So now we're onto the second part of our trip, Western Mongolia. Sadly we said goodbye to our travel companion Matt who went his own way. We ended up flying to Khovd cause all the flights to Olgii were booked. Then had to take a bus to Olgii. In Khovd, Gezie (a girl we met in UB that arranged our travel) arranged for someone she knew to pick us up from the airport. She was an older lady who spoke absolutely no english and was like a grandmother drill sergeant commanding us around with hand signals. First she took us to her place and gave us some watermelon, bread, and jam. Then had us stay there while she took Lance to basically do errands with her which needed heavy lifting done. We were left sitting there wondering what happened to Lance. She kept speaking to Lance even though he told her many times he was Korean Canadian. She'd be like China? What? and just keep talking as if she didn't care. The Ger she ended up driving us to was near a lake which was very very windy, cold, and had no fire. So around 5pm Matt and Lance just went to bed out of boredom. I must say I'm overjoyed we could at least get a flight to Khovd because the bus was 36 hours long and then another 7 to get to Olgii. And these aren't your regular bus rides. These are Russian vans with as many people piled into them as possible. Literally my knees were rights up against the person sitting across from me to the point when we stopped my knees were killing me. They piled 16 people in a van that would carry 8! So you were stuck up right and confined so much you couldn't move at all to get comfortable. I thought that was bad but then I was told the 36 hour bus ride pretty much had people riding on top of each other and on luggage. Literally it looks like we're packed into a clown car and all you can think is how many more fn ppl are we going to stop and pick up. Never mind when we are going to leave. We were supposed to leave at 1pm and ended up leaving at 3:30. What was nice is we ended up being on the same bus as Matt number two. Most the people in the bus with us were American peace corps volunteers. They were really interesting to talk to as they had all been here for around two years, spoke the language, and knew a lot about the culture.
So after the most gruelling 7 plus hour bus ride we arrive in Olgii. Olgii is a little village surrounded by many small mountains and the same open sky you find many places in Mongolia. There are no big buildings but little box like houses made of brick or concrete. When we arrived we called our new guide Aybek to come get us. He is a young Kazak man who built his own guest house and lives with his wife and baby. The baby is definitely not shy and entertains us. She runs around saying to us hello hello hello. She is only 2 and is so independent. She goes up and down the most sketchy steps by her self, even I almost fall down and her parents basically let her do whatever she wants which I'll admit drives me a little crazy, she's practically climbing off the walls. Tonight she grabbed a sharp kitchen knife and was waving it around and her mom was ok with this as I was having a heart attack and hoping not to get stabbed. His wife is very quite and shy but I can tell she understands more english than her husband. Aybek is a very kind man with a big heart. He has went out of his way to make us feel very welcome in Olgii. Aybek is part of the event staff for the eagle festival and we go first thing in the morning. Now I don't know why but they seem to think we need a guide so his friend coolshat(no clue how to spell her name) comes along with us and charges us for basically doing nothing but were too nice to decline her service. On the way to the festival we see all the eagle hunters riding in on horses in traditional clothing with their eagles on their arms. Their presence is something I can not describe. They just have this poise that amazes me. Their like bad ass Mongolians lol. The sight of them makes Matt giddy as this is our main reason we came to Mongolia. While at the festival we ended up meeting up with many of the travellers we have met along the way. The festival wasn't as big as what I thought it was going to be which was good cause I hate big crowds and you could get good pics of the eagle hunters without a million people in the way. Although Michelle Rodriguez from Avatar and Fast and Furious was there. Aaaaaand I got a pic with her! Which I didn't want to bug her for one as she was on holidays but I just couldn't help it. Lance had to give me the push to do it tho because I was too scared to ask. Who would think of all places she'd be in Mongolia! Matt asked her why she was here and I guess she is partly Mongolian. She was super nice. I apologized profusely for bothering her and she didn't mind at all.
