Dog Sledding Weekend

A couple of weekends ago we had an opportunity to do an overnight dog sledding trip. A friend of ours had done it a few weeks before and had recommended it so Ben, David, Tracy and I organised to go. It was run by a Frenchman (Francois/Joel) and his Mongolian partner out of Terelj National Park under the “Winds of Mongolia” tour company. He had extensive experience as a tour guide, mountaineer and dog sledder from Europe and had been running these sorts of tours in Mongolia for the last 5 or so years.
We were picked up by “Francois” from out the front of the Big Irish pub at 8am on Saturday morning in a 4WD van (with rather dubious suspension) and driven out to the starting camp about 1 ½ hours from UB. Paige stayed in UB with Undra. We didn’t think she’d be up to the challenge and would probably only have lasted a couple of hours, not overnight.

Picture: One of the dogs with blue white eyes

Picture: The boys being shown the sleds

From the “Base Camp” we were kitted out with anything we didn’t have but would need clothing-wise. We weren’t quite sure of what to expect and what to bring and expecting some very cold weather Ben and I had bought our own cold weather clothing and a supply of munchies and the compulsory alcoholic beverages. All Ben and I needed were some slightly warmer boots and we were also issued with some excellent sheepskin mittens. Surprisingly we were all to have our own dog sleds and teams, which initially made us a little nervous. How do you steer? What do you do if you fall off? Do the dogs understand English?
We half expected big Husky-type dogs but these ones were lean, (noisy) energetic looking animals. Francois (whose real name we later learnt was Joel, but for some reason we called him Francois) assured us that these were well trained and the real-deal.
After some nervous moments and watching the harnessing of the dogs (we had either 4 or 5 dogs on each sled), we all jumped onto our sleds and followed Francois (and his partner, who had a big sled and 7 dogs) up the frozen Terelj River. The dogs were full of energy and couldn't wait to get started and it became a bit of a tangle at the commencement.

Picture: View of the dogs from the sled

At first we were all pretty nervous, but after a while it became apparent that the dogs knew what they were doing and that all you really had to do was hang on and occasionally apply the brake when it was time to stop or you needed to maintain the distance between sleds. We learnt the hard way that often if you come abreast of another team, the dogs will want to argue with each other and that can result in tangles and stoppages.

Picture: Ben sledding

Picture: Bernadette sledding

Picture: Bernadette & Ben having a break

Ben was the first one to fall off when his sled hit a rock and it tipped him off. The dogs didn’t stop so he had to get up and sprint after the sled. I was the next to come off and then later David did. Over the weekend Ben managed to get the record for the most falls: twice (3 times really as he fell off again on the remount, as the dogs just kept running, landing flat on his back amid a lot of laughter), but David held the record for the longest slide when he fell on the ice. You never have a camera ready when you need it. Tracey maintained her dignity for the weekend, managing to stay on the whole time.
On the first day we travelled about 60km, stopping every hour or so to rest the dogs. The weather was perfect, no wind and very sunny but after a couple of hours we had had enough sledding. Only another day to go! There were some nervous moments crossing the ice as it made some unsettling cracking sounds that conjured up images of falling through the ice into frozen rivers. Didn’t happen, whew!! But having watched to many Hollywood movies didn’t help my nerves.

Picture: What some of the ice looked like

Picture: Dogs resting

Surprisingly and disappointingly we saw no wildlife (you don’t consider cows, horses and dogs wildlife), but there were numerous wolf, snow hare, lynx and bear tracks. Some of the wolf tracks were absolutely enormous.
Eventually we turned around and headed to a Ger camp we’d passed an hour or 2 earlier, pulling up to a cacophony of dog barks. The camp was a local family who had an arrangement with the tour company and that’s where we’d be staying the night. Francois de-harnessed the dogs and chained them outside and we went into the main ger for dinner beef, potato and noodle soup which I really liked and a rest. The dynamics of the family what I could work out was there was a mother and father, daughter and child in one ger and in the other where we stayed was a married couple who was the son of the parents in the other. The young girl show me where the baby goats where as she had to feed the animals for the night. The family keep the baby animals in their own ger to protect them from the cold and I would say any wolves that may be around. I helped collect some fire wood which I saw one of the sons chopping, I thought it was the right thing to do as we where all going to be kept warm through the night.

