Mongolia

By Bea
It felt great to be boarding the Trans-Mongolian. I’m not sure if it was the anticipation of a new country or the start of our Trans-Siberian rail journey, a trip that has been on our bucket list for over 30 years.
The Trans-Siberian was once referred to as “the fairest jewel in the crown of the Tsars”. It is the longest rail line in the world, spanning 9,289km from Moscow to Vladivostok and `crossing seven time zones. The route we were taking, however, starts in Beijing on the Trans-Mongolian and passes through Mongolia before joining the traditional Trans-Siberian near Lake Baikal.

25/05/2019-04/06/2019
Sitting at Beijing station was a Mongolian train with smartly dressed cabin attendants, waiting at the doors, greeting guests and welcomed them aboard. As this was our first leg and was over 22hours, we had booked superior soft sleeper, a private cabin with 2 bunk beds, a lounge chair and a bathroom (that we shared with the cabin next door). Definitely a bit of luxury!

We arrived at the border at 8pm, however China and Mongolia have different gauge rail systems so each individual carriage had to be unhitched, shunted into a shed, hoisted and have their bogies changed, dropped, shunted again and finally rehitched. Obviously a time consuming task with a lot of bumping, grinding, clanking and tossing back and forth!

While this was happening Immigration officers came on board, inspected our passports, quick check of the cabin - all uneventful. By 2.30am we were finally on our way again!

We woke to a changing landscape, the boundless sands of the Gobi desert slowly transformed into the vast Mongolian steppes. The flat grassy plains transformed again into soft rolling hills, dotted with pine forests as we neared Ulaanbaatar. The homesteads, with their Gers (yurts) and livestock that we passed infrequently at the start also became more numerous as we approached the capital.

Ulaanbaatar (UB) is a place I have always wanted to visit. I remember it from the world weather, from 40 degrees celcius in summer to minus 40 in winter!! When Pete was commissioned to design a hotel there, I was so jealous, I desperately wanted to join him on one of his visits, but sadly the project was put on hold and I didn’t get to go.

That project, that started 10 years ago, was finally finished in 2018, so we planned to stay at the hotel and catch up with Tugi (the client) and his wife for dinner.

We disembarked the train and bolted for the exit, heads down to avoid the usual hawkers peddling hostels and over priced cab journeys. We intending to grab a taxi outside the station but not a taxi in sight! We saw one across the road but as we approached he took off. A guy in a parked car asked if we needed help. We reluctantly said we were looking for a taxi. He got out to help by waving arbitrarily at cars! shortly one pulled over and after brief discussion we were in the back heading to the hotel for the equivalent of $2.00. It turns out that this is the UB system you just wave if you need a ride and someone will stop. Like a paid hitchhiking! (But we were warned not to do that at night time).

We checked into the Novotel and, to Petes surprise, they had kept pretty much to the architectural design. It is certainly become a landmark of UB! Sadly however the Interior design hadn’t made it through the change in operator.

It was so nice to have a bit more luxury. I was in seventh heaven. We showered and changed and went for a wander around UB. Mongolia has a population of approx 3.2M. UB alone has approx 1.3M people. It felt bustling but not busy.

We met up with Tugi & his wife for dinner. They took us to a traditional Mongolian restaurant (Modern Nomads) a few minutes walk from the hotel. The place was full of both tourists and locals. Tugi assured us, this was good traditional Mongolian food and they ate there regularly. The food looked great, I wanted everything on the menu, but left it to our hosts to choose. We had traditional Khuushuur (like a fried pasty filled with lamb), lamb & vegetable buuz, traditional and common dumpling, and another type of stir fried lamb and vegetable dish. SO good! Pete had fortified himself for a big night, Tugi was a big vodka drinker and they had had some heavy sessions in the past. He used to say “meat for the body, vodka for the brain”. As it turned out, Tugi had made a lifestyle change and was now semi vegetarian (very difficult to do in Mongolia); and teetotal!! I think little relief swept across Pete. No vodka for tonight, just a few beers for the rest of us.

