know where were going to sleep. Which is a scary thing given the outbacks remoteness. For example when we were driving our 14 hour day we came across two men whose vehicle broke down and they were waiting for help 3 days!!!! starving with no food or water. When we gave them ours they devoured it down in seconds. Its very nerve wrecking to think that could happen out here. Even if I were bucked off a horse or something there is no emergency for gettting back to UB and getting proper help. But back to Oka, so were driving all day and finally reach the town were supposed to stay in. First Oka tells me the day before were staying at a hotel, then he tells me a ger, then he tells me a hotel again. Which excites me beyond belief as I need a shower in the worst way and really just want to sit on a toilet instead of squatting over a hole! But after 14 hours I can feel my patience is really thin and he's making us bounce around to every hotel to get the best price. I literally had to breath to stop my self from ripping him a new asshole. But finally we get a hotel! And we all look like the dirtiest people ever. When I washed my hands the water was brown. Water has literally not touched me in days. I have never had so much appreciation for something so simple as a shower in my life! I don't know how people go and work in these remote places and stay long term. I've come to the conclusion I'm just a dreamer bc In actuality I like the comforts in life. Even though I want to be this great adventurer I guess I'm just not cut out for it.
After staying at the hotel my moral has been restored and I'm feeling more optimistic about the rest of this trip. Amazing what a simple shower and change of clothes can do. I think Oka was starting to get scared around me, he definitely could tell i was beyond irritated. We drove a couple hours that day to khubsgul. And stayed in little trangle wooden huts. I was elated to see they carved out a toilet from wood. No more squating over 2 by 4's halleluiah! The area is all nice fall trees over a huge lake. We ended up taking a boat over the water which was weird bc it was 0 degrees and to be on a boat made it that much colder. The rest of the trip we mostly stayed in gers. Which every night was freezing so I was always unable to sleep. And we were served the same 3 meals everywhere we went. Flour noodles with sheep meat, some sort of soup with sheep meat, and sheep meat. Something so so hard for me to eat the same things over and over. We just arrived back in Ub and Im so happy to be back to wifi, toilets, and indoors.