Picture: Little girl showing one of the baby goats

Picture: Little girl mixing the milk

Picture: Grandmother making sure her grandchild is warm

After dinner we got stuck into the drinks. Apparently we have the honour of being the first people to set up a bar as we’d managed to bring a number of bottles of vodka, baileys and some other stuff. We shared this with the family and they shared some of their local stuff.

Picture: Bernadette with our hosts

The local stuff is the first distillation of the fermented mare’s milk and incidentally tasted astonishingly bad. Now the worst part is you don’t just have 1 of these, you have 3. Not wanting to offend, Ben screwed up his face and sculled them. They weren’t small shots but somewhere between 100 and 200ml and the last one had “floaties” in it just to add to the experience. Things got a little blurry for Ben from that point on. I think his next memory was waking up in a sleeping bag without any pants on due to me having to undress him for bed.
With six adults on the floor in sleeping bags and the couple in the small bed the ger seemed quiet cozy. At about 2am the light came on and wood was added to the firer. I took the chance to duct to the toilet but to my surprise the lady decided to join me and as I squatted behind the cart she decided to have a conversation in Mongolian with me, I wasn’t too sure what to make of this experience but when you got to go, you got to go.

Picture: The Ger camp in the morning

Picture: Cow being milked

Picture: Little girl collecting baby goat

The next morning we were offered the usual “milk tea” and rolls for brekkie. Luckily we’d brought some extra snacks as they sure came in handy. After breakfast wandered around the camp, the whole family seemed to have their own jobs to do even the little girl who wouldn’t have been much older then Paige. Her job was to collect the baby goats from their mums and put them back in the animal ger. She was quite happy to let me help. The women’s job was to milk the cows by hand where I did have a go at it; I think the ladies found it quite funny that I couldn’t get any milk. They made it look so easy. The men’s job was to herd the animals out and start on repairs around the place. Everyone had their jobs to do and after taking more photos it was time to “mount-up” and head back to base camp. On the way back we stopped for lunch and to rest the dogs. Ben and Dave decided they wanted to try sliding on the ice to see how far they could get but in theory it worked but in practice they didn’t get far.
By the time we got back to UB it was after 5pm on Sunday afternoon and we were all thoroughly weary. A great weekend and highly recommended for those who are only moderately adventurous I think it was one of the best experiences I had in the out doors of Mongolia something I will always remember.

Picture: The Mother making our lunch

Picture: Bernadette & little girl

Picture: Dave & Tracy in the ger

Picture: Ben & Dave trying to slid on the ice


Picture: Bernadette & Ben lying on the ice

Tsagaan Sar The Mongolian Lunar New Year

On the weekend we where invited to share in one of the traditional Mongolia holidays called Tsagaan Sar with Undra and her family. Undra is the lady who works in our home. Tsagaan Sar is kind of like Christmas here in Mongolia. When we arrived at Undra's home we where treated to traditional Mongolian feast that was laid out on the table. Undra's mother explain through Undra translating explained about the types of food that we where enjoying. It was very nice to be welcomed into Undra's family home and to share in a traditional holiday.

Here is a some information about Tsagaan Sar that I found on the inter net.