We toured around UB in the morning and checked out a few companies offering trips into the Steppes. We settled on a newish company who were able to customized a trip for us, and we could start the next morning - perfect! We booked a 6 day, 5 night trip with a private guide, staying at home stays in traditional Gers (Yurts) some on working farms. With the trip booked, we wandered back to the hotel via a mini market to get supplies for the trip (aka vodka). Given there was so much on the menu that we wanted at the restaurant the night before, we decided to return. This time we had a different kind of dumpling (lamb of course) with pumpkin purée and sour cream; twice cooked sheep’s head; and lamb shanks (are you getting the lamb theme here in Mongolia!?)

The next morning, we checked out and were picked up by our guide “Billy” and our driver Ammy in a quite luxurious mini van. Pete was a little disappointed and he had hoped we were going to get one of the heavy Russian UAZ-452 4wd van that he had seen so often.

We made our way to Terelj National Park (about 110km from UB). This was a magnificent area of green plains and mountains. We stopped for a picnic lunch amongst the trees, before touring through the park some more. As part of our customised trip, we had asked to go rafting (we had seen another company offer this). We drove to the area where the rafting is, however we had to do a river crossing and the water was proving a little difficult for a hybrid mini van.

After quite some deliberation, our driver hitched a ride on a 4WD truck going across the water to go get the guy organising the rafting to come and pick us up.

They both returned shortly later in an open 4WD Russian Jeep. We jumped in proceeded across the river, however when we reached the opposite bank, the driver decided to cross the river again - this time in reverse! Okay I have done a few river crossings in the past, but never in reverse.

He took off again, taking a different route across and then he really took off! Thankfully I couldn’t see the speedo as we were hurtling through the off road section of the park. Myself, Pete and the guide in the backseat - no seatbelts - just waiting to be launched as we hit another hump! The driver was trying to give us a thrill ride and when we reached our destination, on the river edge, he proceeded to drive off the 1.5m high river bank into the river, turn around and exit the river up the steep bank we had just launched off only second before. Let me add, he was totally in control the whole time, our Adrenalin was now rushing and Pete has 5 bruises where my fingers were gripping his leg!!

Did you know that Mongolia is known for its world champion wrestlers? So whilst we were waiting for the rafts to arrive, Ammy decided to put Pete to the test and launched himself into a wrestling match. (NB: Ammy is quite a large guy - typical wrestler build).

We were both surprised how long Pete lasted before getting tackled to the ground, both dragged them selves up, out of breath, just as the truck with the raft arrived. Given it was early spring and the snows had just melted we expected some pretty epic rafting, wrong. The water level was extremely low, so as we ‘floated’ down the river, pushing and bouncing to get over the shallows they explained that in fact summer is when it rains and the best rafting is autumn. Oh well, it was pretty scenery.

Tsongin Boldgog (Genghis Khan horse statue) was our next stop and, after watching Joanna Lumley’s Trans Siberian series, one I had been really wanting to see. The size of this thing, was incredible. You take an elevator up to the neck of the horse, then a few stairs later you are standing on the horses head and towering above you is the magnificent Ghengis Khan. The whole statue is made from stainless steel and glows from miles around. In the plinth of the statue is a museum of Ger evolution which is small but very informative.

Our final stop was the allegedly famous Turtle Rock, a rock that, from the right angle and with enough vodka looks like... a...turtle. The rock was pretty cool, and with a bit of hiking we could climb up to get a pretty good view of the valley. (Note from Pete, no it wasn’t it was just two boulders and someone’s overtly fertile imagination that we wasted 45minutes climbing)

It was dusk by the time we pulled into Khongor camp for the evening. This wasn’t an actual home stay but a Ger camp site. Billy prepared our evening meal which consisted of salad leftovers from lunch, plus some processed sausage and potatoes panfried with a piece of processed cheese melted across the top. (This set the tone for the level of gourmet dinners we were to get over the next 5 nights!) The owner of the campsite lit our fire inside our Ger and after a few vodkas to warm up (3 degrees) we retired to its toasty warmth and our sleeping bags for a comfortable nights sleep.

