A NIGHT SPENT IN A MONGOLIAN GER

WEATHER: Tops 8C – Lows -7

HIGHTLIGHT OF THE DAY : Arriving at the Ger Camp

BUYS OF THE DAY: Supermarket stop on the way to the camp – bottle of vodka ( good stuff ) $7.50AUD Also picture taken with Mongolian Eagles for $1.66 AUD – can’t beat that! 

BAD OF THE DAY – Using drop toilets at the Ger camp and no showers

WORD OF THE DAY: - always written phonetically – Spaseeba – thanks in Russian

Even though it is cold in UB, the sun is always high in the sky and not a cloud to be seen.  I would hate to think what this place would be like if it was cloudy or raining during the winter months.

We headed out of the big smoke this morning for our overnight stay at a Ger Camp approximately 2 hours out of UB.  Just so you know what  Ger is ( it is also known as a Yurt which I believe is a Russian word ) is a portable, felt-covered, wood lattice-framed dwelling structure traditionally used by Turkic and Mongolian nomads in the steppes of Central Asia. A ger is more home-like than a tent in shape and build, with thicker walls.  A ger is designed to be dismantled and the parts carried on camels or yaks to be rebuilt on another site.

As we moved out of the city, you start to see the ger’s.  These things sustain -30C winters and then when summer comes around the padding comes off and it is then all set for the summer months.  The nomads still use these ger’s today and can move as much as 30 times a year.  They pretty much just pack up when all the grass is gone for the animals, weather conditions, water food etc means they need to move on.

We had a few stops on the way to the camp.  One was a road side stop with a local who had 2 massive eagles on display.  For 2000 tugs ( $1.66 AUD) you could get one of them to stand on your arm.  He supplied the glove, as their talons were super sharp and this eagle must have weighed 15kg!  It was massive.  Apparently well trained – yes well I hope so as I had him sitting on my arn for about 5 minutes, but it was an amazing experience all the same – even if I couldn’t look him in the eye on the off chance he may poke my eyes out!

The second stop was at the Chinggis Khaan Complex.  The complex was finished in 2008, and they have massive plans for tourism and for the complex to expand.  But the major draw card that has been completed was a 40m high stainless steel statue of Genghis Kahn ( the largest of it’s type in the world).  Not only is is a 40m high statue, but you can hitch a ride in the lift through it’s bottom – yes I kid you not – and then walk through the tail for an awesome view over some rural Mongolian countryside.  It was pretty amazing!  The building also houses a collection of 13^th century artifacts, that was donated by one collector, and a museum built to house it all in – as you do of course! 

The third was at a ovoo.  An Ovoo is a type of shamanistic cairn found in Mongolia, usually made from rocks or from wood. Ovoos are often found at the top of mountains and in high places, like mountain passes. When travelling, it is custom to stop and circle an ovoo three times in clockwise direction, in order to have a safer journey. Usually, rocks are picked up from the ground and added to the pile. Not one for being too superstitious, I added my rock to the pile and marched around the ovoo three times, as I think I need all the luck I can get in the next 16 months!

The arrival at the ger camp was just amazing.  The gers’ look so small from the outside, but once you get inside then, it is incredible just how much room there is.  The accommodation ger’s had 4 beds that lined the outside of the ger, a small table, a small sink to wash your hands, a small table and the most important feature, well in the winter time, is the wood fired stove.  This thing had to be stoked about every hour, with the wood provided, otherwise the ger turned into an ice box, and trust me, me and Mel didn’t know how to do it the first time, so we had to sit under our bed covers till Bill came to the rescue ( farm boy in his youth ) and got the fire going again for us.  With the temperature around 1C outside you can imagine how important that little stove became!!!

Dinner was served in another ger, that had a long table to sit 15 – to give you an idea on the size for the ger and the food was really tasty and plenty of it!  Chris and Eric went for a horse ride, the animals are not the same size as they are back home, they are a lot shorter but more stout, but I didn’t want to give the thing a coronary by getting on his back, so happy to snap some photos of these cute little horses.

We also tried our hand at a little archery the next morning.  Which wasn’t that hard, and I am sure with a little more practice, we would be hitting the cow ( well it’s hide that was the target ) in no time at all.  Bill and Eric got a direct hit after a few shots ( lucky I say ).  I didn’t do too bad, but I was just waiting for the bow string to pinch me or the bow string to collect my face, but I think that was just me watching too many movie’s.

All in all the ger camp I would have to say has been the highlight to date.  It was an amazing experience, but for the record it was nice to come back to a normal toilet and to get into a shower.