National Park Tour

On Tuesday, Simon and I left on a 'tour' - a guided trip - of part of Eastern Mongolia. We went with a friend of Simon's named Leslie from Beijing and 2 Dutch girls whom we met at the hostel, Hanneke and Tamara. On the first day, we drove for about 2 hours to get to Terelj National Park. We made frequent stops to look at a ovoo, a sacred pile of stones in shamanism, ride a camel, hold a falcon, and climb inside a cave that sheltered some lamas during Soviet times. We were all very grateful for the stops as most of the roads in Mongolia are more like dirt ruts and the van was very bumpy in the back!

Once in Terelj National Park, we saw the infamous Turtle Rock and hiked up to a monastery that is still active today. The hike was a welcome change from the bumpy ride, and the view from the top was amazing. It was also very interesting to hear about Buddhism from our guide, who was Buddhist, and to see the colorful monastery. There were 108 round turn-y things ringing the monastery; 108 is a lucky number in Mongolia because Genghis Khan had 108 loyal lieutenants. The turn-y things (I don't know the name, sorry) are partly to send good wishes to those you are thinking about and partly as pre-meditation for worship in the temple. The inside of the monastery had pictures of 'arhats' all along the wall, people who had attained perfect renunciation of worldly things and become like Buddha. It was a very peaceful place and made me wish I could just sit and think there.

The second day we did some hiking along a random trail we found near our campsite and I managed to convince the others that bouldering in Mongolia can be fun ;) We also went to a huge statue of Genghis Khan which has just been built. Its possible to go up inside and, strangely enough, you emerge from between his legs to gaze out onto the plain below. All of the signage and the movie onsite made it very plain that Mongolians are very proud of Genghis Khan and the Mongolian empire, and there seems to be a massive re-branding of his image currently ongoing. During Soviet times, it was very uncool to like Genghis Khan and he was viewed as an evil tyrant, but now Mongolians can once again be proud of their national heritage.

Both nights while on tour, we stayed in gers, which are Mongolian felt round dwellings which can be collapsed and rebuilt in around 30 minutes. They are great for the nomadic lifestyle which many Mongolians lead during the warm months to follow their herds. We had meals cooked by the families at each site. Mongolian food is very heavy on lamb meat and fat and dairy products, with assorted noodles and dumplings for carbohydrates with very little vegetables. I can see that such a diet is important for subsisting in a cold and harsh climate. The first evening we learned several traditional Mongolian games involving ankle bones, and the second we were treated to a performance of a Mongolian fiddle by one of the men at the ger where we were staying.

Unfortunately, something I ate the second night did not agree with me and I spent the night very nauseated and vomiting intermittently. It was freezing outside so I was stuck inside with all 4 co-travelers right on the floor next to me, and the Mongolian family on the couch - I felt so bad for my sound effects! The next day, the family insisted that I allow them to wrap my abdomen very tightly for the car journey, and they also suggested that I put a sheep turd in my belly button as a way of pulling out the bad things causing me to be sick. At this suggestion, for a split second I was caught in indecision - were they joshing me, trying to see if the white girl would believe them and do something gross? Or were they serious and I risked offending them by saying no? I decided offending them was worse than a little crap, and for the rest of the day I carried a tiny pellet of shit next in my belly button...the efficacy of which can be argued, but it is true that I did not vomit any more!

On the third day we did some horseback riding and saw another monastery and museum. The day mostly passed in a haze as in addition to feeling nauseated I was coming down with a cold as well, and I was glad to return to Ulaanbaatar and an unmoving hostel bed that night.

As before, click on the last image for a slideshow.