Take a walk on the wild side...

Ulaanbaatar (UB as it's known) is a young city where the first apartment block only went up about 40 years ago and with new shopping malls,  stands alongside the traditional nomadic tents known as gers. The vast majority of Mongolians live here and the roads are so busy they try to control it by restricting access to certain cars on certain days of the week. There is nothing of any specific note other than the rather random discovery of a Beatles monument. So we decided to get out of town and see some real Mongolia.

We booked a guide and driver for a few days. We were hoping to get one of the swanky BMW’s parked outside the hostel. What we go was a beaten up a Russian jeep where the design of the interior was clearly not considered a priority.. Our driver – a 70 something man called Dando was fearless on the road and our guide 27yr old Ama, was out of season, a dentist.  

We took in a few sights then broke free of the city. Our first stop was  the giant stainless steel monument of Chinggis Khaan. Located about 50km out of UB in the middle of nowhere, it's worth  a visit for the views alone and, set against a brilliant blue sky it was a stunning sight.  We took an elevator up inside the statue. We exited from what is essentially his ‘private’ area to views across the vast empty plains and distant hills.

Back on the road and after another 100km,as the flat plains were consumed by the mountains so the tarmac disappeared and became dirt road. Then the dirt road became a track and then disappeared as we drove through  wooded areas, several streams  and rivers – one  about 30 meters wide. Now I understood why we had not gone in the fancy BMW. Eventually after a very bumpy journey the truck navigated a  steep hill, where we were met with the most spectacular sight – mountains, trees, land, all around us,  golden and lit by the sun. At the bottom of the hill was where we were staying; a small homestead of a nomadic family and nothing else. For miles. Its hard to describe or do justice to this area and the views, but to say Mr and L and I were both really moved by it. 

There were 5 gers – 3 for the family, 1 for us and 1 for the driver & guide. Inside what is essentially a padded tent with a wooden structure were four beds and the centre  piece a wood burning stove. The ‘facilities’ were 40m from our ger- a hole in the ground with a ‘modesty’fence. I had no intention of exposing any body parts in temperatures well below freezing, so I am extremely grateful to F&M for the ‘she-pee’. I won't go into detail but can assure you that all my parts remained safely protected from the elements and prying eyes!

As night fell we moved into Ama’s tent where he cooked a Mongolian BBQ of mutton, potatoes and vegetables. Dando said Mr L ate like a Mongolian- wrestling meat from the bone, whilst I did my best to avoid the fat that they love. 

Someone commented that there has not been enough talk of Vodka on this trip. Well that was put right after dinner when the man of the family  introduced us to his home brewed milk vodka. It's softer tasting than other vodka but still as strong and apparently aids digestion. All good reasons to sample one or three. It certainly warmed us up!

As we stepped outside to go to our ger the clear black night gave us a view of the stars we had rarely seen. The log burning stove was maximum  as we entered the ger and Mr L resolved to keep a night  vigil  to ensure it didn't go out. Needless to say he would not make a good cowboy. ………
To be continued