Northern Nomads

Karakorum city and Terelj National Park

The next day, I jumped on the 9 hour bus ride back to Ulaanbaatar but this time I tried a different hostel.  Fortunately, Sunpath hostel had two English-speaking personnel and Dashka truly went above and beyond to help me achieve something different.  I agreed to a four day tour to start.  Fortunately, a girl named Queenie from Hong Kong joined in on the tour at the last minute so I didn’t have to absorb the entire expense of the trip.  At first I didn’t care much for touring the historical sites, temples, and museums of Mongolia because I was hoping to be more involved in the current culture but I began to appreciate the scale of what it meant for the Mongolian culture.  I had never heard of Chinggis Khan before until I released much later this refers to Genghis Khan, as western society knows him.  Mongolians had once laid claim to the largest territory in history and had conquered what we now know as China, India, the “stans” countries and much of Russia and Europe.  The Mongols’ use of horses and being so used to travelling in harsh climates allowed them to quickly expand and conquer new territories in a brutal manner that relied heavily on fear to confuse or even deter enemies from fighting back.

Visiting the ancient capital of the Mongol empire, Karakorum, was interesting as well.  The city was deconstructed and the stones were used to build the current temple city where both young and old lamas were actively praying.  Pictures are strictly forbidden so I didn’t bother to sneak any inside any of the temples.  The Karakorum museum was fascinating as well.  The visitor log book didn’t have an entry in months and there were no other tourists around while we where in the city so we were able to take our time admiring all the artifacts recovered recently from a nearby tomb.

During this four-day tour we spent the first night with a nomad family in Terelj national park, west of Ulanbaataar.  When we entered the ger, this young boy had no pants on and kept playing with himself on the bed next to the TV.  Once again, I kept my eyes focused on the TV. So weird…

After another chilly night we ate breakfast as our driver struggled for 45 minutes trying to get his old Russian van to start.

The next two nights were far west of Ulaanbataar and I was left impressed at how Dorio, the young father of the family, went out of his way to make Queenie and I feel welcome.  He made sure we both got the most of riding his horses but later he came into the guest ger and taught us how to play Mongolian games using nothing but the ankle bones of camels, sheep, and goats.  The next night, he brought over his youngest daughter and son to play games with us and he also showed us with such pride his collection of photos and drawings that tourists had given him.

Looking at photos of Mongolia in the summer, its hard to imagine that these mostly baron, brown, and dry landscapes are full of color and life in summer months but, then again, the concept is really no different than the complete contrast between seasons in most of Canada.  Sure, you get the luscious greenery and rivers of spring and summer, but winter has the animals like camels wearing a fluffy coat of wool, and only the odd tourist so you can enjoy your own personalised experience. I’ve been completely alone in some of the hotels and hostels that would otherwise be crammed with travellers in the summer months.  It makes things more challenging at times and definitely much more expensive but uniquely enjoyable.

The next day it only took about 10 minutes for the Russian van to start.  Impressive!  This Russian van was easily my least favorite part of the tour.  Even as we drove over smooth asphalt, this van bounced around like its suspension was made from blocks of wood.  Sure, it could go anywhere but you grow old trying to get there.  Watching each Toyota Prius fly by at twice the speed just proved how inefficient this vehicle was.  I don’t get motion sickness but I was feeling uneasy during the drive back to the city.