Tsagaan Sar (the white month), the first month of spring, has been one of the most important celebrations of Mongols for centuries. This is a time of the year when winter passes away and spring comes in. The Great Chingis Khaan played an important role to make Tsagaan Sar a State ceremony. In 1207, at the Mouse hour of the first day of the Year of the Red Rabbit, the Great Khaan, wearing all his new clothes, prayed to Blue Sky and Vast Land , paid respect to the elderly and visited his Oulen mother. In 1216, the year of the Red Mouse, the Khaan issued a decree to award people on the day of Tsagaan Sar with gold and clothing materials taken from the State reserve. The Khaan also decreed to award a special title to anyone who is over 120 years old and to release prisoners on the day of Tsagaan Sar except those convicted of the 5-cruelty case. In 1723, the "Mongol Tsaaz" (Mongol Law) stated that all governors and noblemen were obliged to wear a "Jinst Malgai" (special ceremony hat of the high society) and a "Zaht deel" (deel with a collar) on the day of Tsagaan Sar and to pray in front of the Ministry 9 times with 3 praying words each time. Tsagaan Sar is considered the beginning of the lunar calendar year. In 1911, the political and religious leader of Mongolia Bogd Khaan approved a new State flag featuring Soyombo (the national symbol) on yellow background. He ordered that all government houses, ministries, the army and monasteries keep this flag raised outside their compounds from the 30th day of the last month of winter to the 15th day of Tsagaan Sar. In other times, the flag was to be kept inside the compounds. Despite restrictions of Tsagaan Sar during the communist time, thousand years old traditions were never given up and informal celebrations continued among family and relatives especially in the countryside. Since 1990, with democratic changes in the country, Tsagaan Sar has become a nationwide celebration of people.
How Mongolians celebrate Tsagaan Sar .
Tsagaan Sar is a celebration of New Year, addition of age and safe ending of winter for animals. Tsagaan Sar is a festival of white food (food with white color - milk and diary products, rice, etc.) Tsagaan Sar represents a heartfelt spirit of people. On this day, people clean their body and mind from all bad things and start a new fresh clean life. Tsagaan Sar is the day when people express respect to elder people and relatives, renew friendship and sympathy to each other and reconfirm family ties. Family and relatives gather together.The Tsagaan Sar eve or the last day of winter is called "Bituun", which means "full darkness". It is a single night when no moon is visible in the sky. On this day people eat to be really full. It is believed that if you stay hungry, you will be hungry all the coming year around. All the Bituun ceremony is supposed to start when it gets dark outside.On the first day of the new year, people get up early before sunrise, wear new clothes, open the "Orkh" (ger's top window cover) and make a fire. Tsagaan Sar signifies the beginning of spring. Although steppes are still covered with snow, the scent of spring is already in the air. The coming year's weather is analyzed based on animals' mood and behavior as well as other signs of nature. All men go to the top of a nearby hill or mountain carrying food and make a pray to the Nature and the State. Then, men go to certain directions prescribed by the Buddhist horoscope. This ceremony is called "muruu gargakh", which means "starting your footprints". It is believed important to start your way in the right direction on the first day of the new year as prescribed by your lunar horoscope in order to be lucky all year round.With the sunrise, the greeting ceremony starts inside the family. The oldest person stays in "Hoimor" (ger's northern side) and younger family members greet him or her first and then greet each other. The younger greets the older by extending arms with palms up and holding the older's arms from underneath. Everybody greets each other except husband and wife. Usually, people hold "Khadag" (long and narrow piece of yellow, white or blue silk with a spiritual meaning) in their arms.When the greeting ceremony is over, everyone sits behind the table and starts exchanging "Khoorog" (a snuff bottle made usually of semi-precious stones and filled with finely pulverized tobacco). The typical greeting words are "Daaga dalantai, byaruu bulchintai, sureg mal targan orov uu?", which can be translated as "Does your 2-year old horse have enough fat on the withers (means good health), does your 2-year old yak have enough muscles (means good power), did all your animals pass winter safely?" and "Sar shinedee saihan orov uu? Nas suuder hed hurev?", which is used to ask an old person about his/her good health and age as people are proud of old age. Exchanging Khoorog means expressing friendly intentions to each other and is usually the starting point of introducing a stranger. Exchanging Khoorog creates a warm atmosphere between people and makes the start of a friendly talk that helps to learn the true heart of the stranger. People eat lot of "Booz" (steamed Mongolian dumplings) and drink "Airag" (fermented mare's milk). When the ceremony finishes in the family, the hosts give presents to each person. The present symbolizes a wish for wellbeing, health, wealth and power. Everyone moves to the next family starting with the next oldest person's ger first. The Tsagaan Sar celebration can continue for a month, but the first, second and third days are the most important.
Food and drinks
Following the traditions of centuries, every family prepares the Tsagaan Sar Plate, which is the main food decoration of the table. It consists of "Ih Idee" (big plate) and "Baga idée" (small plate). "Ul boov" (Mongolian traditional biscuit) are put in layers on the big plate. The number of layers should be odd. Traditionally, grandparents have 7 layers of Ul boov, parents - 5 layers, and young couples - 3 layers. "Uuts", sheep's back and tail, is a must on the table. Bigger and fatter tail is considered more delicious. Airag is the important drink during Tsagaan Sar, however, "Shimiin arkhi" (milk vodka) and regular vodka accompany food as well.