There are many events at the eagle hunting festival. Such as camel racing, tug a war between two men on horses, and this whipping game where a man chases a woman on a horse then she chases him and whips him. It's a kazak tradition. Then they have eagle calls, where the hunter calls to his eagle and you watch it fly off this mountain down onto his arm. The other eagle event is the hunting, where they used to use real foxes and wolves but tourists and animal lovers basically complained about it so much they stopped and now just use the fur of one. The eagle sits on the mountain and the hunter rides the horse with the fur dragging behind and calls to his eagle with a sound that resembles one and the eagle comes down to catch it. Super cool to see the eagle soar above you then nose dive for the fur. Eagle hunters are traditionally men but there was a 13 year old girl there that ending up winning. Our "guide" says she isn't an eagle hunter even though she did everything the men did and that people are mad over her winning. Only men can be eagle hunters she says and the girl being one is just a show for toursits. To me if she does everything the men can do why can't she be.
Today is our anniversary so instead of going into the country we decided to hang in olgii for a bit. We walked around and checked out the local shops which pretty much all sell cashmire and things made of yak and camel. We ended up spotting our german and swiss friend we met while staying in a previous ger and decided to spend the rest of the day with them. one thing I will say about travelling is it just amazes me how easily you befriend people. In Canada you would never just meet someone randomly in a cafe and end up spending time with them. It truely amazes me the stories people tell you about their lives and countries. For example Sabastian is only 23 and graduated Harvard university with a phd in physics! and graduated high school at 15. He is literally a boy genius but is so humble and kind. He was telling me there are actually people who go around saying, but I go to Harvard and so on. I would have never known he went there by his attitude. It was merely by me asking him a million questions about his life. Florian is the swiss guy and he is so nice and loves the outdoors. He bought a little jigger kit from Russia for like 50 cents and lost it in the river today and took his boots and socks off and retrieved it and it was 0 degrees celcius. I thought that was so crazy but to top it off they both told me how they were swimming in the lakes here and I'm just blown away as its been beyond cold here. But like they say when its been days since your last shower being clean must out weigh the cold. Although I'm doubtful I could do it. While walking around town we ended up running into all the people we've met so far since being in olgii. You would almost think we were locals lol. One man we met, yeric took us to a place that looked like a run down building which turned out to be an awesome shisha bar. So we smoked there for a few hours chatting and enjoying the company of people who can understand english. A luxery these days. When we were about to leave one of Aybek's friends gave us a ride home. Met us once and insisted on giving us a ride. We came home to a meal made by his wife Inore and the baby Ameena was asking where her hello's were. They know very little english but always try talking with us and always load our plates full of food and insist we have seconds. Our tea cups are never empty and Inore is filling them. When they found out it was our anniversary they were so excited and congratulated us by shaking our hands. Then Abyk disappeared only to reappear and ask for Lance to join him. Upon his return he brought us a picture of Western Mongolia and signed the back saying Happy Anniversary from your Kazik friends. We were so touched. To give us something like that we were just speechless. The hospitality in Western Mongolia is like nothing I've experienced. You literally feel like a friend of the family. They treat us so well and we will forever remember their kindness. So all in all today was a great way to spend our second anniversary. Tomorrow Aybek says he wants to take us fishing when he is off work. Again just blown away at how were being treated here.
One thing i'll say that bothers me sometimes about travelling is getting screwed. We definitely were taken advantage of while we were here all while getting smiled at. All these costs came up when we went to pay, some things we didn't even get why we were charged. Just sucks because you have high hopes for people but in the end in Asia as a North American your usually just a walking dollar sign. Of course not to everyone here but I'm sure for most. Gets under my skin so much but I guess a person just has to realize at the end of the day we do have a lot more.
We are now in UB after another long packed bus ride and a delayed flight of ten hours. Again so happy to be back with a toilet and shower. We are taking it easy at the hostel I once thought was a dump but now view as a five star lol. Its also goodbye to Lance soon. Mongolia had a lot of highs and lows for me but it was definitely worth coming to. Now Matt and I are off to China!
