The Movie - Part 1

Kirsten spent ages cutting together this video of the first six months of our travels. Enjoy! Note: If this doesn't work, use the lower quality version embedded below.

Rest of Mongolia

After saying fond goodbyes to our host family, and of course Stu (there were tears on both sides), we set off on the seven hour return journey to UB. A further hour east we arrived at the Elstei tourist ger camp which was to be our home for the next two nights. After the enchanting wilderness of the nomadic camp this was clearly somewhat of a let down, the armed security guard and watch tower being a reminder that we were back in civilisation. On the plus side however, there was running water so we quickly jumped in the shower to try and rid ourselves of combined odour of goat and camel.

The next day we continued our education in the Mongolian way of life with a horse ride. As I had only been on a horse once in my life and Richard not since he was a wee tot, we started the day with some trepidation which was not helped by having to sign a form discharging the camp of any responsibility for death and injury and reminding us that Mongolian horses are half wild so must be treated with caution. We waited by the corral as the horseman rounded up our steeds, singling out the largest beast for Richard as Mongolian horses are in generally much smaller than those rode elsewhere. However, what they lack in height the make up for in spirit, which was duly demonstrated by one frisky stallion which leapt out of the corral followed by the horseman who had to gallop into the distance to round it back up again. Finally, once we were all mounted we were handed the reigns and set off at a comfortable trot towards our destination, a brand new giant status Genghis. If it hadn't been for the torrential rain this would have been an idyllic experience, galloping (well cantering at least) out over the wild Mongolian step - just us and the half wild beasts carrying us.

The statue itself is indeed large and there is a considerable amount of tourist development around it. They appear to be trying to create a tourist destination out of nothing. As the main appeal for us in coming to Mongolia is to marvel at the wide expanses , not to sit in a large hotel looking out onto modern manmade tourist tack, I fear they may be going in the wrong direction with this development. Although perhaps this is being done for other markets such as the Chinese (see later entry).

In the evening we celebrated Rachel's birthday with another Mongolian tradition - a disco. This nearly got off to a bad start with an iPod war – the Mongolian guides were insisting on dance music were as we were desperate for tacky pop. In the end DJ Ben saved the day and ensure that the dance floor was full all evening.

We ended our time in Mongolia with one final night in UB. Once we had got of the excitement of beds, pillows and hot showers in the hotel we headed into town to find somewhere to wash our stinking clothes. This failed but we did manage to find a pizza restaurant which although not great did provide a welcome break from mutton and noodles. In the evening somehow we were bamboozled into attending a Mongolian fashion and traditional arts show along with the rest of our group. Yes, this was as bad as it sounds. To end the day we were keen to try out a traditional Mongolian barbecue (apparently the warriors would cook food on the back of their shields). However, what we got was an branch of an American chain restaurant - probably some of the best food we had during our stay.

Mongolia

It took a full 9 hours to complete all the border formalities to get out of Russia and into Mongolia – much of this spent sitting the Russian side doing very little. We arrived in Ulaan Baator at 0610, but the provodnitsa decided to wake the whole carriage up a full 90 minutes early and start collecting bedding; this is presumably so she could leave as soon as the train pulled in, but it could have been collective punishment for the loud Dutch couple.

Dawn is not a great time to start a city tour, but that's what we got. Starting with the Soviet-Mongolian 'friendship' monument, then Genghis Khan (or more correctly Chingghis Khan) square – one cannot overstate how revered he is here - and finally a temple complex.

After a quick shower we started our seven hour drive to stay with a nomad family, who were camped about 300km west of UB in semi-desert on the edge of the Gobi. Our vehicle was a UAZ - a Russian made 4x4, which lacks namby-pamby features like power searing or seatbelts. The road out of UB to the west is new and smooth. Unfortunately they've only built 12 miles of it, so after than it's all bumpy dirt track. Still, these are used as major highways, and the lorries can be seen for miles by the cloud of dust they kick up.

We arrived at our new home in late afternoon, and were presented with the traditional fermented mare's milk – Ayrag. This is slightly alcoholic, and apparently will give you diarrhoea if you have too much. I had half a bowl, while Kirsten barley touched it to her lips (incidentally, watching a horse being milked is a truly surreal experience). The family had two gers, the smaller was the kitchen, while the larger was the living space/bedroom . They'd given the larger ger over to us and Aggie (our guide). Meanwhile Ben et al where with our host's brother 30 meters away.

Keen to get involved with nomadic life, we tried to help out with the milking, which of course meant us standing round ineffectively while the kids tied the calves to a rope (this is to stop them 'stealing' their mother's milk). I did have hold of a calf at one point, but didn't know what to do with it, so I handed it to a seven year old. Meanwhile Kirsten made a friend, in the form of an orphaned goat kid, which was tethered to the ger. I christened him Stu. He bleated a lot.

The families kept a distance from us (not unfriendly, but we ate separately, with our guide cooking food they'd brought), and it wasn't 'till one of the drivers challenged Ben to a wrestling match (the Mongolia national sport), which turned into a hour wrestling marathon, that we felt that we'd bonded (I won 2 and lost 1).

At night the mixed sheep/goat herd where brought in to sleep between the gers, so they could be protected by the 3 large, but friendly, guard dogs. This was quite disconcerting when I went out with the head torch, to find myself in a goat herd, with hundreds of glowing eyes staring at me.

The whole experience was absolutely fantastic, and driving out there I felt quite emotional. In the warmth of late summer (it still got cold at night), it seamed an almost idyllic lifestyle, and we were sad when our three days were up – but the summer is very short, and they were soon to move closer to the mountains to get some shelter from the bitterly cold winters.

Visiting the loo nomad style: Take toilet paper and a lighter, and walk a respectable distance from the ger; squat down for as long as required; kick sand over unmentionables and set fire to toilet paper.