DO NOT during Tsagaan Sar;
• Do not wear a black color deel

• Do not drink too much alcohol

• Do not spend overnight in another ger (not at home)

• Do not leave animals at the pasture overnight (animals should be close to ger)

• Do not greet your husband or wife

• Do not do a haircut

• Do not embroil or fix old clothes

• Do not get anything from another ger

• Do not kiss during greetings (old people may kiss their children and grandchildren)

Mongolian Eagle Festival

An Eagle festival, a popular event among Kazakhns, was held in the Dundad zunn tourist camp at Terelj on Febuary 2nd where Ben Paige and I went. It turns out it was the first time the festival had been held so close to the city. Usually 600 Kazak hunters with eagles take part but only 22 of them traveled to Ulaanbaatar. The small number of hunters where from soums in the Altai Mountain region. It takes about four days of travelling to cover the 1700km. The oldest hunter was around 80 years of age who was a fourth generation hunter and the youngest was 18 years of age who started hunting at the age of 14. The unique hunting festival, common to Kazakh areas in Central Asia, dates back 6000 years. Mostly golden eagles are trained for hunting where their sharp eyesight and strong claws are of great use. The eagles are taken from the nest when they are small if they are to be trained. The female golden eagles are the biggest and stronger then the male eagles.

Once the opening ceremony was over it was an amazing sight to see the hunters on their horses with their eagles on their arms come over the hill. Through out the event the hunters would take the eagles to a handler and ride down the hill with a rabbit decoy trailing behind the horse that was tied with a piece of rope. Once the eagle was let go, it flew to the moving target and the hunter on horseback would collect the pray. To see this hunting in action was very interesting. The hunters worn red in their hats as this was a colour that helped the eagles see the hunters to beable to return to them once the pray had been caught. The funny thing was when reading the ticket for this event it stated that the colours red, yellow and any fox fur shouldnt be worn as it distracts the eagles. I couldnt believe how many Mongolians worn clothing with these colours and fur. I felt it was very disrespectful towards the hunters and proved once again how many Mongolians have no respect for other people. It was very cold so we didnt stay very long as Paige was coming down with a cold and wasnt herself.

Australia Day 2008 In Mongolia

On Australia Day a number of our friends gather together at the Big Iris, a pub here in UB.

It was really nice to be surround by our friends, who most of them are from Australia. It was kind of a strange feeling to be sitting in an Iris pub in Mongolia, listening to Australian rock and singing Advance Australia Fair. Being away from home is always good to celebrate that we are from the "Lucky Country".

Picture: Ben, Paige and Bernadette

Picture: The table

Picture: The Group

Picture: Paige with her friend Skippy

Picture: Pat meeting Skippy, Paige's new friend

Picture: Ben & Dave

Picture: Dave tattooed Bernadette with marker pen

Picture: Dave & Tracy

Picture: Michelle & Pat

Picture: Nasa & Brett

Trip To Bangkok & Cambodia

On our holidays we found our selves visiting Bangkok for two days and Cambodia for three days. Having a holiday somewhere warm I must say was a very nice break away from the cold and pollution.

Bangkok (12th Jan to 15th Jan)

We had heard many reports about Bangkok so having a stop over on the way to Cambodia was a way to get a taste for the place. We arrived quite late to the hotel (Arnoma Hotel) so we went straight to bed so to be ready for exploring the next day.

We headed to a weekend market (Chatuchak Market) by travelling on the Sky train which is the local rail system. Once we worked out how to purchase a ticket we found using this means of transport a great way to get around. After following a number of other tourists to the market we found the market had narrow passageways lined with a range of merchandise, but nothing really stood out that you couldn’t buy elsewhere. It was a very big place and could wonder for hours if we liked. We kept comparing this market to the markets in China. One thing we did enjoy was the icy poles that cooled us down, even if we ended up with blue tongues. It was a bit hard to get used to the heat again coming from -25 to +25, a swim back at the hotel also did the trick of cooling us down. In the late afternoon we decided to visit one of the electric shopping centres to try and locate some items we couldnt get in Mongolia. The range was really good so we shopped around before making our purchases. On the walk back to the hotel we stopped off for a bit to eat by a little place near one of the canals, it was really nice to taste fresh fish again and do some people watching, one thing we never get sick of when visiting different countries.

