Weekend In The Mongolian Country Side

On the week end we travelled out of town to a place called Terelj which is about 70km north east of Ulaanbaatar. A three day trip was planned using a company called Nomadic Expeditions which included a driver, bus and guide. Going away for the weekend was a way of giving us a taste of Mongolian life including staying in a traditional house called 'Gers'. In Mongolian Ger is pronounced 'Gair'.

Picture: Two of the Gers at the camp

Not knowing what to expect in the level of comfort and cleanness we pack sheets, pillow cases, changes of clothes and snacks as the main meals where going to be supplied. Friday morning before heading out of town we visited the Gandan Monastery and the Natural History Museum which has a large amount of dinosaurs skeletons and fossil's.

Picture: Paige chasing birds at the Gandan Monastery

Besides Ben, Paige and myself, along for the trip was Mike and Betty with their three kids also Ian and Jilly. Ben works with Ian and Mike who just like us haven't been in Mongolia very long. The drive out of town took us about one and a half hours to reach the "Terelj Lodge" where we where staying. On the way out we stopped to see one of the locals with his camels and eagle which where by the side of the road. The eagle is used for hunting and it wasn't until I got to hold it on my arm that I realised at how big and heavy this bird was. I must admit I was a little scared as the claws were just so big and it took both of my arms to hold the eagle up. I was a little scared as I thought that even if this eagle was trained it still could of caused some injury if it got mad so not knowing how the eagle would react I only held it for a short time.

Picture: Local boy with eagle and camels

Picture: Bernadette holding eagle

One of the traditions here in Mongolia is when you travel you always stop to walk around a blessing spot three times and place a rock on the mound of the other rocks to bless yourself for a safe journey which we all did in the sprite of tradition.

Picture: Blessing spot for travellers

After arriving at the camp we had lunch in a Ger which had been set up as a dinning room. The lodge had a main building with a large dinning room and bathroom facilities off to the the side of it. On either side of the main building were a number of Gers. The landscape around the area was just stunning which is apart of the Gorkhi Terelj National Park. Being the end of winter the area is still brown looking but still picturesque. After lunch we were shown to our Gers to settle in. Our Ger had three beds around the edges of the the inside of it and in the middle there was a small pot belly stove which is used to heat the Ger in cold weather. We found later on in the night it came in quite handy as the weather did drop in temperature. The staff even will come in of a night to add wood to the fire while you sleep if you want them to. The first night we opted to do this ourselves but the second night we had one of the staff members do this once for us. The wood is very fast burning as it is pine so the fire does go out very quickly.

Picture: Paige riding a horse with local horseman

In the afternoon we went horse riding to see Turtle Rock. The horses looked a bit under feed but we where told that being at the end of winter they always look like this and will soon start to get fatter with the green grass. The ride went for about two hours and on the way back Paige even went with one of the local horseman for the ride home. We learnt that "Cho Cho" is the word to make the horses go faster. Once we finished riding we where invited into the horseman's Ger. We where told that they had just moved here a couple of days ago for the summer. The Mongolians who still travel in Gers will move three or four times a year to better feeding grounds for their animals.

Picture: Turtle Rock

Dinner was spent in the dinning room of the lodge before we headed off to sleep for the night.

Picture: View from the Ger we stayed in

Waking up in the morning to the sights and sounds around us was a little different to what we are used to in UB. From the Ger door you could see another camp across the valley and the cows and horses roamed freely around the Gers. Ben took a walk up one of the hills and being a bit steep Paige and I stayed behind to chase the cows around. After breakfast we spent the morning watching and helping putting up a Ger in the camp. It was very interesting to see a Ger go up from start to finish. Each part of the Ger has to be put up in the right order or it wont stay standing. (I will go into more detail of how this is done in a different blog entry as its quite a long process). In the afternoon we visited the Temple of Heaven which is set on a hillside in another valley. The view at the top was well worth the climb.

Picture: View from the Temple of Heaven

In the evening we had a lesson in a Ger Museum at the camp which covered some of the Mongolian words and the different types of items you may find in a traditional Ger. I wasn't to keen on the Mongolian words and how you say them but I found seeing the different items that where in the Ger very interesting to find out more about them. The next day we headed back to the city. It was a great weekend away to experience a touch of the real Mongolian life style. We would like to do this again in the Summer and Winter times to get a different look at the area in the different seasons. Paige had a wonderful time playing with Mike's children and also loved horse riding.

Picture: Bernadette, Paige and Ben standing in front of a Ger