We rose early the next morning and, after a breakfast of bread, jam, eggs and pan fried processed sausage, were on the road by 8am. We were heading back through UB and on to the north west of mongolia. To Petes delight we changed vehicles in UB, the rest of the trip would be in the back of a UAZ-452 with a new driver, Buzzra. Given the terrain, river crossings and rocky paths that laid ahead it was a wise change.

Sightseeing in Mongolia is all about the changing scenery, the morning was spent driving through semi arid farmland on the edge of the Gobi. Despite its harsh appearance the landscape was teaming with life, including Pika, Mongolian Gerbils and Ground squirrels along with Steppes Eagles, Golden Eagles and other Hawks. While Billy prepared lunch- spaghetti bolognese (made with processed sausage and jar of salsa). Pete and I wandered around trying to take photos of these elusive little mammals. They would dart from one burrow then disappearing down another. There were hundreds around, but we were having difficultly photographing any.
After lunch, we continued north west to Khustai National Park. This place is known as “country of wild horses”. The scenery in this park was simply stunning yet we seemed to be driving through on a mission. Billy had fallen asleep (too much pasta), and we were starting to get a little annoyed as Buzzra didn’t speak English and we were trying to get him to stop for photos. We soon discovered this park had Mamuts which we were trying to get a photo off - also quite an illusive creature, together with vultures and eagles. Great wildlife here.

All of which we wanted to take photos of, but between the animals taking off, our guide falling asleep and the driver not stopping - this all proved difficult and frustrating. They were right, this park is known for its wild horses, they were everywhere. What I loved about coming to Mongolia this time of year, was that every animal we saw was accompanied by their young. There were so many cute foals, lambs, kids, calves, yaks and even a baby camel (which I hadn’t seen before).

We stayed the night with the Batchuluun family, a nomadic family who raised cows, sheep and horses. Like most nomadic Mongolians, they move twice a year, we were staying with them at their winter location. In a few weeks they would pack up and move to their summer camp, 10km away on the flat river plain.

We were greeted by Orlanda who stood at the door dressed in a traditional costume and a blessing cloth draped around her. She held a cup of fresh milk which we all sipped before being invited to enter the family Ger. It had everything you needed - like a small apartment just circular. I loved it. She had the wood fired stove lit and had boiled up some cows milk for us to try.

She then added leaf tea and sugar to the bowlof hot milk, added some hot water, strained it and gave us another cup. This was a traditional Mongolian “milk tea”. We also got to try her homemade yoghurt, which I just loved, so creamy and fresh. This was served with a dried curd, that had the texture of a very crunchy biscuit.

Inside the main Ger Orlanda was busy making dinner that included a hand made noodle/pasta. She kneaded and rolled a flour an water dough until it was super thin then cut into small strips. These noodles were then placed over boiling mutton and veggies to steam. This traditional nomadic dish, we learned, was called Tsuivan. A simple hardy farmers dish.

With an hour to kill before dinner we walked up the hill behind the homestead to get a view of the farm and the valley beyond, we watched the sheep making their own way back to the farm after a day’s grazing in the hills. As the sun set the chill set in so we headed back down.

While we ate the cows returned from their grazing and were patiently waiting to be milked. This was old school hand milking, I had never milked a cow before.... I think the cow is hoping I never do it again!
Once the cows were milked and calves fed, we went back into the main ger where Orlanda taught me how to make earrings from sheep’s wool, water and soap. So simple and almost stylish!

Breakfast the next morning was served in the main ger, milk tea, a soft cheese made from the first milk of the cow after giving birth, bread and jam and a plate of pan fried processed sausage (bread, jam and sausage provided by our guide).

As we left the home stay, Orlanda appeared at the door step dressed in traditional dress, with a cup of milk and a spoon and we took off she splashed milk onto the van, blessing it for a safe journey.
I have to admit this was my favourite night’s stay.