Picture: Paige & Ben waiting for the Sky train

Picture: Mold for icy poles

Picture: Paige after eating blue icy pole

Picture: Lady cooking food in the market

Picture: Taxis in Bangkok waiting

Our second day (Monday) we caught a ferry down the Chao Phraya River as we wanted to visit the Grand Palace. Travelling along the river we found interesting to see the old and new buildings standing side by side each other along the banks. When traveling things don’t always go to plan and we found that the palace was closed due to the death of the King's sister days before. “Now that was very rude of her to die when we where going to be visiting the country and upsetting our plans that way”. We headed to see a temple where there was a large reclining Buddha, very impressive to see. When travelling we always like to use the local transport, such as tuk-tuks, horse and carts anything that gets us around but in Bangkok one thing that we found was the tuk- tuk drivers wanted to rip the tourists off by charging double the amount of the metered taxis so other then using the Sky Train we travelled using the metered taxis at least they where air conditioned and didn’t want to take us to their friends shops.
After spending two days in Bangkok we found it wasn’t all it was cracked up to be. I can’t say we would rush back there.

Picture: New & Old buildings along the banks

Picture:Bernadette & Paige on the ferry

Picture: Ben at the reclining Budha

Picture: Street flower sellers

Picture: People praying on the street

Cambodia - (15th Jan to 18th Jan)

Day 1 Siem Reap (Tuesday)

We left Bangkok early in the morning and flew to Phnom Pehn. The Visa on Arrival was an interesting experience in that you form a queue to drop off your passport, paperwork and passport photo then step back and wait. The guy at the other end of the counter then holds up a passport and if it happens to be yours, you rush forward, pay the man and depart with your visa, “Another page down on the passport”. It was such an easy process compared to other countries. While we waited three hours for our domestic connection flight to Siem Reap we met and chatted with a couple of Kiwi backpackers. While chatting we were pretty glad that we weren’t lugging great heavy packs around with us and were going to be staying in some reasonable accommodation that we had already booked rather than trying to find something once we got there. It is amazing how travelling with children you always have to plan ahead.

Picture: The plane to Siem Reap

We grabbed our bags upon arrival in Siem Reap and organised a taxi to the hotel which was quite easy as you had to use the small taxi stand that was just outside the door (taxi charge $5 US). Once in the taxi the driver asked if we had arranged a tour of Angkor Wat and offered his services for $25US for the day. We ummed and ahhed for a bit, then decided to take him up on his offer and arranged for a pickup the day after tomorrow (Thursday). The fee was a standard price to travel to see the area that Angkor Wat is located. It was nice to know that we where not over charged. One thing we found was a little strange was in Cambodia the country has a dual currency system where you can pay in either US dollars equviant of the local currency. All prices are quoted in USD, but any change given usually turns out to be in Cambodian Riels (approx 4000 riels to the dollar). The ATMs dispense USD which was a surprise and once you accumulate enough of the local currency you can pay with that as well but we found that the local currency is mostly good only for tips.

The hotel we stayed at was the Sokha Angkor Hotel & Spa. What a pleasant surprise. Apparently one of the newest hotels in the town, at first glance looked pretty good and we were even more surprised to find that they were expecting us and the room was actually ready. No waiting for housekeeping to bring in the extra bed!, a first for us and worthy of mention. Once we’d settled in we decided that the pool would be our first destination and to compliment that, a Pina Colada and cold local beer “Ah yes…..bliss”. The pool was a little on the chilly side but this didn’t damped Paige’s enthusiasm. She had a ball.

Pictures: Attention to detail, flower petals folded that where displayed in the hotel

Picture: Paige with flower in hair sitting at the pool

Picture: Ben & Paige underwater

Picture: Bernadette & Paige in the pool

Day 2 Siem Reap (Wednesday)

The weather turned out to be perfect. Luckily enough, the hotel was at the top end of the main street so we decided that a walk and a bit of a look around was on the cards with our ultimate destination for the day being the Psar Chaa Market. The market had your usual items, silver ware, silk, wood carvings, stone carvings, tshirts and what surprised me, there was a lot of items that we had seen came from Vietnam.

