It's the Journey not the Destination

We hit the road just after 10am today. The plan was to travel 260 km roundtrip to Bayan Nuur to see another Turkic stone figurine. This one was supposed to be larger than the one we saw the other day. It's hard to get anywhere quickly for two reasons: I want to stop frequently for photos, and the "roads" are not conducive to speeding over 35 mph. For example, today we drove through streams, over sandy lakeshore, negotiated limestone rock formations, rolled through meadows, and rattled through valleys filled with volleyball size rocks. Oh, and no "road" is straight. The dirt tracks follow the contour of the land, sometimes zigzagging when it seems it would be easier not to do so.

We got outside of Olgii and ran into camels. These too were shed completely, exposing their purple-grayish skin. I worry about them sun burning, but they don't seem concerned. We drove through several valleys, where dried cattle bones bleached in the sun. The views are amazing, and as we entered the valley of our translator's family, a 15,000 ft peak, Tsastuul, appeared with glaciers blanketing the top. We stopped at the family's ger. It was traditional Mongolian summer living. A large ger for the parents and small children, with cooking and entertaining responsibilities, and a smaller ger for the older children. The walls are draped with Persian rugs and Kazakh embroidery. Five beds encircled the interior, with the dung burning stove in the middle. A table stood in the middle of the back and a small washing and food preparation area was just right of the door entry. A variety of colors exploded from the bed covers, felt floor rugs, painted table, and embroidered decorations on the ceiling. Two intricately painted wood chests sat prominently on the right and left of the ger, each separated two beds. We were seated at the table and the onslaught of hospitality began. We met everyone, although Alex has known the family for years. They set out their best dairy products, when I remembered we had a watermelon in the car. I cut it up and added it to the already full table. Our translator and her parents joined us in the milk tea (I'm really getting to like this stuff) and food. First I sampled the aaruul (hard cheese curds). They were awful. Very pungent and sharp. I chased it with milk tea. Max suggested the sheep milk cheese. I had it with a piece of fried dough. It was mild and along the lines of mozzarella. I tried the goat cream on a corner of my fried dough. It was disgusting. Imagine sour cream consistency with a very strong goat cheese taste. Again, I politely sipped my milk tea. I stuck with the sheep cheese and fried dough, rounding out my lunch with a few cookies as well as more milk tea. The family was delighted with the watermelon, so I didn't bother having any. It was probably one of the few fruits they would see all summer. I used the traditional Mongolian nomadic summer toilet (large bush) before leaving. In the winter they will move back to an area with a pit toilet, but they don't bother for the short summer.

We drove up the valley to the south, gaining altitude with each km. Summer gers were sprinkled all along the valley floor. Our driver spotted a tethered eagle, so we approached the corresponding ger. I read in my guidebook that one should yell, "Nokhoi khorio" or "Hold the dog" when approaching a ger. Most gers have them for protection, and they are usually wolf-hybrids. On cue, the dog came charging at us. The driver waited until the family called to the dog. We were invited to see the eagle. It is used in hunting, similar to our retrievers (I'm not including my lab in that category but all the other retrievers who instinctively know how to retrieve and aren't hunting-challenged like my dog). Actually, they have been using eagles to hunt for over 2000 years. They are trained to catch small animals (marmots, fox) then drop them off to the hunter who clubs them to death. The owner was very proud to show us his juvenile bird. He even allowed Max to hold it. I was content snapping photos. We left the eagle hunter and discovered there had been a misunderstanding with our driver. We doubled back to the north then turned east to the next valley. It was another several hours before we reached Bayan Nuur. Once there, the driver stopped to ask a local for directions to the "stone man." The driver got on one of the roofs with the whole family, as they pointed out the directions. As we drove away, I could only imagine the conversation, "Follow the dirt path by the rock formation, then stick to the fringe of the green grass, where it meets the barren soil. You come to an open valley, then by the river is a little hill. Go over that and it's in the middle of nowhere, about a km away." It took another hour to find it, but Alex was determined. This was the greenest area I've seen in Mongolia, so I was content looking at the scenery. It took us 8 hours to get there, and we spent 5 minutes taking photos, due to an attack of dreadful biting gnats.

Back in the car, we headed west and north for several hours. We stopped for about 15 minutes for a ramen noodle picnic by the lake in Ulaanuul. We were supposed to go north to Olgii via Altantsogts, but the translator "misinformed" us and somehow we ended up south at her parent's ger again. What a surprise. We picked up one of her family members and other materials to deliver to Olgii. This side trip added at least another hour to our trip and Alex was pretty upset, given she had told the translator several times, "I want to go directly to Olgii, I do not want to go to your parents again." With the detour, we arrived in Olgii at 11:30 pm. A beautiful but long adventure.Read more