Nomadic Winter Camp

A camp of 3 gers and 3 herds was nesteld underneath a rocky outcrop and this was to be our refuge for 2 days. I couldn't believe how nice it was and how lovely the family were. Probably one of our best stays and it was completely unplanned. I feel lucky that we did break down so we could spend some time here. Out of all the families we stayed with the elderly matriarch and patriarch here were the most welcoming and warmest. Our second guide later told us later that "Mongolian spirit is always welcoming but sometimes you don't see a smile, just the way they are but their souls are warm", this made sense with what I'd experienced but this family were immediately friendly, smiley and wouldn't stop feeding me! I don't think I'd ever been so consistently full in my life!

We learnt about their life and they have 3 camps: summer, autumn and winter (which they stay through spring) and move between them throughout the year along with the gers, herds of goat, cows and horse, truck and bike, other essentials and that's it. So far we'd stayed with local families but they had been in prominent places and so the gers were there year round (even if the people weren't) and the people weren't "nomads" as such, most living in the city and then holidaying or summer-ing in the countryside. These guys were the first proper nomadic family we had stayed with since being in Mongolia. Evey day they would get up with the sun as days are short in the winter and all of them are doing something all the time, an extended family of about 5 or 6 lived here pitching in. The herds got let out every morning to roam free over a huge expanse of snow covered land, the dogs went with them to keep them in check. There was water from the local town kept in a metal container that froze and so every morning the lady who must have been about 80 odd who was hard as nails would stalk out and chip off ice blocks to heat up on the dried animal dung ger fire/cooker to get the tea water for the morning. The man who must have been 90 odd was shovelling snow trails. A harsh winter was predicted ahead and so people were preparing meaning it was slaughtering time for the animals 2 or 3 cows to keep them going throughout the cold weather, and a further few that they could sell the meat or skin because they wouldn't be able to feed the all the animals throughout winter. It was really incredible to see this way of life close up Ann's personal. There are really very few ways to live left in the world that don't rely on money in some way or another and this one is no exception: they had to buy hay supply, had to buy water, had to buy petrol, tea bags, flasks etc. But as most go it is a very sustainable lifestyle that requires little from outsiide sources, and one that which during the summer becomes even easier with fresh water flowing in the rivers and an abundance of grass to keep the herds happy. They were solar panels that gave a main power supply for their TV at night and the toilet was just a hole in the ground (like everywhere in Mongolia) that would be filled up when full in the future.

It was an amazing time and what we learnt, more than I can write about, helped us understand more about the nomads lives we had already met and were to meet in the future. Even though we were only half way through our trip I knew that this (Mongolian ger stays) were the most authentic way of life I had seen since travelling. Nomads and herders had modernised (slightly) and who can blame them? If I lived and worked hard like they did I would want to make it as easy for myself as possible too. But they have kept their nomadic lifestyle very much alive in their practices and traditions and so what we got was a very real insight into the majority of the Mongolian populations life. Not a tourist site that is a modern reconstruction of how people in the past used to live but don't really anymore or a prettily packaged culture trip into tribal life that does not reflect the way people are really living. Now don't get me wrong there's nothing wrong with this, I've done both plenty of times and loved it, there's only so many places left where you can get an authentic experience and Mongolia is one of them. This was 100% authentic in that if we weren't there they wouldn't be doing anything different and I feel very lucky to have dipped my toe if only for a minute.Read more