Our destination today was Ulaantsutglan, the highest waterfall in Mongolia, which would not reach until late afternoon however the scenery along the way was stunning. I had wanted a photo of the yaks and finally we managed to get up close to a large herd that didn’t run away from me. We had a picturesque lunch stop (salad sandwich with process sausage) by a small river where horses came down to drink.

We had had patchy rain since lunch but it had really set by the time we reached the waterfall. We were in 2 minds about walking the 1km to try and take photos in the rain, but we did. It is and the most breathtaking waterfall in Mongolia falling a jaw dropping 27m! (Victoria Falls this is not!) but it was pretty in a peculiar Mongolian way. We returned soaked through to the Van.

By the time we arrived at camp 5 minutes later the sun was out and the light was spectacular, go figure. The host and his sons (the Ton family) had already chopped our wood and lit the stove in our ger. It was so nice to get inside a warm and dry place.

This place was a hybrid ger camp cum homestay, the owners had their own ger and some horses that are used for horse rides for guests and about 4 other gers that they booked out as guest accommodation. We went to the guides communal ger to see if Billy needed a hand with dinner. He was making us a soup of veggies and a can of tuna (no processed sausage tonight). Whilst Billy was preparing the vegetables, I llooked over longingly at another guide as she lovingly made mutton buuz for her guests, commented about how lucky her guests were. Later that evening, pretty boy, Billy managed to sweet talk to the guide into offering us a few.

After dinner, the Ton boys decided to burn some energy and have several rounds of wrestling. This time Pete watched from the side lines, with his glass of vodka (trying to keep warm) but the two French guys from the ger next door joined in the action. Billy, not to be outdone, joined in on a few rounds, lost a couple, won a couple, but I’m sure the city boy impressed the locals... or the female guide!

Breakfast the next morning was bread, jam, eggs and processed sausage. I was missing the farm stays of milk tea.

The plan the next morning was for me to go horse riding while Pete persuaded Billy and the driver to go back to the waterfall (sans rain). However when Billy said I would ride 2 hours toward our next destination rather than in a pony circle Pete decided, against better judgement, to join. We drove a short distance down the road where we met up with one of the sons from Tons sons with his horses (he had just dropped another group after their ride) Now I love horses and used to ride as a kid so I was looking forward to this. I hadn’t been on a horse in years. We saddled up and the guide lead us off for a 2 hour ride..back toward the camp. Pete immediately picked that this was not the A to B route promised but in fact the B to B fairground pony trot he dreaded, and to make matters worse we were be lead so close that his leg was continuously banging into the guides horse. Now Pete can wear his heart on his sleeve and when he is pissed off he lets you know, even if trying, but failing, I tried to enjoy it but was also disappointed that it wasn’t a ‘horse ride as promised. The guide wouldn’t drop the lead rope, he kept both our horses on a lead so we didn’t have control of our own horse. Pete finally lost it and I agreed, this 2 hour ride would last just 1 hour and we told the guide we had enough. When we got to the van Pete gave Billy a lesson on customer expectation and deliverables (Billy is actually studying Architecture). Billy sat silently in the front of the van for the remainder of the day!!

Our ‘frosty’ lunch stop today, was in a field of grazing yaks, I was happy, I was really enjoying the yaks! (Watching not eating). While Billy cooked up some strange rice dish (no processed sausage) but tofu, egg and tomato mixed through rice, I watched, with a heavy heart, a baby yak struggling to walk. Initially we thought it was too scared to cross the small river to its mum, Pete walked up to it, hopefully to coax it across but it just ignored Pete and sat down. A stockman stopped to chat and have lunch with us. He went to see what the problem was and informed us the poor yak was born with a closed anus and was in a lot of discomfort. It was distressing to see.

The afternoon drive followed the picturesque Tsenheriin gol (Blue River) valley down to the Tsenher hot springs where we were to spend the night. I was so looking forward to this, I hadn’t showered in 4 days and while it was warm during the day, it was getting cold at night and the hot spring sounded inviting. We arrived at Altan Nuthag camp (Golden Country) early afternoon. The camp we were staying at had an outdoor mixed onsen type facility with several plunge pools fed by the hot spring about 500m away. It was relaxing. It was heavenly.