Picture: Ben, Bernadette & Paige out to dinner at the Soupdragon Resturant

For lunch we ended up at the Soupdragon Restaurant. The food turned out to be fan-effing-tastic. I think our tastebuds have been dulled by our time in Mongolia because every time you travel somewhere other than Mongolia the food always tastes that much better and this was no exception. This restaurant turned out to be the one we visited most often and we highly recommend it if you ever go to Siem Reap. A big meal and a couple of banana daiquiris and beers later it was time to head back for a swim and relax. Getting around town was really easy, we used the local equivalent of the tuk-tuk called remorque-moto which is a motorcycle with a trailer of sorts on the back with a padded bench seat and a roof, they turned out to be quite good especially when compared with our Bangkok experiences. Paige just loved travelling in them and we liked them as they where cheap and the drivers didn’t want to charge us double the going rate. Once we arrived back to the hotel I decided that I would treat myself by having a massage in the spa and a bit of follow up relaxation. Did I mention “Bliss” it kind of felt like a reward for living in Mongolia.


Day 3 Siem Reap (Thursday)

Another perfect day with the weather.
Right on time, the driver turned up and off we went to visit the temples at Angkor.
The temples of Angkor, capital of Cambodia’s ancient Khmer empire. The Cambodian god-kings of old each strove to better their ancestors in size, scale and symmetry, culminating in the world’s largest religious building, Angkor Wat, and one of the world’s weirdest, the Bayon. We found that all the temples where spread out and that you needed a day pass so after stopping and buying a couple of day passes (these are checked at every site so we had to make sure we didnt lose them) our first destination was the southern gate of Angkor Thom, then onto the temple at Bayon, followed by Preah Khan, then onto the temple, made “slightly more famous” by Lara Croft, Ta Prohm. Unfortunately this one was chock-full of tourists like us which slightly spoilt it. Oh well never mind, it was peak season after all. The final destination for the day was Angkor Wat. It was big, impressive, historical and all that, but much of it was closed as there was a joint Japan-Cambodia archaeological project underway so you couldn’t climb up the main tower and get a better view. By the time we’d finished it was after 2pm and we were all “templed-out”. Time for a bit of afternoon slothing beside the pool and then some dinner down the street somewhere. Ahhhhhh……. More bliss.

Picture: Bernadette, Ben & Paige standing at southern gate of Angkor Thom

Picture: Stone carvings at the southern gate of Angkor Thom

Picture: Water lillies near one of the temples

Picture: Stone faces at the temple of Bayon

Picture: Trees over grown at the temple of Ta Prohm

Picture: Boy looking for nuts on the forest floor

Picture: Lady sweeping temple floor

Picture: Bernadette, Ben & Paige standing in front of the Angkor Wat temple


Picture: Pot seller by the side of the road

Day 4 Siem Reap (Friday)

Another perfect day. three days in a row which were around 30 degrees, nearly cloudless with relatively low humidity. We arranged late check out and settled in for our last chance of soaking up the atmosphere, swimming and just generally more slothing. We made a last trip down to the local market for a bit of knick-knack hunting and headed back to our favourite restaurant we had found before finally checking out of the hotel and starting the return journey to the land of cold and pollution. Bugger!

Overall, how would we rate Siem Reap? High! Great food, friendly people, nice hotels, not yet too commercial. That won’t last I’m afraid, so if you’re considering going, don’t wait too long. We recommend it and the hotel we stayed in. The area was pretty dry when we were there so it might be worth seeing the area at a different time of the year, maybe right at the end of the wet season when it’s a bit greener.

Picture: Remorque-moto (tuk-tuk) waiting for fares

Ode to Tuk-Tuks, Bangkok

- by Ben Playford

Tuk-Tuk man you prick
It’s too hot to effing walk
We asked for you to take us there
But you just seem to balk.

You want to take us to this shop
It all seems like a farce
And we don’t want to waste our time
So stick it up your arse

You guys are all the same
The logic doesn’t fit
I’m offering you a decent fare
You all give me the shits.

I’ve had my fill of trying
It starts to hurt my head
I’ve given up, it’s too damn hot
I’ll catch a cab instead

Pictures: Ben, Bernadette & Paige riding in a remorque-moto