After breakfast (bread, jam, egg, pan fried processed sausage), we headed off toward the Semi-Gobi. We stopped, enroute, to visit friends of our driver, the,Oyen-tunglalag’s. He was a Vet and she was a civil engineer but had chosen the nomadic farm life when there kids all decided to work in UB. They invited us in and gave us hot yak milk, from the mornings milking, that was bubbling on the stove. We were also given yak yoghurt, which again I loved, a slightly stronger taste than cow yoghurt (unfortunately she mixed a heap of sugar into it, whilst still creamy and tasted good I would have preferred it not so sweet). This family also made their own cream. It was like clotted cream it was so thick. Supplemented by dried curd and cookies from a visiting monk. What a morning tea feast.

On leaving the family, the driver offered Pete a drive of the Russian beast. He can happily now say he has driven a Russian UAZ-452

We stopped at the ancient city Kharkhorun and visited an old monastery. Unfortunately it started to rain so we made our way back to the carpark and a nearby restaurant where we had Huushuur for lunch (a nice change from the sausage),

Our evening accommodation was to be in the semi-Gobi, a unique area where an oasis lies between the steppe and the desert. It was weird to see desert, water, green pastures in one frame. Wading wetland birds with camels! We reached the Oasis mid afternoon and went barrelling past! We kept driving, out of the semi-Gobi and back into the steppes. Apparently the family we were staying with would be there... in July, for now they were still at their winter camp, 20minutes drive away. To say Pete wasn’t happy would be a mild understatement, Billy was getting a massive lesson in customers satisfaction!!

To appease us slightly, and possibly save Billy’s career, the driver offered to drive us back to look at the semi-Gobi and take photos, but it was not the same as staying there and being there for sunset (which is at 8.30 pm by the way).
(I hadn’t mentioned this but sunrise is at 4.30am and sunset 8.30pm. Not getting dark until after 10pm. The early morning sun was making it quite hard to sleep!)

This night we stayed at Mr Bor’s (Mr Brown) farm. Dinner, humbly prepared and served by Billy was panfried processed sausage, potatoes and tofu (even the cat that found its way into our warm ger turned its nose up at it).

Apparently the mountains that surrounds this campsite is home to many wolves. So the dogs were on duty all night protecting the sheep - I think they stopped barking around 4am - just in time for sunrise.
(Note from Pete who the &*#@ has a winter camp hard up against a mountain range, renowned for wolves, then are shocked when their sheep are attacked... Maybe if you went to the semi-Gobi, away from the mountains, you might not loose your sheep and I would not loose my sleep, oh and there is water there..idiots)

The last day of the road trip was just a haul back to UB. Pete listened to the footy, while Billy sat sheepishly wondering how he would fare on trip advisor. We soon left the off road and back onto bitumen and after brief lunch stop, rice and canned smoked fish (he had finished the sausage) we arrived UB by mid afternoon.

For a change we had booked the next two nights in an apartment. This gave us our own space, own bathroom, a washing machine and a kitchen. Pete was eager to cook up some lamb and NO carbs, or processed sausage. The apartment was fantastic. Great location, friendly host and just perfect for us. We ended up eating in both nights, we just lounged around both evenings, caught up on our blog (and work), did some washing cooked and enjoyed a bottle of red wine or two.

On Tuesday afternoon, we packed our bags and headed for the train 3km away. We knew we could walk it, but we decided to give the ‘hailing a car’ routine a go. A few cars passed before one pulled over. No problem, showed him google translate to go to the train station. I offered him 5,000 Tugrik ($2) and off we went. Easy. In the end when I gave him the 5,000 he gave me 2,000 change, wouldn’t overcharge me! Still nice people around.

This time it was a Russian train with Russian Cabin attendants that welcomed us aboard. Next stop Ulan-Ude in Russia.